Few things are as synonymous with the golden era of motorcycle racing as the now forbidden cigarette liveries. This one has been painted up in the classic Lucky Strike scheme that will remind anybody of Kevin Schwantz and his 500cc GP World Championship in 1993. Making over 70hp in it’s de-restricted state and weighing under 300lbs, this is a serious machine that will leave bigger bikes behind in the twisties and around the track. While it’s not a bone stock museum piece, it does appear to be in great condition. The paint looks flawless and the miles are reasonably low, showing just under 8,500. This would make a fantastic addition to anybody’s collection.
The seller has a great deal of information about the RGV’s condition, modifications and extras that you can read about here: 1997 Suzuki RGV250 on eBay
These bikes are very rare and extremely collectable as they are the very last 2 stroke bikes produced by the 4 largest
Motorcycle manufactures. Their value has and will continue to increase as they were only produced for one year.
The condition of this fine 2 stroke GP race replica screamer is superior. It has been properly derestricted which has unleashed its full power..
Of the several RG500’s RGV 250’s I own / have owned over the years , this VJ 23 is the fastest , best handling 2 stroke I have ever ridden.
The absolute closet thing to a GP racer with some street manners ….
One of the things not mentioned is that the classic “banana swingarm” appears to come and go in the pictures, so that might be a question worth asking if you’re a serious buyer.
EDIT: It has been pointed out to me that the banana swingarm is only like that on one side… learn something every day from our readers!
The swingarm is correct, it’s only banana-shaped on the exhaust side. The other side is straight, as it should be.
I’m no expert, but from what I recall, the “banana” (like the Honda Gull Arm) was only on one side of the swingarm; it is in all the shots of the rtight hand side of the bike in the posting from what I can see…
the banana arm is only on one side because that is the exhaust side.
its an awful bitsa
didn’t last long..
The colors are off for an orginal bike def a repaint here or china fairing
way over priced especially for something without the original fairing plus the vj 23 is alot more difficult to source parts for…
The funky swingarm was designed so that the exhaust and expansion chamber on that side could tuck in close for good cornering clearance.
The swingarm was actually a work around. Honda had the patent on the “Gull Arm”. Suzuki got busted on the early VJ22’s that had a true Gull/Banana arm and the later VJ22’s were all braced on both sides. If you look closely, the 23 arm is just an optical illusion of a Gull/Banana arm. The aluminum is just pressed in to give clearance, it does not bend in a banana shape.
Ian.. You are correct , However it was entertaining to hear everyone’s explanation as to why the swing arm was banana shaped only on one side..Stay tuned for another VJ offering soon.