Two-stroke sportbikes of the late 1980s and early 1990s followed a very similar format: aluminum beam frame, full fairing, racy ergonomics, and a small two-stroke powerplants packing cutting-edge technology and serious power per cubic inch. But the formula wasn’t really the result of a lack of imagination, it was convergent evolution: the class was ruthlessly…
The 1985 Kawasaki KR250S was a street-going version of a two-stroke road racer that took home four championships in the 1970s. They weighed less than 300 pounds, made 45 horsepower and packaging was kept tight with a weird “tandem twin” engine design. The mill was essentially two singles in a line with a unified crank.…
The 1996 Suzuki RGV250 VJ23 was basically the last gasp for road-legal two-stroke sport bikes, and one of the most technologically advanced. Sure, Aprilia made the RS250 for a few years beyond that, but it was actually powered by the previous generation of Suzuki’s RGV250 engine, and the final examples weren’t even road legal in…
I’m not always a fan of race-replica paint schemes: they’re obviously designed to be as eye-catching as possible, so they’re usually not very subtle… But the Loris Reggiani Replica Aprilia RS250 keeps thing pretty simple, with a distinctive scheme that flatters the bike’s simple good looks. It’s so understated that, for the longest time, I…
I know that the RSBFS reader loves a good two stroke. And what better to post than a well-kept Yamaha RZ350? The last of the true factory street bike smokers, the RZ was successfully imported into the US – and even California! – for a short while. And so while these are not grey bikes…
The RZ350 is a special sort of machine in the annals of RSBFS. The last of the 50-state factory two strokes, the little parallel twin that could utilized liquid cooling, a computer controlled adjustable exhaust port (YPVS), and catalytic converters. Even with all of this tech it was short lived on US shores, and even…
CMG Motorcycles has two motorcycles on RSBFS right now, a 0 mile VDue and a brand new Bimota Tesi! Check them both out! -dc There is no more tantalizing bike on the planet for me than the Bimota VDue. A bespoke Italian chassis from the finest boutique bike maker on the planet, draped with exotic…
If you are thinking that you haven’t heard of the 2Moto 2M400R-SP, you are probably correct. But I’m sure you have heard of Yamaha’s wildly successful two-stroke, the TZR-250. And knowing RSBFS readers, you probably wished for something like that – but with more horsepower – for your street ride. I mean, imagine the wild…
