In countries where riders prefer their roads twisty and their exhausts smoky, bikes like this little Suzuki RGV250 aren’t all that rare and don’t command the prices they do here in the US, and titled examples of the little two-stroke sportbikes are even more difficult to find. Introduced in 1988, the RGV250 Γ “Gamma” replaced…
Looking very 90’s in Honda’s traditional red, white, and blue (hey, wait a minute..) paint scheme, this Honda NSR250R SP will hopefully mollify the two-stroke fans who didn’t like the older NSR we posted up earlier this week. The MC28 was introduced in 1993 and was up about 10lbs over the previous MC21. It was…
While Honda does have a well-deserved reputation for technical innovation, they sometimes seem to intentionally eschew certain formats or technologies, only to swoop in and produce world-beating bikes late in the game, as if to say, “See? Weren’t kicking your ass using a v-twin because we didn’t want to…” The same is true of two-strokes…
While Europeans have always been neck-deep in the whole Moto GP-thing as embodied by bikes like the Aprilia RS250, here in the US where flat-track and drag-racing are king, fans of whippy two-stroke race-replicas had to work a bit harder to get their fix, at least before the advent of the internet… But even US…
Yamaha made a name for itself in the US building giant-killing two-stroke parallel twins that powered the RD and later RZ models like this 1985 RZ350. The 347cc engine reatured liquid-cooling and made over 40hp stock, with plenty more available with careful tuning. While Honda largely focused on their heavy, but very sophisticated two and…
Built between 1994 and 2004, the Aprilia RS250 has justifiably developed a cult following among dedicated corner-carvers and track rats. It’s the quintessential “giant killer,” wrapping an impossibly lightweight frame and sleek bodywork around a very compact, 250cc powerplant yanked straight out of Suzuki’s RGV250, with brakes designed to stop a much heavier motorcycle. That…
From a styling standpoint, motorcycles of the 1980’s were going through a bit of an awkward, adolescent phase… But continuing with that analogy, major growth and changes were occurring under the skin, and Japanese race replicas like this Yamaha RZV500 featured all sorts of wild, innovative technology. Yamaha’s GP bike for the road pulled out…
Today’s Harley-Davidson RR250 may be new to most of you. We don’t get the opportunity to feature Harley-Davidson motorcycles on this site too often, unless we’re talking about throbbing pushrod v-twins hiding in quirky Buells. And all the “boat-anchor” jokes aside, Harley has plenty of racing heritage, although mostly outside of what interests most of…
