I had a GT 250 back in the seventies,it was my first brand new bike and it was absolutely brilliant never broke down and always started, unlike my previous British bikes 😁wish I still had it.
I remember spending hours looking at a new GT250A in a shop window, sadly never owned one, bought a GT380 once I'd passed my test. I couldn't pick between your two bikes, I'd have to have both!
Brings back memories, I was exactly the same visiting the local bike dealers counting the days down until I could get my provisional license and buy a bike, no CBT in those days ! That was the late 70’s, I can hardly remember seeing a used British bike in the dealers back then 🇬🇧
De ja vu re the GT. Worked with a guy whose mate bought a GT250A new. Fell off it. Put it in his mother's shed. He joined the army. It sat there 13 years. Had 900 miles on it. His mother wanted it out of the way. Paid £25 for it. Same week a local breaker, I bought a new old stock tank. £5. The following week locally another GT250 came up. Paid £25 again. Ended up with a mint low milage GT250 and a ton of spares. This was in 1990. You couldn't give old 2 strokes away. Kept it 2 years. Was a brilliant little bike, and quick too. Mate had a GPZ550 and was amazed how quick the 250 was. Put 13,000 miles on it in 2 years and sold it for £200. Sold other for £100. Back in 76 had bought a new Yamaha RD250C.Renember it came with a 6 month or 3000 mile warranty. Bang on 3000 miles it holed it's, first piston. Then every 3000 miles thereafter. Was nowhere near as quick or reliable as this Suzuki. Nicer looking though. Gone are the days of bargain buys like that.
Yes......mine put a hole in the piston after 2 months under warranty thicker head gaskets cured it and champion palladium spark plugs as they where then . Then went like a stabbed rat after that
@@richardcurtis114 Ground clearance rubbish. Came round a left hand bend with mate on the back, and stand scraping. Went wide and just missed a bus. Mate still mentions it. 😁
Interesting as I remember owning both of these models. The bit you missed was that the yamaha was actually 6 speed but 6th was blanked off on the Yds7/ RD models. The Yr5/ 350 models got all 6 gears. It was a very simple task to unblank 6th, you would then get 100mph from them.
Great vidio I remember all those bikes from the 70s well, my first bike was a Suzuki TS125, always wanted a 500 Suzuki like you have. Spent my youth rebuilding British bikes couldn;t aford a new Japanise bike.
The very same reason I recently purchased my yds7 same gold and black colour as the one I had in 1972 as a 17 year old, although I now ride it with a bit of respect of its age and mine too, great vlog and enjoy all your content and knowledge you have on these old classic bikes👍
I worked at Suzuki and Kawasaki dealers from 1967 through 1978, upper N.Y. state mostly. Never had a chance to ride a 250 Yamaha like yours but some earlier YDS-2 models. After the X-6 (T20 Suzuki 250), their newer versions felt quite "taught" compared to the older model. Still a nice ride and quick for a lightweight but still taught and restrained feeling.
All Tz’s were Watercooled, the Td3 /Tr350 250 /350 race bike was air cooled , the bottom end of the TZ and the td3/Tr3 was basically Yds7 , however the crankcases were machined to accept larger crank bearings and they had rubber damping, the tz of this type went from 73 to 80. The td3 was from 71/72. 350 versions same years. I had the first gt250 in Scotland, ordered either Feb or march 73 , think I got her in mar 73 , dealer told me it was the first one Suzuki had delivered to Scotland. I now have a 76 Gt250a and Yds7 both for restoration , however they won’t be going standard due to price of shiny bits.
When I was a teenager in the 70s, some guy gave me a broken GT250. I learned a lot about motorcycles fixing it. It had a broken jack shaft, which cost $12. But i learned about two strokes, aluminum, gaskets, what an impact driver was and how it worked, same with a torque wrench, etc. I stripped it down and repainted it and it was like new when i was done….well, spray paint new. I later became an engineer, and I am sure if i hadn’t happened upon that box of parts and dusty frame I probably would have been something different…who knows what.
Ah! The YDS7. My first motorcycle bought in ‘72. It was a step up from my Vespa which I passed my test on. Unfortunately it tried to kill me when it went in to a tank slapper going over a curving flyover in London. Although to be fair I might have been going a tad quickly. Anyway after that I traded it in for a BSA Thunderbolt 650. The last of the last. Great seeing it again in your video though.
Well done matie, both of them are really nice bikes, personally I have an 80s four stroke yamaha outboard 9.9ae a classic (mechanical auto choke) on a 70s boat and a yamaha bass guitar some company ey
Had a yds7. Front tls brake was as powerful as needed, until it overheated and sort of disappeared. Only happened once but I never forgot the scare...😅
Lovely old bikes, I had a second hand GT250B back in the day while my brother had an RD250E. The Yam was way better! Always liked the look of the YDS7 / YR5, they seem to live in the shadow of the later RDs, both then and now.
I like the rds7, it looks great. I had a bsa starfire and my mate got that Yamaha from new. I had trouble with the bsa and never got a British bike again.
I had a gold GT250M Ram Air and about 10 years later i bought an old - ish 250A to restore. Before this i had a KTM comet Cross producing an arm stretching 3 BHP. Does anybody remember these ? Don't see any about today.
The YDS7 looks just as stunning as it did in the 70s. Those Japanese bikes of the 70s were so aesthetically pleasing. Not so much any more.
Lovely bikes. I have always been a fan of Japanese two strokes, particularly the twins.
loved my gt250 also had a hustler 250 and a fizzy and a mk1 escort and millions of minis lol wish I was back in 1976
Had an RD250B and later a GT250X7 and rebuilt an RD400F. Mates had all the others. The good ole dayz!
I had the GT when I was 17 great fun it took over from my garelli tiger cross
I had a GT 250 back in the seventies,it was my first brand new bike and it was absolutely brilliant never broke down and always started, unlike my previous British bikes 😁wish I still had it.
I remember spending hours looking at a new GT250A in a shop window, sadly never owned one, bought a GT380 once I'd passed my test. I couldn't pick between your two bikes, I'd have to have both!
Brings back memories, I was exactly the same visiting the local bike dealers counting the days down until I could get my provisional license and buy a bike, no CBT in those days !
That was the late 70’s, I can hardly remember seeing a used British bike in the dealers back then 🇬🇧
De ja vu re the GT. Worked with a guy whose mate bought a GT250A new. Fell off it. Put it in his mother's shed. He joined the army. It sat there 13 years. Had 900 miles on it. His mother wanted it out of the way. Paid £25 for it. Same week a local breaker, I bought a new old stock tank. £5. The following week locally another GT250 came up. Paid £25 again. Ended up with a mint low milage GT250 and a ton of spares. This was in 1990. You couldn't give old 2 strokes away. Kept it 2 years. Was a brilliant little bike, and quick too. Mate had a GPZ550 and was amazed how quick the 250 was. Put 13,000 miles on it in 2 years and sold it for £200. Sold other for £100. Back in 76 had bought a new Yamaha RD250C.Renember it came with a 6 month or 3000 mile warranty. Bang on 3000 miles it holed it's, first piston. Then every 3000 miles thereafter. Was nowhere near as quick or reliable as this Suzuki. Nicer looking though. Gone are the days of bargain buys like that.
Yes......mine put a hole in the piston after 2 months under warranty thicker head gaskets cured it and champion palladium spark plugs as they where then . Then went like a stabbed rat after that
@@richardcurtis114 Ground clearance rubbish. Came round a left hand bend with mate on the back, and stand scraping. Went wide and just missed a bus. Mate still mentions it. 😁
Interesting as I remember owning both of these models. The bit you missed was that the yamaha was actually 6 speed but 6th was blanked off on the Yds7/ RD models. The Yr5/ 350 models got all 6 gears. It was a very simple task to unblank 6th, you would then get 100mph from them.
Had both but the suzuki was so much a sheen bike. The yds7 was my first real quick bike . Great video
Thanks
Great vidio I remember all those bikes from the 70s well, my first bike was a Suzuki TS125, always wanted a 500 Suzuki like you have. Spent my youth rebuilding British bikes couldn;t aford a new Japanise bike.
I had a YDS7 ..... A fantastic bike. Handled well, great fun to drive . Very small powerband tho... 3500 to 4500 rpm and it was heaven
The very same reason I recently purchased my yds7 same gold and black colour as the one I had in 1972 as a 17 year old, although I now ride it with a bit of respect of its age and mine too, great vlog and enjoy all your content and knowledge you have on these old classic bikes👍
Thanks
They both look great o the memories good on you for looking after them still a few of them in NZ
Interesting video as always. I remember going on the back of a GT250 when I was young and couldn’t believe how fast it felt at the time.😊
Owned both a KH250 and a GT 250 in the late 70's early 80's. I think the KH looked more glamorous, but the GT was a better bike in my opinion.
Great video as always Rod, very interesting 🤩
Thanks Kaz 🙂
Enjoyed that - Thanks for sharing 👍
I worked at Suzuki and Kawasaki dealers from 1967 through 1978, upper N.Y. state mostly. Never had a chance to ride a 250 Yamaha like yours but some earlier YDS-2 models. After the X-6 (T20 Suzuki 250), their newer versions felt quite "taught" compared to the older model. Still a nice ride and quick for a lightweight but still taught and restrained feeling.
I had a brand new Suzuki GT 250 Ram Air in 1973 and then a brand new Suzuki GT 250A in 1976
All Tz’s were Watercooled, the Td3 /Tr350 250 /350 race bike was air cooled , the bottom end of the TZ and the td3/Tr3 was basically Yds7 , however the crankcases were machined to accept larger crank bearings and they had rubber damping, the tz of this type went from 73 to 80. The td3 was from 71/72. 350 versions same years. I had the first gt250 in Scotland, ordered either Feb or march 73 , think I got her in mar 73 , dealer told me it was the first one Suzuki had delivered to Scotland. I now have a 76 Gt250a and Yds7 both for restoration , however they won’t be going standard due to price of shiny bits.
oh ok, I didn't know that, I knew about the TD3 & TR but wasn't sure that all the TZ's were water cooled. Thanks for that info 👍
Cheers ive a few bikes like yours, also got a gt500 but it needs doing up, enjoy your video’s
Great video Rod and very informative. 👍
Thank you
When I was a teenager in the 70s, some guy gave me a broken GT250. I learned a lot about motorcycles fixing it. It had a broken jack shaft, which cost $12. But i learned about two strokes, aluminum, gaskets, what an impact driver was and how it worked, same with a torque wrench, etc. I stripped it down and repainted it and it was like new when i was done….well, spray paint new. I later became an engineer, and I am sure if i hadn’t happened upon that box of parts and dusty frame I probably would have been something different…who knows what.
Im of the era and owned a gt.my experience was the kh was quickkest the gt was reliable and strong and the yam caught fire.😂
Ah! The YDS7. My first motorcycle bought in ‘72. It was a step up from my Vespa which I passed my test on. Unfortunately it tried to kill me when it went in to a tank slapper going over a curving flyover in London. Although to be fair I might have been going a tad quickly. Anyway after that I traded it in for a BSA Thunderbolt 650. The last of the last. Great seeing it again in your video though.
The GT250 was my second bike after a Honda C50. Loved it but swapped it for Honda 400/4.
Well done matie, both of them are really nice bikes, personally I have an 80s four stroke yamaha outboard 9.9ae a classic (mechanical auto choke) on a 70s boat and a yamaha bass guitar some company ey
My first bike Yamaha YDS7 loved it . Ride a RD 250 now. Great bikes .
Nice 👍
Had a yds7. Front tls brake was as powerful as needed, until it overheated and sort of disappeared. Only happened once but I never forgot the scare...😅
Wow, Mayles was just up the road from me! Arthur was a bit of an Arthur Daley 😂.
Lovely old bikes, I had a second hand GT250B back in the day while my brother had an RD250E. The Yam was way better! Always liked the look of the YDS7 / YR5, they seem to live in the shadow of the later RDs, both then and now.
I like the rds7, it looks great. I had a bsa starfire and my mate got that Yamaha from new. I had trouble with the bsa and never got a British bike again.
One hell of a salesman to talk you into buying an ss50 instead of a fizzy...
Great YDS7 And YDS7 every time for me.
I had a gold GT250M Ram Air and about 10 years later i bought an old - ish 250A to restore. Before this i had a KTM comet Cross producing an arm stretching 3 BHP. Does anybody remember these ? Don't see any about today.
Yes, I remember the KTM comet cross, one of the mopeds I considered in 1973 👍
@@mcmechanic864 Mine was a 1976 model also in gold. Not many even remembers them.
Does the absence of ‘torque induction’ (reed valves) differentiate the YDS/YR and RD models?
I had both then sold them and bought a kh 250
And the winner is? 🤔
It’s a tie for first!
70s 2-strokes, a fantastic period.