My local riders forum here in the Illawarra has a thread with the above name. In it members note when and where they have “spotted” another forum member. Well, I have a “spotted” today, only it’s not a rider, it’s a bike.
Spotted this morning at TFRPS (The Famous Robertson Pie Shop) this little gem.
A 1989, original, unmolested and unrestored Suzuki RGV 250.
A genuine 14763 kms on the clock.
The owner has been offered $7000 but won’t sell. He knows of a registerable one that is available for under a grand so he’s going to buy it and put this one away until it appreciates more. Given the chances (slim) of finding another in as good a shape as this, I’d say that it certainly going to happen.
This morning also, my good mate, Dave, arrived in his car and took away the Shadowfax engine and associated bits so that he can get started on restoring the motor. We also trolled through the boxes of bits and found a heap more parts that were obviously custom made for the bike, many more than what I realised. I’ll photograph them in a group and post them up on the restoration thread.
It’s now 1400 and Superpole results from MMP still aren’t in, damn that time zone anomaly! Checa has been fastest so far, but, ominously, also suffered 2 engine failures during regulation qualifying. Given that he lost both races through technical issues while holding a substantial lead both time, the team had better double, triple, quadruple check everything this time.
jeffb says
You must have nearly ‘popped your cork’ when you sighted that little RGV, Phil! 22 years and less than 8000km- in some ways it’s a shame , but still, that’s what collecting is often about. Thanks for taking the pic and sharing.
Jeff
Phil Hall says
For sure, mate. Though I’ve never been a 2 stroke man (I owned a RD250 way back when) I think this one was extra special because of its originality. And, given that I’m trying to achieve originality with my own resto project at the moment it just struck the right chord. A lovely little piece of kit. Of course the reason why you just don’t see them any more is partly because the “smokers” themselves don’t last long, but more importantly because a huge proportion of 250cc two stroke road bikes ended up racing in the ultra-competitive 250cc Production class that was booming back then. Race bikes tend to get used and trashed, especially these little jiggers. More power to him for looking after and appreciating the thing so well.