Advice needed on buying a smoker!

[imdying]

Do they age gracefully like a good 4 stroke or do they go down-hill after the first few years and become a constant headache?

They age fine, there's not much to wear out, and the bits that do wear out are relatively cheap (try buying a ZXR250 piston).

Do they need servicing often and does it generally involve great expense?

Yes, but it's all do at home stuff... gearbox oil is about a litre, cleaning the power valves is a tooth brush and kero mission.

Do they have enough torque to take a pillion or are they all zip and no grunt?

They'll pillion, but it's not fun.

Do they have a resevoir for the oil or do I have to haul around a bottle and mix it every time I fill-up?

Yeah, reservoir will do a huge days riding, there's a warning light when it gets low.

Is there likely to be anything that would typically need replacing that the dude who's selling it wouldn't tell me about?

Might need pistons and rings, but it'll feel sluggish and won't rev out nicely.

Any advice or comments from anyone who owns or has owned an RS250 or similar bike would be awesome.

Always warm it up. On that model, if the temperature display (digital) isn't showing a value, don't ride it till it does.

[imdying]

how can you be an expirienced rider if your on your learners??

Everyone I know started on two stroke 250s, they're not hard to ride.

this bike has about 70Hp and someone who in inexpirienced will hurt them self they are actualy based on a 250gp bike,

It probably has less than 65hp, and no, inexperienced people just become experienced, it's not some sort of automatic death

look at vt250's and hyosung 250's they have enough grunt for a pillion

No, they're gutless.

5 & 1/2 is pretty good for an RS250 innit?

It's not bad, it's quite an early one though.

Anyone got anything positive to add?

You'll never want another 4 stroke, well, until you get fat and lazy

Also if you want to do something completely different, come over our way and have a play with a watercooled minimoto on the kart track - that will put a curl in your tail.

These are worth a look, they're nasty little bastards.

I saw that one and it's nice but to be honest if I'm going to go 2 stroke I want to go with Aprilia. Perhaps this...

If that NSR250 MC21 Rothmans is on trademe still, get that, it's worth the asking.

The RS125 is three times the price of the KR150, and ten times as much to fix.

Naw, they're cheap to fix too!!

It helps if you are mechanically minded because they do need some TLC should be removing and cleaning the powervalves every 4,000k easy job but alitlle time consuming and they suffer the same problem as with the RGV's and the powervalve center pin does like to come loose if not looked after

Yup, same motor

Also they are thirsty little buggers looking at getting about 170k from totaly full to dead empty on a "spirited" road ride and she will eat a liter of 2stroke oil every 800odd k's but luckily its injected so no having to carry around and premix at the servo!

Good point. Fuel consumption is high, but worth it.

if its standard it will have an oil tank, run proper oil in it, not cheap shit from supercheap.

Another good point... TTS or Motul fully synthetic, you'll never have any trouble from those.

rings are supposed to be replaced at 8000k, pistons and rings at 16000k.

oh and they like eating $20 spark plugs.

Naw, rings will go longer than that on a road bike, and they don't eat plugs unless they're due for a rebuild.

Without trying to jump on the Wagon, Dellorto's concerns are legit.

Rubbish, they're ramblings from someone with no experience.

this means you can't simply pootle around getting used to it - it's all or nothing.

More rubbish, they'll pootle about just find while he gets used to it... sure, it's a waste of a good stroker, but these are still road bikes, the state of tune isn't that high

I don't exactly know but I heard Aprilia parts are expensive.

Bits are plentiful and not that expensive.

I really need smooth, torquey throttle response to compliment my riding style.

Well you've come to the right place, they have arseloads of torque in comparison to any other 250, and even better, all that torque is in the top third of the rev range... torque * rpm = POWA

VTR250

VFR400

Really boring motorcycles... although the VFR400 is quite pretty.

[Taz]

Aren't those RS250's just a tarted up RGV?

[The Pastor]

pro's

*you'll look cool when riding it
*you can say "im so cool ive got a aprilia"
*no cars can burn you off at the lights"

con's

*you'll probualy kill yourself on it
*your not ready for a bike of this power
*it costs lots to run

im not trying to be as arse but, you like many other riders out there make the mistake of thinking "if i can afford it i can ride it" but thats not the case thats why many bikers kill themselfs every year. Trust me your not expirienced enough for this bike get a kr150 or rg150

sorry your a twat, but what do you base this drivel on? have you seen him ride?

[Nsrrider]

Definitely buy yourself a 2smoka Ive ridden plenty of fours cbr600 gsxr1000, but Ive never had as much fun as on my nsr Ive had it for 3 years now. still brings a smile to my face.

Reliability is not an issue, piston rings every 15-20ks and thats about it, use good oil such as elf or motul and youll never have problems with cranks(touch wood)

If it were me buying I would go for an nsr or tzr. People only buy rgvs because parts are plentiful and youll need them

The problem with all jap 2strokes is they are restricted to 45hp nsrs do this by a wire which retards ignition and muffler shape(easily modified) and rgvs/tzrs do it by carb size ports and exhausts which make them very hard/costly to derestrict. Rs's are just derestricted rgvs with the same power valve problem

The moral of the story get an nsr 250 mc21

[McWild]

2 strokes are awesome. They are better than awesome, actually.

But I don't think you should get one. It's not what you're looking for.
You want to pillion someone? Don't expect either of you to be comfortable.
You want smooth, wide torque? Nope, strokers have all the torque in the world, more so than four strokes, but you seem to be looking for it low down in the rev range, which isn't where all the torque is.
Reliability? Don't count on them.
Long trips with straights? They'll do it but they won't enjoy it.

And that first RS250 you posted... I would only recommend that somebody with the experience to inspect it properly even consider it.
It's $5.5k for a start. That should set off some alarm bells considering that other RSs seem to be over $7k. It's listed as 1995 and I'm fairly sure Aprilia didn't produce RS250s til 1997 with production ending in 2003.
And 18,000kms? If the seller had truly had no problems with it, then they're coming. And in a huge way.

2 strokes largely depend on how they've been treated well before you came along. If you're prepared to pay extra for mistakes other people have made with the bike then go for it.

2 strokes are a niche market. IMO they are a whole different breed of motorcycle than anything else. Don't just treat them as another 250, because they're not. You'll ride one fine, and you'll probably enjoy the experience, but make sure you're ready for the stroker experience before you do.

EDIT: Whoops just saw your last post. Feel free to ignore that then.

[DELLORTO]

For the first time in my life I've got more than just pocket money to spend on a bike (7k to be exact). You'd think it would be a fun experience I've looked through every bike on Trademe and have saved only 3 to my hotlist. Given the pros and cons of the RS250, I've come to the conclusion that I just couldn't tolerate THAT noise for the durations that I ride for (the later versions aren't so bad but not worth paying 10k for!), and I really need smooth, torquey throttle response to compliment my riding style. Cheers for the info, advice and opinions fellas.

buy $4000 250 and save the rest for when you are more expirienced.

[Str8 Jacket]

buy $4000 250 and save the rest for when you are more expirienced.

Oh FFS, you annoy me!

Anyone can ride any fucken bike they want and kill themselves on it. It's *just* a motorbike.

If you're so scared of it, then take the power band out of it, duh!

[NDORFN]

buy $4000 250 and save the rest for when you are more expirienced.

I'm looking at a 91 ZXR250 for $4000 but it has nothing to do with my level of experience. Hope you enjoyed taking advantage of the opportunity to subordinate me based entirely on assumption

[koba]

I had heaps to say on all this but imdying has pretty much said it all.

There is some utter shit spouted on the internet that becomes common "wisdom". The moder 'stroker suffers from this.

The lack of torque comment is a buet!

Look here for a professional expaination on that.

The 70 horsepower output of a standard RS250 sounds as optimistic as my 12 inch cock. How does it make heaps more power that an RGV if it has the same engine?!

If you have had an NC30 prepare for similar (Probably slower) performance rather than a huge surprise.
Oh they also weigh around 160kg.

If I had an RS250 as fast as they are made out to be I would be having a good nudge at a Vic Club F3 title!

[motorbyclist]

Everyone I know started on two stroke 250s, they're not hard to ride.

More rubbish, they'll pootle about just find while he gets used to it... sure, it's a waste of a good stroker, but these are still road bikes, the state of tune isn't that high

that's because a few decades ago all you could get in the learner range was a two stroke

and there was a classic in the uni club where an RS rider wanted more power - we took his bike for a good thrashing and returned it - suddenly had moar power! he's never been revving it out, and what he really needed was a four stroke

The lack of torque comment is a buet!

Look here for a professional expaination on that.

well of course a two stroke has as much torque as a four of similar displacement - it's firing twice as often!

put a 4 stroker on a two stroke and they think it's got no torque cause they didn't rev it into the power, and naturally compare the 250 to it's 400cc four stroke equivalent.

If you have had an NC30 prepare for similar (Probably slower) performance rather than a huge surprise.
Oh they also weigh around 160kg.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNRJRVgxtMU[/youtube]

the rs250 and vfr400 are both argued to be the best bikes under 600cc ever made (rvf is probably a better contender but were too rare to claim the status). the vfr may be 165kg, dry, but the centre of gravity is so low it's lighter to handle than any modern 600 of the same weight and the v4 gives so much more useable grunt than the lighter two stroke (and there have been projects that dyno'd past 70 horse!) it just comes down to personal preference and practicality- deal with a 15000km rebuild, mandatory warm up and dodgy powervalve and pay for the privelidge, or go for proven 80,000km or more without engine trouble, 50,000 on a poor example, honda reliability for less than 5 grand.

[Leyton]

If you're so scared of it, then take the power band out of it, duh!

Its just like a rubber band aye ? You just remove it ?

[Ooky]

Aren't those RS250's just a tarted up RGV?

same engine but aprilia did manage to squeeze a extra couple of HP out of it as standard through intake and exhaust. But everything else is uprated on the aprilia

to be honest looking around 55-60hp standard out of the RS but can give them over 70hp quite reliably and up to mid 80's with a lot of rebuilds or over 100 if you want to just do one race between rebuilds

[NDORFN]

the rs250 and vfr400 are both argued to be the best bikes under 600cc ever made (rvf is probably a better contender but were too rare to claim the status). the vfr may be 165kg, dry, but the centre of gravity is so low it's lighter to handle than any modern 600 of the same weight and the v4 gives so much more useable grunt than the lighter two stroke (and there have been projects that dyno'd past 70 horse!) it just comes down to personal preference and practicality- deal with a 15000km rebuild, mandatory warm up and dodgy powervalve and pay for the privelidge, or go for proven 80,000km or more without engine trouble, 50,000 on a poor example, honda reliability for less than 5 grand.

I'm a fan of the VFR400R but they're rare as rockinghorse shit.

[RDjase]

If you're so scared of it, then take the power band out of it, duh!

Have you got any spare powerbands? My LC needs a new one

And i now own a RGV with a broken powervalve