This saga started back in the summer of 2020; a pretty crap year when I lost my dear Mum in February, the whole world was struck down with Covid-19, and maybe worst of all, the autumn Beaulieu AutoJumble was cancelled, so there was reason enough to need some cheering up.
For a while, I had been considering getting another bike (as an investment as much as anything, having seen how fast classic bike prices were rising). Many of my previous accounts on my website have already detailed my usual selection criteria, which I applied again here.
(They’ve also said how I’d vowed to not get another bike, but we won’t dwell on that bit!)
This year, I already had my Harley Chop languishing in the garage after I decided it wasn’t worth putting back on the road in such a restricted world, so any new bike would need to have a completely different character to this one.
Cutting to the chase, I finally decided to have one more crack at the old ‘two-stroke single’ idea; one that had failed dismally some EIGHT times previously, but hey, maybe this one would work out, eh?
I had always fancied the little Suzuki TS90, after coveting them brand-new back in 1972 (just as I was first discovering motorbikes), but sensibly, I resisted getting one now, as deep down, I knew it was simply too small to be of any use for anything.
Of course I had already tried the 1969 Suzuki TS250, but that had been a massive disappointment right from the start; very heavy, with dreadful suspension and nothing like the classic ‘trail bike’ experience I had been expecting. However, Suzuki had also realised this back in the day, and subsequent models were much better.
My first girlfriend Jan had been persuaded (by me!) to get a 1973 TS250 in 1977(?) when I had just bought my brand-new XT500C, and I had been very impressed with her bike at the time. We had been out together trail-riding and I even persuaded my ‘bike-phobic’ Dad to sit on her bike – albeit briefly!
OK, this engine was kick-start only (previously ruling it ineligible for my latest shortlist) but it had never been hard to start previously, so I conveniently chose to overlook this issue now. With two-strokes fast becoming a thing of the past (and hence ‘collectable’), I felt that this would surely be a good time to invest in one.
After all my other rebuilds of complete wrecks, I was determined to not go through all that again, so wanted a good example, ideally a VERY good example if I could find one.
After trawling the Internet for a while, it became obvious I would be lucky to get a 1973 model at all, as they were notable by their absence nowadays. After all, this TS250K model was only made for just one year, and trail bikes (by their very nature) always got trashed faster than street models, so it wasn’t surprising that survivors were rare.
Initially, I was tempted to settle for one of the other similar models, or even the bigger TS400, but that was very rare anyway, (and I knew from experience that big ‘strokers’ could be ‘animals’ to start – and ride!) so I vowed to stick to the original plan, however long that took.
One bike had come up on Ebay, listed as a ’73 model, but with a strange yellow paint-job that I was sure wasn’t standard, even for an imported bike, so I passed it by. However, on reflection, it did have quite a lot going for it as it was in remarkably good condition for nearly 50 years old, with virtually all the rare components present and correct. As I knew my friends at Wicked Coatings in Poole could always sort the paint out, I decided to put in an absurdly high bid for the bike, knowing it could be months before I found another one.
Luckily my plan paid off, and I beat another ‘last minute’ bidder, just six seconds before the auction ended, although he did cost me another £500! Even so, I did get the bike for £700 less than my top bid, and I took that as a win! Contacting the seller, some 200 miles away in the Midlands, it was a real pleasure to discover that he was a kindred spirit and we had a great chat.
I had already decided to simply use a courier to collect the bike, rather than face the hassle of a 400-mile round trip, and I was able to secure a very reasonable deal online within an hour or so. Even better, despite expecting a lengthy wait, I was told the next day that the bike would be with me within just 48 hours – wow! This was all getting off to a very good start…maybe Lady Luck was shining on me this time? Time would tell…..!
UPDATE: Nov 2020
Well, the bike arrived safely and looked every bit as good as I had expected, if not better!
It also started up with no drama, and I was able to make that first (apprehensive!) ride around the block to ensure that everything functioned OK.
I had expected the usual clouds of blue two-stroke smoke, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the bike ran remarkably cleanly, with just a slight haze when accelerating hard. The previous owner had suggested that the bike ‘could be tuned a bit better’ and I had intended to get this done at a good local dealer, but as this shop was too busy, it was left to me to try my best.
I had already noted that the bike seemed to bog down off the line; so much so that it was necessary to rev it, then slip the clutch to simply get away at all, or to avoid stalling. Once rolling, the bike ran fine, and checking the plug revealed that the mixture was fine too; always a worry, especially with a two-stroke! The seller (who had recently fitted the brand-new carburettor) had kindly included a few alternative jets with the bike, so I started by changing the pilot to the next size up, richening the mixture (a move that had previously greatly improved the running on my Suzuki T500, which was basically just two of these 250cc cylinders).
Sadly, it didn’t help here, with little change; maybe even made it a bit worse. ‘Plan B’ was to change the pilot to the smaller alternative, and this did help quite a bit, with the bike immediately feeling much more lively and responsive. The downside was that now, the bike needed to be kept on choke, even after warming up, otherwise it would falter, but otherwise ran fine
throughout the range. Something to look into further, in due course….?
Meanwhile, it was time to get a few other issues sorted out. I had already realised that the beautifully restored side panel / oil tank cover was actually not correct for this model! Luckily, I found the right one (complete with ‘250’ badge) available on Ebay UK as a ‘Buy’It-Now’, so snapped it up, as although it was relatively expensive for what it was, I might not find another one. (Hopefully I could recoup the cost by selling the previous restored one?) I was disappointed to then discover that the new one’s mounting tab was broken off, but I fabricated another one from aluminium and epoxied it on.
As the bike didn’t need to be on the road, especially with the weather deteriorating anyway, this seemed like a good time to get the paintwork into Wicked Coatings to be resprayed. I spent many hours researching the paint codes and colours, finally getting a break when I found official ‘Munsell’ codes for both the main colour and the decals. Although the distinctive ‘one year only’ decals were available in the alternate orange colour, the dark green that I needed was not, so I had to make my own template… well, my partner Linda did, by copying an online image, then resizing it to fit the metal badge mounting points (110mm apart) which then made everything else right – thank you, Linda!
The tank, side panel and two mudguards/fenders were taken out to Wicked and left for them to do their stuff; I knew from past experience that the end result would be stunning!
I was lucky that the bike’s exhaust was in amazingly good condition. looking virtually as new. The original baffle was in place, but as I thought the bike was a bit loud, I pulled it out to discover that it was broken off inside. After checking out the appearance of an undamaged part online, I was able to fabricate a repair and TIG weld it on (although it didn’t actually make much difference to the sound!)
The newly-fitted handlebar grips were not correct for Suzuki, so these were changed to the distinctive (but admittedly less comfortable IMHO) ‘waffle-pattern’ style.
The handlebars were also new (and also not correct, apparently being Yamaha DT250 ones, according to the seller) and I had intended to replace them with the ‘proper’ lower ones, but as these were expensive and the present ones were very good ergonomically, they got a reprieve – for now, anyway.
The seat had been recovered at some point, but the base (although solid) looked worse than it was, after being badly brush-painted with black gloss. I was reluctant to risk removing the cover to repair the base properly, but cleaning it up and respraying it satin black made it look a lot better.
The last job (at this stage) was to sort out the bike’s wiring. It was in generally good original condition, but had been ‘cobbled together’ by the seller to get the indicators working – unfortunately, independently of the ignition switch! This took a while (and much head-scratching!) but thankfully, everything worked fine in the end.
Even when the eagerly-awaited new paintwork came back from Wicked, the bike was never going to be an immaculate ‘concours’ example, but at least I wouldn’t be afraid to use it, and it should be very tidy, especially for nearly fifty years old…!
Well, one month on, Wicked had indeed worked their miracles once again! Perhaps because the company had previously been a bit too kind with their prices, this latest job cost more than I had anticipated, but it was still worth every penny. The colours were perfect and the hand-painted stripe looked much better than the original Suzuki decal.
As usual, my partner Linda was tasked with the precision job of applying the metal badges; a change from the usual waterslide transfers, but still requiring more patience than I could muster! Of course I had already made the job harder by accidentally breaking one of the brittle badges (aaargh!) when trying to re-profile them to fit the curve of the tank, but Linda was able to skilfully disguise the catastrophe with some trim-tape and cyanoacrylate adhesive. She also fitted the 250 badge to the side panel, and Wicked had already applied and clear-coated the CCI decal.
Fitting the fuel filler cap turned out to be more challenging than expected too, as the thickness of the new paint meant that the pins were now not long enough to go through the brackets. The only solution was to (very carefully) grind the paint back to the metal, being very aware that the Dremel disc was only millimetres away from a very expensive disaster…but thankfully, everything worked out OK this time.
The petrol tap also went back without any drama, as Wicked had helpfully masked off the area before applying their paint. Some blue Hylomar gasket compound was added to the O-ring seal as a precaution to ensure that there would (hopefully) be no leaks.
This now brings things up to date, as of February 2021. The Covid-19 pandemic has got worse and everyone is now locked down, so any test-rides or photo-sessions are not allowed. The bike is virtually finished, just needing a bit more tuning to get it perfect. It can then be taken out to our usual quiet Dorset country road for Linda to take some decent photos, and a video of the bike in action. Once that’s done, I will update this page, but in the meantime, here’s how the bike looks now.
oldjapbikeguyUK 