Oct 5, 2015

My Motorcycles: 1974 Suzuki RL250 Trials

rl250 The Suzuki RL250 was one of the few bikes I've owned that was a constant disappointment and a complete competitive disaster. The RL was an awful trialer, with little torque, a poor suspension, too much height, and poor reliability. It was my first trials bike and my first Suzuki. After the Rickman 125 ISDT, the RL250 was the second new bike I ever owned, and the last.

Since the bike sold so poorly, Suzuki dumped their inventory, in late 1974 for almost 1/3 what I paid for the bike. That left a taste in my mouth that has only recently mellowed, allowing me to buy my 1999 Suzuki SV650. My $1,100 investment was instantly devalued to something less than $400, the revised, devalued price of a new RL in 1975 & 1976 (it was still the 1974 model, but they dumped their mistake in Suzuki dealers for another two years).

The only reason I can think of for owning one of these things, today, would be as an example of 1970's crappy Japanese workmanship. The welds were embarrassing, a few weeks after buying the bike I re-welded a significant portion of the bike frame. There were spots where the welds actually missed the seam. It was probably one of the first Japanese production bikes with a chrome-moly frame and it showed their inexperience with their new welding equipment. Their faith in chrome-moly was dramatized by the spindly character of the RL250's frame. Several other RL250 sufferers discovered that hard riding of this bike would result in busted frame members and one co-Suzuki trialer managed to snap off the swingarm at its frame attachment point in a Nebraska event.

Since the bike was worthless as a trialer, I added a little padding to the seat and used it as a weird trail bike. It was more fun, with that intent, but still unreliable. If you dropped the bike on its left side, and the motor kept running, the main seal on the opposite side self-destructed. I've witnessed this a couple of times at recent "vintage" events and, apparently, there is still no fix for this sad design. The forks leaked constantly. The air box was far from water-tight. The suspension was awful, at best, for any purpose. The engine lacked torque and blew up if you tried to overcompensate with revs.

The only claim to fame Suzuki made for this bike was its inventory-dumping price. In mid-1975, I saw them, new, on showroom floors for $400. I believe it was only imported into the US in 1974, although it took dealers at least three years to unload the inventory.

I am amazed to see these things at vintage events, usually grossly overpriced and often in like-new condition. In competition, the rider will be an old geezer who decided to pretend a 1974 bike is a time machine he can use to recover some missing piece of his youth. Typically, the rider is stumbling through the course, missing corners, rolling over tape, hanging up on 6" logs, and sliding down hills heading for a painful high-side at the bottom. Anyone who can win a real trials event on the RL is, either, cherry-picking or an amazing rider. I've never seen anyone win on an RL, but some of the "vintage trials" events are so undemanding that I'm sure it's happened in the last few decades. 

The happy side of all this is that most of the current RL owners are retired executives or other idle rich characters. I couldn't wish a better bike on that class of scumbag.

20 comments:

Brad Sinn said...

If those retired executives or other idle rich couldn't find a nice expensive Suzuki RL, perhaps a TM400.

T.W. Day said...

I'm sure they'd jump on it if you gave them a chance. Every bike I have ever hated has been lovingly restored to better-than-OEM condition by one of those characters.

Unknown said...

I remember my new 1974 RL250 had an aluminum gas tank that was about the same thickness as a soda can. Perhaps yesterdays memories get better with time, but I enjoyed my RL250 with no problems. Later that same decade I upgraded to a Cota 348. I wish I had kept the Cota, but I can't say the same for the RL250. Sorry your experience with the RL250 was so bad.

T.W. Day said...

Me too. Thanks.

Unknown said...

How many were made

T.W. Day said...

Couldn't tell you, but I suspect way more than Suzuki could sell. ;-) It was a total bomb of a product.

V-Strom G-Pa said...

I wanted to restore an old Dirt Bike (Raced in the 70's early 80's) found an RL for $50 less than you paid new . Didn't research them , just having a great tearing down , repairing , polishing and WELDING and Painting . Seals in forks and back shocks Do Dampen . Wish I would have read your opinion FIRST Ha!Ha! My brother has a 360 Bultaco El Bandito but wouldn't let me restore . SO , this Old 73 year old "Two Stroke Addict" will rebuild this TERRABLE Bike and keep my mouth closed when Friends tell me what a DOG it is . Just wanted a Project , IT RUNS !!!

T.W. Day said...

I hope you have a great time with it. Seriously.

V-Strom G-Pa said...

Thanks , think I'll just show it off and ride it very little Ha!Ha!

steveone said...

Mine never missed a beat . It was way too long to compete with Yamaha TYs but it had more stick down low . Bought it new in 75 for 1000 aud which were higher than usd at the time . Gave it heaps for 8 years , nothing ever broke . People want 8 grand aud now for a nice one .

T.W. Day said...

$8k? Crazy. I don't know if it still exists, but there used to be a motorcycle salvage yard south of Minneapolis 20-30 miles and the last time I was there (probably in 2010) they had a stack of RL250s in various states of decay and disassembly. According to the mechanic, they were all seized. I don't think Suzuki ever figured out that left seal issue.

Unknown said...

thanks, saving mw from buying a lemon

Unknown said...

Happen to be a 70's trials bike collector. Along with the 74 Cota 247 & 81 Italjet 350, I stumbled on this 74 RL250. Hadn't ever saw one before so I picked it up. Pretty complete but need a few parts. Do you know the name of the salvage yard south of Minneapolis? Thanks...Dave

Unknown said...

Mr. Day - as i was sitting here bemoaning missing out on an Rl250 down in Manitou Springs for 1,000 dolla, I came across your blog - after reading your posts, I am somewhat relieved that I missed on that particular opportunity.

I have multiple bikes, my most recent activity was out in the San Rafael Swell in Utah on a DRZ400 - dumped my bike the last day of riding, broke my ankle, and have since been looking around for a trials bike for a "kinder, gentler" type of riding - the DRZ is fun, but a bit more frenetic that I imagine trials being..

In any case, I enjoyed reading your comments and look forward to seeing what else you come up with in the future. I am back walking again and getting ready to get a 125 Rickman Zundapp back into usable condition. All the while looking for a reasonably priced decent trials bike.

Best regards,
Steve
Golden, CO

T.W. Day said...

Hey Steve,

Sorry about the ankle. Take it easy with recovery on that thing or you could end up like my brother and still be limping around on it 20 years later. I deleted the comment where you included your email. I don't need to be part of burying you in spam and junk mail (is there a difference). As much as I disliked my RL250 I loved and still miss my Yamaha TY350 (https://geezerwithagrudge.blogspot.com/2015/11/my-motorcycles-1986-yamaha-ty350-trials.html). An injury is what convinced me to sell it, since I honestly thought I'd be on a fake knee for the rest of my life at the time. I'd buy one of those bikes for a reasonable price in a heartbeat. You can get decent semi-modern trials bikes for less than a "vintage" bike and you'll have a ton more fun on them.

Bruce Nelson said...

1974 Suzuki RL 250 Trials Is the best handeling bike I ever rode. I was 16 years old a friend had one less than a year old I asked him if he would sale it to me? and he said yes, and I asked how much? $400.00 I agreed and money I saved from the $2.00 hower job I had and bought it. I am now 64 years old and still have that same 1974 RL 250 Suzuki Fuel tank missing on it but the rest in my basement.Love that bike always preformed 100% for me.

T.W. Day said...

Dude, "1974 Suzuki RL 250 Trials Is the best handeling bike I ever rode" might be the saddest thing I have read in a couple of years.

Rick said...

Very interesting reading, thank you all ! I bought my 1974 RL250 in 1975 for $500 at a STL MO suzuki dealer. My brother bought a brand new 1974 Yamaha TY250 a few months before. The RL always started and ran better than the TY without fouling plugs and etc, i think due to the RL electronic ignition vs TY points&condenser. Years later he had to painstakingly rehab his steel tank while my aluminum tank held gas fine. Suzuki got some things right. Btw, we both still have our 1st loves that run, and have new (haha) 2004 Sherco and Scorpas (yamaha got the engine right 30 years later).

T.W. Day said...

I'm sure part of my negative memories of the RL came from the fact that I bought mine in '74 for the $1100 list price, by '75 the obviously non-competitive Suzuki was being dumped for $500 (your price) which pretty much killed any resale for the first-buyer suckers. I had a late 80's TY350 that is, still, the only motorcycle I've ever sold that I wish I'd kept.

Mike klementovich said...

I had aluminum take on my 74’ that was prone to seam leaks caught on fire dropping off a bank then I rebuilt it with 1975 tank now steel so many other problem with bike I can not list them all worst bike to ever come out of Japan and the worst trials bike ever made hands down and I rode trials for 40 years and owned them all so I speak from real world experience