The first quick blast on a bike – 1982 – RD250 – I was hooked

[Radar]

Back in the dark days of 1982 all my mates had bikes, I didn’t as I was still firmly in the “cars are best” camp. Then one of my apprentice buddies stuck me on the back of his Yamaha RD250E (the legendary “aircooled”) and then proceeded to completely scare the life out of me as he hammered across Birmingham at what seemed crazy speeds at the time. All this was accompanied by a wailing two stroke soundtrack ~ the best music is always mechanical!
In a blur the Birmingham streets hurtled past, it would of felt like a video game if we had them then!! It was a riotous assault on my senses as every car, bus and truck were dispatched with utter contempt, every island was taken with sparks pouring from the centre-stand and footrests as they skimmed the tarmac with the bike twisting and squirming as the RD was banked over as far it would go.
When we got to our destination, the huge bike shop ‘Hailwood and Gould’ to stare in wonder at the Hesketh V1000 on show there, I virtually fell off the back of the bike a quivering wreck. Scared out of my but totally elated at the same time. From that moment I was I hooked…

The RD250 looked just like this one

First posted this in a separate thread years ago, but I thought I would resurrect it under a new title!

My RD250

Read about my time with the RD by following this link:

https://bikemeet.net/forums/topic/yamaha-rd250e/

[imperialdata]

Yep, fast bikes for their day and oozing character with that wicked power band. Wouldn’t mind a go on one now to see how they compare with modern stuff. I bet they could still hold their own even 35+ years on.

[Author]

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