The Two Stroke Bug - Help Needed With a Cure

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

TBH, the 'fearsome' strokers of the '70s are, by modern standards, a bit tame.

Look at the actual performance figures for the KH750, and you can beat them with Kawasaki Versys 650.

The power comes and goes with a bump on the 750, and the poor-quality chassis makes for an exciting ride, but it's really not much of a bike by modern standards.

[garyboy]

I always lusted after the early big two strokes

but, as above, I would have thought that a modern four stroke medium sized bike would be far superior in all aspects.

.. but of course that has nothing to do with what yoo WANT

[Mosel Bikes]

Thanks guys - lots to get my teeth into - and remember...... it's just day one! Despite my 45 years biking and working in the trade, two stroke road bikes of the sixties and seventies are an unknown quantity to me. It's already proving to be a right buzz, just researching reviews on the suggested bikes and especially following YouTube vids.
I'm keeping an open mind.
It will be a two stroke, it will not be an enduro or crosser, it will be sixties or seventies. Why?
Because I've owned and ridden all manner of four stroke road bikes and two stroke off roaders, including club circuit racing and competition enduro and mx. I'm sixty-odd years old, with replacement hip, slower reactions and don't have an over-inflated ego that thinks it's faster than it really is? So performance and the bike physics behind it don't interest me per se. I don't want anything too race replica (ergonomics don't permit and as said, I don't want performance). I still have half-a-dozen four strokes anyway, including TL1000S/CB500X/XT660Z/DL1000 Strom and my trusty WR250F, so want something g different. That rules out a lot of the eighties and later bikes suggested here.
Considered a bobber, but not quite ready for the cruiser lifestyle yet.
So I want something that evokes nostalgia and my love for past, simpler times, but that ENGAGES on a number of levels - looks, noise, smell, discussion, investment.
So a well-sorted sixties or seventies two stroke roadie ticks those boxes.
All that's a long-winded way of saying what garyboy summed-up ..... because I WANT one (and because I can!).
Thoughts so far, not so keen on the GT750 as I was, looks slabby and top heavy and doesn't seem to work for me. Prefer the looks of the T500 and the GT500. Yet to look at GT550/GT380/Variants and other makes and marks.
Also need to ask my local bike shop whether they can look after it (I'm no mechanic) and what parts availability is like.
Thanks again and please do make suggestions, it's brilliant to have an appetite again!
Oh, and Richard, thanks for the welcome back and the Magnificent Seven say hi to Bryn.

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

Here's another suggestion....a Suzuki Super Six aka X6 aka Hustler...

Lots of different names for essentially the same bike. Quite a lot have been changed into classic racers (for very good reason), but you can still find unmolested ones...

https://www.motorcyclesunlimited.co.uk/ ... -for-sale/

[daveuprite]

Well if you're set on a 70s 2-stroke, consider an RD400. It was my first 'proper' sized bike. Maroon with black/white speedblock, chrome allspeeds, jota ace-bars etc. Great fun. Simple to work on, easy to tune up (boyeson reeds, expansion pipes, careful porting etc). Not the best handling bike, but not the worst (better than any KH), and fairly light for its era. Either buy a later model with electronic ignition, or fit a kit - because the points models need regular attention (although that's not a difficult job). Get some decent hagon shocks, stick on some better tyres and you've got a decent little buzzy run about. And if you buy well it will never lose money.

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

I remember the launch ad for the RD400...'What's new, blue and moves at 103 mph?"

A very neat-looking bike

Wasn't there a bloke on here...Norton something or other...who was restoring one, and a Commando?

[Tonibe63]

RD400 gets my vote too
Here's mine Circa 1981

IMG_20180828_191754.jpg (104.74 KiB) Viewed 2560 times

Here's a nice example spotted a couple of years ago

IMG_20180804_155342.jpg (148.35 KiB) Viewed 2560 times

[Mosel Bikes]

RD .... nice, apart from those horrible cast wheels. That Kwaka looks nicer, with the spoked rims.
Guess I'm saying I'm likely to go with looks rather than performance, and as they say .....'beauty is in the eye ....'
Enjoying researching all these new-to-me bikes though, whatever I end up with.

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

I think the cast wheels may have been an 'extra' on the first ones...but please don't quote me!

[Tonibe63]

I think the cast wheels may have been an 'extra' on the first ones...but please don't quote me!

My RD250DX (1976 model?) had spoked wheels but the RD400E (1978 model?) had the cast wheels.