Suzuki GT250

They are still around. Old Suzuki strokers in decent shape. Not in great numbers but a bit of intense reading of the classifieds reveal all kinds of hot numbers. The one I bought was a 1976 example, the Ram-air cowling still intact - a rarity! I took that as a good sign. Many of the stroker twins were run into the ground by urgent learners. Enough survived to make them an interesting alternative to 90's machinery. All appeared in good order. A brief blast revealed plenty of performance. To me, at least, £600 seemed quite reasonable.

The next day I had rather a shock. The little bugger refused to scream into life. A little investigation revealed a dead battery. I pulled it out, found the plates obscured by white crud. I put it on the charger, anyway, after half an hour's gurgling there was enough power to get the motor running again. This allowed me to ride the five miles to the breakers where a replacement was found for a fiver.

At that point I was worried about charging problems but, no, it ran fine for the next few weeks. I was surprised at how the power went dead at 85mph, expecting the bike to flow up to the ton. It just didn't want to do more even when screamed frantically through the gears. Rather than churn out power, high revs produced a frenzy of buzzing. The engine rattled and ringed a bit, ran very hot - great clouds of steam when it rained adding to the mild dose of pollutants out of the original silencers.

I was mildly worried about all this but the bike pulled fine up to 85mph, would run along at 70mph for an hour or so without much vibration. The handling was a bit on the wild side, with a back wheel weave and forks that shook over the bumps. The latter was worn bushes and the former fast wearing swinging arm bearing. I was amazed to find that they were some kind of plastic. Phosphor-bronze replacements from the local bodger went in with a bit of serious hammer work.

That simple bit of effort tightened up the back end very nicely, the 320lb machine only break-dancing at the front when the bumps went serious. With the shot swinging arm bearings I had the feeling that the whole frame was about to turn plastic, some resonance between weaving rear and shaking front end likely to reverberate right through the machine. This was an era when the Japanese only had a passing understanding of handling, although it was often just a case of upgrading the suspension and fitting flat bars.

As the GT was lacking in top end go, it was soon consigned to the commuter chores. The Central London hustle only turned up the front disc as a period piece that squeaked rather than worked properly, needing some quick action on the bars to avoid hitting cars or ped's. However, I could live with it because most of the cages were stalled dead, therefore no kind of threat, and the ped's were a lot softer than the Suzuki's front end.

Fuel was around 40mpg, the oil needed topping up every third day and a weekly chain adjustment was required. Maintenance was a monthly chore, but only involved doing the points and carbs. This era of strokers was lacking such things as powervalves, so were simple in the extreme. Acid rain and road crud added up to a fast decaying finish, taking only three months to have rust sprouting from under the frame and tank paint. I tried to clean it up but the corrosion was deeply ingrained, kept coming back.

After six months, about 5000 miles, the bike was in quite a sad state. Smoking like an ancient CZ, rattling like a Vincent twin, and performing like a dying learner 125! It was also a magnet for the cops who reckoned the frame was about to break in half. They were horrified to find both a recent MOT and a tax certificate. They went away muttering something about getting me next time.

As winter was about to begin I decided that wifey's car would be an ideal refuge whilst the GT was taken down and given a new life. The engine needed new pistons and barrels but the crankshaft was still in good nick; the gearbox like new! I think I caught the chassis just in time - any longer, the corrosion would've eaten right through the metal. As it was, a bit of effort was needed by a mate with some welding gear. I had great fun with the grinder, filler and spray gun but the end result was as good as new. Working on the bike was straightforward, didn't even suffer from seized in bolts or spindles. Took about a month to sort out, helped along by picking up the new engine bits cheaply before I'd started on the motor. I also put new bushes and seals in the forks, replaced the stock shocks with secondhand Koni's.

I did a quick 250 miles worth of running it. The engine felt really sweet. Top speed was still only 85mph, there simply wasn't enough power to go any faster. I didn't want to tune the motor because stock it was easy running and relatively reliable, mine wearing out from old age rather than any chronic faults. Tuned examples tend to be great fun but short-lived.

After putting in all the effort to get the bike up to spec, I kept cleaning the machine every couple of days, a bit tiresome but you can't expect perfection from cheap, old bikes, can you? At least fuel had miraculously improved to 55-60mpg!

Riding around on the GT turned up a chap on a T350 who chased after me for ten minutes. I thought there was something seriously wrong with my bike, or something, the way he was waving furiously at me. Turned out he just wanted a chat about the stroker twins. He was obviously a bit disappointed to find I wasn't a fellow fanatic but invited me out for a drink that night with some other stroker enthusiasts.

All kind of GT's and T's turned up, rattling, screaming and polluting the pub's car park. Some of these guys could quote part numbers for the most obscure bit on the most rare of models. My brain began to hurt after an hour, I had this urge to scream it's only a bloody motorcycle at the top of my voice. Still, I got some useful contacts for spare parts. I felt relieved I'd painted the GT in its original colours, though!

The coming summer I was encouraged by the wife to take her camping. The GT's limits were reached when a pile of camping gear was attached to the rack and the slightly porcine other half strapped on to the pillion. Her high-heels and mini-skirt had some louts falling out of the scaffolding on a nearby building site. The Suzuki slouched along on what was left on its suspension travel, threatening to waltz off the road as 50mph was approached. 200 miles in a day was more than enough. At least the other half had wet knickers and an inclination to scream the campsite down in the depths of the night.

As a cheap and cheerful hack, the GT250 twin has a lot going for it. As a modern classic I'm not convinced - performance and handling are both too mediocre to pass muster. Still, I enjoy riding mine, have a lot of faith in its ability to get me around - it hasn't really let me down yet.

Norman Smith