If this dont do something for ya and get the old 2 smoker juices flowing...!

mapbike

mapbike

Well-Known Member
yeah it is a bit silly to some I'm sure but wow, if we still had these bikes over here...... I just love the old RD's and the KH kawasaki and the Suzuki 2 smokers, I grew up around these bikes and I still love them and the sound is music to my ears..!

http://youtu.be/5ycVhejxIYo

.shft.
 
I grew up around them too. We called them "ring-dings" because that's what they sounded like as they went down the road; rriiinnnngggggg-ding-ding-ding-ding. At least they had oil tanks so you didn't have to mix gas.

They were light, fast and cheap. Got horrible milage and stunk bad. Oil dripped from the pipes. People got them when they were too broke to afford a real bike. A Thiumph, BSA, Norton or the magnificent Honda CB750.
 
I can almost smell the Castor oil just listening to them.
Cool vid and some memories too.
Thanks Shan.

Tom
 
Mike B said:
I grew up around them too. We called them "ring-dings" because that's what they sounded like as they went down the road; rriiinnnngggggg-ding-ding-ding-ding. At least they had oil tanks so you didn't have to mix gas.

They were light, fast and cheap. Got horrible milage and stunk bad. Oil dripped from the pipes. People got them when they were too broke to afford a real bike. A Thiumph, BSA, Norton or the magnificent Honda CB750.
Click to expand...

Yep some people got them because they were some of the quickest bikes on the road...thats the crowd I was in, fun, fast and inexpensive, I know my dad used to love to bet fellas on the high powered Kawasakis and such that he could beat them for two or three city blocks on his Yamaha RD350, the ones that didnt know any better would bite on the deal and then leave with their tail between their legs shaking their heads trying to figure out how that little 2 stroke 350 just beat so bad for that short distance, of coarse we know the ending for many of those races would have been different in a 1/4 mile run but if a fella as a good rider those 2 stroke samll cc bikes would hump and get it for a short distance..... I always loved to smell the smoke and rev the heck out of them, even the slower ones sounded fast.....lol!

There were a couple other fellas around here in the 70's and early 80's tricking out the little RD 350's and RD 400's all stripped down and big ole expansion pipes, some crazy fast little bikes....

I'd love to have one of the little RD125 or RD200, I'd run the wheels off that sucker...!!!

Map
 
xseler said:
For some strange reason, I just got the urge to go cut some firewood.............:D
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Sounds good, you cut firewood and Ill run the weed wacker and then afterwards we'll get out the Nitro RC trucks and 4x4 buggy..........lol!

4 strokes are nice quiet and torquey, but ill never get to the point of not feeling an instant level of excitement when I see and hear a strong running 2 smoker.... just aint nothing else like it in the world for me...

Map
 
2door said:
I can almost smell the Castor oil just listening to them.
Cool vid and some memories too.
Thanks Shan.

Tom
Click to expand...

You're welcome Tom, I was hoping some more people on here would enjoy hearing those bikes as much as I did...... I just cant help but get a big ole smile inside and out when I see and hear those 2 smokers like that, im not sure what the deal is with those crazy high back seats, for sure not used to seeing that but itlooks like most of them are functional and I guss thats the in thing in Japan.
 
Yea that brings back a lot of old memories, my brother who is almost three years older than me bought a new 1974 750 triple Kawasaki. I was sixteen and had a car and he didn't at the time, when he needed my car I would ride the bike. A bike like that will today make a old guy like me break the speed limit. It was fun knowing you were riding the fastest thing in town, the police knew it too but that's another story.
 
The sound of a Kaw triple on the pipe and screaming in the night was one of the things that made me a die-hard two stroke fan.
There are better, faster, more user friendly bikes, granted.
But there is NOTHING that raises the hair on the back of a true gearheads neck like the wail of a two stroke twin or triple off in the distance.
And as far as the RD models....they are the single best tool for wheelie popping hooliganism ever designed!
Also had a lot to do with my nickname, Maniac.
 
Nothing was faster in 1974, the closest was the 900 Kawasaki. The triple would eat Honda's up! We had a friend that had a cb 350 four honda, he didn't believe the triple was as fast as we were saying. So my brother says " just to show how fast it is I'll race that Honda 2 blocks and I'll spot you one of them". They line up with my brother on the center line and the other guy near the edge of the road, my brother caught and passed him about 3/4 of second block.
 
Greg58 said:
Nothing was faster in 1974, the closest was the 900 Kawasaki. The triple would eat Honda's up! We had a friend that had a cb 350 four honda, he didn't believe the triple was as fast as we were saying. So my brother says " just to show how fast it is I'll race that Honda 2 blocks and I'll spot you one of them". They line up with my brother on the center line and the other guy near the edge of the road, my brother caught and passed him about 3/4 of second block.
Click to expand...

Yep for a couple blocks the old 2 Smokers were very quick, there was a fella here that had one of the kawasaki 900's and he wanted to race my Dad for 2 blocks title fro title as soon as he got his first tune up on his bike done after a break in period, funny thing was that while he was at the dealership getting his bike gone over, he mentioned to the mechanic that he was gonna race an RD350 title for title as soon as he got this tune and check up, after the mechanic told him not to do unless he wanted to loose his bike he came back and backed out on the deal, of course dad knew that more than maybe two blocks and that 900 would eat his lunch but he knew from previous races what he could do on that bike for two blocks and wasn't concerned in that distance, the thing with those dang RD's and Kawasaki triples was keeping the front wheel on the ground....LOL!
.wee.

Map
 
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