Click to read: Kawasaki KR-1S owners reviews
Click to read: Suzuki RGV250 owners reviews
It’s not a difficult year to remember, as I was busy screaming from pillar to post in a frenzied quarter-litre rampage, oblivious to the rights of fellow road users as I was practising the art of scratching on my first brand new motorcycle. Whilst working in a shop the previous year flogging Arais and Alpinestars, I had the opportunity to swing a leg over the most captivating machine I’d seen since the 350LC a decade earlier.
A now-defunct motorcycle mag had popped in for a cuppa on a slow afternoon and lent me the keys to a press test bike. Seeing my first RGV in the flesh was an unforgettable moment and I was adamant that I had never seen anything quite so beautiful on two wheels. The ride too was a surreal experience, and one that cemented a split-second decision. I raised the £3,299 within 24 hours and took delivery of F888 RLO the following month.
The tiny tearaway has lost none of its beauty and remains the race-inspired, hard-edged weapon that won Suzuki so many admirers. As disillusioned die-hard superbike riders continued to cock a snoot at the super-light stinkers, the true adrenalin junkies defected to one of the most single-minded and impractical examples of a road legal motorcycle ever released.
It was as though the design department had been briefed to create a limited edition homologation special that could be de-frocked of its lighting and sent into battle at Grand Prix level. In fact, the motor, if not the entire bike, was inspired by and based on half of the then-current V4 500cc GP unit. Take a look at the bike without its bodywork and you’ll see what I mean. The sculptured exhausts and curved radiator, the exposed power valve pulley wheel, the tiny carbs both slotted in behind the rear cylinder. This was the real deal then and still looks sharp today.
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Kawasaki had to react and uphold the honour of their excellent KR-1, which was still relatively performance fresh, but outdated in design terms. The S version arrived without any serious visual enhancement and was merely fettled with more power and a stiffer chassis. A show of confidence or an opportunity missed? Either way, the less radical KR-1S still cut a dash compared to the sports bikes available and would be no pushover in this dust up. It had already proved itself to be, despite the odd excitable moment and reliability issue with cold seizures, a damn fine day-to-day screamer thanks (largely) to its half-sensible riding position.
Though neither 100% original, the two examples here are a stunning, provocative, minimalist glimpse back to a period when the purest form of engineering integrity was found in relatively affordable machinery. Classy bikes with yob tendencies were the order of the day and it wasn’t a difficult concept to grasp. They were attractive, physically manageable for the short and though expensive for their size, not necessarily out of reach for the young guns and not too expensive to maintain either.
The Suzuki in particular is a visual feast and possibly the finest race rep to leave that factory. The design and detailing is so pure and uncompromising – skinny, sculptured race bodywork with a tiny frontal area wrapped around a minimalist, all-aluminium chassis boasting factory-spec frame rails that proudly shrouds the first ever sports bike engine to manage 200bhp per litre. Yep, only a couple of years after the 4-stroke boys looked to be sounding the final death knell of the two-stroke, out pop the upstarts armed with this Uzi on wheels. It’s a devilish cocktail that sets a scene full of expectation.
Adorned with the classic Kawasaki square edge, the slightly cheaper KR-1S was less radical and prestigious perhaps, but just as serious in its intentions. The styling and paint scheme look fine until it is parked it next to the pretty Suzuki and that’s where it ends. There’s seemingly nothing much to separate them in terms of dimensions, weight and power and with no concessions to luxury or convenience, it’s surely just a matter of assessing the performance characteristics and deciding which one is aesthetically more appealing.
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Sitting on the RGV immediately results in flashbacks of one of the real world aspects of ownership. My rear end doesn’t so much sink into the seat but rather stops dead on the concrete pad that separates me from the bodywork. I remember miserable motorway trecks to faraway race meetings that required foam padding for the return journey. It was the most awful town and highway experience imaginable. Not only were the bars too low, they were also too thin, delivering a sensation to the palms and wrists close to agony after an hour.
More positive memories surface as the key is turned - the familiar whir as the power valves open and close ready for service, awakening the pulse. Open the handlebar mounted choke lever, flip out the kick-starter, give it one good prod with a blip of throttle and it rumbles into raw and lumpy life. This is the pinnacle of water-cooled 2-stroke engine development but it still sounds pretty bloody basic. A glance over the shoulder confirms this bike is set up to run rich. It’s smoking like a jazz musician although owner Geoff has assured me that it will clear in time.
Choke off, into gear and watch the rev counter needle move as the engine hits 3,000rpm. The cassette style gearbox was known for being harsh changing from 1st to 2nd but no hint of that here. It snicks through the gears as only a Suzuki can with the minimum of movement and effort and chugs along, struggling to clear. Waiting for the revs to rise on a steady throttle is painful but helped along by a right handful as the RGV clears its lungs at 8,000rpm and starts to fly at 9,000rpm, peaking at just over 10,500rpm. That magical power band is narrow and still quite vicious but it’s the only time that this bike truly makes sense.
Although it will bimble along quite happily at 6,000rpm in top, it’s near impossible to initiate rapid overtaking below those magic numbers. The sweet spot lasts about two seconds at full throttle before another gear is needed, but what a sweet spot! In that very brief moment in time, any vibration or harshness is eliminated and all hell breaks loose. No wonder I used to ride like a lunatic at every opportunity. It’s so addictive partly because to ride below 8,000rpm is messy and uneventful, but in comparison the change in pitch and velocity above that is so pronounced and impressive that there is little choice in the matter. Here is a bike that 20 years down the road is pushing out a level of performance that are perfectly acceptable today.
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My point of reference doesn’t exist for the KR-1 because it is one of those bikes that slipped through the net first time round, as I was busy lording it up on my RGV. Until today, I’d never taken the time to sit on one. But I am now and though there is no visible reason, it thankfully feels more spacious and less extreme than the Suzuki, which is only suitable for sub six footers.
The Jim Lomas stainless exhaust system fitted recently to Cliff Selfe’s KR-1S provides a tasty crackle but means I may never know how the bike behaves in standard tune. Something isn’t quite right though. The KR-1S seems to be making power at very low revs and if I’m not mistaken, there is a trace of torque there too. Perhaps it’s because the fuel/air mixture is so spot on compared to the Suzuki and it’s just behaving normally.
Either way, the KR1 pulls cleanly from 4,000rpm, starts moving at 5,000, lifts up its skirt at 7,000 and is off to the shops at 8,000. The delivery is stronger, cleaner, more usable and certainly no slower than the RGV, petering out at around the same 10,500 mark. The crackle clears as that classic banshee wail pierces the eardrums. Not only is this bike tuned to perfection, it’s clear from the off that it would be easier to live with – more like an early TZR than the thoroughbred RGV.
Carving through the twisty, flat, bumpy back roads of the Lincolnshire countryside exposed a couple of noticeable differences in ride quality. Both bikes have a fairly unforgiving chassis more suited to the racetrack and are set up similarly too firm for these particular surfaces. The Kawasaki is more easily upset, shaking its head if it has too many irregularities to deal with while you can keep the Suzuki in attack mode. They both turn in naturally and quickly, but only the RGV will do it just as well with the front brake still on hard. The KR-1S was legendary for having poorly-valved forks that went from soft to hard with nothing in between. “Like trying to dig up concrete with a pitchfork,” said a bike mag at the time.
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They don’t have much to stop, but the twin discs on the Suzuki are magnificent. You couldn’t ask for more progression, feel or sheer power whereas you certainly could of the Kwak. Sure they work, but have a lack of communication more suited to a 30 year-old tourer than the pinnacle of race bred machinery.
These bikes are all about high corner and exit speed and they are both exceptional at delivering the goods. 140 section radials aid rapid drops and fluent flip-flopping through fast turns, and allow extreme lean angles once the surface is acceptable. There is not enough horsepower and more than enough grip from the rears to apply full throttle, snapping open those power valves mid-corner as you catapult out with the bike still on its ear and charge, as though your grid position and very career depend on it, towards the next corner, and the next. It’s a sublime experience, administering a severe thrashing to a naughty 2-stroke and getting it just right. Obviously the object of the exercise is to keep them on the boil, as especially with the RGV, if you allow the revs to drop out of the frantic zone you’ll lose 50 yards on the exit to the growling KR-1S.
I’m biased, but even today I’d still go for the RGV’s V-twin over the KR-1S’s parallel-twin. Both bikes will take you back to when motorcycles were truly fun, it’s just the Suzuki does it best.
Specifications
RGV250l
Price now: £1500 - £2500
Engine: 249cc water-cooled V-twin
Power: 55bhp @ 10,750rpm
Torque: 29lb ft @ 10,500rpm
Front suspension: Telescopic fork, adjustable preload
Rear suspension: Monoshock, adjustable preload
Front brake: Twin floating discs, 4-piston tokicos
Rear brake: Single disc, 2-piston caliper
Dry weight: 128kg
Fuel capacity: 17l
Top speed: 127mph
Colours: white/blue, black, pepsi
Web: www.rgv250.co.uk
KR-1S
Price now: £1500 - £2500
Engine: 249cc 2-stroke water-cooled, in-line twin
Power: 60bhp @ 10,500rpm
Torque: 30lb-ft @ 10,500rpm
Front suspension: 41mm telescopic forks, adjustable preload
Rear suspension: Monoshock, adjustable preload, compression, rebound
Front brake: Twin disc, 4-piston calipers
Rear brake: Single disc, 2-piston calipers
Dry weight: 130kg
Fuel capacity: 16litres
Top speed: 136mph
Colours: green/black, green/white
Web: www.kr-1s.co.uk
