My first proper bike

[IomMan]

This was my RD250E which I bought in 1981 when it was just 6 months old as a finance reclaim for £400

The pipes were Harris expansions which I bought separately for some reason I can't remember, one off a bloke I must have known, the other I got directly from Harris when they were in the centre of Hertford in an old Mill building. As I lived in Noth Hertfordshire then it was'nt too far away. I got it reasonably cheap because it had a blemish on it but as it was on the inside it didn't make much odds to me.

I managed a full four days on it before stuffing it in a ditch about 2 O'clock in the morning and having a miserable walk back to a mates flat leaving there cos I could'nt budge it.
Not one of my better days

I had it for a couple more years before I was knocked off it by a numbty who swipped me off it not looking before an impossible overtake, leaving me in Hospital for a month and a off work for 6, during that time the law changed and I could'nt ride a 250 on L plates any more. So I got a racing license Instead, you only needed to fill out a form for that!

I am pretty sure it is still about somewhere, I posted it on "where's my RD" I'd love to catch up with it again.

[loctite]

I’m giving this a like 👍

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This was my RD250E which I bought in 1981 when it was just 6 months old as a finance reclaim for £400

The pipes were Harris expansions which I bought separately for some reason I can't remember, one off a bloke I must have known, the other I got directly from Harris when they were in the centre of Hertford in an old Mill building. As I lived in Noth Hertfordshire then it was'nt too far away. I got it reasonably cheap because it had a blemish on it but as it was on the inside it didn't make much odds to me.

I managed a full four days on it before stuffing it in a ditch about 2 O'clock in the morning and having a miserable walk back to a mates flat leaving there cos I could'nt budge it.
Not one of my better days

I had it for a couple more years before I was knocked off it by a numbty who swipped me off it not looking before an impossible overtake, leaving me in Hospital for a month and a off work for 6, during that time the law changed and I could'nt ride a 250 on L plates any more. So I got a racing license Instead, you only needed to fill out a form for that!

I am pretty sure it is still about somewhere, I posted it on "where's my RD" I'd love to catch up with it again.

Nice back in the day photo. I've only just realised;
Spoked wheels.

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[Motty]

Nice back in the day photo. I've only just realised;
Spoked wheels.

And doesn't it look good with them


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[[Arrow]]

Sure does.

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[IomMan]

When I learnt from my Dad that this bike was available and the price I just said to my Dad "I`ll have it"
I never actually saw it until I paid for it,  I knew it was an RD250 and it was white, that was a dream already.  A mate of mine had the 400 in white with Mag wheels and it looked fantastic, I did not even know that mag wheels were an extra as I was n`t particuarly clued up on the models and options.
I was just a little dissapointed with the wire wheels when I saw it but I soon got over it, I was just over the moon to have an RD and a lease agreement of course.
It was'nt till years later, long after I sold it that I discovered that the spoked wheels were actually the better option due to their weight but I was 18 and what it looked like was almost the most importent thing back then.

I do remember that it used to kill my knuckles cleaning the wheels up with solvol, I wished then I had mag wheels

Oh, and just one more thing that has not been noticed yet, the tyres!
My Dad was a copper at the time and insisted it had new tyres and bought them on the basis I paid him back! He got them and to my horror he got a set of Avon SM`s!  Bloody horrible square things. To be fair, they seemed to handle sort of OK once I managed to get SQUARE out of my brain, I did maange to get a set of TT100`s for it after a while which was a massive imptovement.