SMOKING AGAIN

THE SUZUKI'S CRISP, BLOCKY LINES WHISPER "KEVIN SCHWANTZ" IN THE RIDER'S EAR, AND THE BANANA SWINGARM IS GORGEOUS.

As the tach needle swept past 8,000 rpm, the sound of the accelerating Honda NSR250 swept me back 27 years to a wild ride through the Hollywood hills on gray-market 250cc two-strokes snuck into the States from Japan. Within six months of that day I lapped Willow Springs Raceway on Keith Code’s Yamaha TZ250 with Wayne Rainey as my coach. That period for me at Motorcyclist magazine sunk the needle of 250cc two-stroke addiction deep into my arm, and many American enthusiasts drooled with me.

By 1991, 250cc smokers were coming of age. Twin-spar aluminum frames had replaced the steel trellis or backbone and parallel-twin engines were being set aside for vees. Manufacturers were truly mimicking their race-only bikes in chassis and suspension, while the streetversion engines were relatively anemic and restricted by Japanese law to 45 hp. But the hit was still a thrill. And uncorking the bikes’ performance potential by removing the factory restrictions on output was pretty straightforward. Too bad the bikes were illegal in the US…

Now, it seems their day has come again. We had our doubts