SUZUKI TS250ER TEENAGE DREAM

IT’S NEARLY 40 YEARS SINCE THE GOVERNMENT killed the UK market for the 250cc motorcycle. With a flood of scaremongering tabloid stories about L-plated 17-year-olds piling their 100mph Yamaha 250LCs and Suzuki X7s into Morris Itals, there wasn’t a lot else it could do. The human cost of these accidents wasn’t something that could be ignored, and we were sometimes our own worst enemies.

For two decades we had been able to rock up at a dealer, sign the papers and take away a very silly motorcycle indeed, from a Kawasaki triple to a Benelli four. Then with our L-plates flapping in the breeze, our protective equipment limited to a Stadium open face and a pair of gloves from our mum’s Freemans catalogue, an anorak, jeans and pair of boots, we were on the road. Those late 1970s 250s were capable creatures and you could cover sizeable distances on the things.

While quarter-litre street racers were all very well, they weren’t the only option. There was another way to go, especially if you lived in the countryside; a biggish trail bike. You could hack it to work in the week and explore the