1979 TS 250 - Highway driving?

[bchunter]

I have a new to me 1979 TS 250 that runs great and only has 7000 km's on it. I have had it out in the dirt and it runs great for it's age.

My question is how much highway driving can I do with this bike? Can it drive at 100 km/h for a short time, a long time, or not at all?

Thanks for the help.

Jim

 

[Enduro_Nut]

Without a "cush" hub it will ruin the gearbox.

 

[bchunter]

Pardon my ignorance, but what is a cush hub?

 

[Enduro_Nut]

It has rubber mounting points in the rear wheel to allow sudden torque impacts on concrete to be absorbed - the tranny on 2 strokes are actually quit fragile on pavement.

 

[bchunter]

That is good to know. Is there a way that I can see if mine has one? If not, where can I order one? Would my local Suzuki dealer be able to help?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Mad Norris]

The TS250 is a dual sport, designed for road use, and has rubber cushions in the hub.

It should be fine on the highway, except for the vibration.

 

[dirt bike dave]

Sustaining 100 km/hour for a short time should be fine if the bike is healthy, but long periods at that speed are not much fun on a small displacement dual sport, IMO.

Take the backroads where you can.

Make sure your brakes and tires are up to snuff. Other wear items like steering head bearings, wheel bearings and swing arm bushings/bearings can also cause problems at high speed on the road, so make sure the bike is in good shape, because road rash sucks.

 

[bchunter]

I am lucky that I have a good friend who I am riding in the dirt with that knows a ton about bikes and is willing to spend some time with me and go over the bike from top to bottom. I am going to have to get a road legal rear tire for it though, and a couple of other minor parts, but I am looking forward to trying it on the road. If it is anywhere near the fun that it is on dirt, then it will be worth the time and money.

And if road rash is anything like dirt rash, then I can believe that it sucks.

Thanks for the help.

 

[dirt bike dave]

Dirt is almost always more fun, lol.

Some of the old dual sport bikes had strange gearing from the factory. I've no experience with your model, but some were geared too tall to pull top gear, so you might be able to improve both street and dirt performance by altering the stock sprockets.

100 km/hour is going to be pushing the old girl pretty hard, and it may not be able to reach that speed into a brisk headwind, especially if the motor is tired or the exhaust is clogged. Chances are the bike will be much happier cruising at around 80 km/hour.

In an event, your high speed accelleration is going to be weak, and braking distance from highway speeds is going to be poor. So be careful out there!

 

[bchunter]

I have had it in 5th on the main logging roads and it seems to go well, but I don't know what my speed is as I am waiting for a new speedo cable, but my guestamit is around 80 and it seemed to do that with no problem at all, granted it was a small distance.

The stopping does make me worry a bit as it is drum both front and back. It stops fine in the dirt, but I am not doing highway speeds.

The main plan is to get good on the street with this one and in the next couple of years look at getting a DRZ 400. My street experience is non existing, so I thought this might be a good bike to start with on the street as it is not a power hog, but it is in good enough shape to get me around until I find a winning lotto ticket.

I agree right now that dirt is more fun, but I want to try the street as well, also so I don't have to load the bike in the truck to leave town, I can just ride out.

Thanks a ton for all the help.

 

[bchunter]

Just to let you know, I have taken my bike on the hwy lots of times now and I love it. It runs great. I have not done any long trips on it, but plan on doing a couple of trips to nearby towns next summer after some lighting work.

Thanks for all the help.