Suzuki GT 250, first start after 20 years

[@vmontijo]

Nope. I am an old guy that grew up all around Suzuki two-strokes, and I know these bikes front to back... I have currently have 28 Suzuki 2-stroke street bikes (not a typo!), many GT's, and now even more of them are RG's (yay!). Younger/less experienced 2-stroke enthusiasts please read on: It is indeed running on both cylinders, it would never idle on only one cylinder. The smoke you see on the right cylinder is one of two things: most likely: a) All two strokes with oil-injection have a "check valve " on EACH oil line going to the cylinder/crank bearing... this is to stop oil from dripping into the crankcase when parked... the oil pump alone will NOT stop the oil from flowing through it when parked... the force of gravity acting on the oil in the oil tank will pass oil through it, and ALL injection pumps (that I know of) need some mechanism to stop the oil flow when it is parked (for extended periods). After time, these oil check valves fail to stop all the oil from seeping past and allow oil to dribble into the places that the lines are going. If parked for weeks, months, years, I have seen extreme cases where so much oil has seeped into the combustion chamber that the engine would not turn over at all (hydraulic lock). Most folks that ride vintage two-strokes are NOT aware of this problem but the check valves leak when they get old. There is a tiny ball bearing being pushed to oppose the flow by a tiny spring... under normal conditions the oil pump pressure is easily enough to "crack" the seal and push the ball bearing open against the spring... all part of the design. But over time the (chrome steel) ball bearing begins to form tiny "pits" and local defects - much like fork tubes do. When this happens, oil begins to seep past. It is such a gradual process that the owners may not realize this is happening - especially if the bike is ridden regularly. As you can guess, this almost always happens on one side before the others. Whichever cylinder has the offending check valve will smoke terribly at first start-up then "clean up a bit" as the you keep riding and burn through all the excess accumulated oil. But when you park the bike, the process repeats. As an older 2-stroke lover/restorer, I am so amazed at how many people think that this "smoking" is a natural part of two strokes (nicknamed 2-smokes!), but it ABSOLUTELY IS NOT! Back in the day my old GT's, Yamaha RD's, Kawi triples NEVER smoked like this - even on start up. If you got a smokey two-stroke - especially on just one side, or one side worse than the others, etc. this is almost certainly what it is. Now the other thing this might be is b): This bike's right cylinder needs a crank seal. If this is the case, the smoke you see coming out of the pipe is actually transmission oil being sucked in and pumping out the pipe. The difference will be in the way the visible smoke SMELLS... Trans oil smells ugly - a bit like like burning rubber... if it's excess 2-stroke oil seeping in, it will smell like the 2-stroke oil itself, which generally has a fragrance added to oil to make them more acceptable. I hope this helps you fellow 2-stroke lovers! Cheers!

[@ScragNath]

Too much information. Mine was shite. One pot was always cutting out. The points drifted too easily. My test instructor passed me because it was raining. The chain and sprockets were made of soft monkey metal. Rubbish bike.

[@umakantgajjewar8898]

Very good and detailed info. Please also provide information on how to solve this problem in detail. Many people would benefit from your knowledge and experience. Thanks again.

[@TT-zc6gf]

vmontijo iv just bought a 71 250t i might be in touch as chap said hard to start p

[@burtvhulberthyhbn7583]

Damn right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@happysawfish]

vmontijo AWESOME WRITE UP. I love reading by someone who really knows what they are talking about. I'm looking for a nice Two Stroke that I can ride and not leave me stranded, not to just sit around.

[@Trebor-hc7ri]

I had a GT250M with the 'Ram air' system in 1975 and a GT250A years later. The noise is unique! Slow as pooh mind you. I was always being burned off by RD 250's and when the LC came out.............Great memories😀

[@keepitrunning]

I can smell that two stroke smoke from here.

[@christinecrockford1654]

Beautiful smell I used to have one these also an rd 250 all on L plates lol till they ruined the laws

[@burtvhulberthyhbn7583]

Stinking smoking ring ding ding. Damn I love those things. The smell is heavenly.

[@donaldwainwright]

This was my second motorcycle I bought the speed and cloud of smoke brings back memories of teenage years

[@MSmifffy]

My first proper bike was a GT250, love the crackle of a 2 stroke :-)

[@joeyong1418]

I had one, loved the big petrol tank, always had to clean the contact points that keep burning up, couldn't go past 90kmh haha. The cool thing about it is the gear box. There is a neutral between 5th and 6th gear and another one between 3rd and 4th if I remember correctly hhh

[@tbeardmore1]

i had plenty of these old killers back in the day ,kicks in on 2 cylinders then runs on 1 as he pulls off , petrol turned off doesnt help and a leaking tap with seal gone , may have crank seal on way out too . lovely bike

[@TroyaE117]

If the motor has been idle for years, it is an idea to flood the crankcase with a 50/50% oil/fuel mix to wet the crank seals again. The seals can burn quickly if they are dry. The bike looks very clean.

[@terrylee7104]

My first bike... a candy red one in 78...top speed was 142 kpm then it started to starve , I found that the marine 2 stoke oil available at the time (blue) reduced the plug oiling up problem resulting in the bike running on one cylinder !!

[@MrAndrew1953]

First bike I owned was a Suzuki T250R in 1972 which I rode from Perth to Melbourne in 3 and a half days.

[@Pelefan1970]

Had the very same model and colour. Loved it.😃😃

[@dewelhilton6439]

Love that 2 stroke sound...

[@Don-lw4cb]

Great little bikes, fun to ride.

[@michaelparker4613]

Had the same bike same colour back light is of the 250a never let me down much better than the rds and kh 250s great bike

[@mick0846]

My dad had one exactly the same in the early 90s that he used everyday for work. He bought it from the " loot" for 350 and it was mint!. If only we had a crystal ball ha. His would start first or second kick every time and went like a rocket . This one sounds like its struggling a bit?

[@jangineering2624]

WHAT ARE THOSE??!!!

[@Trebor-hc7ri]

It may just need the carbs balancing. Use two halves of a pencil in the throats to see that they open at the same time. Simple fix possibly.

[@antoniomorandi7876]

Sbaglio o ha poca compressione?

[@beakittelscherz5419]

Warum nagelt die so heftig

[@Herb-bu7wz]

When I turned 15 I talked my parents into buying me a brand new 1973 GT250. Your engine doesn’t look right to me. Is it missing the RAM Air scoop? Maybe yours is an older version? As I recall, mine was dead reliable and easy to start once I got used to the differences in control manipulation between a cold and a warm start. I had to learn how my baby liked being started. It’s a thang.

[@wbtx2075]

The second versions from 1976 onwards ditched the Ram-air-system for conventional heads. Those models were slightly more powerful than the Ram-air-ones, even though they needed to rev higher. A two-stroke being hard to start after 20 years of standing around is pretty normal.

[@pattoallen1981]

its running like a sick gin sounds like its only firing on 1 cylinder

[@emeraldviking3637]

Reliable bike

[@TheAlbundy3333]

It’s only running on one cylinder

[@stephenwintle5090]

It will not run on one cylinder

[@mcbain3949]

20 years ? Why would you clean it so thoroughly without getting it going first .

[@skylined5534]

Might have been wrapped up in warm dry storage all that time.

[@liggins2458]

I have a mint t595. Don't use it as secretly want something from the 70s that I used to drool over as a kid. So one of these it will be.

[@billybarr7443]

Its nackerd lad

[@happysawfish]

Wo ist jetz heute der Suzuki?

[@MrStarfighterf104]

Die hab ich vor ein paar Jahren nach Bayern verkauft.

[@Glimmlicht]

@@MrStarfighterf104 na wenigstens ist mal eine nicht nach Holland gegangen

[@MrStarfighterf104]

@@Glimmlicht Und das, obwohl ich direkt an der holländischen Grenze wohne.

[@davidmarshall1259]

very nice.

[@jezztech]

if its running on just the one cylinder as other posts state then stop it asap, because the crank is dragging round the un lubed cylinder, on a multi cylinder two stroke the non firing cylinder will seize due to lack of oil passage via the petrol, you should know that. Incidentally it looked very good but sounded BAD.

[@MrStarfighterf104]

It was the very first start. After that i cleaned the carburators and the engine runs well. Since the first run i drove the bike 1000 km without any problems. In June 2014 i sold the bike.

[@BobJones-zf6ie]

These bikes had oil injection systems to oil critical areas regardless of number of cylinders firing. Plus I think the heavy oil burning you see on the right cylinder is probably due to a bad crankcase seal on that side allowing transmission oil to leak in on the right hand crankcase. I would think the left hand cylinder is firing, just not burning transmission oil like the other side is.

[@tombyrne1142]

I agree. It looks more like bad crank seals than a dead cylinder. You can definitely hear two cylinders running.

[@dereknutt150]

Think you should check spark and see if oil is circulating before problems

[@Trumplican]

bob you can tell by the sound one cylinder isnt firing

[@doyleross751]

Suzuki 125..its running on 1 cyl

[@nor4277]

Use sythenanic oil it doesn't smoke

[@RatAndRaven]

Nice footwear.

[@MrStarfighterf104]

Yes, allways wear safety-cloth.

[@uttaradit2]

crocs with socks

[@abdulmalek8409]

My favourite bike but not anymore

[@charlesrenniemacki]

Best not mention socks with sandals.... oops!

[@doxen756]

GEIL :D

[@markullyett]

One firing on one cylinder?

[@MrStarfighterf104]

The carburator has to be cleaned. As i said it was the first start for a long time. Now it.s running perfect. See my other video of the GT 250.

[@stephenhudson7039]

Had one. Pig to start.🇬🇧

[@chrishorst6993]

Two cylinders

[@sklooobalkabbi1189]

رافع الهواء الخدمي

[@paulcowell585]

socks and sandels

[@jezztech]

reply to Harry H , glad you got it sorted, cos otherwise youd kill it.

[@MrStarfighterf104]

See my other videos of the bike. You can hear that it´s running well.

[@blackhat400]

A One cylinder, twin ,,

[@airport4173]

it's got NO COMPRESSION. thats why it needs so many kicks.

[@dominiquelesage7860]

Ben vous les anglais vous êtes toujours différents des autres pays de l'europe 😂😂😂, nous le quick de démarrage ce trouve à droite et le ralentie se trouve à gauche

[@Trumplican]

bad crank seal

[@vmontijo]

For two-stroke advice - you followers can reach me at [e-mail]... Beautiful bike! Congrats on getting back into shape and sounding great. The simplest way (but risky if you are not careful!!!) is what I do - put a shutoff (in-line petcock) on the oil supply tube that I turn off when parked for extended periods. On some of my more "leaky bikes" i have to shut this valve off even sitting overnight, others in my collection can go a week or more. But you all know what can happen if you ever forget to turn the valve ON when you go to ride the bike - BEWARE! For me, I have so many of these old 2-strokes that it total habit for me to turn the "oil petcock" on whenever the "gas petcock" is turned on and vs vs. I understand that Suzuki 2-stroke outboard engines have replaceable in-line automatic check valves... Good luck with yours!

[@majoseffstv8712]

Left piston isn't firing

[@majoseffstv8712]

oh, looks like you resolved the problem

[@mikevallom7267]

Socks and sandals and a shocking miss... Nup

[@ScragNath]

The worst two stroke 250 ever. I paid £595 in 1977 for a new one. Should have bought an RD 250.

[@booldawg]

The answer would be the same with pretty much any 2 stroke 250 back then!

[@david-fx8ri]

They sound bloody awful x7 for me anyway.

[@skylined5534]

They sound great. The X7 sounded virtually identical to the GT, which is no great surprise really.