"Never been ridden" '75 RD250(B)

Just wanted to say I am excited to have recently bought a '75RD250(B) and will likely be the first person to ever ride it. It has 12 original miles and I bought it from a guy who claims it was bought by a small engine repair school that went defunct right after they got it. Most of the miles are from it being wheeled from storage site to storage site although the PO did say he drove it (not far, apparently). The thing is a gem and my first 2-stroke, so I can't wait to finally get on it. I'm sure someone will be asking, and the answer is "no" I likely will not be modifying the bike, as everything is pristine (with exception to a rust mark on the top of the tank from something that must've been sitting on the bike as it sat in storage (damn shame... will have to look into a skilled painter who can color-match the small area on the white affected.)

Our own Scott (diesel450) is helping me get the bike legal, as it unforunately did not come with a title... (Can anyone speak of success personally transfering a bike from Maine -> Pennsylvania?) I just wanna have all the forms ready to go to make the transition as smooth as possible. Also going to be looking to learn as much as I can from everyone about 2-strokes so I can get out there and roll-on-the-coal.

The pictures are of the bike before I bought it, and back at home in the "garage" (i.e. living room)

-Scott

What a great find! So Jealous.

As for a title, PA is a pain. Your best bet is to track down the title info and see if the owner on the title can somehow sign and notarize the title. Hopefully he is aware that his bike was sold and doesn't want it back.

The non-legit way would be to obtain the title some how, forge a signature. Find someone who will notarize it then try to switch it over. I however am not accountable for any illegal actions on your part. lol. All i can say is that it probably happens more often then you think.

Having diesel get you a title will work fine. I have already talked to PennDOT about this, and because Maine is a "no title" state, PA has to rcognize the documents that Scott will send you as legal ownership. You will need to fill out a form (cant remember which, but its on PennDOTS website) and take it all to a Notary. They will handle the rest and give you your plates and registration right there.

Anyhow, WOW! Thats a geat bike and such a cool history (or lack there of). Hope you got it for a steal!

I wouldn't even know where to begin with that whole "tracking the original owner down" process. I think it's a local (Philly) bike 'cause the guy I bought it frome said it was in this school in the basement of a highschool in NE Philly (Cheltenham, I guess?) and it had a few "Philly Cycle Center" stickers on it (I guess they donated the bike to the shop...?) This is assuming all of that was true. But that shop still exists, I think it just was moved to a new spot on/around Castor Ave. off Aramingo Ave...

Gah. Either way, the bike has been idle for so long that I guess it becomes "abandoned"? What happens when I go through this loop-hole with diesel450 from Maine and there is a title somewhere floating around in Philly...? Does a new title just get issued? Someone I was talking to said that the state would likely try to contact the original owner from the last title and that they would try to contact them and give them some sort of "grace period" in which they'd have to respond before they ended up issuing a new title... I need to just make a friend at the DMV or in Harrisburg or something.

Call PennDOT and ask. As long as the bike was never registered stolen, you'll be fine.

Where in Philly do you live? I am located in Bella Vista, 8th and Washington area. My bike, however is located 15 mins outside in my parent's garage.

We should ride sometime.

Ted

I live in Fairmount (near 24th and Brown St.) I try to attend the ChinontheTank rides (Thursday nights at the BP @ 25th/Poplar St.) but haven't been in a while because my life has pretty much been falling apart and I was recently hit by a car on my CB200T and I've yet to get it back to where it was before the accident... Now it's kinda on the back-burner 'cause I just started a new job full-time and bought the RD. I've gotta find someplace in the city/area that'll stock the battery I need & 2-stroke oil (not even 100% what is best yet). I live in a row-home and whenever I get stuff shipped to my house from the Internet they like to leave the packages on the stairs out front and they tend to disappear. Total pain in the ass...

This is definitely NOT a bike to tear down and modify. It's just to rare a find. 12 original miles?!? That's just such a great steal at 700 bucks! Great find, great ride, and good luck on your new all original bike! It's beautiful!

12.6 miles. And it shows... I'm almost afraid to ride it because I'm never owned a "new" vehicle, albeit it being 36 years old.

Zooweemama said:

I live in Fairmount (near 24th and Brown St.) I try to attend the ChinontheTank rides (Thursday nights at the BP @ 25th/Poplar St.) but haven't been in a while because my life has pretty much been falling apart and I was recently hit by a car on my CB200T and I've yet to get it back to where it was before the accident... Now it's kinda on the back-burner 'cause I just started a new job full-time and bought the RD. I've gotta find someplace in the city/area that'll stock the battery I need & 2-stroke oil (not even 100% what is best yet). I live in a row-home and whenever I get stuff shipped to my house from the Internet they like to leave the packages on the stairs out front and they tend to disappear. Total pain in the ass...

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2-stroke oil is available at Philadelphia Scooter on Passyunk. They can also order motorcycle parts, batteries and what not. My bro works there.

You can also try Quaker City Motors & Liberty Vintage.

Good to know... I'll have to try to get down there one day. Thanks!

Zooweemama said:

I bought it to ride it - not to look at it.

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fuck n rad man

Wow what a score, you may want to change the tires, they may look good but could let you down in a bad way, other then that, enjoy the crap out of it. I would love to score one like that. I saw a few of these from a closed shop that went out of business on Ebay a while back, still in crates and they went for 4-5000 and up each.

Maritime said:

Wow what a score, you may want to change the tires, they may look good but could let you down in a bad way, other then that, enjoy the crap out of it. I would love to score one like that. I saw a few of these from a closed shop that went out of business on Ebay a while back, still in crates and they went for 4-5000 and up each.

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Holy BALLS. Yea, I plan on getting new tires. Just planned on waiting out this whole titling process before I spend a couple bucks on something that substantial. The rear tire surprisingly looksand feels solid, but the dry rotting/cracking is pretty evident on the front. They're both equally old, so why risk it. Thanks for the heads up!

You gotta be kddin me! 12 MILES! I'll buy it from you for $701 so you can make a profit. ;D Great find. A little jealous here.

Too late, already "sold" it to diesel450. Maybe after he sells it back (Kidding. It's all mine, MUA HAHAHAHA. Fingers crossed for the DMV adventures to come)

Verry Sweet little rig, I've been on the lookout for smoker myself so hats off man, that's a steal.

Have you tried to polish the rust off the tank? Is it a stain or did it get down to the metal? When I finished my paint job on my 360 I had a few spots that needed sanding out and I was looking at having to do all sorta extra work until I wandered into I think Wal-mart of all places and found one of these kits.

http://www.amazon.com/3M-3381-Professional-Scratch-Repair/dp/B00320LLPI

Comes with a small piece of 1000 grit paper and 2 polishing wheels and compound. Sand out the mark, and then polish out the rest or polish the whole tank, that kit had enough in it to do my entire tank. Worked great for me.

frogman said:

Verry Sweet little rig, I've been on the lookout for smoker myself so hats off man, that's a steal.

Have you tried to polish the rust off the tank? Is it a stain or did it get down to the metal? When I finished my paint job on my 360 I had a few spots that needed sanding out and I was looking at having to do all sorta extra work until I wandered into I think Wal-mart of all places and found one of these kits.

http://www.amazon.com/3M-3381-Professional-Scratch-Repair/dp/B00320LLPI

Comes with a small piece of 1000 grit paper and 2 polishing wheels and compound. Sand out the mark, and then polish out the rest or polish the whole tank, that kit had enough in it to do my entire tank. Worked great for me.

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It's a rust stain that looks like it's penetrated through the clear. Doesn't seem to be down to the metal, but it's kinda weird to describe. I'll have to give that 3M stuff a try... I mean, Hell... what can I lose for $16.

Thanks for the tip.

-Scott

congratulations. sounds, and looks, like a great score. but i have to say that the school part scares me a bit. your situation sounds better than others i've heard since it appears that it may have been donated from a bike shop to a school. but this has come up with cx turbos. honda loaned a number of them to motorcycle mechanic schools to learn on. they were never titled in the states and never can be titled. there is actually an incident where someone tried to title one and honda contacted them and wanted their bike back. it was the property of honda, on loan to the school. there are guys on the cx forum who keep titled turbo frames in the hopes of finding a school bike and transferring all the bits over to a titled frame. i hope your score doesn't turn out that way.

dean owens said:

congratulations. sounds, and looks, like a great score. but i have to say that the school part scares me a bit. your situation sounds better than others i've heard since it appears that it may have been donated from a bike shop to a school. but this has come up with cx turbos. honda loaned a number of them to motorcycle mechanic schools to learn on. they were never titled in the states and never can be titled. there is actually an incident where someone tried to title one and honda contacted them and wanted their bike back. it was the property of honda, on loan to the school. there are guys on the cx forum who keep titled turbo frames in the hopes of finding a school bike and transferring all the bits over to a titled frame. i hope your score doesn't turn out that way.

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If that's the case, I'll be on the look out for a titled frame... Didn't really wanna go that route since the numbers match and it'd be a shame to mess that up. I guess I'll find out what's going to happen when Scott (diesel450) gets back to me & then I approach PennDOT. Keep your fingers crossed for me... Anyone got friends in Harrisburg/PennDOT? haha