Length 2080 mm / 81.8 in
Width 750 mm / 29.5 in
Height 1090 mm / 42.9 in
Wheelbase
1360 mm / 53.5 in
Seat Height
785 mm / 30.9 in
Ground Clearance
165 mm / 6.4 in
Dry Weight
139 kg / 306.4 lbs
Fuel Capacity
16.5 Litres / 4.3 US gal
Consumption Average
40 mpg
Standing
¼ Mile
14.6 sec
Top Speed
98 mph / 157.7 km/h
.
This was a supersport model developed with the TZ250 as its base. It
immediately created a big sensation after its stunning debut at the 1979
Tokyo Motor Show. Its liquid-cooled 2-stroke, 2-cylinder engine pumped out
high power equivalent to 140 hp per liter of displacement.
This was mounted
on a double cradle frame with a Monocross suspension and other features like
lightweight cast wheels to produce unprecedented running performance. Even
today it remains a legendary model with a devoted following.
Almost as quick as its 350 brother, the 250LC earned
extra notoriety in 1980 with a top speed in excess of 100mph. Fond parents said
that selling a 250 as fast as this was tantamount to Yamaha inviting the
(British) nation's youth to commit hara-kiri in the run up to the L-test. It all
added up to a very effective send-off for the LC, which (of course) became
overnight the learner's favourite bike.
Based — but very loosely, like the 350LC — on the
layout of Yamaha's five-year-old watercooled racers, the 250 had a reed valve as
an aid to easy induction and separate barrels where the competition TZ had had
the pair as one unit; an obvious similarity was the water impeller driven from
the right end of the crankshaft. Ports were smaller on the road bike, as were
the Mikuni carburettors.
Cylinder head design, too, was different.
But in concept, and looks, the LC displayed much of the racer's style. Its
performance was ahead of that of the earlier air-cooled RD, which in its day was
reckoned to be king of the 250s, in speed if not in sales.
Any corrections or more information on these motorcycles will be kindly appreciated.