Absence makes the heart grow fonder. So often we really only appreciate something when we no longer have it.
That’s the case for Daniel Williams, our parts, clothing and accessories manager, and the motorbike he owned when he passed his bike test.
Daniel bought the 1993 model Suzuki RGV250 in 1997 as a ‘doer-upper’.
“I got it before I had my bike licence as I had to do it up. It had a blown-up engine – they’re pretty highly strung!
“I did it up and then did my bike test.”
He used it on the road, for track days and even raced it in the British Motorcycle Racing Club (Bemsee) class for 250 two-strokes and 400 four-strokes.
He reckons he only used it on the road for about 18 months until, wanting something faster and more powerful, he bought a Suzuki GSX-R600.
“I got rid of it when I bought my GSX-R600, because it was like a rocket ship, and thought I would never use the RGV250 again.”
However when he started doing track days on the GSX-R600, he realised how different it was to set up for a corner and how much he missed the agile RGV250.
“With the 250 you could do almost what you wanted and I realised that it handled very well,” he said.
He recalls paying about £1,500 for the Suzuki RGV250 and selling it for about the same amount.
“It didn’t look as nice when I bought it as it was crash-damaged so had odd panels on it. The engine was seized too.
Before selling it, Daniel tidied up the bodywork.
“A mate had one which had been sitting in his garden for a few years so I bought the fuel tank and all the bodywork and repaired mine.”
Daniel’s RGV250 was originally blue with white stickers but took on a new look with the replacement bodywork from the 1992 model.
“It was brilliant and I do miss it,” he added.