In the last few years, I’ve been lucky to find three motorcycles that had historically low miles. One was a 2003 BMW F650CS with about 1,000 miles on the odometer and this past May, I found a 2012 Suzuki TU250X with 78 actual miles. Both were ridden for about a week and parked….permanently. In collectors slang, a “Barn Find”. I spotted the Facebook ad for the Suzuki early one morning, about 6:00AM. I thought to myself that this was obviously a typo, no 2012 bike has 78 miles. Must be 780, or 7,800? Nope…after a few messages back and forth and pictures of the title, I realized I had found a bike that few collectors (or riders)will ever see outside of a showroom or a museum. Absolutely amazing and something I’m quite sure I’ll never experience again.
Fast forward a few days and I picked up the bike and trailered it home. A very long day, but absolutely worth it. The bike itself was in nearly like-new condition. The owner had done a great job of keeping it stored and preserved. There was a long story about why he had never ridden it again, but I won’t go into that. After I got the bike home, I spent about a month doing the normal stuff you have to do when bringing a bike back to life after a long time in storage….cleaning the tank, installing all new fuel system components (fuel pump, filter, pressure regulator, injector), new battery, new tires, new plug, new oil and filter, etc. The bike started up instantly and runs showroom new.
To date, I’ve put about 30 miles on the bike, just cruising the neighborhood and checking out all the systems. I can see why this series is so loved by owners and riders. It just does everything well….easy to ride, handles great, stops great, light weight, great vintage British look and of course, Suzuki reliability. Will I keep it….I’m not sure, but I can say it’s one of the most fun bikes to ride I’ve ever owned. The problem is I only have half of a 2-car garage to park these projects, so space is at a premium. I mainly work on old BMW airheads and that’s where my real interest and experience lies, so time will tell. I might just find a permanent spot for this one.