Ton-up 250s
I’ve recently read the Suzuki Super Six was the world’s first 100mph 250 roadster. Surely others got there before the T20 Super Six?
Steven Mitchell, North Wales.
Surprisingly, more difficult to call than one imagines. Launched in 1964, the 248.5cc Ducati Mach 1 with 10:1 compression and five-speed gearbox was the first 250cc road model to break the ton up barrier. But some argue it was a roadgoing racer. Developed from the Ducati Daytona (aka Diana), the 255lb lightweight developed 24bhp@8500rpm and passed the 100mph barrier in the hands of some, but not all, testers around the world including Motor Cycle News in the UK.
Launched for 1966, the Suzuki Super Six – coded the T20 – 247cc two-stroke twin developed 29bhp@7500rpm and was quoted as clocking 94/96mph. Weighing almost 50lb more than the Mach 1, it was a more refined machine, and, of course, boasted a six-speed gearbox. Despite the earlier quoted top speed, in period testers, lying prone, squeezed over the ton from the Super Six, and reported so.
As history informs, both have proved great basis for developing into racing motorcycles.
If one forgets critics who claim the Mach 1 a racer (after all, it had lights, horn and other bits to make it a road legal machine) then it has to be the first 100mph 250, as it was launched over a year earlier than the T20. But I have very fond memories of a certain 1967 Suzuki Super Six… so why not prolong the light-hearted argument.