• Early 80’s
• GP World Championship
• TZ250 rulz

Until Honda rolled out the RS250, ’85

 

TZ250H

 

• 1981
• TZ250H
• Mechanically-governed 500cc powervalves. Closed to 8,750 rpm. Fully opened 11,000 rpm. Reliable power
• Crankcase was split left and right
• Run backwards
• Tapped from the center
• Lower piston speed. More reliable bottom ends
• Free flowing exhaust gases

• Mikuni ZC carbs
• New frame. 6.5 pounds lighter
• Engine a little more forward
• Improved rear shock
• Reduced rake improving the ride
• Wire wheels on offer

Expensive

Pushed Kawasaki’s KR250

 

85 … TZ250N

 

• 85
• TZ250N
• Reeds too small and heavy
• Flawed cylinder redesign
• Bit of a pig
• Exhaust, Carb kits, A bit of suspension fiddling. None covered poor engine performance

85. Honda’s 70HP RS250. Twin-spar aluminum frame. Rubbed Yamaha’s nose in it

In the 90’s.  YZR/TZ 250. Yamaha had a little success …

 

keeping the price right … and Dotti … bet she’s still doing her thing there at Yamaha Ca

MikesXS have never been my friends. Poor product quality control. Marginal materials. But, they were there. Many XSes simply wouldn’t be running without the passion Mike Lalonde brought to his business.

Time doesn’t stop (in a ‘normal’ world). When our universe ceases to exist in the ‘reality’ we experience, time, as we (mis)understand it, wont. We get older. Our priorities change. We move on.

This has happened to MikesXS. Mike had other plans for his life. As it should be. The business was sold. And we, as consumers had high hopes. Of improved quality control. Of better customer service. Of continued access to parts.

And what have we got?

I don’t know about you but I have heard no end of owners grumbling. My order hasn’t been filled. Or only partially filled. Parts on backorder. Mikes are ‘awaiting a large order currently on the docks’. The list of unavailable parts seems to get longer, not shorter.

In the 70’s I was interested in a career in finance. Economics was, and still is , a fascination. What eventually soured me was a takeover (of the company I worked for) by Asset Strippers. They sought private and public companies with market or share values lower than their toal asset value and simply stripped them. Sold the existing stock. Sold the assets. Split what was left into smaller Business Units and laid everyone else off. Fortunes were made by the few. Families and whole communities were destroyed. Real progress! And it hasn’t stopped. Wont, until blood starts to flow.    

What does this mean for us?

I was taking a quick look at the German forum over the weekend and found this from Rüdiger, owner of the XSShop Kiel in Germany:

Hallo XS Freunde,
die neuen Besitzer von MikesXS in Florida haben leider die Ersatzteillieferungen an mich eingestellt , es zeichnete sich schon kurz nach der Übernahme des Geschäftes eine Verschlechterung ab, teilweise bekam ich nur knapp 50% der bestellten Teile geliefert.
Bei Nachfrage in Florida wurde mir mitgeteilt das MikesXS keine Teile mehr von dem Hauptlieferanten aus Taiwan bekommt ( keine Ahnung warum ) und sie somit die Lieferungen an Ihre Vertriebspartner in Japan und Europa einstellen .
Ich werde nun zusammen mit Heidentuning die benötigten Teile in Eigenregie importieren.
Das ein oder andere Ersatzteil wird somit sicherlich kurzfristig ausverkauft sein aber es kommt wieder rein.

Rüdiger

Basically translated as:

The new owners of mikexs have stopped delivering to me … soon after taking over the service deteriorated and they started only supplying part orders … on enquiry they said that they were not dealing with their taiwanese suppliers anymore and in future would not be supplying their business contacts in japan and europe …

Jerry Heiden and myself are now planning on importing our own supplies (from taiwan??) and expect to be short stocked in the meantime … this will not last

Sounds like some underhanded dealing happening behind the scenes somewhere … ??bills not being paid by the new owners?? … ??setting the scene for massive price hikes?? … ??deliberate minimal shelf stocking?? … ??cashing in on existing stock to pay their own bills?? … cant at all imagine Rüdiger or Jerry not paying their bills-be like shooting themselves in the foot.

Asset Strippers at work here? Locusts? An attempt to cut Jerry and Rüdiger out of the profit chain?

I don’t know. I do however have a distinct sense of déjà vu.

 

or are all of mikesxs_ awaited containers here

 

Guess we will have to wait and see.

Happy riding.