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| | 1986 RTL250S
American Honda imported the RTL-250S for only one year, 1986. Due to the very limited number of RTL-250S’s brought to The USA (fifteen); Honda Racing in Gardena, California handled its distribution.
For its time it was a very competitive Observed Trials bike, even though it was the only four stroke engine equipped trials bike on the market. It was very light and it made excellent power. Their cost was higher than other trials bikes at the time, but its limited production numbers justified the extra expense.
I had a man visit our dealership from Japan, who was riding around with our Honda representative. I took him out to my farm and showed him my RS250 Trials Bike and told him that we needed a bike like this brought to The USA.
The following year at our annual Honda Convention, the national sales representative saw my nametag as I was looking over the RTL-250S and he said that I better hope that it sells.
At that point I realized that the Japanese man who had visited our farm was a very influential Executive and it was him that imported the RTL-250S and the Honda Reflex TLR-200 on behalf of American Honda. The gentleman’s name was Mr. Harada and he is now part of the Board of Directors for Honda Motor Co. in Japan.
I have ridden this bike in many trials and enjoyed those competitive hours as much as any leisure activity in my life. There is such a feeling of cleansing of the mind when all you are concentrating on is where your front and back wheels are and how they are reacting to the ground conditions.
Our museum has two of the original RTL-250S that we imported in 1986.
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