In case you haven’t noticed, prices have gone up for some vintage vehicles over the last couple of decades, says Cap’n Obvious. Sometimes, they seem reasonably priced, such is the case of these four 1970s Suzuki and Kawasaki on/off-road bikes, two 100s and two 185s. The seller has them listed here on Facebook Marketplace in Hilbert, Wisconsin, and the seller is asking $1,250 each. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Lothar… of the Hill People for the tip!
This fun collection of vintage Suzuki off-road or dual-purpose (on and off-road) motorcycles includes two 100cc bikes and two 185cc bikes. If I had an extra $5,000 lying around, I’d just get all four. What the heck, life is short. $1,250 for a nice-looking vintage Suzuki 185 seems like a deal to me in 2025 when most things are going up and up and up. I believe the “Silver Mist” bike is a 1974 Suzuki TC185 (the 185 badge is missing from the exhaust shield). A great little dual-purpose motorcycle to get to the trails and then have fun on the trails. Its 183cc two-stroke single runs through a 5-speed manual, and this one has knobbier tires than it would have had when new. That’s a good thing in my world.
The Marble Yellow bike is, I believe, a 1973 Suzuki TS100 enduro, mainly for off-road use without turn signals, but with a headlight and tail light, and also a speedometer and rack on the back for your lunch when you get out into the middle of nowhere. The 97cc two-stroke, rotary-valve single has 11 horsepower and about 9 lb-ft of torque being sent through a unique 4-speed dual-range transmission. Don’t laugh at a 100, I’d bet this one has more than enough power to throw you off if you aren’t paying attention.
This colorful devil is, I believe, a 19… something Kawasaki KE100. They were made from 1976 through 2001, so this could be anywhere toward the latter end of that run. I’d guess somewhere in the 1990s? The seat is really purple, so yeah, green and purple are a crazy mix of colors, but the graphics scream 1990s to me as well. As you can see, it’s the only other bike here with turn signals, so you can drive it (slowly) to the trails and then hit the trails. This 185-pound motorcycle is powered by a Kawasaki 99cc two-stroke single with a 5-speed transmission. The seller says all four bikes run very well, and all four come with titles.
The last one is, I believe, a 1972 Suzuki TS185 Sierra, arguably one of Suzuki’s best motorcycles. According to reviews, it had almost the power of a 250, was as light as a 125, and was just a great all-around on-off bike. The 183cc two-stroke single had 18 horsepower and 14 lb-ft of torque spinning through a 5-speed manual. It’s hard to tell the condition of these motorcycles without a lot of detailed photos, but for $1,250 each, including a title and a seller who says they all run great, that seems like a good price to me. Which one would you get?
I swear, folks, this guy could sell dirt bikes in the winter. I’d like to rescind my opinion about having fun with these smaller bikes. Granted, getting TO the trails is dangerous, but once off the highway, 4 people , perhaps a family( yeah, I wished) could have a blast. If loaded on a trailer, taken to the trailhead, I’ve been places in the Northwoods, snowmobile trails in summer, or RR right of ways, you can ride for hours, with gas being your biggest concern. Being street legal helps in that regard. When these were new, there were all kinds of empty lots, along freeways, or abandoned gravel pits, today filled with stacked apartments, and not the same.
Oh, I must say, as much as it pains me, a 185 is not a 250. I had a friend with a TS185 like the orange one, and sorry, SG, it was a gutless thing, always lagging behind. Still, a really fun bike for what it was.
Totally agree Howard w your thoughts, and the 175-185 class are fun bikes especially for sight seeing… until you catch a ride on 350.. thats what happened to me. 😲💁♂️🏁
Hi Stan, true, I’ve had small dirt bikes where the going got rough and didn’t have enough power, and end up pushing the dang thing, usually in the mud. I’ve had “power” get me through those rough spots. I do agree, I don’t think you need any more than a 350/400, 500/650 and such are mostly for bragging, my DR400 was about as big as I would have wanted. It was just too darn complicated, though. Liquid cooled was , and always is, a hassle, no kick start, too high off the ground for a shrimp like me, even with “lowered seat”, a speedometer/whatsis I never did figure out and sorely needed a 6th gear. These are light, simple, and a lot more fun.
Disagree on your points of 185 isn’t a 250…..duh…..that would be ALL across the board. Nonetheless these are great survival bikes and priced just about right. Noway to compare to your newer three times the price high stepper but for those that thing young…..Pamela…..
I agree , gutless does not equal fun whatsoever !
The antidote for gutless is CR500….grab yourself a handful of fun !
The power-to-weight ratio between the TS185 and TS250 are practically the same. I have both (1972s) that I trail ride from time to time. The 250 makes noticeably more torque at times, but it’s geared for more top speed at a lower redline, so most of the time the torque is about a break even. The 185 is rev happy and feels quicker on the trails most of the time. When the trails get tight the extra 60+ lbs. of the 250 really shows itself and the 185 will run away from it. When I restored the 185 I used a stock 250 rear hoop, tire, front forks, and front brake, and plastic TS125 fenders. Overall its about 3 lbs heavier, but made the 185 even better than original.
What a great group of fun old trail bikes! They’d be hoot to ride in town too being as (relatively) light as they are.
Our Motorcycle Safety class at the local community college had a mish-mash of bikes and included a couple of the timeless KE100’s. When we first got the program started we got an eclectic troupe of students from all over the US and the world! The folks from Japan, Germany and Netherlands stand out in the memory with their individual personalities-especially the 6 foot 4 inch, 225 pound Dutch chef who practically ran to one of the little KE100’s and insisted it was what he wanted to ride for the weekend!
IMHO, Scotty G., like you, any one of us that are bike crazy would grab these as a group in a yeehaw second. It’s more fun to ride an underpowered 2000:KE100 than a scary crazy 2000 KX500!
That’s, a good point. I have a worked over IT465 that I ride when I want to get serious. Problem is I don’t want to get serious very often anymore, and since I hate starting it anyway, it just sits most of the time.
I like the looks of the early 185s better than the later ones
that had the cheesy looking heat shields on the exhaust pipe.
The one bike I’ve wanted since new was a ’71 TS185 Sierra
in that mint green color.
I think the seller is confused…he doesn’t even list the TS100 (which, I believe, is a 1975) and he has the colors switched around, too. The Yellow TS100 is the most desirable from a looks standpoint. The KE100 isn’t worth much, at all.
Michael, I’m not quite sure what you’re referring to. There are two 100s (the yellow Suzuki and green Kawasaki), and two 185s (both Suzukis, a silver one and an orange one). The seller mistakenly lists the yellow bike as a 125, but unless it has the wrong side cover, it’s showing 100 on the photo in the listing.
If you click on the Facebook listing, the seller shows both sides of each bike so you can see the side covers showing what they are (100 or 185).
OH!! I see what you’re talking about now! If you click on the “here is the original listing” link in the first paragraph, you can see that the seller didn’t originally list the motorcycles separately; they must have added that after this article was published. It would have been nice to have that list before I did this one, as there’s no real way to know the years without more info. Looking at photos online doesn’t help that much for models that don’t change from year to year. This one just got even more confusing…
My first full sized bike at 14 was a 1971 Suzuki TS 125 Duster, bought with money I earned working for dad’s construction co. Similar to the TS 100 only in blue. I’ve had my eye out for one for years and always missed out or too far away.
My best buddy had a SL 175 Honda. Both of us would still be grounded if our parents knew what we did and where we went on those bikes.
I’d be all over either 100cc example, if it wouldn’t cost more to ship them home from Wisconsin than I’d pay for the bike, LOL! The Kawasaki would be my preferred ride, but either one would do. GLWTS, in any case!
Dang I should have held on to a bunch of these type on/off bikes I sold about 20 yrs ago. Looks like they would more then double the prices I got back then.
Scotty, I have to admire your will-power. It must have been very hard to resist the temptation to just go and pick all of these classics up.
Listing update: I’m hoping Santa bought one or more of these for me, but I doubt it. The seller has deleted the listing; they must be gone.