What was the most competitive Euro 250 offering of the period ? Ossa Phantom
If there was any standout year for great 250cc motocross bikes it'd have to be 1974. The Honda Elsinore was the biggy of the class not because it was the best bike but because it was the best bike that was easily accessible and affordable. There were a lot of bikes that were better than the Honda but most of them cost hundreds of dollars more to buy. With respect to the previous posters picking the RH Suzuki, it must be said that they weren't that freely available, being mostly vehicles for sponsored A graders. The Joe Average Suzuki racer was burdened with the heavy and by '74 obsolete TM250 which comes up pretty short when compared to the opposition of 1974. Kawasakis were few and far between and despite showing potential were pretty finicky and unreliable. I didn't notice too many at the pointy end of the field until the local distributors got serious and formed a race team in 1975. The YZ250 A/B was in a similar situation to the KX and to a lesser degree the RH. They were expensive and hard to access unless you were a hot shot. The average Yamaha guy was destined to use the solid but uninspiring MX250.
With the exception of the Elsinore, the Euros were still calling the shots in the 250 class in 1974. Hows this for a list of competitive bikes......Husky Mag 250, OSSA Phantom, Montesa VR Cappra and Bultaco Pursang Mk7, all classic bikes in their own right. Even the dated CZ, expensive Rickman Montesa, and slow but great handling Maico MC250 were capable of winning on their day. The KTM was the World Champ but they weren't seen in any numbers in Oz so they didn't rate much of a go.
I974 was the last year the Euros held any engineering dominance. In 1975 the RM Suzuki and Yamaha MX250B could honestly challenge the Husky GP250 for class dominance. The Spaniards had peaked, Maico was in a rut, and CZs Falta model was too little too late. Within a few years the Euros had lost their dominance and Japan would rule much as they do today.
