First Blood is an action, adventure, drama movie starring Sylvester Stallone who plays a Vietnam veteran named John Rambo . The movie was released on October 22, 1982. John Rambo wanders into a small North Western town where a conflict develops between the town sheriff and Rambo. The conflict spirals out of control resulting in a war between Rambo and the local sheriff department. First Blood is a good movie and a "must see," and contains a classic motorcycle chase scene when John Rambo takes a local guys dual sport motorcycle, than is chased through town and into the forest by the local sheriff. Rambo rides a first generation 1982 Yamaha XT250 dual sport motorcycle. The first generations XT ("Cross Trail") 250's were manufactured from 1980 to 1983 and have a 249cc single cylinder four stroke engine with a 5 speed transmission. With a horsepower rating of 22hp, the bike was able to reach a top speed of 75mph (Wikipedia). Dual sport or dual purpose motorcycles have a standard riding position and are usually single cylinder motorcycles with a smaller displacement engine (650cc or less). They are usually light weight, less than 400 pounds, and have long travel suspension in both the front and rear of the bike, making them ideal for riding over bumpy terrain. Dual sport motorcycles are fitted with tires having a tread pattern that falls somewhere in between a knobby tire and a street tire, which allows them to grip well on a dirt or road surface. Rambo's 1982 XT250 looks completely stock except the gas tank is painted black on the top, front and bottom, and the color of the sides of the gas tank and side panels look orange. I think the original color is red and not orange, and the color change has something to do with the film and not the actual color of the paint. I don't think Yamaha made an orange 1982 XT250, but they did make a red one. You can still see the stock paint on the sides of the tank, and the original decals are still there, but the rest of the tank is painted black. I can't imagine why production would paint the tank this way, so maybe the bike was bought "used" and the previous owner painted the tank hoping it would match up well with the blacked out engine, muffler, frame and black lower front fork legs.
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Photo's of Rambo riding a 1982 Yamaha XT250 from the movie First Blood:
Rambo taking the 1982 Yamaha XT250 for a local town resident
Rambo getting on a 1982 Yamaha XT250. In this picture you can clearly see how the front and bottom of the gas tank is painted black
Rambo riding a wheelie on a 1982 Yamaha XT250 while being pursued by the sheriff's patrol car, Police use red and blue lights, but notice how the red light on the patrol car looks orange. I think the film is causing discoloration and is why the stock paint on the XT250 looks orange and not red.
Action shot of Rambo sliding around the corner on a 1982 Yamaha XT250
A completely stock 1982 Yamaha XT250
Video clips of the motorcycle chase scene in the movie First Blood:<![CDATA[<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/EUpq9OA4ROc" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/EUpq9OA4ROc</a>]]>Low definition video clip of the First Blood motorcycle chase scene with the original sound.
<![CDATA[<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/fmakKf234kg" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/fmakKf234kg</a>]]>First Blood motorcycle chase scene with high definition video, but they added music over the original sound.
