@@BrightsideMedia definitely a quantum leap from 650 triumph but it hasn't been modern since 1990 . The CBR F4i was the first modern bike of the era we are in now. How ever that could be argued that modern bikes today have ABS and Traction control to features that make me wanna thow up. However babbot bearings and EFI are what I consider modern features. To me the ultimate comparison between old and new is XT 500 vs YZ 450F . With the CR 500 the half way point.
In 1982 I was 20 years old and owned a Yamaha 750 Seca in Montreal. It was a great bike and reached speeds that I cannot share. One day I raced an RD 350 from a dead stop at a traffic light. I thought I’d win….I was left so far behind it was ridiculous! So ridiculous that I recount this story 40 years later. I really want one to this day!
@@enderzebak2863 Try get yourself a RD125LC 1GU, first. It comes with the YPVS. Enough, to scare your butt off. I'm 59 by now. And know a lot of 2-strokes. Take it easy! Don't rush it. The true heroes are the survivours, in the end. Take care about looking at the best possible brakes. The best tires. Be safe! To live and teach others, when you've reached my age. (All legs and arms still intact.)
My first fiancee possible wife to be ask me to sell my RD350, it was either the scent of a good lady or 2 stroke gas I was going to smell every time I got excited? My second fiancee loved the bike.
Today's bikes might be faster and more capable but none could be more exciting. What utterly brilliant machines these were. An RD is the only bike that could tempt me back into motorcycling.
Those bikes were pure magic. We didn’t have them in the US, so when I moved to Japan in 1981, I saw them for the first time. They were everywhere! One of my good riding buddies owned one and I always envied it. I ended up getting a 1982 VTR250 Honda….it was slow and a fourstroke but I rode the shit out of it during my time in japan. I regret not getting a KR250, or one of the other 250 two strokes that were available there at the time, to me, they were the perfect sport bike.
I bought my first bike, an RZ 350 in yellow and black brand new in 1984. I had zero riding experience...So I drove it around slow for a few days to get the feel for it. I got brave one day and decided to race another bike off the line, the tach hit 6 grand the bikes front wheel went skyward and I almost shit my pants !! Most fun I ever had on a bike.
Amazing this was my brother's first motorcycle the same color unbelievable,I miss those days i miss my brother[1968-2013]Thank you for the time travel. 157 they did not make it to ride this beauty greetings from Greece.
Thanks for posting this . I am 51 now, I remember like thousands Of others when this beautiful machine came out, my mate had a black 250 lc I was still at high school, I remember him polishing it in his garage, I was so jealous! But I new one day I would have one, passed my test first time and bought me 350 black , mead speed Fermin, all speed expansion, telefix racer clip ons,......... I had it stolen from drive, gutted, insurance money bought z1000st. Thing is the lc still looks stunning. Ty
I made a mold from a Meadspeed fairing my mate bought years ago... I made a few "Replicas" from it.. Its still down my shed somewhere under a pile of junk.!!!
I watched my mate loop his 350lc back in the day, I nearly ran the passenger with my x7. Poor bloke was nearly in tears I felt his pain his bike was mint. I rode his LC a few times and it was lovely to ride, I can't believe the price they fetch today it's mental..
Both my brother and myself rode RD's. Initially I had a RD250B and he had the 350B. In 1980 we both bought the new LC; identical to the one in the vid. Later he got himself a 350YPVS and I upgraded my LC with a TZ350 frame from Nico Bakker. Thanks for bringing back those menories !
Popping wheel stands with my 82 LC or my 83 &90 RZ's, remains one of my fondest motorcycling memories. I wish to hell two strokes were once again being produced for street riding, there really is nothing like them for sheer enjoyment & excitement.
The one in the video was identical to mine. But I added Allspeed exhausts, k and n filters on extensions and mucked around with the jetting. Plus I gained 9 points on my licence and lots of happy memories... Thanks for video!
Stealing my older brother's RD250 and riding it up to the Chelsea Cruise. His mates spotting me and telling my brother. Getting a bit of a kicking from him. Worth every bruise.
@@glenshea1967 , Glen, the TS50ER was a 50cc air-cooled two-stroke motorcycle by Suzuki. It was my first street-legal bike at the age of 16. TS50ER stands for: Team Suzuki 50 Enduro Replica. And well, to be honest, I am a bit of a 'tosser' as well. :)
In the 80's I was in the Navy living in San Diego. I bought an RZ350 and pretty much lived on it. On the weekends I would head out east of the city and race people on the curvy roads. My RZ was bored, jetted and had Toomey racing pipes. Often times after completely smoking someone (figuratively and literally, lol), we would pull over and they would ask me "How many cc's is that thing?!" I would reply "350." with a smirk. Many Hurricane 600's were defeated. Some Gxxer 750's were pressed (Especially if they weren't confident riders). My last couple of sport bikes were a 1998 R1 and a 2004 R1. Both of which were amazing bikes. But, I often reminisce about the massive fun factor of my old 1985 RZ350. I can still hear the scream of those Toomey racing pipes!
My first 3 bikes were a Suzuki GT250A, Yamaha RD400D and a Yamaha RD350LC. I regret selling each of them, especially the LC. My main gripe with the LC was that it kept splitting the RHS exhaust pipe, and eventually, the brackets that held the baffle in place fell out too. MY LC was one of the first into Australia - I had it pre-ordered 9 months before it arrived. The RD400 ended up with a set of expansion chambers and a port/polish job and carb work that really saw it fly. Now I have a 2007 Yamaha FZ6 - a good performing bike, but I love the smell of 2-stroke in the morning ....
My friend had the RD200 pear drop tank with electric start I was SO jealous! The sound of the engine was just bliss. I'm thinking of getting an old bike but I haven't owned one for 40+ years!
Great video that took me back to my late teens/early twenties, when the LC 350 was the king of the road, I used to love making my mates GPZ750s and GS750/1000s look like elephants on ice when dicing with the LC.
I still miss the LCs. I had 4 of them, 250s and 350s, then moved onto a TZR, raced a KR1S and TZ350 then moved onto 4 strokes. Never thought 2 strokes would disappear in those days and wish I'd kept all my 2 strokes over the years, RD400, X7, TDR250, KH250, MTX200, GT550, NSR400. Great days ! 🙂 One thing I do remember about the LCs was the dodgy soft rear shock. Tankslapper city ! lol. But they sounded great with a set of Allspeeds or Microns, K&N filters and a re jet. You could wheelie them comfortably for miles. 😄
You have a similar history ( 2 stroke) to me my friend.. in 82 my first bike on the road was a brand new malaguti cavalcone 50 .. then a Kawasaki ae 80 not arrived, same engine but in a trail bike shasy. Pass mi test on it,and of I went on the 2 stroke journey... 250 LC for a few months, then an almost new mars bar 350 with small end can all speeds. Then a ypvs 350 , next tzr 250,then 500 LC ,then rgv, TDR,and kr1 and kr1s . All in about a 14 years time line. How the fuck I'm still alive..... I adore 2 strokes!! 64 years old now.👍
What a fantastic machine the 350 LC was and still is, beautiful to look and and fabulous to ride. I am so glad I was able to pick one up to restore before they became seriously expensive to buy. They most certainly deserve their revered place in motorcycling history.
Used to have an rd 400dxin blue ..Loved watching the LC yamahas racing up at knock hill in the 80s .Great days.28 bikes later and now reflecting on motorcycling years.
Had one of these back in the first year of importing into the UK. What an epic bike! Sweet handling and crazy acceleration if you kept in the power band. Apparently an DR350LC kept up with a Z900 during a 24hr test race set up by one of the bike magazines.
I can’t believe it’s been 40 years since I got my brand spanking new RD350LC as a 19 year old! Such great memories.....and a few scars to remind me. Excellent nostalgic video.
the 400 was more torque , but the 350 I put in the same league as a morini. Both were brilliant bikes. Went and handled well,I miss them days and I am 60.
Thanks for the memories. I had a Suzuki GT250 X7 then upgraded to a RD400G, the last of the aircooled. My best mate bought a RD350LC and I couldn't keep up with it. When I bought the RD400G a mate at my bike club said 'So you're going to race it?' I hadn't thought of that so I did. I made a small fortune from racing....I started with a large fortune! haha. Those were great days to be alive and riding!
loved mine, a 1980 ( W reg) 350 lc, 375cc (if memory serves me right) b/b kit, micron pipes, clip ons and rear sets. black with red wheels. bought cheap and sold cheap compared to today's prices. i remember as a young lad the day i bought it, opened it up in 2nd gear and hung on for dear life...i couldn't hand over the money quick enough. thanks for the vid...great memories.
I had a mega ported 350 with Swarbrick chambers and a re-worked head (no head gasket), the powerband started at 9500 which was the standard redline, it would rev to 12500 RPM but if you missed a gear the crank would twist out of shape (even though it was welded up). I had a spare crank on the shelf, it needed swapping out every 5000 miles, the pistons were good for about 7000 miles. I recall that the bike did about 130 MPH. My Dad reckoned that Yamaha did not know how to build an engine, I never told him that it was hardly as Yamaha designed it anymore. EDIT... Actually looking at the rev counter at 3:49 I now realize that my engine revved to 11500 not 12500...rose tined specs and all that. I recall that it would have revved higher than 11500 but that was the limited that I decided to choose. This gave a powerband that was only 2000 rpm wide, no wonder I used to stir the gearbox up so much to keep the thing going.
Mate, I had a proddy race tuned RD250LC - Swarbrick pipes, race ignition, metmachex swing arm, 350LC front end, full fairing, no oil pump so premix! Absolute beast to ride would spin up in the wet, even with Michelin Hi-Sports on it when it hit the powerband. Nothing to about 8000 then it would start to sing and try to pull your arms off to about 12000. Vicious little beastie that my girlfriend, now wife, absolutely hated as she couldn't help but kick me in the armpits when I overtook anything. Used to eat GPZ600s up to 120, if I had the guts to really wring it's neck. Don't really miss it as it was a pain to live with, but loads of fun looking back on it. I heard it blew up on the M5 chasing a CBR600, sad but bound to end in tears. 2 strokes - so easy to tune - so easy to break!
Sidecarbod: I`ve never even seen a 180mph TZ350 rev that high, 11,000 yes. Labyrinth seal failed on my tuned LC because of crank whip. After a rebuild and being welded up, it was fine for quite a few thousand miles abuse. The ignition rotor failed next, then coils. Standard stainless reeds were surprising good, but replaced for fibre ones in the end. Carb mods, including machining needles by the tuner, gave the single most increase in performance. I did the porting, including the cylinder to crankcase work that had made so such a difference on a Kwacker 250 triple I`d done in the `70s. Local tuner did LCs for a bike dealer that fielded bikes for the likes of Graeme McGregor. A modified 350LC with a few TZ parts was clocked at 160mph in the IOM in the early-mid 1980s...and that came from the tuner who I never knew to exaggerate, he was a humble man.
@@rattusnorvegicus4380 Yeah my ignition rotor came loose a few times, in the end I lapped it on with grinding paste, it was OK after that. I also ran the stock reeds in a gas flowed cage, I had a couple that cracked but they were generally OK. I never liked the Boysen two stage reeds, I always thought it was a bad idea having two sets of pedals bashing into each other, single stage fibre reeds were OK though. I ran the stock but re-jetted carbs, (320 mains from memory), I always wanted a set of 36- 38mm power jet carbs but they were too expensive, having said that it went well enough with the small stock carbs, there was a massive flat spot below the powerband as it was, I suspect the bigger carbs would have made it worse! My mate had a 350 YPVS, he reckoned that riding my bike was like riding a chain saw! Pete Lindamere ported my barrels, great tuner, bad business man!
I pumped petrol in Ireland in the early 80s. I will never forget a local young man launching over the hill 100 yards from the station and pullung in. I had never seen anyone drive that fast and sound that good before. Never forgot it - probably why I have owned many bikes over the years
@@ahbalone Er...no. Whilst I'm a Suzuki 2 stroke fan, Yamaha's monoshocked RD350LC was absolutely a superior bike to its RD350 & 400 air cooled predecessors. I had RD350A, whilst mates had RD350B and another an RD400 later, which I rode on numerous occasions. The RD350LC was a game changer. Everything just kept getting better and better with the RZ250/350 series culminating in the TZR250. Rode 'em all at one time or another, including the RZ500, some owned, some loaners. I bought an RG500G instead, and later the final production export model RGV250T. They were great years.
I had a 1978 rd400 Daytona, gray, with black pipes, rear set pegs and very flat bars. Sounded like riding motocross bike on the street. Felt like laying down on it. Fast, loud. Good looking bike, to me.
Love from India, thanks Brightside media, you explained about our Indian Rajdoot 350, we all love that bike, but at that time in India, Rajdoot Yamaha 350 was too young to the Indian market in 80s. But now, we are worshipping them. At that time , Escorts Group did tweaked in two versions called the High Torque and Low Torque but the two have same discplacement. The HT was taken from 40bhp to 31bhp. And the LT was further detuned to 28bhp. All was to ensure to get good gas mileage but eventually killing the real crisp of power that European or Japanese models had. People mimicked RD for "Rapid Death" , even after doing so many detuning, the shear surging power never made us control the bike properly as you may understand comming from a Bullet OHV background to a killer smoking twin barrells😁😁😁
I had an RD350, 250LC and 350LC, wish I’d never sold it, these days have a VFR800FI I’m not going to sell and a R1200GS which is just fab... but I remember my LC with fond memories, family called in debts to force me to sell it after I ended up in hospital and off work for 3 months and then rebuilt it with a race tuned engine....it was so quick, seized on the motor way when the auto lube failed leaving a black stripe down the motorway before the clutch lever came in and a brown stripe down my jeans, but I loved that bike, handling was awesome, those were the days, no mortgage, no family, no responsibilities, no money and no sense.....
Mine reg SKR 71X reg RD 250 isle of Sheppey Kent evey one called me the Black Death all black red and gold pin stripes! 55 years old still here but I miss that little bastard ! Great vid mate xx
Remember them when first introduced - utterly amazing and the performance was amazing. Lots of riders killed on them unfortunately and they were thirsty on the fuel and insurance was astronomical so I settled for a GSX400.
Great video, my first street bike was a 73 Rd-350. I loved it, it was light, easy to handle and very fast, although it did not look like it. I remember one time a young guy in a camaro with his girlfriend and 2 buddies thought he was going to blow me away at the green light, at the next light he was giving me the finger, his buddies in the back seat we laughing so hard they were holding their stomachs and his girlfriend had a nice little smirk on her face, thanks for the memory!
I had a suzuki gt 250 that was a quick little bike air cooled of course,i remember the coffin tank rd 400 air cooled,a mate had a suzuki gt380 triple with a weird ram air cover over the cylinders,and another mate had a gt 500 twin all these 2 strokes were what we had because they were great fun and fast,started with a suzi 100 2 stroke,and always liked the look of the kettle gt 750 water cooled but got into cars by the time all the LCs were coming out,someone on the estate had an x7 250 2 stroke with a barry sheen race replica fairing,clip ons and rear sets hahaha,loved the smell of the oil in the petrol,good times !
Ma fathers has a 750 Suzuki with Higgspeed exhaust (obviously illegal but it has to be :D) and I love listening to it when he is coming from the distance
Meeean Azz I had a 79 E clip on bars,microns,cyclone racing seat,set back gear shift and white heat written across the tank then I bought a 350 ypvs before buying the 500 v4 😃happy days
I remember the first time I seen one probably in 82 I was 12 I thought it looked bad no fins on the barrels and funny looking wheels I much preferred the rd350 r5 with it's wire spoked wheels and chrome exausts and mud guards it looked like a proper bike to me . by 89 I had a rd125lc ypvs 24 bhp in my country and a whippet of a lad like me could get 95mph out of it prone all tucked in and peeping out between the clocks the fun I had on that bike I was like a baby Barry Sheen LOL it nearly killed me too trying to keep up with faster bigger bike's . teenage kicks so hard to beat LOL I came close a few years later with a Suzuki rg 250 gamma a lot of power compared to a 4 stroke twin 250 I only ever rode an lc 350 once when I was 18 and used to riding my a honda 400four it felt like setting your head on fire and running around the place it was that much fun in comparison but this bloke failed to mention the thirst of these beasts they would empty the tank quicker than a piss head could empty a bag of cans of stella . the bike that killed the 250cc learner limit in the uk where the rd250lc with a single front disc was also available for about a year then it was 12bhp 125cc limit . young lads were getting smashed and dead off them at an alarming rate so the powers that be said there is too much fun being had and deaths enough of it . I am too old to be bothered with a two stroke now or even a race rep but for me the best fast bike of the eighty's was the Yamaha fzr 1000 exup I later bought an ru modle with upside down forks it was a blast but a white red and blue 89 model captures that 80's spirit the best or a white with red and blue stripe honda cbr 600 from 87 would do either .
I had three, one was tuned for top speed of 135mph! I have very fond memories of blowing off fast hot-hatch drivers and cresting rises with front wheel airborne at over 100mph still accelerating away. So light and flickable. I also had an RD400, which was quicker up to point than the standard LC 350. It was claimed that Yamaha played with the ignition curve of the 350LC, to give the impression it was faster, so a bit of an illusion resulted.
@@BrightsideMedia Try riding the Yamaha Banshee. Four wheeler with the RD350 engine in it. Now there's some fun on four wheels in the dirt. Same acceleration as two wheels, insane fun times to ride.
Thanks for the memories! Really an Iconic motorcycle from the 80's. Couldn't afford but rode a friend's...amazing power compared to my Yezdi (Jawa 250)!
My first bike was the RD125LC in 1982, then I had the 250LC and the 350LC, they were all awesome. I have a GSR-750 now but I still want another 350 LC. 👍👍
Yamaha realised bikers are massively brand loyal, so they made a range to suit an emerging rider, the amount of riders who went from FS1E( Fizzy) to a RD125 and then up to a RD350 was insane. Most of my mates couldn’t wait to pass their full bike licence to get on a RD350 that they bought and rode it long before they passed the test. Thirsty, expensive to insure and most of them got knicked or crashed within months. Great times, awesome bike.
*Of the bikes that you show in the videos, this is one that I had when I was young, mine had the fairing and it was very fast and powerful. Congratulations on the video and on the bike. Angel.*
AWESOME video!! One of the best I've seen at capturing the true RD wail. I had an '81 that I always regretted selling. I now have an '82 in need of restoration. Hope I get it done while I can still enjoy screaming to redline.
cool choice - I went Vfr1200f this time but i utterly loved the trusty RD350 LC. went RG500 for a bit (massive handful). Anyway tally was KR250, RD350LC, Vf750f, RG500, vTR1000F X 2 of them because the first got worn out sort of, and Vfr1200f (bombed of course). hahaha
I'm too young to remember these, but I do like the style and color scheme. Great footage too! First time I've ever seen a two-stroke without a blue cloud following it.
I had a race from Snetterton to Ipswich against a Honda CB750F on my LC - needless to say the Honda came 2nd. The greatest bike I have ever owned including a Mk4 R1, K5 GSXR1000 and (closest to it) Daytona 675SE
A friend of mine bought one new and still has it, and it is still pretty much showroom condition. I had one of those 77 Yamaha 750 2D like you have there. Cheers from northwestern Canada.
My dad has one we were driving down the street my dad saw it with a for sale sign and bought it on the spot 15 years ago. I got the chance to ride it when I turned 25 holy shit what a blast l. Sadly 6th gear went on it and we can’t find a replacement transmission for it so it’s been sitting for 3 years while we look for a replacement. My girlfriends first ride as a passenger she got off and walked home when the front tire came up she said nope lol What a great machine ❤️❤️
The wealth of information available for the backyard mechanic to make the 350 a competitive machine from the stock parts made it an era that will never be repeated with any other machine.
I bought mine 9 years ago in Canada for $900. and it came with a parts bike , at that time nobody wanted them , the add was 1 year old when I called and I was told that I was the first one to call .
I worked in Belleville in Ontario in 1986, I bought one, it was awesome, but had to leave it with a friend when my visa ran out, dont know what happened to it, it had a plain black tank as the previous owner had dropped it.... Could it be mine you have?????? that would be freaky!!!
Thanks for that! Back in the 80s I had an RD250D, RD400C and RD350A. Then an RD250LC followed by an X5 200 I took in part exchange. Some years later I had an RG250 that I swapped for another RD400C and then I got a seriously modified KH500 that I wish I still had. 2 strokes rule!
Remember having a good thrash on a friends LC250 that had a stage 2 Stan Stephens tune. Wickedly good fun, sounded awesome on it’s pair of Allspeed pipes. Way better than stock but single front disc wasn’t nice and trust me, when you’re giving it some there is DEFINITELY frame flex but at least you knew then you were truly at the limit and going any further was just going to hurt!
Hey great video I'm 55 but I owned a gt 380 cc my cousin let ride his GT 550 I WAS BIT BUY THE BUG I worked on them and a older guy that helped me port & polish with expansion chambers WHAT A RIDE then my bro got GT750 WOW and then I got Kawasaki 750 cc never grab a fist full of throttle. Also I had a friend race a 750 cc Honda and he made that dude cry great memories.
Aaaah i remember my 400c in yellow & black in '77. What a bke! It could wheelie in first & keep it up till 3rd.... It was such fun to ride, I always thought I was Saarinen (my hero) Those were the days, I'd love another one 😊
Had the RD250E, an RD350 PowerValve and the RD500LC. I was laughing all the way to the court house and the hospital A+E departments on many occasion from the age of 18 to 38 years of age.
Hi John, I had a 250, LC, 350 power valve LC, two RD 500's, an RG500 suzuki, a KR1S, and finally the latter RGV 250 road racing bike, luckily but only just kept out of A and E and the courts but what fucking fun, still got the grin on my face today........
Wow! That brings back some fond memories. Had a 250LC which I took down to Stan Stephens in Kent for a Stage 2 road tune. What an epic bike that was. A mate of mine had the very first incarnation of the GSX-R 750 and I could keep with him up until well over a ton. Chopped it in for a YPVS350 which also got fettled by Stan. What a brutal bike that was! Blew the standard baffles out going through the Dartford Tunnel going to Brands Hatch. Stuck some Microns on after that and upset everyone down my parents street.😂 Oh, happy days!
Fat Boy LEMC Snap! I had a 250elsie w&b Stan road tuned, Allspeeds, Clip ons,Boysens,ect. lovely and crisp quick as a 350! Then a 350 Mars bar with Microns mate had rebuilt seized it doing a ton with girlfriend on back, clutch in no worries until I stopped and tried to kick it over! Still got one of the pistons with a hole size if a 10p piece.After that a Standard YPVS from a dealer with a guarantee!
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What exactly is modern about that bike ? It runs on unleaded?
Compared to a Vincent it was an alien from another planet
@@BrightsideMedia definitely a quantum leap from 650 triumph but it hasn't been modern since 1990 . The CBR F4i was the first modern bike of the era we are in now. How ever that could be argued that modern bikes today have ABS and Traction control to features that make me wanna thow up. However babbot bearings and EFI are what I consider modern features. To me the ultimate comparison between old and new is XT 500 vs YZ 450F . With the CR 500 the half way point.
0o
Should be on the Z-1 shouldn't it?
In 1982 I was 20 years old and owned a Yamaha 750 Seca in Montreal. It was a great bike and reached speeds that I cannot share. One day I raced an RD 350 from a dead stop at a traffic light. I thought I’d win….I was left so far behind it was ridiculous! So ridiculous that I recount this story 40 years later. I really want one to this day!
I've still got mine, had it at 17, now 45 & I still smile when I ride it.
good for you man. im still 18 i hope i could get to buy one of these beauty when i get a job.
@@enderzebak2863 Try get yourself a RD125LC 1GU, first. It comes with the YPVS. Enough, to scare your butt off. I'm 59 by now. And know a lot of 2-strokes. Take it easy! Don't rush it. The true heroes are the survivours, in the end.
Take care about looking at the best possible brakes. The best tires.
Be safe! To live and teach others, when you've reached my age. (All legs and arms still intact.)
I had one at 19 but got T boned after 8 weeks and it burned to a crisp in the middle of intersection.
You are so lucky, I never had one but I love them. I'm a tad old for two wheels now at 55
I am 61 and still ride my 70 mach 3
also have a49 Harley and a very pretty blonde
My first fiancee possible wife to be ask me to sell my RD350, it was either the scent of a good lady or 2 stroke gas I was going to smell every time I got excited? My second fiancee loved the bike.
How can I get rd350lc
Haaa....good choice dude....
Good choice
That's NOT Funny . It's HILARIOUS . Made the same choice myself . Next girl liked it too .
Gooood Choice!
The 2 wheel icon of the early 80's and still looking stunning today.
Today's bikes might be faster and more capable but none could be more exciting. What utterly brilliant machines these were. An RD is the only bike that could tempt me back into motorcycling.
Right on Tonyb9735 I’m the same as you I remember these bikes like yesterday down here how I wanted one and still do now absolute street rockets 🚀 👍🇦🇺
Those bikes were pure magic. We didn’t have them in the US, so when I moved to Japan in 1981, I saw them for the first time. They were everywhere! One of my good riding buddies owned one and I always envied it. I ended up getting a 1982 VTR250 Honda….it was slow and a fourstroke but I rode the shit out of it during my time in japan. I regret not getting a KR250, or one of the other 250 two strokes that were available there at the time, to me, they were the perfect sport bike.
I bought my first bike, an RZ 350 in yellow and black brand new in 1984.
I had zero riding experience...So I drove it around slow for a few days to get the feel for it.
I got brave one day and decided to race another bike off the line, the tach hit 6 grand the bikes front wheel went skyward and I almost shit my pants !!
Most fun I ever had on a bike.
i would love to own this beauty man. will make sure this is the first bike i own
I remember being quite shocked when the power band kicked in at about 6 or 7000rpm, it was like the bike came alive!
The sad truth is nearly everyone who was a teen in the 80s knows someone who made their last ride on an RD......RIP Steve
In Brazil they called them the black widowe.
RIP Lance
Widow maker
In India too!
Best way to go
Amazing this was my brother's first motorcycle the same color unbelievable,I miss those days i miss my brother[1968-2013]Thank you for the time travel. 157 they did not make it to ride this beauty greetings from Greece.
Did he die by biking?
It was defiantly a special time for us riders in the early 80's. I got mine new in August 1982 and loved every minute of it.
The sound of a 350lc with microns sends shivers down my spine..... i miss the 70s / 80s.
What a beautiful machine! The simplicity of two strokes always appealed to me.
My mate had one with Allspeed exhausts. Never heard such a racket,brilliant!
I had 2, both have long since gone to great scrapyard in the sky. Was pulled over 3 times for speeding, you lived in that powerband ;-)
@Mickey Mouse it was so easy to hit 100mph on my ypvs 350
CPU UK Pulled over 3 times. Hell I lost my license 3 times or was it 4 can’t quite remember.
Thanks for posting this .
I am 51 now, I remember like thousands Of others when this beautiful machine came out, my mate had a black 250 lc I was still at high school,
I remember him polishing it in his garage, I was so jealous! But I new one day I would have one, passed my test first time and bought me 350 black , mead speed Fermin, all speed expansion, telefix racer clip ons,......... I had it stolen from drive, gutted, insurance money bought z1000st.
Thing is the lc still looks stunning. Ty
The early 80s was a great time to be a teenager.
I made a mold from a Meadspeed fairing my mate bought years ago... I made a few "Replicas" from it.. Its still down my shed somewhere under a pile of junk.!!!
I watched my mate loop his 350lc back in the day, I nearly ran the passenger with my x7. Poor bloke was nearly in tears I felt his pain his bike was mint. I rode his LC a few times and it was lovely to ride, I can't believe the price they fetch today it's mental..
Awesome bikes!
I've been in love with the whole Yamaha RD series of motorcycles since I was a kid.
Both my brother and myself rode RD's.
Initially I had a RD250B and he had the 350B.
In 1980 we both bought the new LC; identical to the one in the vid.
Later he got himself a 350YPVS and I upgraded my LC with a TZ350 frame from Nico Bakker.
Thanks for bringing back those menories !
Popping wheel stands with my 82 LC or my 83 &90 RZ's, remains one of my fondest motorcycling memories. I wish to hell two strokes were once again being produced for street riding, there really is nothing like them for sheer enjoyment & excitement.
They are!
The Jawa 350 two stroke twin is still being sold brand new by f2 motorcycles in the UK!
Who else gets goosebumps by simply hearing one....
We certainly do!
Everytime John, sound and smell.
The one in the video was identical to mine. But I added Allspeed exhausts, k and n filters on extensions and mucked around with the jetting. Plus I gained 9 points on my licence and lots of happy memories...
Thanks for video!
Stealing my older brother's RD250 and riding it up to the Chelsea Cruise. His mates spotting me and telling my brother. Getting a bit of a kicking from him. Worth every bruise.
TS50ER. Great story.Funny too. Can i ask is that meant to say Tosser or is that your postcode ? As TS is postcode for Teesside.
You didnt stole it, you *lended* it 😁
@@glenshea1967 , Glen, the TS50ER was a 50cc air-cooled two-stroke motorcycle by Suzuki.
It was my first street-legal bike at the age of 16. TS50ER stands for: Team Suzuki 50 Enduro Replica.
And well, to be honest, I am a bit of a 'tosser' as well. :)
@@kuntakinte4333 what?lol
My older brother had the 350 and I would take it every chance I could.
In the 80's I was in the Navy living in San Diego. I bought an RZ350 and pretty much lived on it. On the weekends I would head out east of the city and race people on the curvy roads. My RZ was bored, jetted and had Toomey racing pipes. Often times after completely smoking someone (figuratively and literally, lol), we would pull over and they would ask me "How many cc's is that thing?!" I would reply "350." with a smirk. Many Hurricane 600's were defeated. Some Gxxer 750's were pressed (Especially if they weren't confident riders).
My last couple of sport bikes were a 1998 R1 and a 2004 R1. Both of which were amazing bikes. But, I often reminisce about the massive fun factor of my old 1985 RZ350. I can still hear the scream of those Toomey racing pipes!
u sure did have fun man. i hope i could have tat
Toomey pipes! Flashback - had them on my RD-400. Added power but made a narrow power band even more narrow!
The summer of 89,90, and 91. Ahhh, I can still smell the 2 stroke 💨 Wonderful ❤
My first 3 bikes were a Suzuki GT250A, Yamaha RD400D and a Yamaha RD350LC. I regret selling each of them, especially the LC. My main gripe with the LC was that it kept splitting the RHS exhaust pipe, and eventually, the brackets that held the baffle in place fell out too. MY LC was one of the first into Australia - I had it pre-ordered 9 months before it arrived.
The RD400 ended up with a set of expansion chambers and a port/polish job and carb work that really saw it fly.
Now I have a 2007 Yamaha FZ6 - a good performing bike, but I love the smell of 2-stroke in the morning ....
My friend had the RD200 pear drop tank with electric start I was SO jealous! The sound of the engine was just bliss. I'm thinking of getting an old bike but I haven't owned one for 40+ years!
The best of bikes, although we could be a little biased.
Great video that took me back to my late teens/early twenties, when the LC 350 was the king of the road, I used to love making my mates GPZ750s and GS750/1000s look like elephants on ice when dicing with the LC.
That's a great analogy about the big bikes :-) Glad you enjoyed the video and it brought back some good memories.
I still miss the LCs. I had 4 of them, 250s and 350s, then moved onto a TZR, raced a KR1S and TZ350 then moved onto 4 strokes.
Never thought 2 strokes would disappear in those days and wish I'd kept all my 2 strokes over the years, RD400, X7, TDR250, KH250, MTX200, GT550, NSR400.
Great days ! 🙂
One thing I do remember about the LCs was the dodgy soft rear shock. Tankslapper city ! lol. But they sounded great with a set of Allspeeds or Microns, K&N filters and a re jet. You could wheelie them comfortably for miles. 😄
You have a similar history ( 2 stroke) to me my friend.. in 82 my first bike on the road was a brand new malaguti cavalcone 50 .. then a Kawasaki ae 80 not arrived, same engine but in a trail bike shasy. Pass mi test on it,and of I went on the 2 stroke journey... 250 LC for a few months, then an almost new mars bar 350 with small end can all speeds. Then a ypvs 350 , next tzr 250,then 500 LC ,then rgv, TDR,and kr1 and kr1s . All in about a 14 years time line. How the fuck I'm still alive..... I adore 2 strokes!! 64 years old now.👍
That bloke’s got an amazing bike collection.
What a fantastic machine the 350 LC was and still is, beautiful to look and and fabulous to ride. I am so glad I was able to pick one up to restore before they became seriously expensive to buy. They most certainly deserve their revered place in motorcycling history.
That sound under hard acceleration... unforgettable! I can smell the Castrol R from here!! 😄👍
It really was!
A lot better with a good pair of pipes on it👍👍
Used to have an rd 400dxin blue ..Loved watching the LC yamahas racing up at knock hill in the 80s .Great days.28 bikes later and now reflecting on motorcycling years.
Had one of these back in the first year of importing into the UK. What an epic bike! Sweet handling and crazy acceleration if you kept in the power band. Apparently an DR350LC kept up with a Z900 during a 24hr test race set up by one of the bike magazines.
That it kept up with a Z900 doesn't surprise me at all.
It does surprise me considering that it probably had to stop for fuel twice as often as the Z900.
I can’t believe it’s been 40 years since I got my brand spanking new RD350LC as a 19 year old! Such great memories.....and a few scars to remind me. Excellent nostalgic video.
That's awesome. Lucky man. Do you still have it?
the 400 was more torque , but the 350 I put in the same league as a morini. Both were brilliant bikes. Went and handled well,I miss them days and I am 60.
The RD series were all classics. Love to have one now.
Awesome bike. ❤
One of my dream bikes. Thanks for bringing old memories back.
Our pleasure!
Thanks for the memories. I had a Suzuki GT250 X7 then upgraded to a RD400G, the last of the aircooled. My best mate bought a RD350LC and I couldn't keep up with it. When I bought the RD400G a mate at my bike club said 'So you're going to race it?' I hadn't thought of that so I did. I made a small fortune from racing....I started with a large fortune! haha. Those were great days to be alive and riding!
My first RD350b still owns my heart
I had a '77 loved the bike i also took one of these for a ride !!
The sound and the smell of a two stroke.
Wonderful.
loved mine, a 1980 ( W reg) 350 lc, 375cc (if memory serves me right) b/b kit, micron pipes, clip ons and rear sets. black with red wheels. bought cheap and sold cheap compared to today's prices. i remember as a young lad the day i bought it, opened it up in 2nd gear and hung on for dear life...i couldn't hand over the money quick enough.
thanks for the vid...great memories.
I had an LC 350, what a great bike and so easy to maintain. See the red light on the dash, two stroke oil needs a top up. So simple.
awesome! brings back memories of my 250LC, great days, the ring ting and the smell of 2 stroke! Brilliant!
I had a mega ported 350 with Swarbrick chambers and a re-worked head (no head gasket), the powerband started at 9500 which was the standard redline, it would rev to 12500 RPM but if you missed a gear the crank would twist out of shape (even though it was welded up). I had a spare crank on the shelf, it needed swapping out every 5000 miles, the pistons were good for about 7000 miles. I recall that the bike did about 130 MPH. My Dad reckoned that Yamaha did not know how to build an engine, I never told him that it was hardly as Yamaha designed it anymore.
EDIT... Actually looking at the rev counter at 3:49 I now realize that my engine revved to 11500 not 12500...rose tined specs and all that. I recall that it would have revved higher than 11500 but that was the limited that I decided to choose. This gave a powerband that was only 2000 rpm wide, no wonder I used to stir the gearbox up so much to keep the thing going.
Mate, I had a proddy race tuned RD250LC - Swarbrick pipes, race ignition, metmachex swing arm, 350LC front end, full fairing, no oil pump so premix! Absolute beast to ride would spin up in the wet, even with Michelin Hi-Sports on it when it hit the powerband. Nothing to about 8000 then it would start to sing and try to pull your arms off to about 12000. Vicious little beastie that my girlfriend, now wife, absolutely hated as she couldn't help but kick me in the armpits when I overtook anything. Used to eat GPZ600s up to 120, if I had the guts to really wring it's neck. Don't really miss it as it was a pain to live with, but loads of fun looking back on it. I heard it blew up on the M5 chasing a CBR600, sad but bound to end in tears. 2 strokes - so easy to tune - so easy to break!
Sidecarbod: I`ve never even seen a 180mph TZ350 rev that high, 11,000 yes.
Labyrinth seal failed on my tuned LC because of crank whip. After a rebuild and being welded up, it was fine for quite a few thousand miles abuse. The ignition rotor failed next, then coils. Standard stainless reeds were surprising good, but replaced for fibre ones in the end. Carb mods, including machining needles by the tuner, gave the single most increase in performance. I did the porting, including the cylinder to crankcase work that had made so such a difference on a Kwacker 250 triple I`d done in the `70s.
Local tuner did LCs for a bike dealer that fielded bikes for the likes of Graeme McGregor. A modified 350LC with a few TZ parts was clocked at 160mph in the IOM in the early-mid 1980s...and that came from the tuner who I never knew to exaggerate, he was a humble man.
@@rattusnorvegicus4380 Yeah my ignition rotor came loose a few times, in the end I lapped it on with grinding paste, it was OK after that. I also ran the stock reeds in a gas flowed cage, I had a couple that cracked but they were generally OK. I never liked the Boysen two stage reeds, I always thought it was a bad idea having two sets of pedals bashing into each other, single stage fibre reeds were OK though. I ran the stock but re-jetted carbs, (320 mains from memory), I always wanted a set of 36- 38mm power jet carbs but they were too expensive, having said that it went well enough with the small stock carbs, there was a massive flat spot below the powerband as it was, I suspect the bigger carbs would have made it worse! My mate had a 350 YPVS, he reckoned that riding my bike was like riding a chain saw! Pete Lindamere ported my barrels, great tuner, bad business man!
I pumped petrol in Ireland in the early 80s. I will never forget a local young man launching over the hill 100 yards from the station and pullung in. I had never seen anyone drive that fast and sound that good before. Never forgot it - probably why I have owned many bikes over the years
The RD350, THE bike everyone wanted in the 80s.
Visionery1 was my first bike good memories and couldn’t afford the Rd500LC that was the dream.
Well one of them sell me yours!
Liquid cooled, yes. Otherwise the 400s were better.
Yup true enough, in fact all over the world. Awesome bike.
@@ahbalone Er...no. Whilst I'm a Suzuki 2 stroke fan, Yamaha's monoshocked RD350LC was absolutely a superior bike to its RD350 & 400 air cooled predecessors. I had RD350A, whilst mates had RD350B and another an RD400 later, which I rode on numerous occasions. The RD350LC was a game changer. Everything just kept getting better and better with the RZ250/350 series culminating in the TZR250. Rode 'em all at one time or another, including the RZ500, some owned, some loaners. I bought an RG500G instead, and later the final production export model RGV250T. They were great years.
I had a 1978 rd400 Daytona, gray, with black pipes, rear set pegs and very flat bars. Sounded like riding motocross bike on the street. Felt like laying down on it. Fast, loud. Good looking bike, to me.
Loved my 350 lc, allspeed pipes , k+n's mel lemoto full race fairing , clip ons / rearsets . Hooligans tool of the day 😀
I had the 250 lc in exactly the same colors,the power band was so addictive.Caught fire before it could kill me,i was gutted,loved that bike.
Love from India, thanks Brightside media, you explained about our Indian Rajdoot 350, we all love that bike, but at that time in India, Rajdoot Yamaha 350 was too young to the Indian market in 80s. But now, we are worshipping them. At that time , Escorts Group did tweaked in two versions called the High Torque and Low Torque but the two have same discplacement.
The HT was taken from 40bhp to 31bhp.
And the LT was further detuned to 28bhp. All was to ensure to get good gas mileage but eventually killing the real crisp of power that European or Japanese models had. People mimicked RD for "Rapid Death" , even after doing so many detuning, the shear surging power never made us control the bike properly as you may understand comming from a Bullet OHV background to a killer smoking twin barrells😁😁😁
I had this in my mind about RD350 u commented...!!!
Dear Santa...
I had an RD350, 250LC and 350LC, wish I’d never sold it, these days have a VFR800FI I’m not going to sell and a R1200GS which is just fab... but I remember my LC with fond memories, family called in debts to force me to sell it after I ended up in hospital and off work for 3 months and then rebuilt it with a race tuned engine....it was so quick, seized on the motor way when the auto lube failed leaving a black stripe down the motorway before the clutch lever came in and a brown stripe down my jeans, but I loved that bike, handling was awesome, those were the days, no mortgage, no family, no responsibilities, no money and no sense.....
Mine reg SKR 71X reg RD 250 isle of Sheppey Kent evey one called me the Black Death all black red and gold pin stripes! 55 years old still here but I miss that little bastard ! Great vid mate xx
Thank you for the nostalgia Denim shirt, Old Spice and fiery 2 strokes
I've owned an 350LC with fairings.... I miss that bike so much :( But at that time it gave me a lot of fun, such a machine with soul on it!
Remember them when first introduced - utterly amazing and the performance was amazing. Lots of riders killed on them unfortunately and they were thirsty on the fuel and insurance was astronomical so I settled for a GSX400.
They were not thirsty, on long trips mine would do 58 mpg
Great video, my first street bike was a 73 Rd-350. I loved it, it was light, easy to handle and very fast, although it did not look like it. I remember one time a young guy in a camaro with his girlfriend and 2 buddies thought he was going to blow me away at the green light, at the next light he was giving me the finger, his buddies in the back seat we laughing so hard they were holding their stomachs and his girlfriend had a nice little smirk on her face, thanks for the memory!
Haha, great story. I can picture the look on the driver's face :-) Thanks for the kind words and for watching.
I had a suzuki gt 250 that was a quick little bike air cooled of course,i remember the coffin tank rd 400 air cooled,a mate had a suzuki gt380 triple with a weird ram air cover over the cylinders,and another mate had a gt 500 twin all these 2 strokes were what we had because they were great fun and fast,started with a suzi 100 2 stroke,and always liked the look of the kettle gt 750 water cooled but got into cars by the time all the LCs were coming out,someone on the estate had an x7 250 2 stroke with a barry sheen race replica fairing,clip ons and rear sets hahaha,loved the smell of the oil in the petrol,good times !
I remember all that wish i had all my bikes now worth a fortune not like the wife i gave them up for dam that cortina.
Old man had a gt380 triple for a long time...was an odd bike...
RD 400 was a nice bike, big tank too comfy beginners bike and quick off the mark
Ma fathers has a 750 Suzuki with Higgspeed exhaust (obviously illegal but it has to be :D) and I love listening to it when he is coming from the distance
Meeean Azz I had a 79 E clip on bars,microns,cyclone racing seat,set back gear shift and white heat written across the tank then I bought a 350 ypvs before buying the 500 v4 😃happy days
I had one from 1993 to 1996 and I had a lot of fun. On the other hand the fuel consumption was extraordinary.
This one brought back loads of memories. Thanks!
I had 2 of these babies. Fun to ride, fun to modify. Thanks for posting and bringing back memories ✌
I remember the first time I seen one probably in 82 I was 12 I thought it looked bad no fins on the barrels and funny looking wheels I much preferred the rd350 r5 with it's wire spoked wheels and chrome exausts and mud guards it looked like a proper bike to me . by 89 I had a rd125lc ypvs 24 bhp in my country and a whippet of a lad like me could get 95mph out of it prone all tucked in and peeping out between the clocks the fun I had on that bike I was like a baby Barry Sheen LOL it nearly killed me too trying to keep up with faster bigger bike's . teenage kicks so hard to beat LOL I came close a few years later with a Suzuki rg 250 gamma a lot of power compared to a 4 stroke twin 250 I only ever rode an lc 350 once when I was 18 and used to riding my a honda 400four it felt like setting your head on fire and running around the place it was that much fun in comparison but this bloke failed to mention the thirst of these beasts they would empty the tank quicker than a piss head could empty a bag of cans of stella . the bike that killed the 250cc learner limit in the uk where the rd250lc with a single front disc was also available for about a year then it was 12bhp 125cc limit . young lads were getting smashed and dead off them at an alarming rate so the powers that be said there is too much fun being had and deaths enough of it . I am too old to be bothered with a two stroke now or even a race rep but for me the best fast bike of the eighty's was the Yamaha fzr 1000 exup I later bought an ru modle with upside down forks it was a blast but a white red and blue 89 model captures that 80's spirit the best or a white with red and blue stripe honda cbr 600 from 87 would do either .
I used to ride an NS 400 R in Japan many years ago. Absolutely bonkers, The power band could and would blow you away.
I had three, one was tuned for top speed of 135mph! I have very fond memories of blowing off fast hot-hatch drivers and cresting rises with front wheel airborne at over 100mph still accelerating away. So light and flickable.
I also had an RD400, which was quicker up to point than the standard LC 350.
It was claimed that Yamaha played with the ignition curve of the 350LC, to give the impression it was faster, so a bit of an illusion resulted.
I sat on one at the bike show and was instantly smitten. Light, agile and powerful it was a masterpiece and I wish I still had mine.
Grab yourself another one before they become unattainable :-)
@@BrightsideMedia Try riding the Yamaha Banshee. Four wheeler with the RD350 engine in it. Now there's some fun on four wheels in the dirt. Same acceleration as two wheels, insane fun times to ride.
Thanks for the memories! Really an Iconic motorcycle from the 80's. Couldn't afford but rode a friend's...amazing power compared to my Yezdi (Jawa 250)!
My first bike was the RD125LC in 1982, then I had the 250LC and the 350LC, they were all awesome. I have a GSR-750 now but I still want another 350 LC. 👍👍
Yamaha realised bikers are massively brand loyal, so they made a range to suit an emerging rider, the amount of riders who went from FS1E( Fizzy) to a RD125 and then up to a RD350 was insane. Most of my mates couldn’t wait to pass their full bike licence to get on a RD350 that they bought and rode it long before they passed the test. Thirsty, expensive to insure and most of them got knicked or crashed within months. Great times, awesome bike.
*Of the bikes that you show in the videos, this is one that I had when I was young, mine had the fairing and it was very fast and powerful. Congratulations on the video and on the bike. Angel.*
Thank you :-) It's an awesome bike. You must have really enjoyed yours.
I think i'm just lucky,...bought an RD350LC and a GT380 at the time when you could have them for almost nothing ...:-) ....thanks for the nice video
@Sylvia sell them
You are!! I haven’t seen an ole Gt 380 on the road for years
Really well done video! There's not too much grade A content like this about the heritage of the RD bikes, so thank you
Glad you liked it! Thanks :-) Please feel free to subscribe if you like as we've got a whole lot of new stuff coming through the summer.
I had one of these brand new from Grambys in 1982, I loved it, it was really fast inits day.
AWESOME video!! One of the best I've seen at capturing the true RD wail. I had an '81 that I always regretted selling. I now have an '82 in need of restoration. Hope I get it done while I can still enjoy screaming to redline.
Did you restore it ?
Had the RZ350 YVPS from 83 till 2000, and the Hyabusa from then till now.....
cool choice - I went Vfr1200f this time but i utterly loved the trusty RD350 LC. went RG500 for a bit (massive handful). Anyway tally was KR250, RD350LC, Vf750f, RG500, vTR1000F X 2 of them because the first got worn out sort of, and Vfr1200f (bombed of course). hahaha
Thais model, version ,fonte sells in Brasil,these gráfic at rdz125
My dad used to race his 250 LC at Colerne and Wroughton airfield in the 80s rapid bike brilliant video.
Always yearned for one and still do!
these bikes just made you feel absolutely fantastic.
What a matchless geometry machine N Yamaha engineering love this machine brilliant video cool man from India
I'm too young to remember these, but I do like the style and color scheme. Great footage too! First time I've ever seen a two-stroke without a blue cloud following it.
No bike ever made sounds as good as an RD 350 at full throttle. Beautiful.
3:58 yes we were all smiling just by watching and hearing the sound. Beautiful bike.
I had a race from Snetterton to Ipswich against a Honda CB750F on my LC - needless to say the Honda came 2nd. The greatest bike I have ever owned including a Mk4 R1, K5 GSXR1000 and (closest to it) Daytona 675SE
A friend of mine bought one new and still has it, and it is still pretty much showroom condition. I had one of those 77 Yamaha 750 2D like you have there. Cheers from northwestern Canada.
Memories that we will never forget.
My dad has one we were driving down the street my dad saw it with a for sale sign and bought it on the spot 15 years ago. I got the chance to ride it when I turned 25 holy shit what a blast l. Sadly 6th gear went on it and we can’t find a replacement transmission for it so it’s been sitting for 3 years while we look for a replacement. My girlfriends first ride as a passenger she got off and walked home when the front tire came up she said nope lol
What a great machine ❤️❤️
My lc had a 485 stroker kit from stan stephens, when i put that engine in , holy sht! It would lift at any revs!
whitewarmaker Stan Stevens, now there’s a name!!
The wealth of information available for the backyard mechanic to make the 350 a competitive machine from the stock parts made it an era that will never be repeated with any other machine.
I bought mine 9 years ago in Canada for $900. and it came with a parts bike , at that time nobody wanted them , the add was 1 year old when I called and I was told that I was the first one to call .
Ur lucky to have a machine like this
Winner winner chicken dinner !!
OMG!
That's because the kids don't know about these!
I worked in Belleville in Ontario in 1986, I bought one, it was awesome, but had to leave it with a friend when my visa ran out, dont know what happened to it, it had a plain black tank as the previous owner had dropped it.... Could it be mine you have?????? that would be freaky!!!
Thanks for that!
Back in the 80s I had an RD250D, RD400C and RD350A.
Then an RD250LC followed by an X5 200 I took in part exchange.
Some years later I had an RG250 that I swapped for another RD400C and then I got a seriously modified KH500 that I wish I still had.
2 strokes rule!
Thay were and still are my all time favorite.....❤️
Bought mine in ‘87 as 21 yr old, still got it and still ride it.
Remember having a good thrash on a friends LC250 that had a stage 2 Stan Stephens tune. Wickedly good fun, sounded awesome on it’s pair of Allspeed pipes. Way better than stock but single front disc wasn’t nice and trust me, when you’re giving it some there is DEFINITELY frame flex but at least you knew then you were truly at the limit and going any further was just going to hurt!
The problem wasn't so much the frame as the skinny front forks (thank you X7!), which with a disc on only one leg made even worse.
Hey great video I'm 55 but I owned a gt 380 cc my cousin let ride his GT 550 I WAS BIT BUY THE BUG I worked on them and a older guy that helped me port & polish with expansion chambers WHAT A RIDE then my bro got GT750 WOW and then I got Kawasaki 750 cc never grab a fist full of throttle. Also I had a friend race a 750 cc Honda and he made that dude cry great memories.
Still missing my RD 350 YPVS
Gave mine away! Aaarrrgghhh 😨
Me too
Aaaah i remember my 400c in yellow & black in '77. What a bke! It could wheelie in first & keep it up till 3rd.... It was such fun to ride, I always thought I was Saarinen (my hero)
Those were the days, I'd love another one 😊
Had the RD250E, an RD350 PowerValve and the RD500LC. I was laughing all the way to the court house and the hospital A+E departments on many occasion from the age of 18 to 38 years of age.
Are you the John Buckley I know ?
Lol had same sort of upbringing 😁
@@drewtaylor6623 I live in Cheshire, so I don't know?
Hi John, I had a 250, LC, 350 power valve LC, two RD 500's, an RG500 suzuki, a KR1S, and finally the latter RGV 250 road racing bike, luckily but only just kept out of A and E and the courts but what fucking fun, still got the grin on my face today........
Great bike i had a similar riding style always 2 fingers resting on the clutch lever!!!!
That's cool! It really is a great bike.
Two fingers on the clutch lever.. it's a two stroke.
Wow! That brings back some fond memories. Had a 250LC which I took down to Stan Stephens in Kent for a Stage 2 road tune. What an epic bike that was. A mate of mine had the very first incarnation of the GSX-R 750 and I could keep with him up until well over a ton. Chopped it in for a YPVS350 which also got fettled by Stan. What a brutal bike that was! Blew the standard baffles out going through the Dartford Tunnel going to Brands Hatch. Stuck some Microns on after that and upset everyone down my parents street.😂 Oh, happy days!
Fat Boy LEMC Snap! I had a 250elsie w&b Stan road tuned, Allspeeds, Clip ons,Boysens,ect. lovely and crisp quick as a 350!
Then a 350 Mars bar with Microns mate had rebuilt seized it doing a ton with girlfriend on back, clutch in no worries until I stopped
and tried to kick it over! Still got one of the pistons with a hole size if a 10p piece.After that a Standard YPVS from a dealer with a guarantee!