Yamaha RD350B - one for the 70's bikers amongst us!

[Alfie]

As one or two of you know I have been restoring an old 1976 Yamaha RD350B over the last few months. Well its now finished and I thought id share a few pictures with you;

 

[Dryce]

Looks v. nice.

My recollection was that they were small and very nippy and hard to keep up with in urban traffic if you were on a large 4 stroke bike.

 

[st13phil]

Nice. Back in the late 70's my mate Mac had the predecessor YR5 which was more than a match for my T100R Daytona. Mmmm... the smell of Castrol 2T

 

[Bellow]

I can hardly believe a bike from that period looks so fresh. Incredible.

 

[thedruid]

That is very nice. Good job on the restoration. When I was younger all my mates and me had bikes from 100cc to thousands and all differing styles. One of the lads had an Rd35o like yours and we used to have endless laughs when it was wet watching him come to very quick stops and leap from his bike. It used to short the HT and he would end up getting a huge belt through the bars. Ah, the good old days.

 

[tanuie]

Hi It looks very nice. I had the 250cc model around the mid seventies, I remember swapping the ex wife's car for it (without her knowledge) when I was in the pub. She wasn't very happy about it but it was only an old Austin 1100. Probably explains why one of the reasons she is my ex wife.
It was a quick bike for it's time. ( not the wife).

 

[Benzowner]

Those steel disc brakes didn't like the wet, cracking bike tho'

 

[developer]

Fantastic .

I have a coffin tank RD250 with Allspeed expansion pipes in the back garden of a house.

No papers - nothing, though it would be a decent resto project if you want to start again.

 

[KennyN]

The air cooled RD`s were a few years before my time , I was an LC / Superdream / X7 person. Looks like a pukka resto there fella , what is next on the cards - an RD500 / RG500 would be nice , if a little expensive going by their secondhand prices lately.

Kenny

 

[artyman]

Very nice, I seem to recall there used to be an RD350 race series on TV, that was always a hectic affair, great to watch though.

 

[Dave Barlow]

Fantastic .

I have a coffin tank RD250 with Allspeed expansion pipes in the back garden of a house.

No papers - nothing, though it would be a decent resto project if you want to start again.

Allspeed expansion pipes are now made by Gibson Exhausts, still in the same factory in Romford, Essex!

 

[Felstmiester]

Stunning!! Looks lovely. I had one back in the day. 350b then a Stan Stevens built 350LC with a very highly tuned 350YPVS engine. The Stan Stevens one was quick!! It would give a old gsxr 1000 slingshot a run up to 120mph. Then I had a couple of standard 350 pv's that I brought as non runners and done them up. Not sure about the B's but the LC's & PV's are worth money now.

You've done a fantastic job. So good to see a bike like that so pristine.

 

[Giantvanman]

Beautifully done. Is it for showing or are you going to use it?

 

[WDB124066]

Boy does that bring back memories!

First time on a performance bike was on an R5F.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I still remember it now!

You should be very proud of that, looks first class.

 

[stwat]

Lovely bike. I had a Suzuki GT250 a few years ago. Great fun, Nippy little thing it was too. My bro had a Yamaha RD250 back in the 80's which I used to sneak out on from time to time. I remember having a go on a mates RGV250 and almost shat myself

This isn't me by the way.
[YOUTUBE HD]WG8XfC2u0DY[/YOUTUBE HD]

 

[Dave Barlow]

Still have the 1973 Suzuki T250 Hustler I bought in 1978.
Candy red and chrome.

 

[markmifsud]

I used to ride the RD250 ( a friends ) but my own wheels were on a KH250 3 pot.

 

[stwat]

You just can't beat the sound of the screaming two strokes from back then. Oh and the smell. Heaven.

[YOUTUBE HD]VbH2vMoGvaw[/YOUTUBE HD]

[YOUTUBE HD]-bxzkBaxgSo[/YOUTUBE HD]

 

[st13phil]

Still have the 1973 Suzuki T250 Hustler I bought in 1978.
Candy red and chrome.

I used to own its baby brother - a 1971 T200 Invader in 1977. Great little bike

 

[st13phil]

[YOUTUBE HD]VbH2vMoGvaw[/YOUTUBE HD]

Thanks for that clip. I spectated many times at the Bol d'Or at Le Castellet in the 1990's, but I've never sought out any on-bike footage. Nice to see what the view along Le Mistral looks like after all these years