Yamaha RD 250/400

**iranana** · 7th February 2013, 16:20

Hi there, can anyone tell me a bit about these two bikes? I'm a two stroke fanatic and any other two smokers of this era/size pique my interest (so if you've any recommendations, I'd be keen to hear

... I'm eyeing up an RD 250 for sale and it looks like a pretty sweet bike - I'm thinking of doing a cafe racer conversion down the line and fitting it with expansion chambers etc... What's the performance like on the 250 compared to say, an RG150 (what I currently ride) and what's the jump in performance/power between the 250 and 400? The 400s seem a little less common, and I'm itching to get a new bike... The big question is, do I hang fire and wait till a 400 pops up, or would the 250 be a pretty sweet ride?

And on that note, does anyone know someone looking to get rid of an RD 400?

Thanks!

**george formby** · 7th February 2013, 16:41

I'm not able to answer your questions with any degree of fact but I do remember as a kid my old man taking me for a blat on the back of his RD 400, glorious in blue. The route took in the "Gibbet Road", an old Roman road in the north of England, straight as a dye over the moors but up & down like a heavy sea. So named because Border Reivers caught cattle rustling, stealing, pillaging etc would be hung from a black gibbet on that route.The bugger of a Father had it screaming and it wheelied off every crest. My second memory of absolute terror.
Yeah, get one. Not much by modern standards but oozing the spirit of bikes.

I love 2t's too. When I got home on my G/F's bike last night just the smell of it in the garage gave me a chubby.

**Asher** · 7th February 2013, 16:53

A RD350lc might be easier to find. My mate is restoring an old RD350B, its one of the early aircooled versions. Hes doing a bit of work on it and is expecting around 60hp. Im not sure about the power of a 250 but i doubt it would be much faster than a newish rg150 and defiantly wouldnt handle as well.

**george formby** · 7th February 2013, 17:03

Originally Posted by Asher

A RD350lc might be easier to find. My mate is restoring an old RD350B, its one of the early aircooled versions. Hes doing a bit of work on it and is expecting around 60hp. Im not sure about the power of a 250 but i doubt it would be much faster than a newish rg150 and defiantly wouldnt handle as well.

I concur, an RD 350 Elsie is second on my wish list to a TDR 2fiddly.

**pete-blen** · 7th February 2013, 19:01

Originally Posted by iranana

I'm eyeing up an RD 250 for sale and it looks like a pretty sweet bike -

Is it the White/red 1978 RD250E on TM ?

Originally Posted by george formby

I do remember as a kid my old man taking me for a blat on the back of his RD 400, glorious in blue.

Blue.... 1976 RD400C... first of the 400 after the 350...

The first was the R5.. drum front brake... Yamaha put a disc on it then called it the RD250/350A..
The RD250/350B had a slighty bigger tank.. same shape but fatter...
Then in 1976 came the RD250/400C were blue .. then in 1977, D model same bike but was mainly red here....
Then in 1978 came the RD250/400E white with red stripes , mat black motor the E was a lot quicker
than the C & D models...
1979 came the F model , New seat/ tank shape & the motor got a 1 peice head..
the F was called the "Daytona special" .. 1980 the last of the RD250/400 was the G model
same as the F but had green / gold stripes...
Then Yamaha went to the water cooled mono shock RD250/350LC H model..... then the RZ came...
i have owned...
76 RD400C
78 RD400E
81 or 82 RD250LC
82 RD350LC

Need a rest..I now feel old...

**george formby** · 7th February 2013, 19:08

Originally Posted by pete-blen

Is it the White/red 1978 RD250E on TM ?

Blue.... 1976 RD400C... first of the 400 after the 350...

The first was the R5.. drum front brake... Yamaha put a disc on it then called it the RD250/350A..
The RD250/350B had a slighty bigger tank.. same shape but fatter...
Then in 1976 came the RD250/400C were blue .. then in 1977, D model same bike but was mainly red here....
Then in 1978 came the RD250/400E white with red stripes , mat black motor the E was a lot quicker
than the C & D models...
1979 came the F model , New seat/ tank shape & the motor got a 1 peice head..
the F was called the "Daytona special" .. 1980 the last of the RD250/400 was the G model
same as the F but had green / gold stripes...
Then Yamaha went to the water cooled mono shock RD250/350LC H model..... then the RZ came...

Need a rest..I now feel old...

Gave me the warm fuzzies that did. I reckon you nailed the year of my Dads RD spot on. 76 was all oil crisis & sunshine in the UK. I was 9. An impressionable age.
Go for an Elsie, one of the first "hooligan" bikes I reckon.

**GrayWolf** · 7th February 2013, 22:08

Originally Posted by iranana

Hi there, can anyone tell me a bit about these two bikes? I'm a two stroke fanatic and any other two smokers of this era/size pique my interest (so if you've any recommendations, I'd be keen to hear

... I'm eyeing up an RD 250 for sale and it looks like a pretty sweet bike - I'm thinking of doing a cafe racer conversion down the line and fitting it with expansion chambers etc... What's the performance like on the 250 compared to say, an RG150 (what I currently ride) and what's the jump in performance/power between the 250 and 400? The 400s seem a little less common, and I'm itching to get a new bike... The big question is, do I hang fire and wait till a 400 pops up, or would the 250 be a pretty sweet ride?

And on that note, does anyone know someone looking to get rid of an RD 400?

Thanks!

I'm going off memory as these are the bikes I cut teeth on. S1-250 triple, RD250/350/400 and LC

Depending on the model of 250 there were various tweaks that 'improved' acceleration and gained a couple of BHP... I ended with an RD250E dx... even with the heavy mag wheels it was quicker than previous models.. we are talking of a few kph and fraction of a second acceleration. never saw the G model (ram air) think the last into the UK were the white/red F model.

250... about 35bhp and an indicated 95mph
400 about 40-45bhp and around 107-110 mph Yeh we all know stories of much faster... nope, I also owned an H1a 500 and the RD was very much slower off the line and on top end.
the 350 is almost as quick as the 400, many reckoned the 'peach' was the earlier YR5 350 (piston ported) but I never rode one so cant really comment.
They received immense amounts of abuse, and came bouncing back for more. The 400 was the 'boy racer/hoon' bike of choice. The LC350 was a little quicker standard, and was able to be tuned to a greater level... I remember the first 2 Stan Steven tuned 350LC's arriving at box hill (UK).. they spent the whole afternoon chasing the superbikes of the day, CB900, GS1000, CBX1000, Z1000.. and basically embarrassed most of them on acceleration and out handled most of them as well... bloody quick they were.
There was talk of the LC engine not being as 'strong' as the air cooled in the crank dept.. but that could well be 'urban bullpaki'... there was one very nice bike that floated about,,, an LC 350 frame with an RD400 motor,it was quicker than a standard LC (the RD's frame etc were a lot heavier) Same guy also put an H1 motor in an LC frame.
From memory... brakes are 1970's shite! watch out for the plastic swing arm bushes.. the brake callipers had a tendency seize, headlight on the RD was abysmal (pre halogen and about 45watt from memory).. big and heavy with by todays standards, dubious handling...
and RD250 will not be embarrassed by a 150 apart from the handling stakes....
They are great bikes.... but another serious option and a far longer lived engine (just not as exciting in standard form) is the GT500 suzuki (titan).... they are real stompers and they piston etc is identical to the GT750 kettle. I think from memory that the porting is about the same, just a different height makes a difference. However with MINOR porting work the GT can be lifted from 45bhp to over 70bhp, I believe 90bhp is not an unreasonable output for them.. the works 500 was 99% the same motor (bore/stroke---porting was the biggest difference)
you could also look at the GT 550/380 triple Suzook's the Kwaka's? the 'peach' of the range was the S3 400cc.... the early S series (drum brakes) are the quick ones in all CC's the 250 was reputed as the first 100mph bike... not going to try to argue for that! I think the real first 'ton up' 250 was the LC, and that caused the 125 law to be introduced in the early 1980's (UK). The 350 triple is rare, but shares the same bottom end as the 250. the 500 and 750? leave them alone.. the 750 is very torquey actually and quite manageable for power delivery, the 500 is simply vicious. however BOTH had engines that seriously overpowered the chassis.
The GT750 suzook is a fantastic high mileage machine, the J (early) had crank seal issues with age, the M was the quickest, But they drink petrol like a drunken sailor drinks beer,,, and chew chains... only 2T to totally 'outclass' the Gt750 on the 'drinking' stakes was the 500/750 kwaka's.
For performance and handling, AND looks.. I had a mildly tuned 350LC as my last stroker.......that would be my 1st choice, followed by the GT500/550/RD400/350.

**iranana** · 8th February 2013, 07:46

Originally Posted by pete-blen

Is it the White/red 1978 RD250E on TM ?.

Yup, it sure is that one. Km's are fairly high (could have even been around the clock?) and I don't know about its rebuild history, it also needed to be revinned...did you think it was reasonably priced?

Thanks for all the info guys, given me a good bit to chew on and despite my hankering for a new machine, I might hang fire till something bigger comes up seeing as it seems to be not much of a step up from my RG (or would it actually be a satisfying ride?)... It still tempts me

Any more info on these classic two smokers would be much appreciated, some of this info is fairly hard to find online! And on the topic of the GT750 - if I recall correctly my dad used to have one of these back in his day which he rode across Europe and it still remains his favourite bike of all time!

**Asher** · 8th February 2013, 08:05

Considered an rgv250? Since lams came out their price has dropped by quite a bit and parts are readily available at good prices

**Graelin** · 29th March 2013, 18:47

I raced RD 350 at Pukekohe, in the days when everyone was production racing them, the 400 had an advantage on to the back straight through extra torque over the 350, may be pull away a bike length. Then they were neck and neck, I was indicating 112 mph on the straight. The 400 felt smoother and may be not as rev happy as the 350.

I also raced Suzuki T 500 there, then RD400.

The 400 would be a great bike to have if yo can find a good one. I currently have a modified RZ 350 that is very quick.

Remember frames and brakes have come a long way since then.

**ktm84mxc** · 30th March 2013, 10:06

The best so I'm told is a RG250wd chassis with a worked RZ350ypvs motor fitted for a mid 80's build.

**malcy25** · 5th April 2013, 16:49

Originally Posted by ktm84mxc

The best so I'm told is a RG250wd chassis with a worked RZ350ypvs motor fitted for a mid 80's build.

ye old Yamagamma...!

RRGV's, RZ's KR1's, KR250, TZR250, NS250, NSR250 are all good and even now they are all getting longish in the tooth these days, but they do handle and stop so much better than the the earlier stuff.

I had a brand new TZR250 that I production raced in 87/88 (mine must have been the only stock one though as I never had the carbs off it!) and it would easily puff off a mates tweaked 350LC (carb kit, filters reeds etc).

As fun as the Earlier RD's are, I'd probably buy the best later one I could find. Places like Yambits in the UK pump out the parts for tehse things right back to the early 70's so running one, even an older one is pretty good.

**HenryDorsetCase** · 5th April 2013, 17:00

I did a lot of miles on an RZ350LC back in the day. Basically the last of the twins though of course the RZ500 was later but we regarded as unobtainable exotica.

The RD350LC had no powervalve in the exhaust, the RZ had the powervalve. Talk about your Grand Prix technology: an adjustable height exhaust port to broadent the powerband. I have very fond memories of that bike. In particular riding round the outside of someone on a CB750F on one of our all in races roudn Martinborough (chorus of "Oh Aye, them were the days" please).

In fact so much so that I have resisted owning or riding another as I dont want to sully the memory of how good it was (and by extension how good I thought I was....).

but yeah, you should totally get one.