# Yamaha Rd... Rd350Ypvs... Ish



## JonW (Mar 23, 2005)

Back in this thread: http://www.thewatchforum.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=33138 we chatted about bikes and talked a lot about RD350s... I thought... hmm, I'll grab a YPVS engine and stick it in my XL500R frame, why not... Paul (SHwk) would hate it, but it would amuse me... I looked for an engine and found one, it came with a free RZ250YPVS in bits... amusingly very true in fact... 

The RZ is what the colonies called the RD's once they got YPVS, so this is a full size 350 (ie. a 31k to those in the know) but with smaller jets in the carbs, 250 barrels and pistons and washers in the exhausts. Fit 350 pistons, drop on some 350 barrels/head and up jet the carbs and knock out the washers and its a 350... prefect... I just need the 350 parts now if anyone has some in their shed gathering dust...

It came from a guy about 2hours away who gave up when it blew up (crank) and he got a spare engine but the generator was seized on the crank and he didnt want to pay out anymore and I zipped up to pick it up for cheap in the car. He freaked out as he didnt think it would fit in the car, but ive done this sort of thing before and in it went within 45mins... LOL

The reason we have mostly 250s here was that road tax was and is still, low for 250s, but above that you pay a lot. So the 29L RZ250R came about, its actually 50bhp instead of the 350s 59, so not shabby... unlike my example... eeek...

I paid not much at all for it and no it doesnt go but it is 99.9% complete and there is enough parts in there to build a runner with just a set of new pistons. Ive started work but its a a back burner project, good to have in the garage tho 

His pic - mocked up panels on the frame... it is complete just the rest of the parts are loose.










Its journey home




























What it will one day be like.... not anytime soon thats for sure, but its a cool project for another day...










Edited to add, please add your pics of your old RDs from back in the day or tell us your RD story... it would make a great thread 

As Ive said before, Ive had a bunch of these bikes over the years, and even bought a new one in 1995, an RD350R which was actually great tho the mags panned em.

Gotta love an RD, and if youve ridden one you will know why


----------



## tomshep (Oct 2, 2008)

I only had the air cooled RDs; a 250Dx which mysteriously gained a 400 top end. It was fast, thirsty and fearful in its handling. I loved it but had moved on to Alfa Romeos by the time the Elsie came out. Britain may be a good place to find 350 parts but there will be a premium for them. It is a cult bike and we, too enjoy converting 250s. Don't suppose the liners are thick enough to bore them out, are they? Then you'd only need pistons and gaskets which are readily available and would save you a lot of shipping cost.


----------



## BlueKnight (Oct 29, 2009)

Nice project Jon. It looks very similar to the Canadian version of the power stoker from the same era.


----------



## thorpey69 (Feb 8, 2006)

Cool project Jon,liking the drilled airbox lid, :yes: .That little clamp which joins the seperate Powervalves together was the bain of my life at 17,remember waiting for what seemed like ages for a new one after mine fell off :lol: .

My 1st couple of seriousish incidents occured on my YPVS N1 model,the 1st was a piston seize at an indicated 115mph on the M11,that was a wake up call,the bike still rode home after i caught it on the clutch and it had cooled a little,a closer examination found a large hole.

The plan after was a total rebuild and blueprint and tune of the engine,i also added a deep braced Metchamex swinging arm,Micralloy front pipes with Swarbrick TZ alloy cans,rearsets,alloy aircraft filler cap,polished rims with painted spokes,new clip ons,WP steering damper and much more.The maiden voyage consisted of me riding a mile down the road and returning at high speed (105mph),whilst my friends stood roadside and waited,i took the corner where they were waiting at said speed and suffered the hugest tankslapper of my life which threw me off.

I cartwheeled down the road with the bike as company before impaling my head into the sill of a parked Transit van,leaving a 6 inch deep dent.The resulting concussion left me somewhat dazed for a while,and i blame it for all following stupidity :yes: .

There are many more YPVS and LC adventures,as i estimate i owned about 10 over the years amongst other 2 strokes from the era.Great bikes and i cant wait to see it completed Jon. :eat:


----------



## JonW (Mar 23, 2005)

Thanks for replying in this thread guys!

Tom, Yes I remember they were gaining in value when I left the UK and Ive checked the prices of parts all over the world, but the UK is pretty reasonable on prices now, I think as there were so many of them in the UK. 

Sadly you cant bore out the 250 cylinders to 350. It is just a wider bore but the ports wont allow the 250s to go as wide as 350. shame.

BlueKnight, Its basically the same bike and the Canadian versions. I think we got a less restrictive setup but yep same RZ badging, if different colours/decals. There is a healthy forum in the USA for these bikes and Canadians make up a large portion of the posters.

Andy! WOW! I knew you had a history with these from our discussions, but very very very cool story mate.  I have some similar stories to yours with various bikes back when I was invincible, LOL I cant promise this bike will be done very quickly I still have the XL500R to do and now ive the KTM to use, Im not desperate for a bike fix as I was.

What is interesting is that like watches, bikes also have forums and the RD/RZ's have a bunch just for the one bike. Brilliant. Lots of great tips of course and some cool parts at good prices. Good lads.


----------



## BondandBigM (Apr 4, 2007)

thorpey69 said:


> I cartwheeled down the road with the bike as company before impaling my head into the sill of a parked Transit van,leaving a 6 inch deep dent.The resulting concussion left me somewhat dazed for a while,and i blame it for all following stupidity :yes: .


:lol: :lol: :lol:


----------



## BlueKnight (Oct 29, 2009)

JonW said:


> BlueKnight, Its basically the same bike and the Canadian versions. I think we got a less restrictive setup but yep same RZ badging, if different colours/decals.


In Canada, we were always the recipients of the full meal deal offered my the manufacturers. In fact, I recall that during the tough smog regulations in the States especially California, American riders came to Canada to buy " black market" bikes. Depending on the CC's, our bikes had typically 10-20 more HP's.


----------



## Guest (Nov 8, 2009)

I love the smell of 2 strokes in the morning! Is that last picture the finished project?? Hats off to you!


----------



## mickyh7 (May 21, 2009)

What memory's you have brought back to me. I ended up with a GT 750 Suzuki model 'B' (Kettle).


----------



## mickyh7 (May 21, 2009)

In fact I raced a TZ350 in the 70's mainly around Croft in North Yorkshire. Happy days (I still have the scars)!!!


----------



## pugster (Nov 22, 2004)

ah this posts brings back some memorys ,2 stroke powerbands are crazy  , that aint a 350lc unless it has a set of allspeeds on it jon


----------



## jaslfc5 (Jan 2, 2007)

lovely bikes those lc's and valves.i had many a laugh on the back of my mates bikes because a valve was the reason i gave up riding .

i decided to get myself a valve after coming up through the ranks of fs1e's and dt's and kmx's ,it was a really well looked after one. a friend of mine had been banned so he wanted to get rid he owed me money so done deal.

after a couple of weeks i thought i was barry sheen on this bike until in my own road attempting the ultimate burn off the bike didnt spin at all instead it gripped and headed for space ,my mates reckon it was a good 20ft in the air.we both landed me with a broken collar bone the bike slightly bent and scratched.

i dont have any pictures of my bike sadly it was a well used bike and did the rounds ,all the boys used to have lc's, valves and mark2 escorts rs2000's they were ten a penny in those days .i remember selling a mark 2 rs with the forrest arches i bought it for Â£900 and sold it on the same day for Â£1500 that seemed like mega money for one - my mate who owns a garage just bought a knackered one for 3k its barely recognisable but they go for silly money restored.

i love the old bikes from my teens but i will only be looking and admiring sadly as i cant be trusted on anything with 2 wheels.

nice project you have there jon good luck.


----------



## JonW (Mar 23, 2005)

Cool stories guys! keep em coming...

BlueKnight, ahh ok maybe we got the same bikes you did. very cool 

BathTone, er no, thats a stock pic... mine is in bits... lots of em. LOL

Micky, Ahh the kettle... those were the days... 2smokers everywhere... nah, they were fun but we all know the current crop of bikes is a vast improvement over them. But yeah, Fun with a capital F.

Pugster, LOL... Ive had Allspeeds on all sorts over the years, but theyre hard to find now... if anyone has a set gathering dust... well... ahem... 

Jas, We defo did a similar bike journey, tho I had ER and MB/MTs, then KMXs and then crappy things like wet'dreams and then RDs... a great time was had by all 

Ive also looped a bike once... an ER80 with my bony sis on the back, shes never thanked me for the scar she has... sorry sis! 

Yep same story with all that old tatt we had back in the day, its all worth good coin now and we might think we should have kept them, but the reality is we needed to sell to upgrade, just like watches! 

Thanks again for all the kind well wishes in PM, Emails and on here. you lot are ok really :lookaround:


----------



## BondandBigM (Apr 4, 2007)

What eventually put me off was head butting a crash barrier at whatever speed we were going, I wasn't even driving I was on the back when my mate lost it on a big roundabout. I still have a sore shoulder now. What really p#ssed me off was the number of cars that just drove around me and kept going as I was lying there.An old Honda 360 if I remember correctly :lol: On one of the LC's I came off in the pouring rain one night, you don't half go on for ever in one of those nylon over suits on wet grass  :lol: bike was in a ditch and they found me halfway down the field :lol:

I had a couple of LC's. I bought one new in 80/81 and another a year or so later, both got stolen never to be seen again. I think they probably had the same reputation as Sierra Cosworth's got, they were either nicked or crashed. I imagine it would be hard to find a good one now.

The good old days when you could pick up Mk 2 RS's, 3ltr Capri's for buttons and still have a couple of quid left for a bike.

Unbelievably we used to charge around and up the local shale bings in cars and bikes There was no better car than a Mk 2 with 2nd hand knobbly tyres from the rally shop that used to be in the outskirts of Haymarket in Edinburgh. You could actually get pretty close to the top of a couple of them in the dumper truck tracks. Excellent CB radio reception up there as well. There were quite a few around that you could just drive up off the roads


----------



## MarkF (Jul 5, 2003)

Good luck Jon,

I had the earlier RD, the coffin tanks air cooled ones, I'd like one again too.


----------



## mickyh7 (May 21, 2009)

When I started with bikes again in the late 90's I bought a Suzuki RGV 250 to play with on track days.I could not believe the performance these little things put out. All the big bikes nailed me on the straights,but I could just ride around the outside of them in the corners, Braking and handling was superb. Even with standard suspension. Expensive on Fully Synthetic oil though ! I truly wish I had kept hold of mine.

My wife is laughing at me in the background at me now. I'm just too old now!


----------



## Drew F (Feb 7, 2009)

I had a 250 air cooled that i stripped down to nothing and done up many many years ago before i went on to a power valve, i may even dig the pictures out.


----------



## JonW (Mar 23, 2005)

Thanks for making this a great thread guys!

Drew, oh yes,,, please do!


----------



## Defender (Jan 27, 2009)

Sounds like you have a real project on there :notworthy:!

Never had an air or water cooled RD, but I did have a TDR250 in the early 90's, wish I still had it in the garage, but it made way for bigger bikes, if not more fun ones?

The car part of this thread is also memory provoking, I must get my V8 TR7 back on the road.

Best regards,

Defender.


----------



## JonW (Mar 23, 2005)

Ahh the TDR was a great bit of kit, way ahead of its time, they would have sold bucket loads now, sigh...

I used to have a 7V8... ABK800V... where are you?! LOL


----------



## Drew F (Feb 7, 2009)

There you go ahhhhh the memories.


----------



## pauluspaolo (Feb 24, 2003)

Good grief Jon!! Hasn't "the Repile" put you off getting a project?? It'll never be finished you know :cry2:? Seriously though it is nice to have something to tinker with in the garage isn't it :thumbup:

The SS1's come on in leaps & bounds since I last updated the thread - the engine's in, it starts, drives & it passed the MOT last week. What?? Oh yes that's right, that was the dream I had last week wasn't it? !

Actually I've done very little to it apart from slap some more paint on some more rusty parts of the chassis ! I was all set to install the new engine a couple of weeks ago but then the head gasket of my friends car went (he was going to help me fit the Zetec) so that put paid to that. He's now mobile again so hopefully we'll have another bash, barring any 2012 end of the world style disasters, in a couple of weeks or so. Hopefully I'll be able to resurrect the thread with an update soon 

Congrats on the bike - keep us posted on any progress please :thumbup:


----------

