Anybody here ever own a RD350-400?

I want a 2 stroke, and am considering the RD350 or 400. Anybody here ever own one? What was it like, and what can you say about it's issues?
Thanks! Bill

 

CLOSE! I was gonna buy one for my (first) ex-wife, then she rode one and it scared the bejabbers out of her.

Fast, competent bikes. VERY successful as club racers long after being phased out as street bikes. It was the popularity of the RDs that drove the release of the 550 Seca here as the 2-strokes went away...

Did you see the leg-wetter that was up in the eBay feed?

 

Ain't they all leg wetters?
I was at the Gilmore Antique Bike Festival today, and saw some Suzuki GT550s, Kawasaki H1-500s and some Yamaha RDs.
I think I can see why the RDs were the best handling of the group. They are pared down to Spartan basics, are the lightest and have the narrowest engine. But they look solid and of high quality.
The Kawasaki's have the widest engine, as wide or wider than my GS1100G, all that gyroscopic energy in the crankshaft must have made them reluctant to change direction. A drag bike for sure, not for road racing.
The Suzuki GT550's look hefty, and to be built for every day road riding, the engine is as wide as the GS550, the overall look is of, style over performance. But they are lighter than the GS550.
I may have to prioritize the Yamaha RD350-400 over the Suzuki GT550. The Kawasaki H1-500 is always described as having bad to dangerous handling.

 

Never had an RD, but I had a Suzuki GT 550, 3 cylinder two stroke bike. That thing was just plain stupid, especially with the bias ply vintage OEM style tire out back. It sure made great smoke shows between the tire and the mixed fuel. That bike only had a top speed of about 100 mph, but it would get there as fast as the rear tire would let it. If you just hammered on it, and you weren't a squid, you could fry that tire up to about 65 or so. Scary bike if you don't know what you're doing. I'd love to get another one.

 

yes i had an rd400f daytona

great bike tonnes of power ( i mean tonnes! )
if you can't get the front tire off the ground in second than the engine is very tired

get some expansion chambers as the rubber exhaust seals tend to blow out fairly frequently

you'll need to make sure you decoke the pistons once a year as they tend to build up deposits pretty quick since it's an oil burner

all around you can't beat the 40hp at only 350lbs

 

my buddy has one (350) he bought from a returning Air Force guy who got it in the orient...

the speedo is in metric and only had about 900 kilometers on it when he got it...

its given him nothing but trouble trying to keep the carburetor clean and functional but when he got it 18 years ago, it kept him very conservative when he rode. it was wicked fast he said...

im going to have to get him to clean it up some and get it back on the street...

 

I used to have a hi-performance, race engine building business back in the early to mid-eighties. I primarily built four stroke road-racing engines for club racers and AMA Superbike privateers, however I built an endless number of RD-350 and 400 based race bike engines as well. These bikes were the "beginner" machines for riders that were serious about getting into formula bike road racing and they would use these machines in production and modified production classes as a step up to the specially built Grand Prix Formula bikes such as the Yamaha TZ-250, et.al. - The RD series had awesome power, combined with light weight and was absolutely perfect if you had your sights set on moving up to the TZ-250 GP machine. It's a completely different riding style than a four-stroke. Light and nimble, a properly tuned RD can quickly and easily put the fear of God into a rider that does not have respect for the machine. They are lots of fun and they are now considered collectors items by many. They have followers (much like the folks in this XJ forum) that are absolutely fanatics about their RD's to the point where they consider themselves to be within a cult of sorts. Take an RD for a ride and grab yourself a handfull of throttle (but make sure you are holding on and that your weight is biased forward). I suspect that you'll be somewhat impressed.

 

I only had the RD250. It was my first bike.

I discovered what "powerband" was the day I snapped the gearshift shaft and was stuck riding in 2nd gear the remainder of the day. I could just imagine how the larger RD models pulled once entering the powerband. For my first, I found the pull of the little 250 awesome.

I had an intermittent issue with it dying and not starting though. Never found the issue. I can't count the number of times I'd push the bike home at 2 or 3 am, and go out the next day just to have it start on the first kick.

 

I owned all of them. Great street bike but a gust of wind will blow you all over the lane you are trying to ride in. Not good on the highway like your Seca.
Adding expansion chambers gives 20% more HP but requires good tuning or pistons seem to melt. Also these pipes allow more rpm than the stock crank can handle.

 

I have had an RD350 back in the day and I have an RD400 now. You will find the the 350 has a very narrow power band, but I does get out of its own way! I didn't keep it very long....I preferred the 650. The 400 is a much better bike IMHO. It has more torque and a much wider power band. It is just as fast, too. It also has alloy wheels. In general just much easier to live with. If you have never had two strokes you will need a bit of adjusting. It's a kick to take it too a cruise in. Guaranteed to get attention when you fire it up!

 

If you do get an RD or Rz, which I had and it was a bottle rocket, the best place to get parts and upgrades is a little company called Spec 2. The make a few parts for FJ/XJ bikes as well.


You can find them on line at
www.Spec2.com

 

You make my mouth water. :twisted: :wink: Because I decided the GT550 would be my first choice, and the RD400 second.
Bill

 

had a 350 back in the day. when the tach hits 5000 rpm you had better be holding on! it takes some practice learning to ride it smoothly with its on/off power delivery. And if you ever wonder why you wold hear guys rev the bike while sitting at a light it ws because if you didn't it wold foul the plugs and stall. did that too many times.... fun bikes but not a convenient ride. I guess I am too old anymore to want to deal with that.

ken k

 

ive had a bunch of them they are fun to build i think i like the 400 the best they got alout of the kinks worked out was alout better spark plug wise then the 250-350 they are fun to ride dont know if i would want 1 for an everyday cummuter . that and the prices are really high now .but wouldnt mind having another just to have and take out occasionally the value will only go up on them

 

My very first road bike was a RD250. It was bright yellow and painted by hand when I got it. I had it for more than 2 years before moving to a GS750 but I had a whole heck of lot of fun with the power-band and the 2 straight chrome mufflers that used to scrape if you lent to far over ... Oh and the amount of times I had to replace those rear indicators when the pillions would snap them off... POOOWWWER BAND YOIK!
I Haven't seen the RD250 anywhere for a long time now and it was old when I had it over 23 years ago... ouch time flies.

 

Well, I had the LC350 (pre YPVS,) (RZ350) I had it Stan Stevens tuned with microns (exhausts) the big boys on the Z1000, GS1000 etc etc hated me because I could run rings around them!!!!

 

I drove a RD500 for years and i must say i loved it. It's a litlle getting used to after a 4 stroke bike. NO engine breaking and peaky HP delivery. (it comes alive above 6k rpm's). Did ride 350's and 400's as well.
The 400 is a comfy bike. Found the 350 to be a little more "nervous". Both fast bikes, though.
When taken care of properly a 2stroke can be a fast and reliable bike.

 

I have:
1973 RD350
1975 RD250
1975 GT380
1992 XJ550 Seca
1985 Moto Morini K2

The GT380 is by far my favorite. A REAL Grand Touring bike. Not as high-strung as the RDs....these are road bike.

Of course I love my RDs for short, hair-on-fire rides and I love the Seca because it's sexy.

 

I had an RD 250 DX.(Alloy wheels, Discs front and back but before the "E" electronic ignition model) I fitted Clubman bars to it and K&N filters (With appropriate jet size increase). The best "Performance" mod was the 60w asymetric dip Cibie headlamp, replacing the poxy 35w tungsten bulb!! It would crack 100 mph downhill. I really wish I still had it.

 

I owned a few R-5s 70-72 Same as an RD without reeds, discs, or 6th gear
I owned a 74 350A
A 78 400E cherry condition
and a 79 400F also cherry condition. Sold it for $3200 on Ebay a few years ago.
I sold the 400 F to buy my Seca 650. A gust of wind would blow me around too much on the highway.
The 650 is a much better handling bike.

 

lets see i had an rd125 with chambers rd200 74 rd250 2 74 rd350 and a 78 rd 400 built . Fun bikes i prefer the 400 over the 350 better ride little more low end mags wish i still had them all i would be well off if i sold them

 

I've had both

GT550 would make the better tourer and a heap of fun but it wouldn't get close to well ridden RD400 through the twisty bits

I've also owned and raced the RD350LC and often ran against RD400, nothing much in it, came down to who was feeling braver on the day

 

I've just seen this post. I have to admit that I really would like to have another RD400 now that I am old enough and wise enough to really enjoy it properly. It ia a grand bike. I had one in my younger days (it was about 3 years old when I bought it). It had a ferocious power band that often used to put me on the tarmac when I went round large roundabouts!!!! When you are young and indestructable you tend to ride at 150 per cent of your ability. I could also tell you how to drive the non YPVS bikes backwards but that would be an awfully stupid thing to do!!!!

 

Not an RD, but I had an 84 RZ350. I lowsided it at 70 in North Georgia last June.

It broke my heart, that was all. Walked away unscathed. 8O Hit the ditch on my back looking up at the trees. Luckily, the ditch was full of years of leaf debris. It was like getting slammed into a Lazy Boy chair at 60!

Hope to have another one soon. :wink:




Before wreck.








My buddy Jim's 79 Daytona Special.







His RZ KR.

 

Pjb03, those are all very good looking bikes! I'm learning so much here! You hear all the names of bikes from people over the years but don't really know what they look like, so it's real nice to see what the heck they were all talking about and why they were all so cool! Thanks for sharing!

Mac

 

Check my sig. I had a couple wing dingers a LONG time ago. Me and a buddy on a Daytona RD400 rode from DE to TN in one day. Man that was FUN!

It was a blast to ride. Easy to wheelie, and what's a red line?

 

great bikes i bought another rd 250 back in april. I am gathering parts as we speak. I am sending the motor to lyn gardner when the temps cool down. The bike has less then 5100 miles on it. He is going to do the port work and send the 350 heads and jugs out. to get the bore job.Since its going to be a 350 i am going to have tp change the final gearing to accommodate the 3.13 vs 2.87 crank ratio to transmission. He is gonna put crank seals in it just to be safe. Even as a 250 its a fun bike. Always starts on the 1st or 2nd kick. Mine looks identical to this one except the chambers are black. Its gonna be a screamer

 

Had a 73' RD350 before back in late 70's when i was 17-18. It was my first street bike.Bought it off my mom.I loved it, lots of power. Drove it for a whole year in eastern pa. It was my only transportation. Then like a dumb s%%t let some guy drive it in a parking lot and wipe it out. took out the front end,I learn a good lesson not to do that again. Would love to buy one again some day!