Yamaha RD350

Detailed Review by Maxabout Team

Overview

Yamaha RD350 is one of the bikes which you can call a classic in a genuine sense. Coming to India in 1983, it set its name in the minds of all performance-oriented people of that era and even today. RD350, nicknamed the ‘Racing Death’, built its cult following not only in India but in the entire world. People have different meanings for the prefix RD, some believe it to be ‘Rajdoot’, a few say it is ‘Race Derived’ and a handful will tell you its ‘Road Developed’, whatever meaning the prefix holds for different people but there is one thing everyone can agree on and that is the Yamaha RD 350 was the first bike take the title of performance racer and it was way ahead of its time.

Yamaha RD 350 Design and Style

Yamaha RD was already available in Japan before it came to India with the collaboration between Yamaha and Escorts Group. Yamaha RD350 had a retro-modern design and high-speed style, people today are customising the bike to their likes and needs. It had chrome round headlamps, a single flat seat unit, chrome-finished twin exhaust, spoke wheels and well-edged side panels with a chrome finish which was eye candy for its lovers and the value for this bike is just going up every day even after its discontinuation.

Yamaha RD350 Engine and Gearbox

RD 350 had two variants, High Torque and Low Torque, as it was detuned for the Indian market and some other changes were also made like the braking system was changed as well. Yamaha RD350 was offered with a 347cc 2-stroke, twin parallel cylinder, air-cooled, torque induction with twin carburettor which produced a maximum power of 39 HP @ 7500 rpm for the Japanese version and 30.5 HP @ 6750 rpm for the Indian version. The peak torque produced was 37.2 Nm @ 7000 rpm for the Japanese version and 32.3 Nm @ 6500 rpm for the Indian version. The RD350 was offered with a 6-speed Helical cut (primary drive) manual transmission with a wet multi-plate clutch system.

Yamaha RD350 Suspension, Brakes and Tyres

Yamaha RD 350 was suspended on a tubular double cradle chassis with the oil-damped front telescopic forks and air-damped swing-arm coil spring for the rear suspension. The brakes were also altered for the Indian release as the Japanese version had a 267mm 2-piston calliper disc in the front and 180mm drum brakes in the rear, whereas the Indian version had a 180mm drum for both ends. The RD350 had 18-inch spoke-wire wheels with a front tyre section of 3.00*18” - 4PR and a 3.50*18” - 4PR rear tyre section.

Instrument Console of Yamaha RD 350

The Instrument cluster of the Yamaha RD 350 was an analogue system that displayed a tachometer in the right pod and the left pod hosted the speedometer, trip meter and odometer. The tachometer had a neutral indicator and a range of 10,000 rpm with a limit of 8500 rpm. The central section contained the ignition, turn indicators, stop lamp and high beam.

Key Features of Yamaha RD 350

Key features included Twin Carburetor, Torque Induction, Disc Brakes for the Japanese version, High Performance, 6-speed Gearbox and a pillion footrest.

Top Speed and Mileage of Yamaha RD350

Nicknamed the Racing Death for a reason, the RD350 could top the claimed top speed of 120 kmph by the company easily and the recorded top speed in the real world for this naked giant was approximately around 160 kmph. As for the mileage, this bike was definitely the fuel guzzler and you could say that was one of the very reasons the bike failed in the Indian market. The average mileage of the bike was approximately around 20 kmpl, but there had been reports suggesting that it was even lower sometimes. The RD350 was a speed demon that could reach 0-100 kmph in mere 7 seconds and in just 16-17 seconds it would clock the maximum speed it had reached 150-160 kmph in race-derived scenarios.

Yamaha RD350 Colour Options

The Yamaha RD350 was sold in two variants HT and LT and it was available in 3 different shades which were Silver, Red and Black.

Yamaha RD350 Price

At the time of its release, the Yamaha RD350 was offered at INR 18,000 which was a lot at that time and because of the lack of impactful fuel economy and rider skills, it was not a very successful bike according to the sales. But before the discontinuation of the bike, the price was recorded to be around INR 30,000. The Yamaha RD350, although discontinued, can still be bought on alternative markets and some mods are selling it with some new tweaks the price could easily reach around INR 2 lakh in these markets.

Yamaha RD350 Competitors

During its launch in India, RD350 had to go against Yezdi Roadking, Jawa 350 and Royal Enfield Bullet. Even though it was a revolutionary bike in the performance section throughout the world but in the Indian market, it was unsuccessful.

Final Words

Yamaha RD350 is an iconic name in the Indian 2-wheeler motorsports and drag strips, clocking up to 65 bhp under a well-experienced hand. Custom made racers were such a common sight on tracks, be that drag or circuit. And there was a rule set up for the RD350, the bike could not compete with bigger 4-stroke bikes and the sole reason for this rule was to avoid the embarrassment of losing to a 30+-year-old machine. It definitely is the bike to be revered as the game-changer for future generations of bikes, but it had its own cons, including the low fuel economy and high maintenance and part cost. The legacy and the tale still live among the masses and RD350 lovers can still be seen across the country looking for this Giant-Killer.