I bought myself a bit of a classic last week and my 1st non Ducati in about 5 years. I've made some financial decisions to allow me to bring retirement forward a few years, so a new bike is not on the radar for 2 - 3 years. I have wanted a bit of a project for a while as my bikes don't need anything doing to them and I do enjoy spinning the spanners. I was looking at a classic Ducati on here, but it didn't come to pass, so what do I buy? Well, I do like the Scrambler Urban Enduro, but it's still a new bike, so won't need much doing to it. So I decided to go for a bit of a classic. 916?, 999?. Well I already have sport bikes and It would have to be an R or SPS and I dodn't want to spend that kind of money at this point in time. Honda VTR SP1. A bike I've always liked, but another twin sportsbike. '98 R1, early Fireblade, again, sports bikes. Well I decided to go for a 2 stroke to relive my youth. I looked at an RGV250 and Aprilia RS250, but I've never owned either and they didn't quite pull me in enough to spend the money. Well, I've bought this............ RD350LC UK bike, 4L0 matching numbers, but crucially for me, it's a nice one, but not a pristine show bike. The last owner has had it for 11 years and has done 1,000 miles in that time. The engine was rebuilt when he bought it and it sounds really tight, runs very well and starts 1st kick (I've missed a kick start ) I've got a few things I can improve on it and a few parts to buy, but I'm hoping to enjoy it and never sell it.
Very nice had many of them, looks very original are the wheels original paint, you will have fun with that, Been watching this one which ends in a few hours, I'm sure it will still make £2500 +? Yamaha Rd 350 LC
Yep, I do find it hard to buy a bike that will depreciate, but this wasn't just a "head" decision, it was a "heart" one
Nice looking bike I always wanted one in my youth but the closest I got to one was a rd200 dx gonna make a great project
I resurrected my 250LC last year after standing for 7 years covered up outside. It was quite restorable and parts are quite keenly priced. I have two RGV250 track bikes and parts for them are a lot more costly and don't make for a cheap rebuild. The LC's are also easy to work on, I put a brand new crank in mine as it was cheaper and easier than a rebuild on the old one. I also did the R1 brake caliper conversion using a Thundercat master cylinder, R1 caliper and conversion bracket. More effective brakes and less than the cost of rebuilding the stock caliper, which gives problems. Although it makes it not totally original it does make it a more practical bike to ride. I also have brand new stock exhausts which may find their way onto the bike one day. At the moment it has Jim Lomas items. Still a nice bike to ride despite being over 35 years old and very easy to potter around town on if need be. I use all Motul oils in it including the smokeless two stroke oil.
Mine was originally the true Mars bar scheme, which looks like the photo below. The stripe kit on mine is from a later model, but I preferred it. It's also painted a custom metallic black with slight pearl as opposed to just straight lacquered black. I still have all the original genuine bodywork including the seat unit as I replaced it with spare bodywork, which is on the bike now.
I bought my RD250 via this forum, but as my memory is crap I cannot remember who. I do remember it was somewhere near Kempton Park. I need to get a throttle issue fixed, but love the sound and smell.
im not sure if its because I'm tired but Im struggling to post a photo of the old gal. try again later
If you are using the original oil pump as opposed to pre-mix then if you need a new throttle cable then only buy original. I first fitted a reproduction cable only to find that it was impossible to setup the oil pump correctly as the cable was the wrong length, a common problem I subsequently found out. The pump delivered far too much oil and no form of adjustment could correct it. The only problem is that the original stock cable is three times the price or more.
