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thackervijay
zinam
Crazy cat
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    Yamaha RD 350 - History of an Indian Superbike

    Crazy cat
    Crazy cat


    Posts : 2587
    Location : Coimbatore

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    Post  Crazy cat 27th December 2008, 11:30 pm

    I read this is Bike Advice and thought of sharing with you.

    The RD 350 was the very first super performance offering to the Indian Consumers at a time (1983) when the only bikes in India were the Bullet 350, the Jawa (Yezdi) 250 2 stroke and Rajdoot 175 cc 2 stroke. The other two wheelers being geared scooters like Bajaj Priya, Chetak, Allwyn Pushpak, Vijay and Lambretta. The original Japanese RD 350 had 40 bhp but the Indian Editions were detuned to 31 bhp due to lower fuel quality in India and also to increase Mileage.

    Yamaha RD 350 - History of an Indian Superbike Yamaha-rd-350
    The RD was produced from 1983 to 1990 in India. The first edition was called HT(high torque) edition, this edition had 31 bhp. The first sets of RD’s were given to the Indian Traffic Police to help them in nabbing criminals quickly. The Indian Police were used to Enfield Bullets previously and the RD proved to be a handful for them to control. The result was many accidents by the officials.
    The first HT edition of the RD 350 had too much power for the average Indian Rider as back then our Market was not used to such a performance product (and sadly even now). The RD was a crotch Rocket capable of hitting 165 KM/HR in 6th gear. The RD used to frequently wheelie at the hands of inexperienced riders, being a high revving 2 stroke the bike was uncontrollable except a handful of experienced and matured riders. This prompted Yamaha to bring a detuned version of the RD 350 LT (low torque) which had 27 bhp with less pick up and slightly better mileage.
    The RD used to return a mileage of anywhere between 6 to 23 km/ltr depending on how it was driven. The RD was fully imported in earlier models but by 1990 the bike was manufactured completely by Escorts Yamaha in India. The name RD stands for “Race Derived” performance and had technology from the Motogp bikes of the 1970’s. The bike had cult status all around the world since it was produced from the early 70’s in Europe, Japan and America. The bike was stopped production in America in early 1980’s due to stricter emission and sound norms.
    The Indian Scenario: Unfortunately the RD did not enjoy that much success in India. The running costs was the greatest deterrent for the Indian rider to buy the RD and with the reputation of it being a “Lethal” bike ensured the sales of the RD was poor. Some people thought RD stood for “Rapid Death” ! Yamaha promoted the bike with the line “For the few who dared to Dream and be different” but that’s what happened literally in reality. The Hero Honda CD 100 which was launched in the 1985 further dented the RD’s sales figures as it had better mileage. Yamaha still continued to offer the RD LT. The RX100 was later launched in 1985 and it continued to sell better than the RD. Finally the RD 350 was discontinued by Yamaha in 1990 after years of frustration. The “Fill it, Shut it, Forget it” era marked the demise of the RD 350.
    The RD 350 was a bike way ahead for its time and especially in the Indian context, the bike was not suited for the Indian consumer. The bike though a very competent and quality product enjoyed little success in our country.
    Technical Aspects: The RD was a twin cylinder “Reed Valve” air cooled 347 cc engine with each cylinder having a displacement of 173.5 cc. The RD had a slick 6-speed close ratio gearbox with 1 down 5 up pattern. The RD also featured “Torque Induction” ignition technology of Yamaha. The RD could do 0-100 in 7 seconds and a top speed of 165 km/hr in its heyday. The RD could touch 150 km/hr in just 16 seconds and was the first bike to have a tachometer in India.
    Yamaha RD 350 - History of an Indian Superbike Yamaha-rd-350-image
    The RD had twin exhausts and the Indian models had only 150 mm drum brakes at both ends. The drum brakes lacked the bite of a disc and the abroad models had a front disc brake, which was absent in the Indian models. Coupled with the skinny tires the RD had scary high-speed handling and braking control characteristics. The RD is still the performance benchmark of any production bike in India and even after 25 years no Indian performance bike has even come close to it.
    The Race RD’s: The RD 350 was modified for track use at the MMSC race track in Chennai and ran on Aviation fuel (white kerosene). The Race RD’s were turbocharged and had smaller sprockets and wheels, Yamaha RD 350 - History of an Indian Superbike Yamaha-rd-350-racetrackwhich pushed the power upto 85 bhp. The top speed was in excess of 220 km/hr. The bike had just the chassis, suspension, large 25 ltr fuel tank, disc brake on both ends and a thin sponge cushion for seat as everything else was removed to lighten up the bike. The Race RD was very light and agile and was very different from the Stock RD. The Race RD’s had modified powered up exhausts and the sound would be intoxicatingly addictive as well as deafening when they would zoom past in the track spewing blinding smoke all over the track. I was in complete awe of the action taking place on the race track. The Race RD was the “Undisputed King of the MMSC Race Track” before it was discontinued from racing.
    Salute the Grand-dad of Indian Performance Bikes: The RD was the first proper performance Superbike in India and it still enjoys cult status in our country. Performance Purists still swear by it and we can find many RD clubs all around our country. The RD had many editions like RD 400, RD 500 LC (liquid cooled) all of which enjoyed considerable success through out the world and attained cult status.
    Truly The RD 350 was the Greatest Landmark bike of India, which paved the way for performance biking in India and Yamaha’s greatest offering to our country’s performance enthusiasts. None of the modern day Indian Performance bikes can even touch 150 km/hr. Only those who have experienced the raw power and pure adrenalin rush from the RD will know its character and importance. The Race RD’s were in a league of their own. The RD 350 is a Legend and not your everyday bike and having driven it few times I can vouch that RD is a Legend par Performance Excellence.
    (Source: http://bikeadvice.in/yamaha-rd-350-history-of-an-indian-superbike/#more-896)
    zinam
    zinam


    Posts : 650
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    Post  zinam 28th December 2008, 7:54 am

    Great info Buddy!!

    Nice to hear a lot of facts abt my favourite Manufacturer :)

    But we have R15 now , A Purely performance Bike,[10* for Engineering & Peformance in ACI - They have never given this rating to any bikes till Date] Which can hit 145Kmph with just 150CC :affraid: . And yamaha could have done more power than this too, Still what ever you have mentioned in your post is correct. Indian market is really Economy driven & not Race Driven :(


    Yamaha Rocks in Performance & Engineering :bounce:
    thackervijay
    thackervijay


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    Post  thackervijay 28th December 2008, 4:54 pm

    gr8 info buddy, yamaha really set a benchmark in indian market then and now.
    Crazy cat
    Crazy cat


    Posts : 2587
    Location : Coimbatore

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    Post  Crazy cat 28th December 2008, 5:38 pm

    Thanks for the replies.
    @zinam, R15's top speed is 124kph according to ACI.
    anjan
    anjan


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    Post  anjan 28th December 2008, 10:18 pm

    Crazy cat great of you to write on a great bike- one of the best ever made in India. Here's a publicity brochure of the RD 350.
    Yamaha RD 350 - History of an Indian Superbike Untitl10
    Crazy cat
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    Post  Crazy cat 28th December 2008, 10:43 pm

    Wow great anjan, you have the brochure of RD350 clap .
    anjan
    anjan


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    Post  anjan 29th December 2008, 8:08 pm

    The technical specifications of the RD 350 are on this brochure's backside which I will post sometime soon.
    Road Rocket
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    Post  Road Rocket 29th December 2008, 9:03 pm

    Thanks for the info CC.
    Nice pic anjan!:)
    archit
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    Post  archit 29th December 2008, 9:19 pm

    oh Rajdoot is RD 350!!
    i didnt know that!!
    i have seen plenty of RajDoots!!!
    they have a special sound!!
    anjan
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    Post  anjan 29th December 2008, 10:23 pm

    archit actually the Rajdoot was commonly the Rajdoot 175cc two-stroke (1962-1999 ??)that was made in India with Polish collaboration.The companies were Escorts Ltd. and Polish bike maker WFM.The Rajdoot 175 was the first product and was made with the Earl's front forks for a long time (more than two decades).the telescopic front forks came later in the 1980's.Escorts also ventured to make the Rajdoot GTS 175 ( launched in film Bobby, 1973) and the 175 cc Rajdoot scooter.
    In 1983, Escorts launched the Yamaha RD 350 as the Rajdoot Yamaha RD 350 in colloboration with Yamaha of Japan. Those days companies using foreign names solely were not permitted - so you find Rajdoot Yamaha, Kawasaki Bajaj, DCM Daewoo (there was earlier a company DCM Toyota that made 1.5 ton pick-up trucks) and so on.
    So the old Rajdoot bike (175cc) was very bland and lacked an image. The Rajdoot RD 350 was a real bike of sorts.It was also launched and showcased in the 1983 Hindi film Hero, starring Jackie Shroff and Meenakshi Shesadri.
    Escorts Ltd believed in showcasing their bikes to the people through films.
    The Rajdoot 175 motorbike
    Yamaha RD 350 - History of an Indian Superbike Rajdoo10

    The Rajdoot GTS 175
    Yamaha RD 350 - History of an Indian Superbike Raj_gt10
    Yamaha RD 350 - History of an Indian Superbike Raj_gt11


    Last edited by anjan on 5th January 2009, 7:11 pm; edited 1 time in total
    zinam
    zinam


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    Post  zinam 30th December 2008, 8:17 am

    Yamaha RD350 is really an Legendary Bike :)

    But i dont like the tryes of Rajdoot GTS 175 :(

    Why did they put scooter tyres in such a bike ??
    Crazy cat
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    Post  Crazy cat 30th December 2008, 10:35 pm

    The silencer, wheels and overall the bike is awkward. It looks like a Moped.
    @anjan, Are the red one in small picture and the blue one in big picture same? Because, red has spoke wheels like bikes and blue has scooter like wheels.
    anjan
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    Post  anjan 30th December 2008, 10:51 pm

    zinam the GTS had scooter sized wheels but was very fast during its hey days. Nevertheless, its very sought after by collectors now. I know a guy who has contacted the Indian designer of that bike to autograph his newly painted machine.
    Crazy Cat true the GTS 175 design is quite radical. The youngsters then loved it. The red one is the last avatar of the original Rajdoot 175 motorbike, that was made since 1962, till perhaps 1999.It is quite different from the GTS 175.The GTS, with scooter like wheels, was a 1973 Indian design, derived out of the same engine and gearbox as the Rajdoot 175.
    Vibhor
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    Post  Vibhor 31st December 2008, 1:16 pm

    Excellent information friends! :yup:

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