Opinions on the RD350

[81xsproject]

I found one for sale and am looking for a bike for SWMBO. Is it a good bike? Did it have cv carbs (after working on my buddies 77kz1000, I won't ever own anything with old smoothbores).

[BLUEJEEPLAB]

I had one, can't answer the question about the carbs cuase I just wasn't that savy about wrenching 28 years ago. It was FASSSTTT for a little displacement bike, but not overly reliable. I traded it for a Honda XL 250. I needed a bike that would get from point A to point B without having the Triple A card handy.

[mitch]

Rd 350

You best test drive it before the wife , Front end is way light it will wheelie in 4 gears very very fast in the 8th mile drags, not a beginners bike. Unless....shes got lots of life insurance Good Luck
Doug

[Pat Kelly]

My only experience with them is they were what I had to race against back in the day. I had my Honda Hawk and I was surrounded by RD 350 and 400's.
Being a 2 stroke they have a very narrow powerband. The throttle is more like an 'on - off' switch. They're a slug until 7000 RPM then they open the floodgates of "oh $h*^!!!".
They do handle quite well, like ice skating (a good thing).

[LoserShoes]

Had an RD400, real fun bike, not for beginners or casual riding.

RD = Race Developed

This is the road version of the two stroke Daytona racer that dominated for so long.

Steve

[oseaghdha]

My neighbor had one for a while. It was Stupid Fast! You could pull the front wheel in 4 gears with just the throttle. He had expansion chambers on it and it would scramble your brains just from the noise.
I am certain it had Mikuni smooth bores.
I believe it was an early '70s model so the suspension and wheels/tires were scary.
No, not a beginner bike.

[81xsproject]

ThanXS for the advice guys. I don't know the year, but it has the aluminum wheels. Sounds WAY too shifty for SWMBO's first bike, though. Too bad I couldn't get it for me .

[fredintoon]

Hi XSproject,
if SWMBO is an experienced rider who'd be happy riding a small nimble 2stroke that wheelies for a pastime, go for it. I discount the alleged reliability problems, nothing an experienced bike fixer can't cope with.
OTOH, not the best for a beginner's ride.
If that's the case, look for an XS400. Nice gentle ladies ride, no vices at all and a few parts in common with an XS1100.

[dogyear58]

RD350--V--love

I had a 6 spd RD350 Nice fast little 2stroker twin.
the pipes allways oil'd up untill ya got er up ta Speed fer
a while. So I found the ol' lady a used 5speed early'r mo
RD 350 orange on white gorgeous 1st [starter bike].
and she fell in LOVE & got ried of meeeee..Thanks...

[Yamanatic]

Back to the original Q, you won't want an RD as per your requirement - CV carbs don't work on 2 strokes, and RD's didn't have them. The vacuum pulses on 2 strokes are followed by pressure pulses, and basically a CV carb would not stay open long enough to work; the slide would act like a piston.

The back pressure effect is the reason the later RD's used reed valves; to stop the backflow of air through the carb (which in turn made them a little less peaky and run better at low RPM's). Minimal intake vacuum is the reason there has not been a successful demand-type Fuel Injection system for 2-stroke motors either.

On the flip side, and RD is a great little bike that is fast and fun, and easy to learn on; just sandwich a large flat washer with a 3/4 inch center under each exhaust pipe gasket to limit the horsepower for a couple weeks till she gets the hang of it. Then you won't have to buy the little lady a bigger bike in a month - she will be able to smoke off (and I do mean Smoke) anything under a 600!

Cheers,
Yamanatic

[egsols]

Remember riding one back in the early '80s. Really liked it. Blew away a lot of the competition with more ccs. Mind you it was a lot bigger than my first real street ride....RD125. Awesome little bike, 125ccs twin, 2 stroke. Did 74 mph down a slight hill, on gravel, feet on tail lights, face on tach!

Ernie