Ownership of Yamaha Rx135 to RD350 - Ownership & Restoration Journey

I am Vaibhav Raipurkar and this is my story of owning Yamaha Rx Models & Yamaha RD350. Also my first restoration journey of RD350.

Let me take you back a little in 2005 where it all started when I joined my first company in Pune were I meet this friend Hary who was little older to me. He mentioned about this bike of Yamaha (not RD350) and how it will suite to my personality. I had a slim body back then not malnourished completely but average and this idea popped up in his mind that the only bike which will suite my body type with power that would be enough to carry this malnourished body type was Yamaha Rx100. I didn't had any idea about what he was talking about and the conversation faded with the Time.

Year 2009, where in my hand I had Bajaj Boxer CT, 4Stroke Bike and a little savings to think about replacing it with much powerful bike Bajaj Pulsar 180. Few months later I bought the bike and was very happy to carry that power. Later during those time I had a chance to meet a common friend of mine who visited my place had got this Old Gun Yamaha Rx100 apparently bowered from his father for a short ride. I instantly remembered Hary and his wise advice back in 2005. I requested him if I can take it for a quick spin. I was not expecting much from this as it was a discontinued model and was more taking pride to own a new Pulsar 180. After I came back from the quick ride, I was really surprised with the Power and Handling. I instantly knew I had to buy this rocket. Where & How was the question still in my mind and wave two and three hit me when I got a chance to ride its more powerful sibling Yamaha Rx135 and then the Grandfather of its family Yamaha RD350. I dropped the idea of Rx100 even though its more popular than Rx135 and RD350 due to its affordability and sound it makes. But I made up my mind to own Yamaha RD350 and Rx135 (5 Speed Gearbox Version) So, here I am in 2009, owning Pulsar 180 and dreaming for Yamaha RD350 and this is where it all started.

Yamaha models that I know by this time, here is the list

Rx100 (Made in Japan, Assembled in India)

Rx100 (Made in India)

RxG

Rx135 (4 Speed Gearbox)

Rx135 (5 Speed Gearbox)

Rx-Z (135cc with 4 Speed Gearbox)

Rx-Z (135cc with 5 Speed Gearbox)

RD350 (HT: High Torque)

RD350 (LT: Low Torque)

*Google has better elaborated Tech Spec & Details that I will not list here.

Continuing with where I was in 2009. It was a difficult time where I had a Job with less pay with high ambition of owning 2nd bike with a family which will not understand the concept of getting another bike which according to them will be equal to Junk. Some how I got this dealer who got my first RX135 (4Speed Gearbox). Not so lucky to find it cheap or next door or a gift from relative. It had all the possible commissions from all the parties involved into the negotiation table. I tell you they treat you like a Prey trying to sell you as expensive as possible. I somehow managed to borrow funds from my Friends.

So just to give you a little idea about this bike is that its straight from the Owner, transferred to me with his Agent - with a Middle Agent - with my Agent. Model 1997. Engine in a Good Condition. No knocking sound. (1st Oversize Piston, Un-sleeved Barrel 4TL00). Mostly all Original. I was really lucky to find a Bike which was not much fiddled around.

I really enjoyed my ride on this bike, requiring maintenance in miscellaneous running things.

Year 2012, this is where I wanted to grab my hands on another bike which was Rx135 (5 Speed Gearbox) which had better pickup, more power and ultimately more expensive. Parallelly I had started reaching out to people for RD350 as well but it was way too expensive and not really affordable to buy and maintain even if it was old and discontinued long back with my given salary.

I finally found one Rx135 (5Speed Gearbox), good condition, miscellaneous issues but in a good condition. Again this bike was with agent trying to make max profits from selling Yamaha 2 Strokes, Trading.. Buying Low & Selling High with increasing craze amongst young folks out there including me. Again like a Prey went in negotiated a little of what I could do bought it expensive but worth the price later.

Again the bike was from the 3rd Owner, transferred to me with his Agent. Less agent trails this time. Model 2001. Engine in a Good Condition. No knocking sound. (1st Oversize Piston, Un-sleeved Barrel 4TL10). All Original. Not much fiddled around. In fact I had a chance to replace the front Drum with Disk Brake.

By this time I really understood the Pulsar 180 a great machine but was not built for me, I let it go. I had these 2 bikes and was going good, looking for RD350 and no Luck there.

Got another chance to Buy Rx100, bought it.. Was original, took some rides and as expected was disappointed with it even if it had great road presence but less power compared to RX135s and more of a noise. Sold it off. No Regrets.

During this time I also had owned Bullet Cast Iron 1981 Model was great machine but not built for me, had to sell it.

Finally in 2014, this mechanic who got me a deal with his friend who deals with Bikes and all. After 4-5 years of search didn't wanted to wait longer so got hold of this bike which was not really in a good shape but needed immediate restoration. I didn't had much of idea about the bike so I relied on the mechanic who did the negotiation on my behalf with his friend assuming that after all the inspection he would know its true worth. Fair to say now that it was an expensive deal with the kind of bike that I got. So here is the thing about this world of RD350. If you are new to this you have to be either:

1. Extremely Lucky to find a Good Bike (Even if you don't know much about the Bike) OR

2. You have to have extreme knowledge about the bike to decide on what all that you are buying at what price. (Because RD350 these days doesn't come with MRP, ranges from as little as 50000 for scrap to 9 Lacs) OR

3. You have to have extremely trustworthy Mechanic, Links to source original spare, ample of Patience and Money.

In my case, I got a busted bike at the same time expensive. No idea about the bike, so whatever mechanic said was the right medicine. Few mechanics are such that those will dictate if you haven't got any idea about the bike. To the extent when you will Sleep.. How you will Sleep.. What you will have for Breakfast.. When you will go Home.. How frequently you will visit Him.. How much margin he will keep in every spare that you will buy from him.. every damn thing.

Other Mechanics that I meet were extremely supportive but at times failed to tune or fix the issue either with limited knowledge about the Old Gun or loaded with other priority work or now getting too old to take up this repetitive work and so on.

Finding a right Mechanic is all together another challenge.

It took me 6 months to restore the bike where during restoration a lot of internal parts were replaced yet tried to keep it Original. I had lot of challenges in bringing out the Life in my RD350. Sourcing right spare is another pain. There are folks out there will charge you to the extreme and that is may be due to their sourcing cost or they just want to take advantage of the situation looking at the craze and limited supply of the spare. Yes it getting costly further if your bike needs any major or even regular spares during service.

So finally I am in 2015 and my Bike was restored. After some odd 5 years it was here.

*Pre and Post Pictures

So after the restoration question that comes up is: What's the regular maintenance cost that is incurred post restoration.

So the answer to this can be very different with other folks out there owning RD. But yes for me it didn't stopped where it was restored and handed to me. It kept on.

I had major leakages from the engine bottom (Which is usual with most of the RDs now), I had to fix it. Had issues with Carburetor Jets. I was told specifically that the Engine is built recently so I have to run the Engine upto 2000 kms to have the Piston Rings settled but they didn't because the Bore was kept tight and Piston was seizing multiple time as it had clearance issues. It also had issues with Coils and so on.

Yes this is true that owning and maintaining RD350 is not cheap or simple. If you are lucky enough you might get a chance to own a RD which is coming from first owner with all settled engine and pristine condition, well tuned, then you might not really get into all the trouble that I have gone through. I have seen well restored RDs or first owned RDs or transferred from owners who kept it original doesn't really require much of the maintenance except regular oil change and tuning.

Here is my take on this whole RD350 Ownership of now 8 Years:

If you want to Buy RD350:

1. Check with your Father/Grandfather, if they have and can gift you, take it.

2. Try to get an RD which is coming from Friends/known network/nearby society preferably 1st or 2nd Owner (Less fiddled), even if its not in a great cosmetic condition doesn't matter, take it.

3. If you can get it from Big renowned restoration agencies, where its already restored. Its going to be expensive but you might get it with properly restored with added performance parts. Again for this you will need a help or experience to know if you need to Buy it or Pass it.

4. If you get a bike from anyone who has restored it with multiple attempts, much changed hands & fiddled quite a bit then you have to be careful with what condition its running on, what rate you would be buying at. Then the obvious thing, do you have mechanic who is trustworthy & competent enough to restore it for you. Once that is sorted another concern for spares, can you source spares? what quality and time that you would be putting it? Again for this you will have to have a knowledge to understand what all would be coming in.

After all this pain and efforts, what are we getting if you find the bike in right condition or built it near to what's presumably in a stock condition, you will witness Power.. Torque.. Music it churns out.. Sheer Fun and that's worth all the pain and investment that you do put in. Its a "Ride it to Know it.." thing.

Year 2016, my experience of RD350 was growing, parallelly I also had a chance to find one Rx-Z (135cc with 4 Speed Gearbox). This bike has another charm and feel. It runs different than Rx135. I was looking for Rx-Z (5Speed) Model but got to know that this was available in the interiors of Nashik, it was owned by a mechanic & agent who transferred it to me of course much more than what I was expecting. Needed restoration. Its specification goes like model 1997. Engine not in a very Good Condition. Bike had no running parts (Sleeved Barrel 4TL00). I had to source most of its parts and got this restored.

Post Restoration Picture

Later I found out that all these bike that I ride cannot be used on a Daily basis as it has high cost of maintenance and as it cannot be insured with full insurance the risk of getting stolen increases which makes these bike extremely difficult to use as a daily driver. having said there are folks out there using these bike on regular basis/daily basis it works for them and I am excited every time I see some still on the roads, well maintained.

Now I have another bike that I use on daily basis that's Hero Karizma which I bought recently after realizing that I can park it anywhere and not worry about it. Since I am use to such power with 2 Stroke Engines I wanted a bike which has at least equal power figures. So I settled with 225cc engine.

I regularly meet my friend Hary and we always take a laugh at what his suggestion to me was back then.  He says I have taken his advice very seriously with the number of collection that I have had.

That was my story of Owning Yamaha Rx models and RD350, it has been very exciting and fun to be a part of the 2Stroke biking world. Besides this we have a Yamaha Group where we all come together and Ride these bikes & at times discuss the bike issues and maintenance thing.

If anyone has any follow up questions on RD350 or any other Rx Bike, you can drop me a msg. I will try to reply as quickly as possible.

Cheers & Ride Safe

Vaibhav

vraipurkar@gmail.com