Overview
Performance has always been a key factor in the Yamaha portfolio from a long period of time. The bikes developed at Yamaha always have something special in them. Decades back, Yamaha was known for its heavily accelerated bikes, which were much ahead of their time. One of them was the Yamaha RD350.
Style & Design
The iconic classic appeal of the RD 350 is an endless era of style, which won't change even after a long period of time. The time it was launched, it was a style icon. A naked racer of its time, it uses a lot of chrome. Chrome rims, chrome mudguards and chrome silencer's were the main features of attention and they are still on their duty.
Instrument Console
The RD 350 was quiet ahead of its time and featured an analogue tachometer, making it feel more like a race bike of the time. Use of chrome was absent on the console, but it has the necessary indications of neutral, high beam and the indicator lights nicely place on it.
Engine & Performance
The RD350 gets a 347cc, 2 stroke, parallel twin cylinder, air-cooled engine. It also features torque induction with twin carburettor. The engine produces 30.5 BHP @ 6750 rpm and 32.3 NM @ 6500 rpm. Being the first twin cylinder sports bike of India, it was a rock star of its time. In the slow era of 80's, it could easily cross the 100 kmph mark in 8 seconds, making it easily up to 130-150 kmph.
Braking & Suspension
The braking was handled by 180 mm drum braking unit, both for the front as well as rear tyre. Achieving such high speeds with drum brakes was the most risky part of the RD 350 as at that time disc brake was considered deadly by misconceptions and old school thoughts in India. The suspension was telescopic forks for the front and swing arm, coil spring with air damping at the rear.
Ride & Comfort
The RD350 provides considerably lower seat height, making it easy to control and not just that, the handle bar positioning has also been kept standard, resulting into a comfortable position for every ride. The large 18 inch tyre size is dominating on every road type, making it an all-rounder by nature.
Shades & Price
The Yamaha RD 350 was available in Silver, Red and Black colors and those chrome fitting were standard on all the options. Back in the 80's, it was priced around INR 30,000 in 1983.
