RD350's anyone familiar?

An acquaintance of mine had one. He says the 'RD' stands for Rolling Death. They have a lot of get up and go I understand....
 
RD350LC or is it an early air cooled one..?? Good fun bikes, but subject to a bit of abuse because they go very well, not RGV250 territory but still respectful enough. LC's can have water pump corrosion issues, getting parts is not an issue as there is a bit of a cult folowing in Europe & they also bomb the shit out of them.
 
I had an RD400 that I turned into a cafe bike. Aftermarket expansion chambers, banshee intakes and crossover tube, vito's reeds. Hit 6k and you better be holding on tight. Check my pics. I loved that bike. Very fast and nothing like 2 stroke power. If you can get cheap then buy.

pics here: http://www.xs650.com/media/albums/169/
 
The rd series is my 2nd favorite bikes. I've had a rd250 and a rd125. They are a ton of fun and are easy to work on. With a set of chambers and the carbs tuned right they are a blast. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
hi the rd350 makes a nice cafe and does have grunt ,,but you do need to rev it out a tad .. brakes aren,t great regards oldbiker
 
The old RD350's had the power band, quite fast up to 6000rpm then they took off from 6000 to 9000rpm. Like a lot of bikes from that era, over powered and under braked and sometimes poor handling. The poor handling issues of the late 60's and early 70's had a lot to do with tires, and tires today can improve that
 
I owned a '81 350 LC and the brakes were great - dual disks up front on a light bike stopped real quick. The power band was the usual 'light switch', and keep shifting. A really fun and nimble bike.
 
Well, it is a 1974 he was asking 500 knowing that it turned over, and also knowing that it had not run in AT LEAST a decade, judging by the gelled up brake fluid. It was stored outside, judging by the cracks in seat vinyl. Odometer reads 500km... though, i doubt that is accurate. However, there was almost no rust in the gas tank, turned over, and it went through all the gears. The pipes and rims are in perfect shape.

there is a small dent in the tank, and the high beam switch is broken. the front caliper seems to be seized (gelled fluid).

Anyways, i offered 400 and he took it. I may have over-payed... but not really, because if anyone knows where Thunder Bay is, they know it's pretty isolated (market wise).

i figure it will be a learning project over the winter to re-do everything. Of course my 650 could use some work also. but, i'd like something where i can start from scratch
 
remainincognito said:
I had an RD400 that I turned into a cafe bike. Aftermarket expansion chambers, banshee intakes and crossover tube, vito's reeds. Hit 6k and you better be holding on tight. Check my pics. I loved that bike. Very fast and nothing like 2 stroke power. If you can get cheap then buy.

pics here: http://www.xs650.com/media/albums/169/
Click to expand...

RD400 looks amazing. One of the nicest cafe bikes I've seen on this site! I think i may go with a dark blue and white colour scheme, but keep the seat mostly stock. I may or may not paint the engine. Anyways, less mean looking than your's.
 
I'll be on it today or tomorrow. all my belongings is out of town in my buddies' garages, i'm living in my office right now. I usually did all my service on the road in front of my house with cars driving by contstantly, wondering what the hell i'm doing.

but yeah, pics today or tomorrow!
 

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