I just trailered home a new to me 1974 Yamaha RD 250 2 stroke with 396.1 original miles on the clock. Now to restore or resell. Just thought it might be nice to visit memory lane. I know someone on here had one of these.
We were sitting at an eating place and heard a two stroke fire up. Went to investigate and found a 16 year old kid on a Yamaha DT175.
He said that his Grandpa let him ride it.
Only thing that didn't come on the bike is the battery. Got it for a steal. He needed the money and for once I was in the right place at the right time. I think I will look into cleaning the carbs and seeing if she will cranks. Pulled the plugs and sprayed in some WD40 and hit the kicker and it spun free. Installed the plugs and it has good compression. I honestly believe if I cleaned the carbs and added some ethanol free fuel, she would fire up.
Only thing that didn't come on the bike is the battery. Got it for a steal. He needed the money and for once I was in the right place at the right time. I think I will look into cleaning the carbs and seeing if she will cranks. Pulled the plugs and sprayed in some WD40 and hit the kicker and it spun free. Installed the plugs and it has good compression. I honestly believe if I cleaned the carbs and added some ethanol free fuel, she would fire up.
Check with a local 2-stroke wrench. There's something about rings breaking on 2-stroke bikes that have sat for a long time. Maybe an old wives tale, but wouldn't hurt to check. We used to squirt a diesel/used motor oil mix into them and crank them over without ignition and do this for several days in a row.
Might be just BS though. Made us feel like we were doing the right thing.
Honestly my first thought was for a Café Racer. But it is like a brand new bike. I remember the old 2 stroke engines had some power, It even has the nipples on the side of the tread on the tires. It is hard to not be kinda surprised when you see 396.1 miles on a 1974 model anything.
That's a great find. I can still remember the popping sound on decal and the smoke on acceleration. A 350 was a big bike when I first started riding...except for the monstrous Harleys, Indians, and Brit twins.
So True,,,, just like the street 500 and 750 Kaw..... simple engines, light, fires every revolution. as long as you can keep the crankcase seals intact...
That thing is super clean. Even the chrome looks good. A little cleaning, replace the crank seals and clean the carb/carbs and you'll have a bike worth a bit to a collector of older bikes.
Whatever you do.... do NOT change it into a cafe racer or a bobber or anything. You will destroy it's value. It's true that a 350 or 400 is more desirable but nevertheless, since this is in such good condition for such an old memorable bike, ... whatever you do... keep it as a classic. To change it would be like finding a 57 chevy or a 65 mustang in mint condition and then making a hot rod out of it. That would be crazy. (Just my opinion.)
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