1980 Yamaha RD125 DX
Discussion
I bought this bike last week from a groovy hipster dude in Cornwall. It's a hoot! Noisy air cooled two stroke parallel twin, five speeds, one disc, one drum. Light in weight, not much frame, really quite nippy and dynamic. Tops out at an indicated 80 ish (probably rather less in real life). Likes going around corners (NB bugger all engine braking). Kick starts first go every time. More stoppy than the one reviewed below, because disc brake. Me likee!
PS: Great condition, good tyres. Has had a bit of paint at some point in its life. MoT until next Feb. I paid 2K. You can get an imported one from 1.5K upwards, but 2K feels to me about right for one in this condition and with UK registration.
PS: Great condition, good tyres. Has had a bit of paint at some point in its life. MoT until next Feb. I paid 2K. You can get an imported one from 1.5K upwards, but 2K feels to me about right for one in this condition and with UK registration.
Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 15th June 06:49
See below for an accurate review of this type. The gearing is a bit odd. You get a great big meh when you change from fourth to fifth. But the review nonetheless says -
"... the RD125 is a delightful machine, easily the best of the 125cc bikes from the period and able to embarrass more than a few larger machines in a straight fight."
"Once used to the engine and chassis characteristics, the ride is nothing less than great fun; it isn’t hard to see why this machine caused a bit of a stir when first introduced, with its mix of lightweight and performance, while getting it right is eminently satisfying. Small, but none the less positive, inputs being the strict order of the day to reduce any upsetting of the delicate ride. Treat it with respect when cornering, allow a bit of extra distance for stopping from speed and above all rev the engine for all its worth."
http://classic-motorbikes.net/yamaha-rd125b-road-t...
"... the RD125 is a delightful machine, easily the best of the 125cc bikes from the period and able to embarrass more than a few larger machines in a straight fight."
"Once used to the engine and chassis characteristics, the ride is nothing less than great fun; it isn’t hard to see why this machine caused a bit of a stir when first introduced, with its mix of lightweight and performance, while getting it right is eminently satisfying. Small, but none the less positive, inputs being the strict order of the day to reduce any upsetting of the delicate ride. Treat it with respect when cornering, allow a bit of extra distance for stopping from speed and above all rev the engine for all its worth."
http://classic-motorbikes.net/yamaha-rd125b-road-t...
Cheers! I dunno about the 200s, but RD 250s seem to go for closer to 3K. For a mid-sized bike I have opted for something 80s and Italian, also in the 3K to 4K ish price range (thread may follow in due course).
I am too much of a mahoosive wuss to have a big bike, being not only frit of bike-fastiness (whereas in any car I drive like a nutter and get busted for speeding all the time), but also physically too weedy to pick up heavy bikes after I inevitably drop them.
I am too much of a mahoosive wuss to have a big bike, being not only frit of bike-fastiness (whereas in any car I drive like a nutter and get busted for speeding all the time), but also physically too weedy to pick up heavy bikes after I inevitably drop them.
Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 16th June 08:58
By the way, I went to collect this bike myself - using a 1981 Morris Sherpa campervan that has a smooth(ish) and reasonably punchy two litre O Series engine with a single SU carb, but only has four forward speeds. Top whack in that is a bit over 70 MPH (the van is going to have an ex-MGB Laycock overdrive gearbox fitted soon, which will give it another 8 MPH). It does 20 MPG tops. 545 miles there and back again in a day. I am now deaf, and also skint on petrol bills.
Bike in van pictured below. The black plate is both anachronistic and naughty, and I have just bought a proper yellow plate for the bike.
Bike in van pictured below. The black plate is both anachronistic and naughty, and I have just bought a proper yellow plate for the bike.
Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 15th June 12:15
I live nowhere near Castle Point (wherever that is). The picture above is cheekily stolen from the sale advert (OMG sue me). The bike looks better in real life than in the picture.
Foody? I had a slightly rubbish pasty en route and a slightly rubbish crab sandwich at Falmouth. Padstow and St Ives apart, food doesn't seem to have reached Cornwall yet.
Foody? I had a slightly rubbish pasty en route and a slightly rubbish crab sandwich at Falmouth. Padstow and St Ives apart, food doesn't seem to have reached Cornwall yet.
Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 15th June 11:10
Re the 250, I love this:-
https://bikerandbike.co.uk/yamaha-rd250-classic-bi...
"Occasionally we’d hear that crackly exhaust noise, catch a whiff of two-stroke smoke and wander toward the cul de sac where a couple of goons would be disturbing the peace by popping wheelies on antisocially loud smoking two stroke bikes. We were awestruck of course and desperately wanted some of that action.
Becoming a knobhead on a motorbike was the natural next step for many of my associates.
...
They were loud, annoying, brightly coloured and dangerous and old people complained about them. That was enough for us. We were helplessly in love from first sight. To own an RD and ride it like a dick was to be the coolest kid on the estate and became every spotty kid’s dream."
https://bikerandbike.co.uk/yamaha-rd250-classic-bi...
"Occasionally we’d hear that crackly exhaust noise, catch a whiff of two-stroke smoke and wander toward the cul de sac where a couple of goons would be disturbing the peace by popping wheelies on antisocially loud smoking two stroke bikes. We were awestruck of course and desperately wanted some of that action.
Becoming a knobhead on a motorbike was the natural next step for many of my associates.
...
They were loud, annoying, brightly coloured and dangerous and old people complained about them. That was enough for us. We were helplessly in love from first sight. To own an RD and ride it like a dick was to be the coolest kid on the estate and became every spotty kid’s dream."
Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 15th June 11:13
graham22 said:
thought you were the chap who had a retro catering trailer.
I have fallen from grace, but not fallen quite so far as that! Also, I have neither tats, piercings, nor neck beard, so hipster career options are closed to me. I do own one plaid shirt, but it's a real one from ye olden days, formerly used in hut stays during actual mountaineering on actual big mountains . It is not from a cool shop in Marylebone.
I am such a scaredy wimp that I have been wearing some ex police levva traaahsers and ex police boots that I found for buttons on eBay and a faux-seventies RTX jacket with stripes on, but I am at least wearing an open face helmet. I have found that if I try to ski, or ride a motorbike without gloves on I just stop. Maybe it's because of reading some injury reports when I was young and impressionable. As Oscar Wilde may or may not have said - "sometimes over dressed, always over educated". But I do have some of those jeans with the hidey away kevlar bits - modern bike kit is sooo much better than the old stuff. And a real seventies tan coloured Connolly leather arse length double breasted car coat (bought when I had a very cool 1970 car) that I can wear over one of those thin shirts with Kevlar bits.
Collecting a bike via a Euro tour is the obvious thing to do, and I feel a failure for not doing this. That Cornwall place really is far way, though. You get to Exeter and think you're nearly there, but it's still bleeding miles away. On the way back I drove the Sherpa flat out for about a million hours and when I stopped for petrol I was still in Cornwall.
I am doing a 2000 mile Euro tour in July, but that will be in a 1983 Rover SD1, not on a bike.
Collecting a bike via a Euro tour is the obvious thing to do, and I feel a failure for not doing this. That Cornwall place really is far way, though. You get to Exeter and think you're nearly there, but it's still bleeding miles away. On the way back I drove the Sherpa flat out for about a million hours and when I stopped for petrol I was still in Cornwall.
I am doing a 2000 mile Euro tour in July, but that will be in a 1983 Rover SD1, not on a bike.
Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 16th June 07:41
Breadvan72 said:
I passed my test on a RD200, 13/5/80, lent to me by my good friend who sadly passed away in 2010.Fond memories.
No vids as yet but here are some photies from a trip to a pleasant country pub. This involved riding up the western escarpment of the Chilterns (Aston Hill on the A40). A fast double-laned climb, popular with big Triumphs and Ducatis and also with Caterhams and so on, and a blast in my slightly tuned-up Dolomite Sprint. On the RD125, very noisy and a bit marginal in low gear with pie-eating me onboard, but still fun, and a hoot on the way down.
I am still lacking the CBA factor to swap the illegal and naff black plate for a legal and non naff yellow one. I better get on with that, as there are a surprisingly large number of police cars in my area, mostly busy socially cleansing the area of anyone who looks like they might not be an investment banker, as it's a drearily affluent part of the world. I am moving back to somewhere civilised soon (ie London) and the RD will become a City bike until such time as strokers are banned from smokeyville.
I am still lacking the CBA factor to swap the illegal and naff black plate for a legal and non naff yellow one. I better get on with that, as there are a surprisingly large number of police cars in my area, mostly busy socially cleansing the area of anyone who looks like they might not be an investment banker, as it's a drearily affluent part of the world. I am moving back to somewhere civilised soon (ie London) and the RD will become a City bike until such time as strokers are banned from smokeyville.
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