New Member Rd350 YPVS FII

[AndyYam]

Hello all.

Just a quick hello from a new member. My names andy I'm not your typical RD350 owner due to my age. I turned 22 this Summer and have owned my YPVS since a month after my 21st birthday.

I passed my DAS Bike Test and found the RD for sale locally 3 days later. I'd always had my heart set on owning an RD350 YPVS but didnt expect to find one so soon for the price I did.

I live down in Worthing on the south coast and have always been into bikes. My Dad has always ridden and I got the bug.

My first bike was a Suzuki TS50X made for the english market. This meant it was restricted to 30mph and that was it. I later found it wasnt just restricted to that, they were made to do that.

When i turned 17 I had already saved up and bought a 2005 Dt125RE YPVS with 183km on the clock. It was a dutch import and I loved it. So much that Instead of doing my test a year later as I had planned, i rode it until I was 21.

I used to join my dad on rides out with the local VJMC boys and they would always ask when i was going "get a real bike" but it would always surprise them when it kept up well with alot of their bikes.

So, about my RD350. I found it advertised up at Bury Hill and went to see it that evening. The seller was an engineer and claimed to have spent £3,000 and alot of time restoring it. He showed me pictures of the build in his front room. No, not that we were in the front room when he showed me the pictures, he actually built the bike there!

His wife's facial expression at this point also confirmed this!

He had planned on keeping the bike but after riding more modern bikes in the mean time he wasnt a fan of how the RD felt and decided to sell it and start a new project.

I got the bike for £1,400 and was pleased to say the least.

It's been fantastic so far with limited problems. The most recent one is a sheared exhaust stud which happened on a weekend ride in wales with the Kettle Club. ( My dad rides a GT750).

The barrels are off at the mo and the R/H is at an engineering shop getting drilled out and an insert fitted.

Enough talking, heres some photos.

[wizard]

Welcome mate, nice to see some fresh blood, nice bike I am sure there's loads of people on here with loads of knowledge to help you

[midlifecrisisrd]

welcome to the site.

F2 looks good in F1 colours, nice to be different.

Good to see it is not just us oldies that love a stroker

Steve

[AndyYam]

Thanks guys. When i went to view it was advertised as an F1. I'd done my researcht though and when i saw it was an 86 bike i said it cant be an F2. He'd tried to get it all sprayed in F1 colours but some how got it a little mixed up. E.g the RD350 should be within the blue strip and should be highlighted. A few minor things. I like it and it's nice to know its unique.

My dream 350 would be in the blue and yellow colours but for now i'll hold on to this one for a while.

Yeah I love the 2 strokes. I'm constantly buying parts for Dt125's and reabuilding them. I've nearly finished restoring one that I'm going to sell on to finish my DT200WR.

Just rode from here in worthing to lands ends, then up to john o groats and back on the DT125 i just built. That was a treck!

[Delbert]

welcome aboard you seem a very switched on young man !! good to see in this day & age .. nice bike also ,

get some pics up of your dads kettle would love to see some , my favourite stroker of all time ;D

[nikfubar]

Nice one maybe see you at Bury Hill, we go there most Sundays, ride the A272

[daglad]

Welcome, nice to see a young chap interested in something other than an i phone and x box. Your bike looks nice, keep us old un's informed of your adventures. And don't forget the picture of the old fella's kettle

[theodoric]

Welcome along, it looks like the younger generation are pinching our trips down memory lane. My son has a 125 4 stroke but since my LC2 arrived a few weeks ago he's been on about how he should have got a 125 Suzuki Gamma he first clapped on eyes on in a dealership a while ago. His plan is to do his test before Jan 1st and get a "proper 2 stroke"

[steve h]

Motorcycling needs people your age!!!!!!I've got to wait 12 years before I can loan my boy my bike!! O. L. Dfart, Rainy Acres Retierment Home, Brigg.

[Shytalk]

Thats nice. but that clutch cable routing looks like it needs tweeking a bit.

[marddy]

Welcome aboard, Mate.

[copper99]

Very nice mate...and as already said, we really do need more young riders, do many of your friends own bikes?

[mellow]

Nice bike. I love the F1 paint. Have a soft spot as F1 was my first bike after passing test back in the 80's
As for clutch cable should be goin down left side of headlamp bracket and through top of rad if i remember correctly

[bluetzrypvs]

hello there,and welcome!!,
not been on here very long myself but found everyone really helpfull and more than happy to do what they can!,
nice to see your bike and nice one it is,
gonna be in your blood this two stroke thing now ya got the rd ;D

[m1ke]

That looks like you got a great deal for that bike, I'm also a youngun at 23 and just bought an FII to rebuild. Always been into my two strokes, so much more character than a modern sports bike.

[AndyYam]

Thats for all the welcome guys and the points about the clutch cable. Will have a look at that when I'm rebuilding the top end. Had a call from the engineering shop to say the barrel is ready for collection so will go up there tomorrow and pick it up. On night shifts at the hospital at the mo though so will have to find the time to get it sorted.

Nikfubar, yeah will keep an eye out. Havn't bee up there for a while as I'd been spending ages rebuilding a 98 DT125R for a "lands end to john o groats and back" trip that a friend and i undertook the first week of september. Won't be doing that ride on a 125 again i can assure you!

Theres a couple of pics of the Kettle in it's current state. He's planning on having the wheels rebuilt but that got put on hold when he had to go through chemo and radiotherapy this summer to fight off the dreaded C word!

During which he decided it would be wise to buy this too!

[AndyYam]

About my friends and bikes. I'm try, i really am! When I was 17 a friend also had a DT125, well 2! They both got stolen one night though and he had no insurance on them at the time as one was an old one he was about to sell and the other he was rebuilding (slowly) after blowing up the top end.

Earlier this year he mentioned that he wanted another bike so i took him looking at a TZR but it was too small for him and he had his heart set on another DTR. I found once locally for a good price, even though it apparently had crank seals gone. He paid 600 quid for it taxd and tested within the intention of sending it off for a rebuild. Since then he has just ridden it... I think the big end bearing has gone, not the crank seals and the guy just forgot what he was told by the shop. Either way it needs a rebuild and I'm still waiting for him to give me a day when i can help him whip the lump and out he can send it off. He's not the quickest at getting things sorted though...

Another friend aqquired a TZR125RR 4DL Belgarda model. For those unsure of what that means, its a TZR250 frame etc with a 125cc lump in, ported and tuned by Yamaha Belgarda in Italy. It's supposed to be putting out 33bhp but he is another one thats slow to get on with things and I've been pestering him to sort it out for ages. It's getting close now but when we found it down on compression he has been reluctant to take the top end apart to see and so things have ground to a halt.

The third friend I've convinced into biking, bought a Suzuki GN125 and completed his CBT. Full Stop. Thats it. He hasnt ridden it since then and that was well over a year ago. It's sat in his drive under a cover and the tax and insurance have now run out.

He still also has an old Honda NS125F which was his project but he has limited funds and when we found the barrel scored to hell he didnt have the cash to get it lined or replated so it became another project to stop.

So yeah, I'm trying but not with much luck. I think they are all mad for not getting the bikes sorted and being out on the road but maybe like someone said, it's just in my blood.

Oh, I do have one friend who is similarly mad on bikes. He rides a modern kwak though. He does like the old bikes and has had a few like a very old BSA and some older honda CB's but I cant seem to convince him to get an old 2 stroke to ride. He just buys them then sells them on.

[cb250g5]

How is your dad? I hear he's been unwell

Jason (YPVS advisor, when I lived down your way)

[Norbo]

Its a nice bike With the F1 paint on an F2 its differant

[fatfastroger]

Welcome aboard and the kettle is awesome and even the trumpet raised a smile

[marddy]

Wow! I see an awesome Kettle over there. Can we have some coffee please? ;D

[AndyYam]

Oct 7, 2012 20:22:29 GMT 1 cb250g5 said:

How is your dad? I hear he's been unwell

Jason (YPVS advisor, when I lived down your way)

Hi Jason. Hadn't thought you might be on here. Yeah he's doing well now, got the all clear just before his birthday after all the chemo and radiotherapy. Was a bit of a journey but coming out the otherside now which is good.