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Post by 17again on Mar 15, 2021 19:54:18 GMT 1
i have never ridden a rd400.
just wondering what they are like to ride?
they seem to hold good money.
what are they like vs an LC?
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ajh
Thrash Merchant
Posts: 415
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Post by ajh on Mar 15, 2021 20:54:35 GMT 1
If it helps, Ive got an air cooled 250d and comparing to my LC I would say its feels much more of an unrefined hooligan bike ( It helps Ive got loud exhausts).
Obviously my 250 is not as powerful as the 400 but its the same bike and Id say the LC makes the AC feel absolutely prehistoric
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Post by steve h on Mar 15, 2021 22:59:56 GMT 1
If it helps, Ive got an air cooled 250d and comparing to my LC I would say its feels much more of an unrefined hooligan bike ( It helps Ive got loud exhausts). Obviously my 250 is not as powerful as the 400 but its the same bike and Id say the LC makes the AC feel absolutely prehistoric I agree with that, and the aircooled is still a decent bike. The LC is more comfortable and feels like your hands and feet are in a more "ridable" position. Also a difference between an early RD and the later E and Fs riding positions. Did thousands of miles on 400 and 250 windies, and probably my favourite was a 250f....but the LC was errrrmmmm.. just so darn good!!! PS If you want to "stop"..... E and F windie brakes are shit...and I'm being generous...... (I also ran a 400C and it had the best brakes on anything I had upto 1985ish.) |
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Post by itsnick350 on Mar 16, 2021 0:02:15 GMT 1
I’ve had RD400C,E and F, as road bikes and briefly on the track via BEMSEE at brands hatch. On road porting the engines are very useable, but brakes were dreadful on the E and F. Ground clearance was an issue but got resolved via allspeeds, rear sets and centre stand removal. The in the late 70’s all the local headbangers had RD400’s and whilst they were not fast by today’s standards they are still entertaining. I was considering. buying another but in terms of vfm, I think a 31k is hard to beat
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Post by stuartadi on Mar 16, 2021 0:54:00 GMT 1
I currently own an RD 400C and a 31K Powervalve. When riding although the performance is similar, it is obvious the LC is a newer generation than its air-cooled cousin.
It is smoother especially at lower speeds, but takes off as all LC s do higher in the rev range, it also handles better with a better riding position.
The 400 makes a more linear power range pulling from lower revs and building up the speed without the burst of power later on.
It does mean though that on inclines or into a headwind, it maintains its speed without having to change down, like you need to do on the LC.
The LC is quite a bit more complex though, and tends to need more maintenance than the older 400.
Both bikes are great, though, and whenever you stop someone wants to chat about the time they had one the same.
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Post by dusty350 on Mar 16, 2021 8:22:05 GMT 1
The 400 is a torquey motor, with plenty of grunt, but it is a heavy bike compared to an Lc. When you consider how much metal there is on an aircooled bike - both mudguards, oil tank, twice the number of engine mounts, clock cups, seat side strips, more parts in the bottom end etc etc, it's no surprise is a hefty old bike compared to the Lc. But they are full of character, and plenty fast enough for most roads/riding. I had quite a few Ac's in my yoof, and they were always great fun, and fairly reliable when set up well. A bit of a rarity on the roads nowadays - I cant remember the last time I saw one out and about, and prices, as with Lc's and Pv's, are just getting ridiculous now. Restoring one will be harder than doing an Lc, but then I feel rebuilding an Lc is probably the easiest bike to do out of all the 70's/80's era strokers , with so many good pattern and aftermarket parts available as well as NOS. But there is still a good amount of new Yam parts available for Ac's, at the moment anyway. Dusty  |
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Post by 17again on Mar 16, 2021 9:19:57 GMT 1
sounds like a bike for riding when out with the wife, i had a fs1e when i was young. who didnt right. : )
i guess it will feel like back in these days. i was scared of corners then lol.
te 400 seem to hold their prices well. i was thinking that they would have more low down power and not so revey as the LC ypvs.
sound like a nice sunday ride : )
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Post by julianboolean on Mar 16, 2021 12:48:54 GMT 1
I had 2 RD400s both with points ignition, both were very torquey and had very good brakes, the handling was nowhere near as good as an LC and the top speed was about 100mph, so slower than a 350LC but faster than a 250. I don't know why anyone would own one when they could have an LC or YPVS.
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Post by steve63 on Mar 16, 2021 14:18:05 GMT 1
I had the RD200 at 17. In my head the 200 wasn't much less than the 250 but was a lot lighter and much cheaper to insure on a Norwich Union up to 200 rider policy. In reality it was a lot lighter but also 17hp against 25/30. With a bit of work it was similar in performance to a 250 but the handling was not great. Woke up in hospital once after the peg dug in and threw me off. The only other air cooled I rode was an RD350 Torque Induction, purple one. I had an LC350 at the time. It went really well up to 6,000 and I was impressed but just as my LC would have been going in to warp speed it just faded away and was all over by 7,500/8,000. I would imagine the 400 would be more of the same. A few of my mates had 400's and they struggled to top 100. My mate with a 400F was very disappointed to be overtaken by another mate and his brother both of the riding X7's. That was fixed by some kitchen table porting by those brothers and that sorted for good by buying an LC350. Incidentally at the time I used to think the 500 GP bikes where equivalent (power to weight) to an RD200 fitted with an 150hp engine. It's almost impossible to get your head around that  I think the minimum weight was 110kg at the time |
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Post by beardy on Mar 16, 2021 19:18:29 GMT 1
As a teenager on my KH250 there was a large crowd of us on 2 strokes and most weekends it was BoxHill or Camber. On one blast down the A21 the X7’s had all cleared off leaving the KH’s RD and GT 250’s to fight it out for bragging rights. I was about halfway down the grid flat on the tank showing 90 when I turned round and was shocked to see a RD200 right up my chuffer. I got to ride it later and loved how small it was compared to our 250’s and nippy it was.
Good old days 👍🏻
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Post by steve63 on Mar 17, 2021 14:03:39 GMT 1
As a teenager on my KH250 there was a large crowd of us on 2 strokes and most weekends it was BoxHill or Camber. On one blast down the A21 the X7’s had all cleared off leaving the KH’s RD and GT 250’s to fight it out for bragging rights. I was about halfway down the grid flat on the tank showing 90 when I turned round and was shocked to see a RD200 right up my chuffer. I got to ride it later and loved how small it was compared to our 250’s and nippy it was. Good old days 👍🏻 I was out on my 200 and ended up chasing a 250 and he couldn't leave me. We stopped and had a good chat about it afterwards. He was quite surprised it was a 200. I let a mate who had a Superdream have a go on the 200 and he was impressed with how lively the 200 was. I didn't bother having a go on the Wet Dream. Different bikes need different mindsets. A mate with a GPZ550 had a go on my LC and came back saying he wasn't that impressed. When I asked him what revs he was taking it to he said about 6,000 so I told him to take it again and make sure he took it to 9,000 in at least 2nd and 3rd. He then came back raving about how good it was. A couple of years ago me and a young lad swapped bikes for a quick ride around the block at work. I'd made my one and only trip to work on my RGV250 and he was riding his ZX250 Ninja as they insist on calling them. It reminded me of when I rode the RGV back on one cylinder when the carb was flooding. I suppose that's about right as the RGV was dyno'd at 51 and Kawasaki claim 30? for theirs so 25 on a good day pushing 50kg more. |
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Post by 17again on Mar 17, 2021 19:29:47 GMT 1
As a teenager on my KH250 there was a large crowd of us on 2 strokes and most weekends it was BoxHill or Camber. On one blast down the A21 the X7’s had all cleared off leaving the KH’s RD and GT 250’s to fight it out for bragging rights. I was about halfway down the grid flat on the tank showing 90 when I turned round and was shocked to see a RD200 right up my chuffer. I got to ride it later and loved how small it was compared to our 250’s and nippy it was. Good old days 👍🏻 I was out on my 200 and ended up chasing a 250 and he couldn't leave me. We stopped and had a good chat about it afterwards. He was quite surprised it was a 200. I let a mate who had a Superdream have a go on the 200 and he was impressed with how lively the 200 was. I didn't bother having a go on the Wet Dream. Different bikes need different mindsets. A mate with a GPZ550 had a go on my LC and came back saying he wasn't that impressed. When I asked him what revs he was taking it to he said about 6,000 so I told him to take it again and make sure he took it to 9,000 in at least 2nd and 3rd. He then came back raving about how good it was. A couple of years ago me and a young lad swapped bikes for a quick ride around the block at work. I'd made my one and only trip to work on my RGV250 and he was riding his ZX250 Ninja as they insist on calling them. It reminded me of when I rode the RGV back on one cylinder when the carb was flooding. I suppose that's about right as the RGV was dyno'd at 51 and Kawasaki claim 30? for theirs so 25 on a good day pushing 50kg more. nice post, reminded me when i had a go and a cb850 and thought it was slow. i had only ridden a ypvs 350 and a rd 500 before |
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Post by steve63 on Mar 18, 2021 13:56:28 GMT 1
I was out on my 200 and ended up chasing a 250 and he couldn't leave me. We stopped and had a good chat about it afterwards. He was quite surprised it was a 200. I let a mate who had a Superdream have a go on the 200 and he was impressed with how lively the 200 was. I didn't bother having a go on the Wet Dream. Different bikes need different mindsets. A mate with a GPZ550 had a go on my LC and came back saying he wasn't that impressed. When I asked him what revs he was taking it to he said about 6,000 so I told him to take it again and make sure he took it to 9,000 in at least 2nd and 3rd. He then came back raving about how good it was. A couple of years ago me and a young lad swapped bikes for a quick ride around the block at work. I'd made my one and only trip to work on my RGV250 and he was riding his ZX250 Ninja as they insist on calling them. It reminded me of when I rode the RGV back on one cylinder when the carb was flooding. I suppose that's about right as the RGV was dyno'd at 51 and Kawasaki claim 30? for theirs so 25 on a good day pushing 50kg more. nice post, reminded me when i had a go and a cb850 and thought it was slow. i had only ridden a ypvs 350 and a rd 500 before I'm not sure what a CB850 is but if it's anything like a CB750 Honda then It would be polar opposite to even a YPVS never mind a 500. I test rode a new CBR1000 when they fist came out. He was reluctant to let me take it out seeing my daily ride was an LC with an F1 power valve engine. I think he thought it would blow my mind but it was just OK. I took it to 130/140 but it was just bland and heavy and for a sports/tourer the screen was rubbish. That was the one and only time I have had a test ride. It makes me smile when a linear power spread is used as a plus point in any kind of bike test or advertising when a power band is one of the main reasons I and a few others like our two strokes. I always said the only four stroke worth having is a bl@@dy big powerful one and ended up with a GSXR11 and then a 1999 R1. 144hp and 200kg makes it quite lively. |
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Post by reedpete on Mar 18, 2021 14:59:34 GMT 1
Compared to an LC, a RD400 is old school iron ( and chrome!) . 70’s vs 80’s really.
The engines are very similar, consider and anticipate the 400 as simply a stroked 350. That’s exact what it is.
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Post by Ozhammer on Mar 19, 2021 12:30:26 GMT 1
I feel I can speak with some conviction on this issue, as I have both an LC (5E0 model) and several RD400’s (E, F & G models) and whilst there is no question the LC does a great many things better than the 400’s (handling, braking & performance) the 400’s still have a character that makes them a special ride.
If I had to keep only one bike (god forbid) the chances are I would most likely hold onto my 400E, as I love it that much. Yes the brakes are ordinary and the handling not as sharp as an LC but that engine somehow more than makes up for all its deficiencies.
From a pure vintage experience the 400’s are well worth it and they hold their value for exactly that reason. If I was asked to sum up the difference between a 400 and an LC in a single sentence, it would be that the 400 can be ridden hard or lazily, whereas an LC really needs to be ridden hard to get the best from it.
Hope this helps
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Post by 17again on Mar 19, 2021 18:03:06 GMT 1
I feel I can speak with some conviction on this issue, as I have both an LC (5E0 model) and several RD400’s (E, F & G models) and whilst there is no question the LC does a great many things better than the 400’s (handling, braking & performance) the 400’s still have a character that makes them a special ride. If I had to keep only one bike (god forbid) the chances are I would most likely hold onto my 400E, as I love it that much. Yes the brakes are ordinary and the handling not as sharp as an LC but that engine somehow more than makes up for all its deficiencies. From a pure vintage experience the 400’s are well worth it and they hold their value for exactly that reason. If I was asked to sum up the difference between a 400 and an LC in a single sentence, it would be that the 400 can be ridden hard or lazily, whereas an LC really needs to be ridden hard to get the best from it. Hope this helps yes its great i love these old stories, brings back memories of the early bikes. |
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Post by reedpete on Mar 19, 2021 19:22:07 GMT 1
I think the fact that many of us have both says something too.
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Post by pidjones on Jun 3, 2021 1:48:36 GMT 1
I agree that the RD400c was not that great handling. On 1976 tires. On today's tires it surprises me how well it really does handle. Much better than I remember my original RD400c in the 70's.
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I think the minimum weight was 110kg at the time
