Yamaha RD250 LC restoration: I spent £2500 on parts!
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- čas přidán 4. 07. 2019
- This is my Yamaha RD250lc I've owned for 14 years. It's taken me about 6... Correction, 9 months, £2500 parts and many many hours to fully restore. Come for a test ride with me and re-live the 80's.
If you appreciate my uploads and feel they help you, feel free to buy me a cuppa. Thanks. ☺
www.buymeacoffee.com/roadcraftnd
Facebook page...
/ roadcraftnottingham
#classicmotorcycle #yamahard250lc #rd250lc
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Roadcraft Nottingham is a UK motorcycle school which was established in March 1989.
I am a fully qualified professional motorcycle instructor of 39 years and offer motorcycle riding tips and tips on riding a motorcycle for the first time.
Please remember to like, comment and subscribe for more riding tips and help with any aspect of riding. - Auta a dopravní prostředky
My happiest memories of motorbiking was the day i bought my RDLC 250cc age 17. I always remember how reliable it was. It never let me down & always started 1st kick, no exceptions, I'm 58 now And those fond memories will never fade. i still enjoy these type of videos so i can see & hear the sound of that wonderful engine. A true classic
Pleased you enjoyed it. Still very reliable and puts a smile on my face every time I ride it. ☺
We all owe people like you a word of thanks for preserving our great motorcycling heritage , I had exactly same bike in 1981 , loved it , but as usual ...you move to a car , nowadays though most of us have both . Great video .
Thanks. I still have it and it starts first kick.
Oh the memories.Mine was in black on a w reg and like riding a rocket ship after my DT 125.Can smell the 2 stroke again.Great many Thanks.
damn i love that bubbling sound
It's hard to describe how much fun we had on these, I even ended up racing one. You could scrap the pegs, wheelie, hit the ton, then turn up at a race track at the weekend and race it. Value for money? priceless
The flat spot as you call it is simply the break point before you hit the power band, the later version of the engine included the power valve to iron this out, the 250 was a nice machine but the 350 was a much better option and they hold far more money than the 250 does second hand, I had the 350LC F2 fully faired on a D plate, it was a lovely bike and the same as the one that you rode on here on one of your other videos, thanks for sharing the video, would love to have seen a series of you restoring the bike.
Great info thanks. Yes in hindsight, would have been a good series. ☺
Wish I’d bought half a dozen of these 14 years ago 💰
Well that takes me back - I'm crying tears of nostalgia - not just over the bike but also the Notts roads I used to blast around in my youth. Thanks.
Awesome to see you have and RD250LC, I have one aswell. My uncle owned it for 32 years, now it's my turn. Great bike to ride, lots of fun!
My brother had one in 1982.great bike.
Excellent vid. Thanks for taking the time to post.
That takes me back.
Unfortunately, I was too young to own one at the time, but I had the posters (cut up brochures) on my bedroom wall!
Great video and a lovely little LC very much like my own,took me a while to get rid of the dreaded flat spot but an even better bike now its gone.
Thanks for posting.
Awesome bike, very nice resto. Thanks for the video!
Absolutely stunning example, thanks for letting us see it.
Ah the good old days. I remember in 77 part exchanging my clapped out FS1E for a brand new Yam RD250E. Sign on the dotted line and get on with it. How did so many of us survive hey?
I had a fizzie too but couldn't afford an Rd250. ☺
@@RoadcraftNottingham Living in Pembrokeshire in the late 70s our oil refineries were paying silly money for wages.
I had one of these in Summer 1980, I got a 350LC to replace it in 1981. I thought they were quite fast at the time ... until I got a Suzuki RG 500 in the 90s!
Looks absolutely stunning - great job!
Bet you had so much fun making this video. Lovely looking bike
A lovely wee bike, great restoration. I started with an SS50 Honda, then bought a secondhand CB250G5 and passed my test less than 3 weeks later.
I never owned a two stroke bike until a few years ago when I bought an early model DT250, a 1972 DT3 Enduro, it's brilliant and it's so rare, I have only seen one other on the road.
I also own a CB360, 1973, it reminds me of my 250, but with a bit more power. I love classic bikes and have nine at the moment, the newest bike is 1994.
I bought mine brand new in 1982 for £999. Recently spent £3000 restoring it to totally original condition including all period correct plating of parts.
Best two stroke I have ever owned, even used it in long distance production racing after being tuned by Beeline racing at the time.
With a mild tune to keep it reliable it was speed trapped at 117mph. It was too quick on the road in tuned form and I could never get it past third gear running on local roads when used as a commuter bike.
I wouldn’t part with mine at all now. Very hard to find a decent one that’s totally original. Mine is Black with Mars Bar stripes. Even has the original alloy X reg number plate
Love the old 2 strokes and the lc's i had a old RD400E was very nice.
Thinking of booking my CBT with you guys in the upcoming week!
This was my first ever bike. Beautiful 🥰🥰
I keep thinking about getting one to do up. Love it. 😎😎
Was a very therapeutic experience.
Had one from new in 81 was an X plate. Absolutely loved that bike, really wanted the 350 but as you said you could have the 250 on Ls. Keep looking for a decent second hand one but folks are asking stupid amounts for restored 350s. Looks like you did a great job.
Indeed it is stunning……mine I had in 1981….I was 19…..my fourth bike in four years…..loved this bike….only gripe, drum rear brake………I reached 106mph…..stupid me…..that was before my nasty 30 mph accident…….drunk driver cut right across me, in Yately near Sandhurst……sad bad day for bike and me…….fantastic bike…mine was one of the powerful versions……very for a 250…great video..
Great job on the restoration :-)
Stunning 2 stroke! loved the video!
Cheers. ☺
Beautiful work 👍🇬🇧
Damn,she looks as good as new...awesome job man.
Thanks buddy. I'm really pleased with my first effort. ☺
Nice restoration!
Good job done properly x
Beautiful !!!
great restoration, probably better now than when it came out the factory.
It's excellent but not quite showroom. ☺
Roadcraft Nottingham haha not surprised as you’ll be too tempted to keep taking it out!
That is Amazing! Loogs good enough to eat!!!!
Nice post Russ. Takes me back to 1979 when I had the Honda 250 Dream, which I passed my test on in1980. You either bought the Honda, the RD250 or the Kawasaki 250 triple. Cheered me up as a I tick off the months to reapply for my licence after a medical issue!
My first bigger bike was the 250n, Yamaha rd125lc pissed all over me in a race. 😂 Get well soon buddy. ☺
Also the Suzuki x7 250 that was fast not like the lc though.
Fantastic machine!
350 lc a nice bike to ride and a lot of fun 500 ypvs was just mental Laughs but the power valve did not work well in the pouring rain
Nice bike rode one of first in UK did have flat spot around 5k would actually 4 stroke like it was choked up Yamaha did mod with carbs if I remember right . Great bike in its day and still is really ahead of its time and styling to die for
Brings back memories.
Well, this is a shocker, I am 57 now and this is exactly the same as my old one to look at so to speak, same colour! 17 then in 81-82, total idiot on the road when I look back or didn't look back at the time more like it! Also failed my test twice on it thank god, just before the 125 laws came in. Also, the biggest financial cock up I ever made was swapping it with an X7 Barry Sheen replica which turned out to be a pile of crap as I ended up landing a metre away from someone's greenhouse, in thankfully a pile of cabbages! Dad went berserk as he ended up finishing off the finance on the Yam, then a lot of money! I would be lying if I didn't admit this had just brought on the tears. An excellent video and the latest one! Oh and the other bizarre thing was I had an accident on this bike too. A bloke I had met for the first time 20 miles away in a house the day before, decided to pull out from a car park 500 yds away from my home and sent me over his car. As he knelt down to pick my bike up, I couldn't believe he was the same bloke I had met the day before, nor could he! The four wheels soon arrived and I believe to this day that I would have killed myself had I continued on two wheels! Once again however, a lovely bike to ride and special memories! As for the X7 crash, on second thoughts it was my fault, although it was rubbish handling compared to the LC.
Great story, thanks.
I owned a 78 air cooled RD250E. Love the power characteristics of the 2 stroke, docile upto about 6000rpm and then takes off like a scalded cat. Nice restoration, looks the biz
i know Im asking randomly but does anybody know a way to log back into an instagram account??
I stupidly lost my login password. I appreciate any tricks you can offer me!
@Mayson Nehemiah instablaster =)
@Jesiah Samson i really appreciate your reply. I found the site on google and Im waiting for the hacking stuff atm.
I see it takes a while so I will get back to you later with my results.
@Jesiah Samson it did the trick and I now got access to my account again. I am so happy:D
Thank you so much, you really help me out !
@Mayson Nehemiah Glad I could help :)
Nice restoration there were lots of these around back in day in oz, don't see any now makes you wonder how many are sitting in sheds waiting to be rescued. There is a restored 81 350LC for sale asking 10,900AU
Had a Honda CB250RS at 17, passed my test 3 weeks after my birthday and had A Z1000 2 months later. My friend came off a SR250 Yamaha with a lot of leg injuries , the ward he was on in Tameside was all motorcycle accidents , lots of leg amputations , most of them had one thing in common ..... They were on RD250LC. In my eyes it was this model that finally forced a change in our learner Laws. Your looks spot on, well done. Thanks for sharing .🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍❤️👍
Yep, the power bands of the 2smokes.
Not the sort of post to give a like to but very true. It was the "Ton Up" (according to their advert) Suzuki X7 which made the Government start to look at the Learner laws.
Awesome 👍👍
One of my first bikes, though mine had the red trim. Lots of good memories.
I think that was the first model year. If I remember right.
bloody lovely! I had a Yamaha 250 YDS7 in the late 70's, but always wanted a White/Blue RD250 LC when they appeared.
Like a fool I never took my bike test, or would love a 250 LC :)
It's never too late! 😉
@@RoadcraftNottingham So, If I were to start again, do the CBT etc, gain the licence for the 250 LC, How much are we talking to buy this White/Blue RD 250 LC? , Seriously.
@@58lp79 this one fully restored and rebuilt engine about 6k then work down from there
Blimey only 6 months, that's great going for a full resto. Well done indeed.
Just checked the dates on my photos.... 9 months! Wow, how time flies!
@@RoadcraftNottingham Still good going mate and yes it does lol
A superb restoration. The last time I saw one in this condition was when a bloke in the same class at college got one of the very first ones of these in the UK. He placed his order and put down a hire purchase deposit before there were any actual bikes in the UK; just sales brochures at the dealers (most likely Fowlers of Bristol).
p.s. What sort of MPG does it do ? I recall a magazine review in which they took an RD250LC to a track and got it down to under 30MPG. The rest of us Four Stroke riders were joking that the Liquid Cooling was actually the huge amount of petrol going through the engine.
Had a black one same year . Still miss it to this day .
Looks absolutely stunning, Russ. I would have liked to have seen more detail on what you did to it, but all in all, it looks showroom floor new, at least from what I saw. Just a very nice job.
I'll take more pics and try to post on here. If not take a look at my Facebook page, I'll post some there.
facebook.com/roadcraftnottingham
Takes me back to my days owning one, fantastic bikes. Unfortunately mine went where most went in the 80s (stolen)
Snap, my 250E disappeared in the night from outside my front door ...aargh.
love the sound of it,
Addictive isn't it. Should use it as a ringtone. ☺
Looks right good fun.
My dad had a RD350 brand new when I was a kid . Then a Honda knight hawk .
great bikes
Bloody hell that bike looks like it left the factory last week
Rrrrr, gnarly!
Good evening bro bike is workable
Holy shit my landlords just done one of these too. He had a yellow one and turned it white/blue like yours. His was really smokey after a minute of being kicked over, and stayed smokey for about 10 minutes then it settled down a bit.
Can still play with the tuning to stop it smoking on cold idle.
Nice job on that restoration👍😎⚠️ I had the RD350LC YPVS with the bikini fairing and belly pan. I remember they were pretty gutless low to mid revs and then when it hit the powerband at around 6k it just took off, so you constantly had to keep the revs high, cost a lot more in fuel and 2 stroke oil to run than my 650 katana or cbx1000 Wish I'd kept all my bikes, they would be worth a small fortune now⚠️😲😊👍😎
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. ☺
I recall one of the Bike Magazines got about 25MPG from an LC on a track day. We joked that the Liquid Cooling was actually all the petrol going through the engine.
@@MrDuncl Yeah they were very thirsty little bikes, especially because you had to 'race' them everywhere!! They weren't really bikes you could bimble about on at low revs! Plus the extra cost of 2 stroke oil, made them even more expensive to run!
I much prefer the low down torque and mid range power band going all the way to the redline on the big capacity 4 stroke 4 cylinder bikes and lower running costs! 👍😎😮
I had a Yamaha 350 YR5, front tyre lasted forever as it was never on the road, always in the air.
have similar problem with my R1 , but I also sometimes use the brake so it is 16000 kms. max, 8000 the rear one ...
Nice bike
great job, i bought a bike in 1980, i wanted the RD250, this was when you could drive on L plates, but i ended up with Yamaha XS250SE
I liked the look of the XS but they weren't very popular.
Yes, me and my mate both had one, black and a blue one, mine was always going back to Yamaha for loss of power, but it never broke down. Main problem was I was always getting stopped by the police as it was a big bike, and did not believe it was a 250, 3 times that happened. Those were fun days. as I said great job in the bike, looks great, and even though it’s 4 decades old, still does not look out of place. Enjoy it. All the best
Forgot to say when I bought mine the Rd250 was about 1300 pounds new, lol, you spend twice that on restore.
@@redlands43 That sounds about right. This advert czcams.com/video/lHsHhEuyNhg/video.html sent me down a 1980s Bike Rabbit hole.
Well done mate, I am restauring a 125 yamaha
Tuff job isn't it ? 😀
Wonderful stuff.
I spent 12 years on a two-stroke before hanging up my boots. 18 years later I had a few lessons on an SV650 and I was bitterly disappointed.
It was like riding a tractor and compared to my two-stroke, it sounded like one.
The connection between throttle, engine, brakes and rider was lost. I walked away dreaming of an lc350 or a kawa 2-stroke from the good old days.
I have a few 2 strokes....this is gorgeous....👍👍👍
Thanks. Feel free to list your babies. ☺
Roadcraft Nottingham thanks, here you go, you did ask.......
Candy Blue RD350LC , White Blue RD350LC, Black RS250,....and R1150GS for touring 😉
Magic Russ
I remember these bikes coming out. I had a Honda GL1000 'Wing at the time and some young punk (Yes, I do mean a genuine 1970's punk) pulled up alongside me at the traffic lights, revving the nuts off this LC. Last thing I recall was seeing his tail light as he left me standing...lol
Little beauty 💜💜
Salute you pro
Mint!
Nostalgia is not what it used to be! I remember buying a new YDS7 (not far from you, in Loughborough) about 1972? Smelly, noisey and smokey thing that kept burning holes in pistons. Was fun, but afer I passed my test I bought a Commando.
Yep, I feel ya there. ☺
I had the coffin tank rd 250 white with red mags. Still sounds the same beautiful memories and sound. Beautiful bike. I rembered you could go in a bike shop buy one these stick L plates on and go do 100mph crazy really. Suzuki had the 100mph x7 and also the 200cc x5.
now the kids just rob a bike and go 200
@@6AlphaMikeCharlie9 that's so true lol made me smile I've a car that do 200mph now v10 r8
@@christinecrockford1654 yeah i love the V10 it's a great car
@@6AlphaMikeCharlie9 awww thankyou it scares me silly lol
I owned this bike 1991-1995..
I have to sell it bcause I need to buy a car..My Wife was pregnant.
I removed my new Fuel Tank and still in my custody..
Swing Arm chromed..that makes she looked Gorgeous..
😍😍😍
i found an RD350 ypvs last week, it had been in a garage since 2003. i paid a grand for it. =)
I actually hate you! 😂
@@RoadcraftNottingham i went to help diagnose a car problem for a friend. we went to pick up a battery from his step dads garage. just as he pulled the door up, my friend goes, 'oh yeah, my stepdad has a couple of bikes in here. you might be interested.' it was one of those random lucky finds.
Amazing. The ride took me back to the good ole days. I have a 350LC that's been sitting in the shed for 25 years with only 23,000KM. I'd like to do a complete rebuild like you did. Where can I get parts? Thank you.
Yambits stock a lot.
nothing better than 80,s 2 stroke bikes for messing about on
Nice restoration. What's up with the kickstart hitting the side panel? Couldn't help noticing the little sticker(?) on the right side panel. Love the LC, I only had air cooled versions back in my heyday.
It's the original kick start and it's worn. Thinking of getting another.
Hallo..i like rd 250 ...👍
Much more involving to ride than a modern bike I imagine, having to stay in the right gear for the right speed for the corners. Can you talk a bit about the brakes, I can imagine you have to plan equally as well compared to the modern stuff.
What tyres do you run on it?
You will regret it if you sell it.
It was rd 350 paint work?
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 i wish i have one rd350
Nice bike
What's she wroth now?
when i past my test i have one that color
Cooooño por fin salió un RD 250, solamente nombran a los RD350..
what is part availability like for just the engine components? and what does it red line at out of curiosity?. lovely bike , amazing work cleaning it up.
Thanks, parts are very easy to come by so no problem there. With the engine though, stick with genuine Yamaha otherwise it'll be a pain stripping it back down again.
@@RoadcraftNottingham thanks, good to know.
Beautiful
@4:30 CB125 T does more than that and it's a 4 stroke, but i'm guessing this bike goes a lot(lot) faster than 65
Omg. The warning sticker on the tank.
I can't believe it.
What paint did you use for the exhausts/engine?
Pj1 satin black for the exhausts and Halfords satin black for the engine cases but the Halfords is not petrol proof so may redo them
i think 250cc is more realistic for learners .. as they have enough power to get you out of problems but not too much much power that you go nuts ..
Remember there was no CBT (Compulsory Basic Training) or theory tests back then. You could put on some L plates and legally take one of these out on the road on your 17th Birthday, having never even ridden a push bike. The other anomaly back then was that you could pass your test on a Honda C70 and move straight up to a Honda CBX or similar.
Closeups of the (post) restoration work please.
facebook.com/roadcraftnottingham
Replacing the standard reeds with some fibre or carbon reeds will remove that little flat around 5k quite effectively
I've got boyesen reeds, just need to fit them now. Thanks for the feedback, quite excited to see the results
Fitted them today. Flat spot gone. Makes such a difference as that flat spot became a bit annoying.
Roadcraft Nottingham glad to hear it buddy ! Awesome quality of build . Kudos !
Roadcraft Nottingham if you fancy a look at my version of the rd I’ve built ( a mito 350cc ypvs converted to banshee) I’ve uploaded a few videos
God I wanted one........
How much did it cost to restore
It's in the description.
kick start is in the wrong position on the shaft
I have just had a look, yes, it shouldn't be touching the side panel. Well spotted. Thanks.
Greasley church
Did you end up selling it pal
Nope, still have and ride it.
@@RoadcraftNottingham oh nice one
Something like this is still worth nothing in germany. I bought my Suzuki GSX400E from 1982 for 500€.
(Thought I think two strokes are worth a pretty penny.)