Home CAR & BIKES My collection of Legendary Yamahas – RZ 350 and RD 250 Daytona...

CAR & BIKES

My collection of Legendary Yamahas – RZ 350 and RD 250 Daytona Special

September 18, 2024

For a 45 year old bike its been very well preserved and maintained in pristine condition by the previous owners with low miles with no modifications and original parts from the factory.

BHPian SnS_12 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

From my current collection of motorcycles the RD 125 and RD 200 were the first two to have a dedicated ownership thread followed by my Hayabusa and the 848 EVO. So, even though the baby RD’s joined the collection after I got my first bike my RX 135 I never actually put down a detailed ownership thread for it but kept posting about it from time to time on the other ownership threads and mainly on the baby RD thread.

But I guess its finally time to change that as the collection has now become more Yamaha biased than ever and the RX especially has turned 25 years younger since it rolled off the factory floor this year and would soon complete 20 years with me.

So, lets begin a thread dedicated to pure Yamaha nostalgia…

1999 Yamaha RX 135

Yamaha has been around in India for almost four decades and till date the model that resonates most with the biking and non biking community alike is the RX 100. As kids back in the day owning an RX was the ultimate pipe dream and I too like most teens dreamed of turning 18 and getting one for myself. But, reality hit different back then as I had already started working at the age of 19 and my father expected me to buy my first bike out of my own money, which made sense as he actually never wanted me to get a bike at that early age and he very well knew that saving back then was my Achilles heel and it would never happen. I started working in Oct 2003 and for almost a year would repeatedly keep asking my father to get me a motorcycle with failed results. But, when all things fail one has to understand and maintain the belief that destiny has a much bigger and better plan for you.

So, in my close circle of building childhood friends two of my friends fathers owned an RX model one being a black RX 100 and other being a blue RXG. I learnt riding on that black RX 100 and would often visit the Jhaveri Yamaha showroom with that friend. So, after I turned 18 he would keep enquiring with the showroom guys for used RX up for sale and would keep letting me know when he gets a lead. This continued for a while but with no approval from my father and every opportunity to own a motorcycle turned into a disappointment. However, one fine day while my friend was at the showroom he was told about this RX 135 which was on sale and he test rode and was smitten by the power it produced and asked me to come and ride it as well. I went and rode it and till that day I had never ridden a RX 135 and the initial torque that thing produced is something I still remember till this date as it was an experience like nonother. The test ride happened on 7-11-2004 which was a Sunday and I spoke with my father that evening and he mentioned to me again that he expects me to buy my bike with my own salary as its now been a year since I started working. Obviously it was now a expected disappointment once again and I continued with my life as usual but my father for some reason had a change of heart and on 13-11-2004 told me that Yamaha you mentioned about how much is it for? I told him the price quoted was 15k (nostalgia, won’t even get a scrap bike for that price now). So, his next words are take the money from me and buy the bike. Now, I should have just grabbed the money he was offering and should have been jumping in joy but the unnecessary ego /attitude that is within me always made me say what is the point that bike would have already been sold by now and too which he replied take the money and find out if the bike is still available. So, with money in hand I arrived at Jhaveri Yamaha on 14-11-2004 and as the stars had already aligned it was time for me to finally own my first bike…

Trusting in God’s process/timeline is just clearly evident from that day as my RX 135 is 20-5-1999 and the other bike I got on the 20th is my Hayabusa (20-2-2017) and the significance of the number 20 being that is the date I was born. Further, getting the bike home on 14th November has to be one of the best gift a father can give his child on children’s day.

BHPian SnS_12 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Well, I don’t have any pictures from the delivery day as none were ever taken (pre smartphone days) but this two are one of those first pictures ever clicked of the RX and this is how the bike looked when I had received the bike then from its previous owner. The first picture has been taken on Palm Beach Road in Navi Mumbai, when I went for my first long ride with other bikers from Xbhp in early 2005 and the other one taken at the residence of my friends house who actually introduced me to this bike.

When I got the bike it was a single owner bike which was registered in the owners wife’s name and had done around 44k kms when I got it in 2004.Today after many speedometers being changed (reason for which I will explain later) the odometer jointly is well over 175k kms in 20 years. Majority of which was done in four years from 2004 to 2008 as I used to commute to work 6 days a week on it averaging at 3k kms every month. The mileage initially used to be 44kmpl but I got that changed (25kmpl) as while I was initially smitten by the low end torque I wanted more and that is how the bike never remained stock from any angle thereafter.

First modification

Beauty of two strokes is that it has much lesser moving parts and is light weight and makes it easy to squeeze out more power with simple mods like porting, expansion chamber etc. My first ever modification was a mild porting of the intake and exhaust port. This was a learning exercise for me as getting the perfect fueling is always a challenge and I learnt it the hard way when my piston seized on a ride to Vapi (Gujarat) as the fueling was lean at the top end. The bike used to make some crazy power giving Karizma’s a run for their money back then, but more power means more heat and that extra fuel required to keep the piston cool was not factored in and ultimately led to this disaster. Luckily I had some friends riding behind me who noticed my rear wheel lock and i pulling to the left side of the road immediately. They eventually towed me to city center where we could rebore the cylinder and fit a bigger piston. The beauty of two strokes where the engine was up and ready in a few hours. And then I had to go undergo the painful process of running in and had to ride back to Mumbai under 70 kph and alone as all my friends pushed ahead further. What an experience that day turned out to be.

Friends towing my bike to Vapi city

All waiting and having a good laugh on how the day turned out to be outside the mechanic shop in Vapi.

Modification continued

When I got back to Mumbai the bike went to my friends workshop for a thorough check up as we wanted to ensure that no piston particles were left behind in the crankcase as the bottom part of the engine was not opened in Vapi. Also, since the engine was opened up I asked my friend to increase the port sizes further for more power and then we had to do many runs to make sure that the fueling is proper and not lean. Further, with more power we needed better braking as the drum brakes just couldn’t deliver the stopping power required so a disc brake setup at the front was a must. But, my bank balance back then would continue to see a high only on 1st of every month and gradually get depleted by the end of the month and so the best I could workout was a used front pulsar end setup, which was a stop gap measure as the setup made itself evident that it is from a used bike and had issues from day one. That is the moment I realized that this way of living a life won’t work and I would have to start saving/investing to keep up my bike in good shape. So, the financial struggle continued up to mid 2009 and this is how the bike turned out to be over the years of constant use.

A ride to Gorai beach