1975 Yamaha RD350 2 Stroke 6 Speed Cafe Racer 

I was king of the road. Nothing could keep up with me. Pure power on command. Made every local outing in the big city an adventure. Going to work seemed like a test of how fast I could lower my time in heavy traffic. Like the scenes in the Matrix movies every day.

That was my first street bike , I was 14 in 1983 and wanted to get ready for the street…. That 2 stroke sound and the way the power hit with Toomey chambers … pure emotion 🤟🇺🇸🤟

Nothing like hearing a RD350 in real life. Goosebumps 😍

I'm 54 when I had one back in the 80s we said Rd stood for a rapid death.

These are SO much fun. Ive had 2 and wheelied them every time I rode em. Only went over backwards once,some police chases but not many.

I love that rd350,l wish I could afford it. If I had 7 grand I,d buy that bike in a heartbeat,and walk from Clayton NM to get it... ride iit everyday for the rest of my life.wonderfull program guys

those 70's 2 stroke street bikes are awesome man, but I can claim to be too young to remember them, and I'd love to have one! cheers ken!

Bravo K《☆》I got my 1st 73 RD350 in 1975. It was all stock with book rack & sissy bar◇¿.It needed a top end but I got a good deal on it. My neighborhood had 5 other guys with RDs so I became part of that club😎🎱☮🔊🖖👍

My first proper bike. Brings back such happy memories. Ended up smashed underneath a van. I went on to acquire an LC and later on the full on ypvs. The smell of castrol takes me back, chin on the tank, screaming along,

The days of chrome fenders and round tail lights. Imagine porting that thing

I like how he mentioned that you don't have engine breaking on a two stroke. I've attempted to explain that before and people thought I was dumb. The engine only gets lubrication when you're on the throttle if you run the RPMs up down shifting it will ruin the engine.

Awsome bike ken.i have a 74 rd350 that I built to the hilt! I'm running spec2 chambers,30 mil carbs,and also banshee pistons.you have to bore the cylinders for the stock size banshee pistons,but the intake ports in the pistons are cut higher.its like porting the cylinders without porting them.its a spec2 mod that works great!! You get a lot crisper throttle response.also built a rd250 for a buddy that I put 350 cylinders on.the 250 has lower internal gearing,so with the larger displacement, that thing is a rocket of the line!

Had 2 of them,great,durable,fast as hell,really great wheelie bikes too!!

NO MOSQUITOES W THAT FOG MACHINE - SWEET bike....thing rips nice!!! Those old 2-Stroke Yamahas do smell and sound AWESOME - memories of Stumpy's Yamaha down the NJ shore (RIP), Saturday mornings in the 70's, and King Kenny Roberts

Love your content. I bought a lightly used 1975 RD 350 for $600 in 1979, it was such a fun bike with wicked acceleration. Wish I still had it.

Cute little bike . I owned a standard model in 1980 . Most of what that guy said is true about the history of these bikes but there is some explanation needed . Until early 1972 Yamaha had a letter system to code the various capacities . A was 125 , C was 180- 200 , D was 250 and R was 350 . The model before the RD 350 was the R5 , meaning 350 road bike . It was almost the same bike but had a drum front brake and piston port cylinders with no reed valves . It is important to remember that Yamaha had a factory race team in the 1960's . The most successful riders were Phil Read and Bill Ivy . The 250s they rode were the RD 56 ( air cooled twin ) with rotary disc valves and the RD 05 ( water cooled V4 ) again with rotary disc valves . The letters RD meant racing 250 . Of course the V4 was the precursor to the 500s that Roberts and Lawson rode in the early '80s .I think the term Race Developed or Race Derived were just slogans invented by Yamaha's marketing dept. They went away from the letter code capacity system . If you look at the engine number of any of the road going RD s or early model RZs or TZs it starts with R5 . Only the factory models raced by Ago and people like Saarinen and Gould had magnesium crankcases and better cylinders . Anyway , great bike good luck with it .

Love these discussions with Kaplan Kru

Cool bike. I had an RD350 made around '76 that I bought in '80. Only had it one year, though, and it got stolen. Fun bike!

Looks like basani expansion chamber pipes.1 of my all time favorites. I also liked the Kawasaki triples but these were much better all around performers. More linear powerband,excellent handling & braking.legend

Back in early 70's had an R5 with same pipes. Had a patch on my jacket that said YAMAHA, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN. Went through rear tires but front tire wasn't on the ground too often so not a problem.

Now she just needs some mid 70's fiberglass, a yellow fog coated lamp..... A proper front fairing in matched color. The carbon dash is race-ready. 😁❤

I HAD A NEW RD350B IN 1975. LOVED THAT BIKE.

Wow a real giant slayer in its day Ken.

My dad and i are restoring his as we speak. He had it in college and never got rid of it. The thing was CLAPPED out. Im building the engine right now, just some moderate modifications nothing crazy. The wheels are from a 2006 r6. I fabricated the swingarm from 4130 chromoly to allow for the much, much larger wheel and r6 rear shock. Front end is also r6. Had to machine my own headtube to allow for that. Brakes are 2006 r6 too. I kept the geometry identical to the way it was, it just has much, much safer running gear. Thats what my dad wanted. He said, "i rode it stock for 20 years i know what its like. I want something I can really push going up to Tahoe." I said yessir.

I just had a brilliant idea, get a drone to follow Kaplan around on while he rides for awesome cinematic shots!! (Only annoyance would be the sound of the drone though when he goes to talk about the bike. Probable best to land then lol)

You REALLY like this RD. I had one of these back in the day. You can hear the K&N’s sucking. Arse end is different to UK spec. Had a 400 and LC’s wish I still had them there worth a fortune now! Use to race TZ’s as well. So torquey. Wheeled so easy. We use to run them on Castrol R which gave them a very distinctive smell. Oh I miss those days! Gonna go look for one. We use to run Micron exhausts on any thing two stroke, RD’s GT’s and even 750 Kettles. Race Developed.

My neighbor was a yamaha dealer back in the 70's. He brought me the first yz125 in USA from his Japan factory visit. I dominated nesc motocross that year. Anyway he brought a daytona rd400 for me to try. I wheelied the thing almost a mile never forget that day so many years ago.🤣🤣🤣

Wonder if that’s the engine the 350 Yamaha banshee was based off. Sounds just like a banshee. Awesome bike.

Had 2 exactly the same color, one a 350 and one a 400. Oh how I will forever regret selling both.

Kaplan sir you are a great hero in motorcycle world I salute your great personality iam vihar bikram singh from India bihar

I read somewhere back in the day that in the 70's yamaha kicked out hundreds of RD's a day, and in the 80's the xs took it's place. What a company🔥🔥🔥

bad ass bike dad had one and was a blast to ride fast as hell too the 6th gear on the highway hold on

I have wanted an rd350 since I worked on one in high school that a friend had. This one is probably out of my price range but is a beautiful bike.

Beautiful bike, I'm diggin' the saddle as well.

RDs are now worth a big fortune in Britain. And were the most wanted bike in the 1970s & 1980s. I had the 1980 rd 250.

What a ripper ,steller sound ,a real gem

Thats really sweet! Love the pipes and the seat.

Lanes Yamaha in Watkins Glen, NY

Not much could keep up with these in the twisties, but you did not want to ride the long hauls on one.... just too light on an interstate and the power curve was just too high in the rpms for that kind of riding. All of the Yamaha, Suzuki, Kaw two strokes (I rode the GT550) you quickly became an expert of two stroke oils and cleaning spark plugs. This one had the best frame and the best brakes. Most of these unded up either blown up or in ditches. Nice to see one still roaring.

Have been wanting an RD or RZ350 for a good while now, awesome sounding and looking bikes. Would be awesome to rip around an old two stroker on the streets, bet it'd turn some heads for sure!

Love from India this bike is soo rare in India 💕💕

She's a beauty! Nice build guys.

That is one sick bike love them 👍

Best bikes ever made and the 400. 350 lc love the channel guys brilliant.

Nice Gary Nixon jacket.Barry sheene wore nixon tshirts as they were friends

That is freaking beautiful! 😲😎😁....Enjoy your Sunday, Brother. Billy is Da Man. If RD is Race Derived, what does my RZ stand for?

Would easily eat those alive in a straight line on my h2 triple but in the canyons, hwy 2 and stuff, the Rd would kick my ass every time

While the DG pipes are substantially lighter than the stock ones, Toomey pipes offer more performance.

My 1982 RD 250 had drum on the back. Mid 80's 350 RD's had drums on back too.

these bikes just sound wicked

How did I miss this one

A Very nice vintage Yamaha RD350 looks & sounds fantastic Ken love the colour & style 👍🏻 ❤️ 🇺🇸 🏁🏁🏁

Sharp looking 2 smoker.

I miss the day of 2T road bikes. I had a 1975 Zuke GT 185 that I converted into a Dual sport and a 1976 GT550 "Indy" that was a straight rippa it was a forest green colored bike which in the sunlight looked like a dark emerald. A buddy of mine inherited his dad's Kawi Mach III H1 500 triple it was a great sounding bike but couldn't hang with my 550. My dad's friend had a worked H1 Kaw and I never seen or heard a more insane bike it was one of those bikes that even looked fast when sitting still LOL! I never got to ride an RD but my cousin had one in what we called the Bumble Bee decor it was yellow and black with a front fairing if that is what you wanted to call it. It was a cool bike but he was pretty anal about anyone riding it because he spent a ton of money and time restoring it. It would be interesting to see what these bikes would be like with today's fuel injection technology and engine mapping capabilities applied. That 54hp GT550 would probably be able to rev much higher and push closer to 75hp. They were already snappy and responsive, so a crisper fuel injected throttle response would definitely make for a arm stretching good time. Thanks for sharing Ken and that is a beautiful machine.

That was also my first street bike, the only difference between that bike and mine is the young, hot, red head female on the back of mine. Ken that's the bike I said you should be riding around the supercross pits.

What a time warp. Thanks

He aint lying. Hard to find one complete, harder to find one in running condition, even harder to find one with a title, near on impossible to find in amazing shape for a decent price.

So sweet. Wondering why no SS brake lines? Just curious. Not a critique. Thanks

My first ever ride on a motorcycle was in this model in 75

Fantastic machine Ken 👌🏻👌🏻 i love these 70s two strokes , cut my teeth on these bad boys . A real beauty, nice stories from your mate Billy too , nice bloke. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧

I had one and sold it to a friend 40 years ago. It still hurts!!

Beautiful machine

Show us that beast Honda in the background next

No way because I just bought this bike guy here in Louisiana restored one that he had his whole life and I bought it and best bike I've ever had. But mine is the rd400

i owned the RD 400 white tank and red pin striping it had road racing pipes ....it would stay with my mates GS 1000 in and around back streets here in Australia takes me back 38 years ago when i was twenty ....those where the times great reliable bikes the RD series ........out of my price range now ......i think i payed 500 for the RD 400 of a mate ....what are they worth now ?

Wish it didn't have the cheap DG pipes. Rare but not hard to find. I have 15 of them. Only 3 running at this time. The rest are in the works.....lol and a load of parts!! I bought 10 rd's bikes from a salvage yard in a guys back yard for 25 bucks a bike!! And 2 of them are rd 400's The cyclinder noise is also less if you had the rubber fin dampes. They cut down the noise.

AHH, Yamalube.....😂 I can smell it in my mind mate. Awesome.

I love the way it's been done. looks like a factory custom.

Sweet ride brother....what's something like this worth? Love the old look of the cafe's.

I have some 73/74 250/350 parts,heads, lights and a side cover I need to get rid of or traded for 71Lincoln Mk3 and 69 Toronado parts

Those are sweet ass bikes that one and the Suzuki

Nice gold chain matey

🎶🎵🎶🎵Music to my ears!!!

Beautiful

All I want for Christmas... 👍🙂

Nice yammy but I keep looking at the road registered honda 2 stoke in back?

Pocket rocket. I road from 13 till military service and beyond

I'd love another RD 350 or 400 but they're hard too find in Australia as well and I cant afford to run 2 bikes and a car. But nice to see one I've owned 3 so thatll have to do 🇦🇺🥴🗡️🗡️🗡️🐊🐊🐊

I'm interested in the clutch cable used

Put the stock seat back on it please

Love that bike

I love the long, low look. Nice bars and seat too. I would ride the sh*t out of that bike.

This would be my pick as a club bike however no one would want to ride behind you and be smelling that blue smoke ;)

Looks good Ken nicks old bike where’s the YZ Running yet?

Great video looks and sounds fantastic stay safe looking forward to more videos 🇬🇧👍

very rare gem there nice wow

That's what I'm talking about ...

I wonder how much this beauty is worth ?

She's a weapon.

Dream bike!!!

Love 2 strokes nice bike ,smell

Cool bike.

Oh wow!

🙏🏻 amazing thing 👊🏻

Going to auction?

A cafe racer with big wide bars and the standard front mudguard? I don't think so....

Over oiling?

How are parts availability on these? There’s a guy selling one with CDI ignition but says no sparks after changing the head light. Very interested

what is the price to own that legend?

What seat is that