An Audience With The Yamaha RD250 - Memory Lane 

My first proper motorcycle after my moped years was a RD250E, it was a great bike and the 400 was even better when I graduated on to one of them. I still love my RD’s and have been lucky enough to assemble a collection of them in recent years, so that I can continue to enjoy that seminal experience of the 70’s and 80’s.

I had one in that blue in the 70s, lovely bike

Loving these Memory Lane videos. What a lovely bike. I agree about the two stroke smell, brings back lots of memories. Splendiferous 👍

I owned a ‘75 RD250. Commuted on it, went exploring back roads, it was a great bike that would surprise some larger bikes.

As much as I like motorcycle museums, it is a shame not to see them on the road being ridden and enjoyed.

At the same time Yamaha had a 4 stroke twin bike the XS250 which looked exactly like that. It was my first bike and although it wouldn’t have had the 2 strokes performance I loved it and wish I had one now, 40 years later.

Started my motorcycling journey in 1975 on a rd250b, £475 brand new from speedwells in Radcliffe, wish I had it now 😢

Excellent ! What a fantastic place, showing stars from the '70s and more...we can feel how much you love it ! Many thanks !

Really enjoying this” An Audience with …” series, nice bite size looks at some splendiferous old bikes, keep em coming! 😄

Like the old school showroom with retro advertising

Marvellous series - very 70’s looking

Marvellous video! Marvellous bike! Marvellous memories!!

Just stumbled across this and what an amazing bike that I missed out on. Started on the FS1E then various bikes including dt175 ending with suzuki gt750 which I very much regret selling _have you seen how much they are fetching!!!! Great work

Fantastic.👌 What a beautiful machine m8. Loving these video's.👍

A nice show and tell! Thanks for that. I missed the 2 stroke phase altogether. After considering an RZ350 in 1982, I bought a Kawasaki GPz 550, which was the last year that they were air cooled. It was a wonderful bike and I didn't regret buying it.

Hi TAYM I'm surprised that no one so far has mentioned the Yr5 350 otherwise fantastic review, cheers from Alan in Sheffield 👍👍👍🤗🤗🤗

Bloody good nick those old bikes .. marvellous 😊

Magical machine, a time machine.

Great bike very nostalgic, I had the RD125 then moved up to an X7 🏍👍.

Use to ride one of these back in the day in the white with red a truly great bike

i had an s reg rd250d £770 in that colour after a yellow fizzy before that p reg went all over the place even the races, the camaraderie was good when you used to see another bike you would flash your headlight then there were biker pubs great days it did about 95 downhill flat on the tank with the wind behind you lol

In the early aughts, a mint RD250 was my first bike.

You didn't see many RDs in that colour back in the day, nice bike

Good video. My middle brother had a Suzuki 90 back in the early 1970s. It had a dual range transmission with one range for trail riding and the other for street riding.

Thanks for the memories,I used to own a Suzuki gt250b the same as your previous video in this series,my mate used to own the RD250, happy days.

I had one of the first generations of the RD250, a fantastic bike.

Mr TAYM. Great video and you are 2 for 2 re bikes I have had. A blue RD 250 was the bike I passed my bike test on 30th Dec 1980. Great bike that took me on my commute in Scotland through all weather including snow and snow drifts and to get to hospital,through the rain, for the birth of my first son. Great memories Cheers Al

I had a 1980 RD250E in the 80's, I sold it in 1986 and it's still on the road, another feature of that model is that it had self cancelling indicators, the X7 was quicker but the RD handled better.

What lovely collection of bikes 👍

Marvelous memories of this bike and all its competitors, I never personally owned one but mates did as well as the RD400, Suzuki GT250 and Kawasaki Z250. Around this time I bought my first brand new bike the Yamaha XS250 Special. I loved that bike, comfortable to ride, great looking and it handled pretty well.

Wonderful video!

Brings back lots of memories for me. I never had a RD250, but two strokes were what I grew up with. Must recount those memories in a Vlog. Those two strokes were ALL tiny compared with todays bikes, except perhaps for the Kwacker triples.

Another stunner, another bike I dreamt of as a child 👍

I had one of these in the same colour, then later on I had one in silver just before the LC version came out and as you know the LC was lighter and slimmer. Throwing the leg over the RD you felt like you had a bigger bike than it only being a 250cc. I did try the LC as my friend bought one and I couldn't wait to get on my RD again, and this was 40 years ago now, sighhhh! 😟

I had one and the same colour SSR633S, I still miss that bike.

Now we’re talking, though I never had the 250, I did have it’s bigger brother, the 400. Mine was a 1980 RD400E, in white and red. An ex production racer, stepped seat, flat bars and lock wire everywhere 😂. Think the motor had been breathed on, as it went like wot not off a shovel. Handling wasn’t great, and it high sided me on a tight right hand bend, but that said, being late for work, I went into the bend at 80mph (in a 40mph limit), as I was barrel rolling down the tarmac, the RD went over me, before sliding to a halt. I hadn’t stopped rolling before I was back on my feet chasing after it 😎. That was on a Wednesday, by Friday, I had rebuilt it using Yamaha XS250 cycle parts, and off we went on a camping trip to Anglesey 😳. You couldn’t do that now, the bike would be written off. So the extra weight, made them a stronger bike, when the rider got it wrong. Happy days (again). As for the little Suzuki TC90, was this an American model, I don’t remember them on our roads. I had a Suzuki TS250 engine in my Hagon Grasstrack bike, which I raced on the sand, for the second half of the season, as the original Greeves 250 engine that came with it, kept failing. I will send you a photo for Fridays mutter. Thanks for sharing this video.

What a beautiful bike, would still pick this over the BSA, this must have been one of the last air cooled RDs before the LC, plenty quick enough too....

Lovely. I had the white and red speed block. I think I’ll have to try and get one. As for the size, they’re from the era when all 250’s had to be the size of a Bonneville.

Just bought a yds7 in mint condition in gold and black, it was my first proper road bike as a 16 year old, cost me a fortune but i just had to have it, 68 now it just takes me back to 16 again, although i dont thrash it like i used too 😂

Brings back memories TAYM never had an RD though I had the Suzuki GT ram air and to start with the Honda 250 K4 and both those bikes were the goldie orange colour too . I managed to fall off both too and the Honda only 4 days after I got it I was devastated my first big bike and I dropped it in a rainstorm at night with a friend on the back .Ahh it all come flooding back 😉 Cheers 👌👍

next door son had a new silver one, lovely bike, one week later written off and he was on crutches

Morning Berties dad. I have very fond memories of the RD250. My first proper bike after the FS1E.

I had an RD250E, recall it was the E because it had single footrests the D’s were one piece joined underneath, recall that because someone pinched one of mine and the back brake pedal while I was at work. It had been all race tuned so had different carbs, J&R power exhausts and some piston work dropped bars etc. It was fast and I did have the 400 after it and it made me wonder if someone had actually stuck a 400 motor in the 250. Loved them anyway rode everyday to work and out at weekends.

I've never seen a TC90, but I did have a TC120 back in the mid 1970s. Down here in Australia they were often kitted out with a rear rack and used as Ag Bikes on farms. I was in my early teens at the time and I do remember giving it a hell of a beating. It had a strange gearbox with six gears in two ratios, with the lever for switching ratios mounted on the right side of the crankcase that you could use by knocking it with the heel of your boot. From memory the gear change was on the right and it was three gears down, none of this one down and four or five up like today.

The RD250 is in amazing condition, must have been rebuilt. Little Suzuki looks fun, I am only 5’8 so ideal for me 😊

Self Cancelling Indicators, I still miss having them.

Burnt 2stroke and Castrol R Mmmm Classic smells from yesteryear.

My cousins lived on a farm and they had a TC 90. It has a 2 speed range case giving you a nice low range of gears for tight trail riding.

Fantastic memories! Wonder if machine is an import or E variant as more chrome than I remember? Had a banana yellow speed block 1979 F model which I would love to have in my garage again... maybe one day!

I remember them and the rd400 really well, usually passing me in a cloud of smoke while I wobbled along on my BMW....

Even I don't remember the TS90 (and I'm quite old), But I do remember my racing my TS100 (and losing badly) to my brothers TS 125 on the crooked mile from Waltham Abbey to Harlow, those extra few hp really mattered in the early 80s! 🤣🤣🤣

The swap bike must be brought to me and then pick up the ts 90 as its ride away condition

Morning Mr taym,Uk had the ts100 that's why you don't remember the 90. I had a brand new Rd250e bought in 1981 from Padgett motorcycles in Preston. It was one of their old stock motorcycles prob from 77/78 silver with black Stripes and spoked wheels instead of alloy's. Got indicated 100mph 2 up coming back from a bike shop trip in Manchester on the M61! Good job I didn't have to stop at that speed 😅. I also had a Rd400 like you did. Mine was a yellow one and it was very hard trying to accelerate two up without it pulling an involuntary wheelie!! Anyway is Mrs taym struggling to wrap paddington up 🤣

Had a lovely silver RD350E which I used to commute daily from Surrey to central London. Absolutely immaculate but got stolen from my front garden. Police recovered it a couple of months later wearing false plates. It had been wrecked, multiple crashes from the look of it, pipes/silencer hacked about, seat torn, tank dented, bastards. Replaced with a CX500/

Definitely is a marvellous bike very good condition shame about the 2stroke bikes all gone now little pocket rockets they were 👍🙏

TS90s were pretty popular here in Aus. TC90s were available but more aimed at the farming type chaps because they had the dual range gearbox, The TS was popular amongst younger before they bought a TM or CR or KX etc and went racing, you could get a race kit for the TS but ... they were still a 90 LOL.

The earlier RD series had the better brake calipers similar to the TZ racers & later ones started using sliding calipers.

I had the same bike, back in 78 (S Reg). Mine was white and red

Lovely bike, my first proper bike although mine was the liquid cooled curvier model from 1981, more plastic from what I remember, certainly no chrome :) Bonkers 2 stroke that could embarrass much bigger bikes in the bends :)

Battery is in middle between oil tank and the electrics cover

I had an earlier RD250 than this one. It had a peardrop tank and spoke wheels. It was an N reg and I believe it was faster than the coffin tank shaped models. I had two 400's after I owned the RD 250 and the longer stroke of the 400 made them a lovely bike to drive with an amazing amount of low down power. He is right the earlier 250's were called YDS7 and I think the 350's were YR5's.

I had the 250c new in 1976. I've also had a 250d and two 400f. Still got a 250d in the shed. The one here looks like a 250f that's been restored. The stock paint was never that shiny. Looks like it's had a clear coat. Nice bike but the brakes on that model were rubbish compared to the previous twin piston ones. If you ride one today you will really notice how poor the brakes are compared to modern stuff. Problem these days is too many people just buying as an investment so they rarely get ridden.

Some say, that Mike Hailwood was his mother, and that he changes gear with his anatomy. We only know that he’s called, The Taym Stig.

What and where is this place

I had a 200, i hadnt passed my test and the police stopped me a few times but they just thought it was a 125.

Ich hatte eine 1974 in braunmetallik..warum habe ich die bloß verkauft..wenn ich an die blaue Fahne und den Geruch denke

I still have a 1972 suzuki ts 90 trail bike usa import and ride it regually and it has not e er let me down and is extemley reliable its 99 per ent original in its sunset orange paint which is from 1972 and its distinctive chrome upswept exuast is impressive as is its speed for such a small cc bike I may sell or swap it for the larger suzuki ts 125 duster with its 21 inch front wheel the 90 only has a 19 inch tyre and wheels I would like to swap for a decent original honda SL 125 or honda XL 125 trail bike must be road legal with uk paperwork as mine has the swap bike ect must be rough to me you can then pick up the Ts 90 if interested email be and I will get back to you thanks

The X7 was never half the bike of the RD. Even guys that had one knew that.

How old are you?.

كم موديلها

V is 79

My comments keep disappearing from your vids.. Maybe I have been a bad boy?

These "Audiences" are becoming traumatic to some of a certain age..........

Had have been nice to hear the fcuking thing.