a pointless discussion

[bullet350]

whilst putting the world to rights today, me and a couple of mates somehow got onto the issue of rd350 yamahas.

it all boiled down to one issue: do powervalve rd350's handle well?

i rekoned they must as they weigh very little and had their own race series.

my mates thought they handled badly as they had skinny forks and bendy frames.

can anyone shed any light on this issue?

none of us have ever owned or ridden an rd, nor do we want to.

Thus the whole issue has absolutely no point at all, although i'd still like to know who's right.

350bullet

[hondamichael]

the rd`s performed very well and there is no better choise in the twisties then skinny tyres , all these new racer bikes with these  wider tyres perform like crap in the twisties , they may be allright in the dunes  these wide tyres, but certainly not good for narrow twisties , the skinnier the better , nowadays these kids have no clue any more  they buy big bikes wiith
hundreds of bhp and wide fat tyres  , and think a bike with 200 kg is light and whats the result most of them crash in corners  , that should give the answer if rd`s handle well of course they do  extremly well if you ask me , and a frame that bends a bit means it can handle potholes with ease a totally rigid frame would just brake

[MrFluffy]

My LC was horrid, I much prefer my 180kg fat tyred bimota in the twisties

[hondamichael]

a bimota isnt realy a normal bike isnt it , they are bloody expenciv bikes , wish i had the money to buy one,
 the bimota bb1 supermono is one of the best handling bikes in the world , and with the addition
of the bmw single its even maintenace friendly  4 bolds and the monocoque  is gone , very handy
to check te oil level :-)
and with under 150 kilo dry weight  a perfect bike in my opinion

[mav617]

RD350YPVS' handled weel in their day, it's all relative. When I had mine in 89 it showed up a lot of bigger, more expensive tackle. To compare one to a Bimota - well it's like comparing a Bullet to a GSXR.

I might be sticking my neck out, but I'd say a 350 Powervalve with decent fork springs and heavier oil would still handle pretty well - and that engine was an absolute stonker.

On the Bimota, I read a review in Performance Bikes from Nov 96 where they reckoned the Yam SZR660 beat it hands down on every criteria apart from looks - but then being an SZR owner I am biased!

[guest18]

Elsies were ok... but only once you added a fork brace and sorted the springing out imho. But then I only ever had shots and never owned one.

As for handling being good or bad, well tastes change, in my Grandpas day a good handling bike was one that turned in slow and was very stable mid corner, in the eighties everyone wanted something that turned in so quick it was twitchy and on the verge of a weave on anything except a nice smooth surface... a very very difficult thing to define "good" handling, unless you are a journalist who knows everything about this weeks model of course The only bike I could safely make an assessment of was the KH Kawa triple I rode... didn't want to turn in then dropped in suddenly, weaved mid corner then didn't want to change direction to come out of the turn, weaved and wobbled on the straight, accelerating, braking, turning... the only surprise was it managed to feel safe while standing still(!) Now that bike handled BADLY lol

Fat sports tyres? Well in the dry skinny tyres are fine, but in my experience a nice wide sports tyre can be a good deal nicer on a wet road (subject to a decent tread pattern/depth) , the XBR is a good example, I've ridden it off the edge of the back tyre on a nice sunny day (oops ) but it has also scared the bejeasus out of me on a wet one, just not enough rubber on the road...

All just imho of course

[guest40]

On the Bimota, I read a review in Performance Bikes from Nov 96 where they reckoned the Yam SZR660 beat it hands down on every criteria apart from looks - but then being an SZR owner I am biased!

Gee that Bimota must be butt ugly then, Thats why I chose the MuZ instead of the SZR

[mav617]

Kurt mate - the SZR beat it on all fronts APART from looks i.e. the Bimota was better looking - tons better looking, it is a beaut and the old SZR is, well, wierd looking is a kind description. I don't care what it looks like as it's great to ride.

[guest27]

Did they handle - it is all subjective and relative.  The RD350LC handled better than an X7 and a GS1000 - I know this cos I could out run my mate on his X7 or his GS between Plymouth and Looe.  He was and probably is a far better rider than me.

The RD350LC YPVS was a step up from that and was fine until the RG Gamma came along - then you wanted your YPVS lump in a Gamma.  (Stephens will still make a YammaGamma for you)

Compared to modern stuff they are not very good, but can be made better - particulaly as Yamaha are a bit of a parts bin manufacturers and more of their stuff can be swapped between the different bikes than other makers - it seems.

I would love another RD350LC and/or a YPVS

So it all depends on what you are comparing them to and in what situation.

R

[guest18]

Compared to modern stuff they are not very good, but can be made better - particulaly as Yamaha are a bit of a parts bin manufacturers and more of their stuff can be swapped between the different bikes than other makers - it seems.

Try big kawas they are spectacularly good for parts swapping, certainly from the "Z" series through to the "ZZR"'s