I suspect it won't last long; stock and original in great condition:
1974 RD250 CL (https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/mcy/d/higley-super-cool-1974-yamaha-rd250a/7843066413.html)
Seat cover not original, seems to be liberal use of Flat Black paint on frame downtubes and maybe some on engine, corrosion on fork tube above travel area. Has a lot going for it but will the market support that price? Hope so since it bodes well for other people wanting to sell in what we are being told is a turbulent economy.
A closer look suggests that it is an "up North" bike considering the items you pointed out that are corroded; an Arizona bike would be high and dry. The price is VG for Phoenix, but may not be elsewhere.
WW
Still a deal here. The asking price is usually close to double that ($5-6K) for 250/350s
Quote from: RDnuTZ on April 20, 2025, 02:39:59 PMSeat cover not original, seems to be liberal use of Flat Black paint on frame downtubes and maybe some on engine, corrosion on fork tube above travel area. Has a lot going for it but will the market support that price? Hope so since it bodes well for other people wanting to sell in what we are being told is a turbulent economy.
Yeah I noticed the liberal use of the flat black as well but I have to admit I like the original condition of the paint and don't see any dents on the bodywork. The chrome also has my RD beat,not by much but enough and those fork legs are marginally better than mine as well. All for about a grand less than I paid 8 years ago.
Hindsight being 20/20 I probably should've been more patient and passed on buying my bike but I wasn't because it was sold to me by my local Yamaha/many other brands motorcycle dealer. It just spoke to me because they are so rare where I live. If people have them they are usually few and far between like the other side the state (I live in MA.) or in neighboring states.
It's interesting because also at present and maybe more like the past 4 years I've been checking out FB Marketplace a whole lot more and I guess related to the current turbulent economy for better or worse it just seems like if you are willing to travel there is a treasure trove of antique two strokes and more RD's than I've ever seen. I don't know maybe that's just irony though, I was never really looking for an RD and that bike kinda found me.
At the time I was on my way home for work and just thought about stopping by the bike shop because I was having problems with my 06' GSXR1000 it was my only bike and I was chasing three separate running issues so I kinda thought yeah I'm making decent money lets see if I can find a clean used reliable bike that will get me riding rather then struggling to fix the one I have. Little did I know that my local dealer would sell me a really cool two stroke that had more running issues than the bike I owned but I can honestly say out of the three bikes I have it's hands down a lifetime bike for me.
don't beat yourself up over buying your RDs. It's an exclusive club to be in. Cool thing is the more you buy there'll be lower price points along the way which makes the average look better and better! When I stared into VMX racing I found I had to buy 3 of every model I was building to race just to have enough parts to make 1 that I could ride. :vroom:
this is why i start with complete piles of garbage. :dawg: