Hagarty RD350 writeup...

[Brad-Man]

Write up:

https://www.hagerty.com/media/motorcycles/the-yamaha-rd350-was-the-best-bike-of-the-70s/

[2steve]

"The Yamaha RD350 Was the Best Bike of the '70s"
It would be very hard to argue with that.

[dgorms]

"The Yamaha RD350 Was the Best Bike of the '70s"
It would be very hard to argue with that.

Especially on this forum!

[bitzz]

... I TOO find the RDs to be remarkable bikes... but BEST????
There was a LOT of really cool bikes in that decade
The Imola, Laverda SF/SFC, KZ/GS1000,Goldwing, a whole SLEW of dirt bikes, and a TZ was more influential bike than a RD... the TR3 won the Daytona in '72, and was the "prototype" for the RD
And the RD400 IS objectively better, all round, than a 350 (at least before the RD-LC)

Some one should define "best"
"Best" is false economy. "BEST" is subjective

[SoCal250]

"In most markets, the bike gained a six-speed gearbox, with the now-familiar left-foot change and one-down, five-up shift pattern, although bikes sold in the UK had the top ratio blanked off."
Really?

[bitzz]

They did that to the first TR3s and TZs too

[soonerbillz]

"In most markets, the bike gained a six-speed gearbox, with the now-familiar left-foot change and one-down, five-up shift pattern, although bikes sold in the UK had the top ratio blanked off."
Really?

From what I've read there were 2 RD versions 6 speed and a 5 speed
 The 5 speed was essentially the same as the other but without the 6th gear. Supposedly that was in line with 17 year olds and less age motorcycle license rules.

[Striker1423]

"In most markets, the bike gained a six-speed gearbox, with the now-familiar left-foot change and one-down, five-up shift pattern, although bikes sold in the UK had the top ratio blanked off."
Really?

From what I've read there were 2 RD versions 6 speed and a 5 speed
 The 5 speed was essentially the same as the other but without the 6th gear. Supposedly that was in line with 17 year olds and less age motorcycle license rules.

My understanding was the sixth gear existed in the 5-speed boxes but was unusable because either the shift drum was blocked from rotating somehow, or the shift fork was impeded. Aircooled RD club talks about it, but their forum won't load for me right now.

[m in sc]

yeah, ive read about that for years. was in the gear cluster but blanked off on the selector somehow.