2 Strokes Down Under

Bloody things are like buses... None around for ages, then 2 come at the same time! Could be of interest to someone.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/YAMAHA-RD-35 ... 417ca7e2ac

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/YAMAHA-RD-35 ... 461aae2a3f

DuncanB wrote:Bloody things are like buses... None around for ages, then 2 come at the same time!

DuncanB wrote: Could be of interest to someone.

Almost interesting to see how my retirement plan is progressing.

I'm keen to see what the fetch, especially the plain white one... It looks like a good bike for a rebuild at the right price!

Bids aren't done yet though.

Port Vincent within striking range for me, I'll be seeking permission from Minister Of War to bid on that one (unlikely to be granted!!).

If anyone on here is interstate but still very interested I'm happy to help with collecting and holding ready for transport.

Spoke to vendor, its a 5E0 motor in a 5E1 frame, motor sounds like a straight drop-in with 4L0 cylinders. You can see what other "350" bits have been fitted.

just went north of 1500 :-/
bugger, thats me out.
Offer stands for anyone here who needs help retrieving it.

$7900 for the nice std original one - seems like good money but I guess a sign of the times.

Fark!!! Looks like I'll be retiring early

As much as you can tell from the photos it looks very OEM but it does look great (split/perished carb rubbers for one). Sat for 30 years - not guaranteed to run.

Is this the market, a foolish buyer, shrill bidding or lucky seller?

its the same collecting frenzy the UK saw a few years ago, it'll be stupid for a couple of years then settle down as the next thing comes around.

Bleedin mad is what it is! Who'd have thought, eh, way back when in the 90's you couldn't give the buggers away.
The water authority in Wakefield and Leeds should dredge the rivers and canals... they find loads of 'em from all those insurance jobs, and thieving bastards back in the day! lol

Jesus , did they get stolen (in the UK), couldn't leave one unguarded for a moment.
Makes me think how many thieving b4stards there were (are) out there.

I had my LC2 knicked when I was at the cinema in Wakefield with a girl... No bike, the cop station for an hour, and no result with the girl!! Was a bad night! THIEVING BASTARDS!! LOL

I came out of my then girlfriends house one morning years ago to go to work and my white LC that was parked outside was covered in blood, still don't know to this day why. Funnily enough I painted the bike red a few months later.
That bike had been a stolen recovered a few years earlier and had only half the frame numbers as the prick was caught half way through

OK you Aussies, you're getting a picture of the Pommie experience of the day in those comments, early 80's recession-ridden Britain. The LC then YPVS was kind of the only affordable performance bike. It was many, many riders first "real" motorcycle. My recollection is that bigger bikes were too expensive once you'd added in the insurance and everything. Most riders didn't need a big four stroke as it was enough to charge between one local place and another. They were stolen so frequently it was ridiculous, I remember being offered a steal-to-order deal by some toe-rag, it was that common. Insurance kept going up and eventually the two stroke star dwindled. In the meantime, because of reputation putting the price of the bike up, and cost of insurance going up relentlessly, the LC itself stopped being a "cheap" bike really.
350's were the bikes to have in the UK, 250's were a second choice and relatively uncommon. Of course when the TZR then RGV and so on came out the 350 was effectively history.
Most riders graduated onto cars and bigger bikes when they could afford it, so I'd say in its day the LC was a teenage and very early twentysomethings bike.
By the nineties the LC was usually a worn out hack, but they always had something of a following in the UK, a special place in the heart.

My question is what was the Australian experience of the LC and the YPVS?
I doubt these experiences were the same over here. What was the "transport of delight" in those days for young Australians?

Quick clarification as to why 350's were more common and popular than 250's. For decades 250 was a learner category, you could have an asthmatic old Brit Single on L plates. Come about 1980 and after X7's and aircooled RD250's routinely topped the ton the 112mph 250LC came out and the learner law went to just 125cc and restricted to 12bhp.
When you turned 16 you could ride a 50cc bike, but when you turned 17 you coul ride a 125cc on L plates. You practicably could not get a bigger bike until you'd passed your full bike licence and were 18, but then you probably couldn't afford a 550/600 or a 750, so in came the LC.
Wasn't much point shipping in 250's when 350 versions could be supplied and had a market that could just about afford them but probably couldn't afford a 550 or 750.

It has to be said though, 125's can be a thing of beauty, just google RD125, AR125, DT125, KMX125 MTX125 etc and that's the 17 year olds in the UK were riding after 1980.

BRG... That pretty much hits the nail on the head for 80's UK biking. I never felt the need for a big 4 stroke anyway... insurance was high, handling was low, so I went with 2 strokes from day 1. After the Fizzies of my youth I went from a RD350B to a LC2 to an LC to a TZR250 to an RD500 which I had for 9 years. When I decided I needed another bike after a decade or so away, it was naturally another stroker...
They were a hot theft item in the UK, and it sounds like they are again... was it like that here in Aus?