The Yamaha RD350 remains one of the most storied two-stroke street bikes of the 1970s. It might not be as a notorious as the widow-making triples of Kawasaki lore, but it was in most respects a better bike. It had similar dimensions as the TZ road racers, handled and braked well for the era, and became a popular club racing platform.
Not that this smoker was a walk in the park. Some riders claimed RD didn’t stand for “Race Developed” but “Racing Death,” and there are still wizards like Ed Toomey (Toomey Racing USA) who turn these two-stroke twins into serious weapons.
This RD350 “road ripper” comes from one of our very favorite builders, Sean Skinner of MotoRelic, whose builds you’ll surely recognize if you’ve spent any time on BikeBound. It was built out of a barn-find ’73 RD350 his client John picked up for just $350.
“Normally getting a bike for $1 per CC is a great deal but when he sent the photos, I feel he overpaid. It was the crustiest, most forgotten bike I’d ever seen.”
Fortunately, John was willing to spare no expense, and Sean would be able to bin nearly everything except the frame and engine to build the ripsnorting street tracker you see here. Sean is also one of the best writers in the customs world, and he gives us the full story in his own words below.
For those who want to get straight to the meat, highlights include a Toomey-built engine with 28mm Keihin PWK and Lomas stainless/carbon chambers, GSX-R750 forks, 19-inch wheels with Cognito Moto hubs, Brembo brakes, Trac Dynamics aluminum swingarm, Motogadget electronics, a highly modified Honda Ascot tank, handmade aluminum tail section, Counterbalance Cycles seat, bespoke inner fender that doubles as oil reservoir, and much more.
“Once the beast of an engine came back from Ed Toomey the bike was ready to rip and RIP it did… Smiles for miles while tearing up the back roads. The sound out of those JL pipes is better than any symphony at the Sydney Opera house.”
Below is the full story from the man himself, along with more shots from Jonathan Thorpe. Enjoy!
RD350 Street Tracker: In the Builder’s Words…
Sometimes previous builds of mine stir up things in readers and they reach out to build something similar. That is the case with this 1973 Yamaha RD350. John reached out to talk about letting me create a street tracker out of a barn-find RD that he picked up for $350. Normally getting a bike for $1 per CC is a great deal but when he sent the photos, I feel he overpaid. It was the crustiest, most forgotten bike I’d ever seen. We had a laugh and I told him, if it’s not locked up then it will be great since his idea for the build will only require me to keep the frame and engine. Everything else will go to the dumpster. John was prepared to spare no expense on this build, which makes my job way more fun!
When the bike arrived we had another laugh but then got down to business talking about his dream. He wanted a lightweight road ripper with 19in wheels, true flat track Hoosier tires, a custom tail and seat, tracker style front plate and a fire breathing engine. He rolled out and I got to work not knowing how the bike would evolve into what it is today.
The first thing I did was contact Ed Toomey. We discussed John’s needs and nailed down a proper list of things that he would do to this little powerhouse. I boxed up the engine and shipped it off. Then proceeded to order a pile of goodies for the build. A set of GSX-R750 forks handle the road up front and HyperPro 467’s tackle the rear.
I got with my buddies at Cognito Moto to order up some beautiful hubs laced to 19′ Sun rims with a tasty Brembo disc brake conversion on the rear and a set of triples. Since there was a Brembo on the rear John felt like the fronts needed to match. Goodbye Tokico, hello Brembos! Who am I to argue?
Next up was the phone call to Spiegler Performance to place a massive Motogadget order that included everything for the bars and gauge all the way to the M-unit and a powerful Kellerman tail light. Economy Cycles just happened to have the stunning Jim Lomas stainless and carbon expansion chambers on the shelf so I quickly scooped those up!
I had planned to modify the stock swingarm to accept a mono shock and add bracing but John found a beautiful aluminum swingarm from Trac Dynamics that we could order with a 2in stretch that would allow the big 130 19 tires to fit without issues.
With the chassis now in a roller status I got to work designing how I wanted the bike to look. I had a Honda Ascot tank that really screams Tracker but it was fairly wide for this skinny lady. I decided the side profile was perfect so I cut the tank in half then narrowed it 2 inches and fabricated all the mounts to make it fit the frame. The tank has an interesting shape on the top with different angular panels and I wanted to let that flow back to the tail.
I shaped the tail section out of 16g aluminum to match the top of the tank and gave it some style down the sides. The frame received all the mounting tabs to hold it all in place. Honda added a recessed area in the back of the tank for their factory seat. I used that area to shape my seat design. It allowed a seamless flow from tank to tail. Counterbalance Cycles stitched up the rich brown leather and it fit perfectly afterwards.
Keeping with the tracker theme I started on the front number plate. The Motogadget Chronoclassic gauge is not small and to make it fit I added a bit to the front plate to mount it and make it feel more incorporated to the design. Eagle Lights supplied the super bright LED front lamp. Its low profile design made it an easy choice.
Now that the bodywork fab was complete I got to work on making all of the chassis mods needed to finish it up. The 350 comes from the factory with a drum brake so I had to design a complete mount and brake pedal assembly for a master cylinder. I wanted to use the factory rubber mounts for the foot pegs but I needed to redesign the foot peg mount to fit a set of MX style pegs. The foot placement worked perfectly and kept the buzz to a minimum.
Yamaha has used the auto oiler system for a long time and it has proven itself to be very reliable. I didn’t want to clutter the side profile with an oil tank and I also needed an inner fender to keep the bike clean. So I got to work fabricating a slim oil tank that works as both. It holds 1 quart and shows the level.
With that wrapped up I called it done and ready for tear down. The paint was knocked out of the park by Danny at Knight’s Kustoms. I wanted a brilliant blue that matched with Yamaha colors. The tank layout is a play on other RD models.
Once the beast of an engine came back from Ed Toomey the bike was ready to rip and RIP it did. First gear is a serious handful. At 6k the fully ported engine breathing through 28mm Keihin PWK carbs gets on the pipe and lofts the front wheel with some serious aggression. Second is no different while staying on the pipe she screams to life making you feel like the bike is trying to toss you off the back. Smiles for miles while tearing up the back roads.
The sound out of those JL pipes is better than any symphony at the Sydney Opera house. Combine that with the smell of 100 octane low-lead airplane fuel feeds all the senses all while trying to handle the reins of this wild horse. Damn good times!
More Photos
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- Photography: www.jthorpephoto.com | @jthorpephoto
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