When most Indians picture a Yamaha RD350, a bike that looks like a UJM (Universal Japanese Motorcycle) with an air-cooled, twin-cylinder motor comes to mind. This was the bike on sale in India in the ‘80s via the Escorts licensing agreement, and it cemented Yamaha’s reputation as a maker of seriously fast motorcycles. However, during the same era, in global markets, there was a completely different bike being sold bearing the RD350 nameplate, crucially with an LC suffix (informally) attached to it. This version was never officially sold in India and packed a more powerful liquid-cooled motor, a sportier chassis and very different styling. What you see here is that very bike and, as you’ll read, this is quite a different animal to the air-cooled RD.  

Genesis

At the end of the air-cooled RD’s lifecycle, Yamaha must have realised that while it was undoubtedly violently quick, it was also like wielding a double-edged sword – the rider could get hurt when putting its power down. Taming such a ferocious engine would simply need more sophistication from the chassis. To achieve that, the LC moved from the air-cooled bike’s archaic chassis to a new one that was actually inspired by Yamaha’s TZ350 racer of the era. This was complete with monoshock rear suspension and lighter cast alloy wheels, which also brought in the convenience of tubeless tyres.

The LC suffix in its name stands for liquid cooling, and Yamaha moved to this more modern architecture to extract more output from the 347cc twin-cylinder motor. Plus, with liquid cooling, you have tighter tolerances and better reliability even when you keep pushing the performance envelope – which a lot of people back in the day did, because the LC was a common sight on racetracks overseas owing to its relative affordability.

Over the years, there were subsequent versions that made more power courtesy of YPVS (Yamaha Power Valve System), and at one point, there was even a fully faired version. This very example is from 1980 and is one of the earliest ones from the LC’s lifecycle. Introductions made, now it’s time to get down to business – what is it like riding this nearly half-a-century-old bike? 

Forward Progress

Today, this bike might be 46 years old, but it honestly doesn’t feel ancient like the air-cooled RD does in many respects. However, on both RDs, the star of the show is the vociferous and powerful engine. Once you find an empty road, it is monumental fun to chase the 9,500rpm redline, grab another gear and repeat this grin-inducing cycle. Blasting past 100-120kph is very easy and the performance that the ‘Elsie’ has to offer feels much stronger than the roughly 45-50hp output its engine can make at its peak in stock form. 

Now, the three words “at its peak” are very important ones here because the bottom end is very dull and weak, and the engine vehemently protests being below 4,000rpm! Perhaps it was just this bike, but anything below 3,000rpm required constant clutch slipping, and the engine really didn’t like being there. Above that threshold, you’ll make quick progress, although the real fun is to be had between 6,000rpm and the 9,500rpm redline. 

This is a trait demonstrated by pretty much every two-stroke machine, no matter its displacement, architecture or cylinder count, so this isn’t a criticism, more a personality trait you need to work your way around. In fact, I’d wager that the way the LC pulls in the top three and a half thousand revs is so hard that it feels like even some current-day 60hp machines will be left in the dust. 

Another reason you’ll very much want to keep the revs up is the high-pitched banshee howl it has for an exhaust note. The sound emanating from its twin upswept pipes when the revs are high and you’ve got the throttle pinned is a thing of real beauty! It’s real childlike fun to listen to a 2-stroke motor roar its heart out, and this twin belts out an awesome soundtrack, one that – sadly – no longer exists today. 

In the past, I have had the pleasure of riding an air-cooled RD350, and while the violent nature of the engine and its rather heavy clutch pull are also present here, the LC’s ride and handling are a pleasant surprise! Since the LC’s frame was inspired by the TZ350 racebike (but was unique and road-biased), you actually had decent handling to somewhat effectively wield the firepower on tap. It doesn’t feel as delightfully taut as a similarly sized modern machine, but it also doesn’t feel like a horse-drawn carriage when you take a corner at speed. 

Another very welcome surprise was that the LC provided surprisingly good ride comfort. Over the few bad roads we encountered through the course of our shoot, it kept me reasonably comfortable. Truthfully, the one facet that feels woefully out of place here is the weak binders. The LC’s twin disc brakes are an upgrade on the air-cooled RD’s single disc (India-spec ones came with an even weaker front drum brake to cut costs), but the stopping force still feels more like a suggestion than a direct order. 

Intangible Special Sauce

But this is not a review, and I’m not here to evaluate this bike – I’m here to experience it, and what an experience it has been! I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, from the rider’s POV, it’s so refreshing and heartwarming to see two honest-to-goodness physical needles circling around in this day and age, and no TFT can come close to a set of analogue gauges. 

This was a raw, unadulterated machine before electronics and rider aids, so to keep yourself upright, you had to be both sensible and skilled. Of course, there’s no electric start here, and you’ll need to use your leg to start the motor, with a good old-fashioned swift kick! Speaking of, one quirk the LC had was that the rider’s footrest needed to be folded inward to make room for the kick lever to go down fully.

Yes, these are some areas where the LC very obviously feels its age, but today, even a single-cylinder 2-stroke machine is a rare sight, let alone a twin, and this liquid-cooled one is rarer than hen’s teeth because it was never officially sold in India. This bike was a private import back in the day (one of a single-digit handful), and currently it is in the custody of a very kind and gracious friend of mine who let us have it for a day!

One rather funny way the LC feels its age is that even though it was considered a properly sporty machine for its time, it’s actually not a hard-edged, uncompromising machine. The rider isn’t hunched over the ‘bar, there’s a flat seat, which will seat a pillion comfortably without them feeling like they’re perched precariously on the first floor, and it even has a centre stand! 

I think somewhere along the way, racetrack performance, bragging rights for how much horsepower your machine has, and the latest gizmos and gadgets trumped rider involvement and real-world practicality, which seems like motorcycling may have veered off course.

Nevertheless, for one very happy morning, I got to tick off one of my bucket list riding dreams. This proverbial hero lived up to my expectations and how! Yes it’s old, yes it can be a bit cantankerous and temperamental at times, yes it pollutes the air a little too much and yes, it’s expensive to own and maintain, but all of those drawbacks pale in the face of the joy you’ll feel when you start riding! 

This isn’t a machine built to tick any boxes or fill a clearly demarcated role, and its only purpose is to put a smile on the rider’s face. All said and done, the RD350LC is an extinct breed in today’s ever-so-strict times, and as motorcyclists, we should ensure that bikes like these continue to survive and be enjoyed rather than just being relegated to a footnote in the history books.