Calling TOG

I posted this a few minutes ago, but it got latched onto a previous
thread, so here it is again with a new subject line.


Remember I was telling you about the price of original RD mudguards?
Check this out:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10490&item=
7953495975

 

Scary stuff. You could probably get a batch of those knocked up in
China for a couple of quid each.

 

Krusty says...

I sold one exactly the same, brand new, never fitted and still in its
packaging for 150 quid a couple of years ago. I had a new front mudguard
still wrapped up as well, that went for similar money. Those things have
been unobtainable from Yamaha for nearly 20 years.

The holy grail of RD parts are right hand silencers for RD400Es, New
'old stock' ones sell for well over 500 quid each, good condition used
ones are about 300 quid. When I was younger I threw loads of perfectly
good ones out.

 

Shee-yit.

Mind you, you'd probably pay the same for an NOS Honda 400 Four rear
guard.

 

They made the air-cooled RD350 for years in India, calling it the
Rajdoot. In fact, I think they still do.

I'm surprised some enterprising soul in India hasn't started shipping
over tinware. I bet most of it would fit.

Not worth tooling up specifically for RD400 stuff, though. Jap mudguards
have rolled egdes and the tooling for those isn't cheap. If you assume
the pool of roadworthy RDs is x (and a smallish x) and will always
shrink....

 

The Older Gentleman says...

Production ceased a few years ago, but there is a small industry
supplying pattern parts. Rajdoot wren't the only manufacturers, but they
were the best of a bad bunch. Some of them even managed to find their
way over here. 90% of the parts will fit early RD250/350 A and B models.

Some enterprising sod has, but the quality of the chromework is
shocking. You need to have them rechromed from new to stand any chance
of them lasting. When I last asked about them he was bringing in early
aircooled stuff, but not a lot for the later coffin tanked bikes.

 

Champ says...

Cos it looks like it was fitted, but the bike was never ridden on the
road. I wouldn't have advertised it as NOS myself, but these things are
so rare that you'll overlook that kind of thing just to get your hands
on one.

 

OOH, RD400E, Cut the centre stand lugs off, fit TZ-A expansion chambers
and tow it up to 50 MPH on the motorway before the engine kicks in. Those
where the days.

 

But it's obviously never been used - as shown by the underside shot. I
don't think it was stretching things too much to describe it as NOS.

 

Haven't bothered with the link, but my first ever bike was a 1975
RD250B, orange, with a chromed, won'tstopinthewet disc brake. After
two years it got scrapped mostly because of rust. All the tinwork,
mudguards, battery holder, anything made of pressed sheet metal,
rusted away. So those that are still around are probably rare.

--
Regards from Mike Barnard
'96 Yamaha YZF1000 Thunderace in red, white and grime.
Worthing, West Sussex. UK.

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