RD125LC

How does a mkII rd125lc sound as a practical SOB? A friend is selling
one at the moment, so I went and had a look.

Condition is fair.. a few dings here and there, small dent in the tank,
some surface rust on various parts of the frame, cracked front mudguard
and rhs cowling. Not too bad for a 1988 registered machine [1] with 19k
on the clock, but not amazing. It needs a good clean.

It kicks over first time, and runs nicely enough. I did note the gearbox
is *very* vague until it warms up. It goes and stops well enough,
although it seems reluctant to rev much beyond 9k rpm. It feels a little
strangled, but I'm not entirely used to riding little bikes these
days...

Any idea how much it's likely to be worth?

Failing that... anyone selling a ~125-200cc 2 stroke for a sensible
price? ie.. <500 quid?



cheers,
guy


[1] not so sure about this... from what i can see, the mkII ran until
1986.

 

at that vintage unless it's been derestricted, it *is* strangled. 12 BHP.
Dunno how much you can get from them without making them unreliable.

 

Austin Shackles says...

21 BHP is easily achievable, simply by removing the sleeve in the
exhaust downpipe and rejetting the carb to suit[1]. They stay extremely
reliable even when blessed with full power.

[1] Any decent Yamaha dealer should be able to find out what the
correct main and pilot jets are, as some Europe market models came as
full power and the different parts are shown on the official Yamaha
microfiche.

 

hmm, i guess so. The throttle felt a little heavy, which perhaps added
to it. I guess I'm used to more free revving machines.

Does that sound normal for such a machine?

 

Sounds like fun!

Hmm.. what about YPVS? I note that the mkII doesn't have such a system
(for euro models, anyhow...). Can it be retro-fitted?

 

guyh says...

It sounds like a sticky throttle cable to me, which isn't unacceptable
on a cheap old bike like a 125LC. Buy and fit a new cable and it'll be
fine.