It is said the roar of a lion is heard three miles away. In the Indian concrete jungle, the legendary Yamaha RD350 has had a similar effect. Since its launch in the early 1980s in India, a lot has been written about the RD350. Two decades later, the cult of the ‘RD’ still shows no signs of ebbing. Way ahead of its time when the RD first graced the ineptly laid Indian streets, the bike ironically found few takers. Much of this is attributed to the dormant biker spirit that would, a decade later, wake up to the snappiness of this peerless performer. The rest is not history, but timelessness; the stuff of two-wheeler folklore. Dubbed “the best Indian bike ever”, the RD350 has rewritten depreciation rules and continues to enjoy the status of a ‘prized possession’, a coveted motorcycle that can easily change hands for several times its original price.

My first experience of the RD350 was in an awkward pillion seat, with my friend (also the proud owner of the motorcycle) pulling out all the stops to the throttle. For the first time in my life, I realized the true meaning of ‘a chill running down my spine’. True to its unwavering nature, the adrenaline rush that I experienced that day was the first seed of love that the RD350 implanted into my biker soul. The love affair, not surprisingly, has never lost its libido.

The RD350 was assembled during the period 1983-1990 by Escorts India and was marketed under the brand name Rajdoot 350. There were two variants – the High Torque and the Low Torque. Although the original Yamaha RD350B made 39bhp, the Indian HT version delivered 30.5bhp and the LT version managed a comparatively measly 27bhp. The fuel economy conscious Indian buyer, though, had his heart elsewhere and the mind-boggling power figures failed to garner any brownie points. To add to its woes, the brakes were inadequate to rein in the beast and the brilliant engine was let down by an average chassis. A mileage of 8-20 k’s to the liter made matters worse for the bike in India, leading to its production demise in 1990.

Despite the indigenization of the bike with little Japanese input at the end of its production, a lot of RD’s were scrapped due to lack of spares and the relative inexperience of mechanics in servicing the engine. However, the bike is witnessing a revival of sorts in recent times with spares being supplied by specialist dealers in the US & Singapore and largely due to a new-found enthusiasm among the Indian youth.

The RD350, inarguably, was exceptionally built. With an air-cooled, parallel twin, 6 speed, reed valve equipped intake tract two-stroke engine at its core, the bike was monstrous in its performance, by any yardstick. The need for mixing petrol with oil was eliminated by the ‘Autolube’ automatic oil injection, a huge deviation from the two-stroke’s of the day. Twin leading brake shoes was another notable feature incorporated to make up for the lack of bite in the brakes. However, this made it difficult to prevent the bike from rolling backwards on a slope. This, and several other features, made it one-of-a-kind among contemporaries.

With its matchless performance and raw looks, the RD350 should have naturally made hearts flutter. However, it turned out to be a faux pas of sorts; a case of rewinding the future. Quite deservingly, though, the bike didn’t ride into the sunset. The Indian biking fraternity experienced enlightenment just in time to pump some lifeblood into the fading bike. Needless to say, the icon was reborn and achieved cult status in the course of time.

Today, the RD350 has earned its rightful place. Like any RD350 lover would proclaim, the bike is still the only true sports bike that has existed in India. And it wouldn’t be an overstatement to declare that the RD350 can rip the fairing off any Indian self-appointed sports bike that struts around your neighborhood. The legend truly lives on….