The Yamaha RD350LC was a two-stroke motorcycle produced by
Yamaha Yamaha may refer to:
* Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below).
** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...
between 1980 and 1983.
Although it immediately succeeded the larger
RD400
The RD400 is a two-stroke air cooled six-speed motorcycle produced by Yamaha from 1976 until 1979. It evolved directly from the Yamaha RD350 The 350 evolved into the RD400C in 1976, the "D" and "E" in '77–'78 and the final model, the white 19 ...
, the RD350LC was powered by a smaller 347cc
parallel twin
A straight-twin engine, also known as an inline-twin, vertical-twin, or parallel-twin, is a two-cylinder piston engine whose cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft.
Straight-twin engines are primarily used in motorcycles; ot ...
two-stroke engine
A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of t ...
which actually had the same bore and stroke as the older
RD350
The RD350 is a two-stroke motorcycle produced by Yamaha from 1973 to 1975. It evolved directly from the piston port (pre-reed valve intake tract), front drum-braked, five-speed Yamaha 350 cc "R5".
The engine is an air-cooled, parallel twin, s ...
(64 x 54mm). However, Yamaha added liquid cooling and made other modifications in porting and exhaust to comply with ever-tightening emissions regulations.
The RD350LC was later replaced by the
RZ350 / RD350LC II /
RD350 YPVS in 1983, but the LC(1) was also sold in that year alongside the new bike. The RD350LC was aimed at the European market alongside the smaller
capacity Yamaha RD250LC.
The 1980 to 1982 350 cc models were codenamed 4L0 and are affectionately known as ''Elsie''.
[Henshaw 2001, p. 414.] This model was not officially sold in the US but was available in neighbouring Canada.
Yamaha debuted their breakthrough
YPVS {{Unreferenced, date=February 2018
The two-stroke power valve system is an improvement to a conventional two-stroke engine that gives a high power output over a wider RPM range.
Operation of a two-stroke engine
A '' stroke'' is the action of a p ...
power valve system that revolutionized the two-stroke engine in the RD350 YPVS of 1983.
Development
The RD350LC constantly evolved throughout its life and it was made in Brazil in the final years, as the RD350R. In some countries, such as the US and Australia, the later (YPVS equipped) models were sold as
Yamaha RZ350
The Yamaha RZ350 is a two-stroke motorcycle produced by Japanese motorcycle manufacturer Yamaha between 1983 and 1996. Available in the US from 1983-1985, Canada until 1990 and Brazil until 1996. The RZ was the final evolution of the popular a ...
. It was made in Japan from 1980 to 1986 and in Brazil from 1986 to 1995. The same engine without the YPVS powered the popular
Yamaha Banshee 350
The Banshee 350 (YFZ350) was an All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV), produced by Yamaha Motor Company. It was manufactured in Japan from 1987 through to 2012, They were available in the United States from 1987 to 2006, in Canada until 2008 and in Australia ...
ATV.
See also
*
List of Yamaha motorcycles
List of motorcycles manufactured by Yamaha Motor Company.
First bikes
* YA-1 built August 1954, produced January 1955. The first bike manufactured by Yamaha was actually a copy of the German DKW RT 125; it had an air-cooled, two-stroke, single ...
* Yamaha RD350 YPVS
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
* Ewens, Graeme. ''The Motorcyclist's Handbook''. London, Pan Books, 1981.
* Henshaw, Peter. ''The Encyclopedia of the Motorcycle''. Anglesey, S.Webb & Son, 2001.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yamaha RD350LC
RD350LC
Two-stroke motorcycles