Yamaha TD2 is an air-cooled road racing motorcycle made 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 ...

produced between 1969 and 1970. The equivalent 350cc version was called TR2

Development

The TD1 bikes had a significant impact on British 250cc class racing in the middle-1960s which was historically contested by single-cylinder engines, some with ageing designs. Some TD1s were overbored to 251cc, thus being eligible for the 350cc class Building on the TD1 successes, the arrival of TD2 together with the TR2 350cc version which could be overbored to around 352cc, making it eligible for the 500cc class, announced the 'death knell' of the traditional 350cc and 500cc class single-cylinder four stroke engines manufactured to 1950s designs The new over-the-counter Yamahas were smaller, lighter with greater maneuverability and consequently easier braking. The engines were simpler to build - but not significantly easier to maintain as four-stroke singles potentially lasted an entire season - offering a small compact unit without the height associated with overhead valves and camshafts. Rod Gould's appearance on the European racing scene with TD2 and TR2 machines (and Buco helmets) secured after a business trip to US was a major factor in the change to two-stroke domination. Gould learned his craft initially by campaigning ageing (1950s design) Manx Nortons around the UK short circuits, with 1960s

Bultaco Bultaco was a Spanish manufacturer of two-stroke motorcycles from 1958 to 1983. In May 2014, a new Bultaco was announced. Origins The origin of the Bultaco motorcycle company dates from May 1958. Francesc "Paco" Bultó was a director of the ...

s and

Aermacchi Aermacchi was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. Formerly known as Aeronautica Macchi, the company was founded in 1912 by Giulio Macchi at Varese in north-western Lombardy as Nieuport-Macchi, to build Nieuport monoplanes under licence for the Ita ...

s for the smaller classes.

Racing success

Great Britain’s

Rodney Gould Rodney Gould (born 10 March 1943 in Banbury) is a British former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and UK short circuit specialist. Gould began racing in 1961 and made his first Isle of Man TT appearance in 1967. He rode a variety of machines ...

won the 1970 250 cc World Championship on a TD2, with Australian,

Kel Carruthers Kelvin Carruthers (born 3 January 1938) is an Australian former world champion Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and racing team manager.

coming in second, also riding a TD2. Gould won six races in the

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

Grand Prix Motorcycle season, clinching the title at the Nations Grand Prix, Monza. Yamaha Factory racing had withdrawn from the championship over revised competition rules in 1969. “Privateer” racing with many dealer-backed racing efforts competed against factory teams for the World Championship. Kel Carruthers won the

Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May/June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907. The event is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world ...

Lightweight 250 cc class in 1970, with a time of 2:21.19 (96.13 mph )

1970 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season The 1970 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 22nd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix season. The season consisted of twelve Grand Prix races in six classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc, 50cc and Sidecars 500cc. It began on 3 ...

The cost of a TD2 in 1970 was $1,800.

Yamaha TD3

The TD2 was replaced at the beginning of the 1970s by the Yamaha TD3 model.

Specifications

* Bore Stroke: ( 56 mm x 50 mm ) * Compression Ratio: 7.6 : 1 * Ignition: Magneto system * Clutch: Wet, Multi disk * Carburetors: Mikuni VM30SC * top speed:232 km/h * Wheels: Spoke, Aluminum rims * Engine model code: DS6- An oil reservoir was positioned in the tail piece. The oil line was fed to crankcase, powered by a positive placement pump.

References

{{Reflist TD2