My Yamaha RD 125 restoration: Found the coffin tank needed for the bike

The RD 125 coffin tank especially is a very difficult to find piece and to find one in a good condition is even more difficult.

BHPian SnS_12 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Paris-Delhi-Mumbai @ €80:

Nothing can happen before time and that stands true for the RD 125 rebuild. My second bike that I bought back in 2006 and it costed me peanuts especially when you look at RX’s that cost ten times it’s price today but, back then for me it costed me more than my monthly salary and was a big stretch and I was clearly not financially prepared to rebuild it. In 2010 I did try rebuilding it along with my RD 200 but due to unavoidable circumstances we couldn’t finish it then. Luckily for me that was a blessing as I clearly needed a new tank as the one that came on the bike was beyond repair. Also, I needed a set of new exhaust and both of them happened in quick successions last year as I found a decent complete set of exhaust from the US and my friend Moneet found a good tank in Paris itself.

The RD 125 coffin tank especially is a very difficult to find piece and to find one in a good condition is even more difficult. But, as I have been saying in my previous posts my stars are aligned this time and my friend Moneet found a good tank and that too in Paris. He shared me the link back in September last year which I quickly approved and he called the owner who was not staying too far away from his house and he could pick it up personally. Unfortunately Moneet could not meet the owner until early December and the owner was kind enough to hold on to the tank till then. Now, the biggest dilemma was that of how to get the tank to India, neither Moneet or I were travelling to Paris/India. So, I asked him to ship it to India which I knew would cost a bomb. The quote he got online was around €148, which later we found out was the minimum amount and the actual post office charges could be much higher depending on the final package dimensions and weight. While I told Moneet to still go ahead with it he was not comfortable as the price of the tank is €80 and shipping it would cost double of that and then customs if any back in India. So, he was on a lookout for a cheaper alternative and during one such conversation a friend of his who was visiting India offered to hand carry it. Her sweet gesture just didn’t end there as she even couriered it to Mumbai from Delhi free of charge. Truly blessed to have such people around who would do such good deeds especially for a friends friend.

Now, I can send the parts for paint and hopefully by next week we can have the RD 125 standing on its own feet…

Some pictures…

Christmas is long gone but the goodies still keep arriving. I am a complete madman to even attempt to do two full and some semi rebuild in one go and that too of rare bikes.

Skinned down the outer tape packing

First glimpse

Peekaboo.. The OE Japan made tank cap packed and secured

The detailings on four decade old tank

The inside packaging

Up close. Wrapped up in a towel for added protection for the long journey

The pink foam up close. Did its job well.

The beautiful coffin tank. Have to choose the right red shade for this unique designed tank

Side view

Indian RX tank cap is a direct fit on this one. The OE cap which came along doesn’t have the key so will have to change the internal lock

Design details from the side view

OE fuel tap

Mad in Japan

Bottom view with the OE tank cap packed on the top left

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