My Yamaha RD200 restoration completed: How it felt riding the bike home

People on the streets were like is this a new Yamaha model and I guess no one is ever going to believe that it is a 1972 200cc two stroke.

BHPian SnS_12 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

RD 200 is back home in its new striking Avatar!!!

Got the RD 200 home and I never enjoyed riding as much as I did today and it genuinely put a wide smile on my face on my first spin. The clutch correction has bought in a massive difference to how she moves as there is zero slippage and she just moves like a rocket. I can’t believe how much power was getting robbed by those 6 wrong clutch plates and took me 19 years to finally get things right on this one.. Also, the paint job and combination is an absolute delicious combination. People on the streets were like is this a new Yamaha model and I guess no one is ever going to believe that it is a 1972 200cc two stroke. But when they see it move they will know it is something very very special…

The clutch cover for now we have fitted the old one with correction done on the RX kick shaft to ensure no more oil leaks. Tony will fix the OE shaft for the kick boss to fit in properly and then we shall change to the new clutch cover. Other than that the new tail light is been fixed, indicators have been changed to OE spec, chain guard has been changed along with the front headlight and the speedometer and tacho are all functional now…

Looking forward to smoke Mumbai streets this Sunday morning…

Some mouth watering pictures….

Some more parts. When you have six two strokes you need a constant supply to fulfill their drinking habit. RX king chain guard which was a perfect fit with slight modification on the RD 200

Time to change the tail light lens to the Made in Japan (MIJ) one.

The RE holder needed some modification to fix the lens correctly though

What a difference

And the brightness in the dark

Indicators are functional too

And are really bright

Christmas lights on the speedometer console are functional too

The mufflers come out including the problematic right one

OE ones go in and have made the exhaust a lot quieter

Next up are the front indicators which needed some modification as well as the internal holder were shorter to fit in the RX headlight dome

No issues Tony has got this sorted as well. The front with the period correct headlight lens

A functional tacho on the OE meters

Simply stunning

Chrome chain guard adding some further bling

Up close… what a finish a superb execution of my request by Sumant from OCD Detail Studio

Colour pop. Imagine the shine it will have after a detailing session

The rear minus the seat which is going to get addressed next

Seat Doctor to fix the seat issue

Amount of fibre glass that has preserved this seat for the past 15 years

The foam and cover tell a different story though

The gentleman admiring Art on two wheels. He was in awe of the RZ too when I got it to fix the seat.

Even the increased seat height the RD 200 is too small for me but packs in double the fun one will have on an RX in the city

Back home with my first bike

The parking space (The Bank) is getting full again with the bikes arriving one after the other

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