Welcome to my site, which details my challenges and travails around rebuilding my RD200 Yamaha Motorcycles. I'll also try to add some technical information if possible since it's like pulling teeth to find anything substantial on the web for RD200s...but first a little about my history with this model:
My wife Tammy was a motorcycle fan long before I met her, but I, on the other hand, didn't have a lot of experience with them. My one and only time driving a motorcycle is when I drove my friend Bob's old Yamaha was when I was about 17. We had his bike down by a long open stretch next to some train tracks. When he offered to let me take it for a spin I said no at first but changed my mind a few minutes later. Although it was hard to keep running, I did think it was pretty cool. I had another not so fun experience on the back of a bike in July of 1975, when a computer consultant decided to show me a "thrill ride". I don't think I've ever experienced acceleration or a felt a lack of control like I did that afternoon over a fifteen minute period on the back of his BMW. I still don't like riding on the back of a motorcycle to this day.
My RD200 story begins in the fall of 1978 in Madison Wisconsin. We were married in July of that year and I began attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison that fall. I started going to the University by strapping a 10-speed bicycle onto my 1972 VW Super Beetle, and parking way out in lot 40. I would then bike it in to my classes. For those folks that know the UW-Madison, you still need to go up Bascom Hill regardless of which way you come. It didn't take very long for this to become a pretty depressing and sweaty experience, not to mention the fact that I wore a pretty heavy chain around my neck for locking my bike up at each building where I had classes.
In the meantime I was noticing the available parking for those lucky individuals that had a motorcycle. In fact, there was an old church right across from the Psychology building that rented stalls out for motorcycles, and really cheap I might add.
I expressed my interest to a guy at work who was a motorcycle fanatic, and he told me to go to the DOT and take the test to get my temporary license. He briefed me on the questions that would be on the test and then told me I could probably pass it without even studying for it. I was pretty pumped up after the pep talk so I went directly to the DOT the next morning and spent about thirty minutes looking at the motorcycle handbook in their lobby. After I finished I went up and took the written test. I found out about ten minutes later that I had passed - fantastic.
So with my temporary in hand I set out to a motorcycle shop on the east side of Madison, the - "Kawasaki Cycle Center". Once I came into the dealership the owner Howie greeted me. I told him I had basically no experience with Motorcycles but I needed something to get around campus. He said he had "just the bike" for me, and took me back to look at a pristine 1975 RD200. He wheeled it outside and told me to "ride up and down the frontage road, then come back and tell me what you think". To be quite frank, I loved it the minute I took off on it. It just didn't seem that small to me and it sure had a lot of get up and go.
When I came back Howie told me the price and cautioned me that I would be back before to long looking to upgrade to a larger bike (and I did, but that's a different story altogether). After we finished writing up the sales order for the bike I went shopping for a loan, then came back the next day and picked up the bike.
Keep in mind the wife still doesn't know about any of this, not the parking, not the temporary license, and most importantly nothing about buying the bike. However, as I mentioned Tammy is fond of motorcycles and at this point had spent more time on them than I had. So when I took her down from our apartment on the second floor to "see something" she didn't get angry at all - she was only interested in going for a ride.
The bike served me well, and my plan for parking at the University went off without any problems...until winter, but that is just a reason to hate Wisconsin, not motorcycling.
Anyone who has ridden one of these RD200's knows that they have a lot of torque, and they will go along at highway speed without a problem. The fact that they are light (308 pounds) causes problems if you have any sort of demented idea that this is going to be a great highway bike. You can take it on the highway but you will be "White knuckling" it anytime a large vehicle passes in either direction. I did have fun with it though and having Tammy ride along added to the fun. We spend quite a few weekends out on old country roads the summer of 1978 but it wasn't long and we realized that we needed something bigger. So I traded the RD200B in on a XS650B, coincidently produced the same year as the RD200B. Howie, who told my I would be back, gave me exactly what I paid for the RD200 as a trade in and off we rode on the bigger XS650 which led to a number of really great adventures and a future of motorcycling together across the country...none of which would have been possible without the RD200. In retrospect it would have been great to keep the RD200 too but newlywed finances being what they were it had to be part of the trade in.
So fast forward to November of 2007: After a vacation in the Dominican Republic where the staff at the resort zipped around on small 200cc bikes, I got an itch to find an old RD200B. In September of 2008 I was introduced to a gentleman that had both of the RD200's sitting in a large out building. Here is where I could insert an entire diatribe about not buying bikes without titles and what the Wisconsin DOT will do "To you" not "For you" if you go that route. After dealing with the DOT on these motorcycles, I can see why people try to find ways around the system, the unwritten policies and loopholes are incredible painful, expensive, and unnecessary. My advice: needless to say, get bikes that only have clear titles and save yourself a lot of pain and suffering. Perhaps when this whole ordeal is over and I have my titles in hand, I'll add a page detailing the whole sordid affair.
The long and short is that I ended up with two RD200's, a 1974 RD200A and a 1975 RD200B. The RD200A will be Tammy's little fun bike and the RD200B will be mine. The site details the repairs necessary to get them both running and looking sharp again.
Enjoy!
John
PS. These bikes make up my 5th and 6th restorations. If you're interested in checking out my previous restorations, click either of the links below: