This month we play fast and loose with a whole 160cc… split equally between two machines: Yamahas RD80LC
The Scania wagon does a quick and impromptu left turn into the lay – by as owner Gary Robison and I wait for photographer Paul Bryant whos spun off to look for a suitable riding shots location. The driver jogs back to the bikes and whistles at the super – peds, smiles and then comments “Eeee, tha doesnt see many of these about, does thee lads?” To be honest its been a common theme all morning as we get ready for the days shoot and Mr Scania has only reinforced what wed already agreed.
And then he spots the bikes are 80s and not what he thought were 125s; hes duly even more impressed and tells us about the machines in his garage. As the trucker studies the modified machine he opines: “Thas not done owt wee em that couldnt be put reet again either lads.” Classic motorcycle enthusiasts are the same the world over; if its old, odd, rare and/or unusual its worth stopping for, looking at and chatting about. He jumps back in his cab, still smiling, and drives off with a blare of 24v horns.
Were in Yorkshire to sample the Yamaha RD80 Elsies of tiddler lover and two – stroke enthusiast Gary Robinson and we have two machines on offer; a restricted German market machine and a retro bike. The former needs little by way of explanation but the latter could probably do with a bit of clarification. The bike has been built from a wreck using myriad old and tired components that werent up to Garys exacting criteria. Its essentially a homage to the way things were done back in the day when callow youths would modify their bikes. There are period modifications like a cut down mudguard and an Allspeed thats best described as special… but more of that later.
Okay, so you know why were here and what well be riding but whats the story behind this apparently odd capacity bracket? Yamahas RD80LC along with Hondas MBX80 and Kawasakis AR offering stem from a point in time when there were almost more buyers than bikes and it was possible to make a bike for almost any sub – segment of the market. With learners then recently limited to 125cc there were always going to be buyers for a machine bigger than a 50cc sloped but smaller than a 125. For the same reason that Suzuki sold GT185s, Honda sold CB200 and Yamaha sold Yamaha RD200DXs against its respective 250s back in the Seventies there was always someone who didnt want or couldnt justify a full fat learner in the 1980s; not everyone wants the biggest bike they can have. And of course as everyone knows learners are a huge insurance risk – anyone on a 125 was likely to be the biggest risk of all so the 80 – lOOcc bracket was always going to be the less expensive option.
With our backgrounds established, our raison detre confirmed, petrol and oil in their respective receptacles its time to fire up the micro LCs and get a feel for the smallest of the breed. The kick – starters are best described as quirky; due to the proximity of the expanded section of the exhaust on the standard layout the lever obviously has to miss the steel work. This means that the lever comes out at a strangely unnatural angle restricting the arc of any potential swing and then you find the wretched thing is geared on the low side of weedy. As anyone who knows much about Yamahas will tell you its a company foible not to put a bearing in the outer engine case for the kick – start shaft. Add all of the above together and youll probably be ahead of our script; half of Garys donor bikes arrive with broken shafts: quelle surprise.
The other character building facet of RD80LC ownership is the bikes occasional reluctance to start on the muck that now passes for petrol. Having once managed to fire up a BSA Goldstar I find myself severely miffed that I cannot get the German import to start but Gary has a quiet word with it, threatens it with a carb rebuild and the recalcitrant little Yamaha fires up good as gold.
Were off and what a culture shock it is. The riding position is incredibly racer – like and 17 – year – olds who had lusted after something sporty must have thought this was heaven. You lean forward into the bikini fairing with your feet a fair way back thanks to the rearwardly positioned pegs. The seat/tank ergonomics are much better than you might hope for and even at 5ft lOin I find Im not cramped and the more I ride the bike during the day the more natural it becomes.
Pulling away requires 5000rpm and a degree of clutch slipping but once under way there are no problems keeping the bike moving. With only lObhp to hand theres an overt need to stir the gear lever but its no hassle and with the aid of water cooling its pretty much a foregone conclusion that the bike wont overheat whatever you might reasonably throw at it. The handling is precise and predictable with a refined feel to the suspension that wouldnt have been there a decade earlier.
Although the RD80LC and its bigger cousins were made down to a price theres a reassuring feel that the days of oversprung and underdamped had finally been consigned to history. Despite being restricted the German bike remains tractable and if Gary is able to exceed the somewhat miserly 50 or so mph available to muggins here I know I wont be dancing quite as madly on the left foot lever as he inevitably will.
As I cruise close to the bikes maximum I look down at all the data thats emblazoned on the lacquered over decal. Teenagers and TUV approval must have been uneasy bedfellows; pretty much everything thats been changed on Garys retro machine is proscribed on mine. Barrel stampings, gear ratio, jet sizes… even the inlet aperture of the airbox is defined to the nearest millimetre. If kids thought life was unfair with the introduction of the 125cc learner law they would have hastily revised their opinions had they experienced the iron fist of the old Federal German Republic.
Although Im a confirmed tiddler enthusiast there was no immediate attraction to the bike; it was almost like it was too clinical, possibly too well designed. But as we ride around the small villages to a carefully selected series of bends it dawns on me just how good the RD80LC actually is. Thanks to a partially rubber mounted motor any vibrations are effectively damped out and although were only rattling along at 50mph the tiny headlamp fairing is actually directing wind away from me… amazing.
A series of traffic calming humps across the road near a closed school ought to present something of an obstacle to tiddlers such as these but as Im riding as close to the gutter as I dare to avoid the worst of them Gary rides over the wretched things. I follow suit triumphantly cresting them without either having to back off the throttle much or take a jolt through the bars or the saddle. Its obvious that the apparently basic front end and the mono – shock rear have received more than a cursory bit of design thought.
We proceed to spend the best part of an hour thraping the pair of bikes round a series of bends, up hills, around potholes and over adverse cambers for the photos, and throughout the entire session the bikes behave faultlessly and never put a wheel wrong. One of the concerns about riding someone elses bike is that you might just bin it, get punted off by a car driver or encounter some lump of errant fauna hell bent on being road kill. However, despite all of the above the little Yamaha seems to want to go for it and egged on by owner Gary our approaches to the various bends and inclines get ever more brave. Its then that it dawns on me just what a stable, predictable and inherently safe machine the RD80LC is. It delivers the goods without drama, theres no missed gears, pogo suspension or peaky power; just good reliable fun at the twist of a throttle.
Gary and I switch bikes and its my turn to let him suffer the vagaries of Allspeeds alleged silencing. Theres not much power on the German bike but the go – kart porting on the retro machine means theres even less low down urge. And then the tacho hits the go – zone around 6500rpm and were off and surging ahead ready to dance on the gear lever in an effort to keep this little angry hornet on the boil.
Some joker in a Porsche convertible draws alongside as Im giving the bike the beans on a slice of dual carriageway and looks over, enticing me to race him; muppet. Of course, I dont stand a chance and have no intention of doing so but manage to give him and his immaculately coiffured, trophy partner a good dose of best expansion chamber and several lungfuls of semi – synthetic as I peel off on the next roundabout. The retro bike is an all or nothing homologue of the standard item; its loud and proud despite being only 80cc.
As the weather gets colder and the light drops we head back to Chez Robinson and I bimble the retro on a neutral throttle through the housing estate at 5000rpm just listening to the exhaust note. Given a full tank of fuel and clear bright morning Id like to reprise the day and see just what the modified bike could really deliver. And that sums up tiddlers, theyre fun and accessible. Take it from me… dont knock em till youve tried em.
THE BIKES
The retro bike is just a little out of left field and features things like non – standard paint on the wheels and frame with complementing mini indicators. In recognition of the bikes potential a set of RD125LC clocks have been fitted; theres also a ported 11A barrel from a go – kart wrapped around a standard piston but no one actually knows who the tuner was or exactly what was done to the pot. The main jet has been increased to a 170 and given that the plug colour is a nice biscuit brown its a pretty fair bet the fuelling is spot on. Typical of the things teenagers did back in the 1980s are details like the smoked screen, blue seat cover and those all important foam Baja grips.
The front sprocket is now on 15 teeth to maximise the extra power available and it transmits this through a heavy duty Iris chain. The front brake runs EBC pads and silicone fluid, the oil pump has been adjusted to trickle in just a tad more oil in deference to the tweaked motor.
Although the German bike is effectively stock Gary has Anglicised it a little. The front indicators are UK spec and the flasher unit controlling them beats to a UK rhythm rather than the slightly frantic TUV approved pace. The seat is UK spec for one person and not the frankly optimistic Deutsch dual job. Likewise the pillion pegs have been ditched and this effectively means the bike is UK MoT compliant. A UK speedo was a sensible upgrade but almost mandatory was the replacement of the German market sidestand with its automatic retraction system; its alleged that you only forget the stand isnt down the once; something about handlebars, tanks and plastics hitting the kerb.