This Indian Actor's Daily Ride Is A Beautifully-Maintained Yamaha RD350 [Video]
Successful Indian actors often flaunt their swanky cars, superbikes, and multi-crore SUVs. Travel to Kerala, and you’ll meet Arjun Ashokan, an actor who has played key roles in several movies that gained pan-Indian acceptance. An avid petrolhead, Arjun has a neatly restored Yamaha RD 350 as his daily! The 32-year-old actor added the bike to his garage in 2022. Now, a video of him riding on public roads has surfaced. The bike seems to have had an impressive transformation over these years.
Arjun Ashokan Riding His RD 350 (Video)
The video starts by showing him inside ‘Republic Of Bikers’, a motorcycle parts and accessories shop and garage in Kochi. He seems to be checking out a mobile phone holder. Later in the video, we see his bike- a neatly built Yamaha RD350 parked at the entrance of the garage.
Soon, the actor gets on the motorcycle and checks out the smartphone holder that has already been installed on it. He then mounts his phone on it, kick-starts the bike, and rides away. The video also lets us rejoice at the impressive soundtrack of its two-stroke engine.
When it reached the actor’s garage, this motorcycle had a Blue paint on it. Back then, Arjun had shared a few pictures of it on his Instagram handle with the caption ‘ Dreams do come true’. Later, the motorcycle went through a long restoration process.
This was performed at Wild Wheels, a garage in Kochi that specialises in restoring and rebuilding RD 350s. It is clear from the video that it looks a lot different now. Most parts and panels look pristine and it has a different paint now. Even the quality of paint job seems to be top-notch.
More About The RD 350
This was performed at Wild Wheels, a garage in Kochi that specialises in restoring and rebuilding RD 350s. It is clear from the video that it looks a lot different now. Most parts and panels look pristine and it has a different paint now. Even the quality of paint job seems to be top-notch.
More About The RD 350
Before you ask, the RD in its name doesn’t expand to ‘RajDoot’! It stands for ‘Race Derived’, symbolising the motorcycle’s innate connection with performance. Back in its day, the RD350 was one of the most powerful and fastest two-wheelers in business. It, in a way, terrorised Indian roads.
The India-spec was in fact, de-tuned and made up to 30.5 bhp. The version sold in Japan was powered by a stronger version of the 347cc two-stroke engine, with around 40 horsepower on offer. Also, India got two distinct versions of the motorcycle- the low torque and the high torque. The former made 27hp.
Interestingly, the Japanese spec was introduced in India under the name Yamaha Rajdoot RD350 in 1983. It continued to sell till 1989. The enthusiasts loved it, and many crashed it! The rising crash counts soon earned it the name ‘Rapid Death’.
The Japanese-spec RD350B also had disc brakes at the front. Yes, front discs were rare at that time. But its high powertrain output made these necessary for the bike to be safe and for the rider to always be in control. On the India-spec, however, front discs were replaced with drum brakes. This compromised its safety and probably contributed to those high crash counts as well.
The RD was very fast. It could go from zero to 100 kph in just seven seconds and had a top speed of 160 kph. Back in its day, these were phenomenal figures. It came at a time when the two-wheeler market here was leaning heavily towards fuel efficiency and economy.
Most people wanted motorcycles to be affordable and cost-effective. The RD350 came with a high price tag, and had lower mileage figures than some of its rivals. These eventually led to its limited acceptance here.
Fast forward to the present day and the RD350 is a highly sought-after collectible and an enthu-cutlet. Bikers love and cherish it for its character, the jaw-dropping performance and the huge waves of Adrenaline that it stimulates. Restored (and rebuilt) versions of the RD350 now command hefty prices...