Rajdoot

Rajdoot: - The Rajdoot 350 was a two-stroke motorcycle made in India by Escorts group from 1983 to 1990. It was a licenced copy of the very popular Yamaha RD350B, modified to suit Indian conditions. Many Indian motorcycle connoisseurs consider it to be the best two-stroke ever made in India. Even though the production of the aircooled Yamaha RD350 had ended in Japan in the mid 1970s due to stringent emissions norms, it was a technically advanced motorcycle in the Indian market in 1983. It had 7-port two stroke parallel twin engine, Yamaha's patented Torque Induction system using reed valves, 6-speed transmission, Autolube system, mechanical tachometer,12V electrics and 0-60km/h in less than 4 seconds. In the interest of cost, the front disc brake of the RD350B was substituted with a 7" Twin leading shoe drum brake from the Yamaha RD250.

It was primarily targeted at the venerable Royal Enfield Bullet 350 which was the biggest capacity bike in India at the time. The Yezdi Roadking 250 was another formidable competitor. However, the Rajdoot 350 was not a commercial success due to its relatively high fuel consumption in a cost-conscious Indian market. High purchase price, poor availability of expensive spare parts and lack of trained service personnel did not help either. After the runaway success of its smaller stablemate Yamaha RX 100 introduced in 1985, the Rajdoot 350 stayed in production as a flagship model, and production ended in 1990. The last bikes were reported to be sold in 1991.

A variety of issues hindered the sales of RD350 in India. Maintenance of an RD350 was not an easy task as Escorts service network was not so good in those days, and there were not enough trained mechanics who could handle its twin-cylinder engine. Spare parts were neither readily available nor very affordable. The HT's fuel consumption was 22km/ltr (Urban)16 (Mixed), that of the LT was 26km/Ltr - figures considered quite steep by most of the population at the time.