How many LC's in Canada - here's the data

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LC Cnd
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How many LC's in Canada - here's the data

#1 Post by LC Cnd » Wed Mar 09, 2016 9:04 pm

Noted some discussion, on other Elsie websites, querying how many units their parictualar country/region received. Curious, I contacted Yamaha Canada and they were kind enough to respond promptly:

"Here is the info you requested. Interesting.

1981 RD350LC … RD350H … 1st year for this model … colour was white = 1,534 units

1982 RD350LC … RD350J … 2nd & final year … colour was black = 1,500 units … (the RD350LC was replaced by the 1983 RZ350)"

Not as many as I thought.

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JonW
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Re: How many LC's in Canada - here's the data

#2 Post by JonW » Wed Mar 09, 2016 9:23 pm

Interesting. So were the whites split over the blue and red decals or a single colour?

the fact they brought in an extra 34 the first year makes you wonder if those were for crashing, journos etc etc
80 XT500 Supermoto!
81 RD350LC Resto
82 RD421LC Hybrid
82 RD350LC decapitation project
82 RD250LC JDM '251LC' YPVS
83 RZ350 Resto
84 RZ500 Resto
85 RZ350 F1 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Hybrid

Like Watches? www.PloProf.com & www.DeskDivers.com

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Zedixe13
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Re: How many LC's in Canada - here's the data

#3 Post by Zedixe13 » Thu Mar 10, 2016 1:57 am

How many are left , I always thought that a 5 to 10% figure is about the best we can expect for 35 years old bikes . 300 survivors in Canada look possible to me so I would have 1% of the surviving bikes . In the 50's and 60's Chevrolet was making around one million big Chevy every year ( Impala , BelAir , Biscayne ... ) , we don't see them anymore on the street ( at least in east Canada ) , they completely disappeared .

We had only the white/blue strip and the black Mars bar .

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Zedixe13
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Re: How many LC's in Canada - here's the data

#4 Post by Zedixe13 » Thu Mar 10, 2016 2:01 am

Great info LC Cnd .

LC Cnd
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Re: How many LC's in Canada - here's the data

#5 Post by LC Cnd » Thu Mar 10, 2016 2:15 am

Interesting Denis that you mention Impala / Biscayne / Bel Airs because while headed to a Victoria bike boneyard, this past Saturday, I spotted a pale yellow Impala ('63-ish). Told the yard's owner, who I know fm previous visits, that I was looking for spanies. He just laugh and commented "So, you're looking for that Unicorn sh** again eh, - good luck." I had zero luck which proves he knows his stats and stock. I contacted Yamaha back, about the extra 34 bikes and asked why the dif. Not expecting an answer but will post if one is received. Back to the hunt.

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JonW
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Re: How many LC's in Canada - here's the data

#6 Post by JonW » Thu Mar 10, 2016 3:09 am

FYI you should alert Xavier who runs rd350lc.net to this info, he probably doesnt know it already...
80 XT500 Supermoto!
81 RD350LC Resto
82 RD421LC Hybrid
82 RD350LC decapitation project
82 RD250LC JDM '251LC' YPVS
83 RZ350 Resto
84 RZ500 Resto
85 RZ350 F1 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Hybrid

Like Watches? www.PloProf.com & www.DeskDivers.com

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OldTZracer
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Re: How many LC's in Canada - here's the data

#7 Post by OldTZracer » Thu Mar 10, 2016 4:21 am

Originally, Yamaha Motor Canada would have extrapolated from orders placed at the Dealer Meeting. They probably ordered 1350 / 1400, which the factory would slot into their production schedule and allocate a certain number of days to build them. At the end of that time, no matter how many were actually built, they would have to switch over to producing bikes for another market (different lights, speedo, colours etc) or even a different model altogether.

Production numbers were also affected by parts availability / lead times from any of Yamaha's 140+ suppliers at the time. Late delivery of components meant missed production windows, meant missed deliveries to container ships and late arrivals to the intended market. I remember one year the flagship model snowmobile was delayed a month because Stanley wouldn't interrupt their production run of Toyota parts just to do the initial 200 taillights for Yamaha.
"...its a 2-stroke ya twit - Its supposed to smoke..."

LC Cnd
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Re: How many LC's in Canada - here's the data

#8 Post by LC Cnd » Thu Mar 10, 2016 11:50 pm

Received a response fm Yamaha Canada; speculative but fits in with OldTZracer's logic:

"Tough to say. Could have been extra early units for a media tour. Or maybe we ended up with a little extra production."

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OldTZracer
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Re: How many LC's in Canada - here's the data

#9 Post by OldTZracer » Fri Mar 11, 2016 4:22 am

There was no media tour, just a single preproduction bike that did the rounds between Cycle Canada, Moto Journal etc. which was later crushed.

(I may have neglected to mention I worked at Yamaha Motor Canada from '81-'91...)
"...its a 2-stroke ya twit - Its supposed to smoke..."

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JonW
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Re: How many LC's in Canada - here's the data

#10 Post by JonW » Fri Mar 11, 2016 7:16 am

OldTZracer wrote:
(I may have neglected to mention I worked at Yamaha Motor Canada from '81-'91...)
:smt023
80 XT500 Supermoto!
81 RD350LC Resto
82 RD421LC Hybrid
82 RD350LC decapitation project
82 RD250LC JDM '251LC' YPVS
83 RZ350 Resto
84 RZ500 Resto
85 RZ350 F1 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Hybrid

Like Watches? www.PloProf.com & www.DeskDivers.com

LC Cnd
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Joined: Sat Feb 08, 2014 5:39 pm
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Re: How many LC's in Canada - here's the data

#11 Post by LC Cnd » Fri Mar 11, 2016 12:31 pm

Crushed. Why am I not surprised.

evan_calgary
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Re: How many LC's in Canada - here's the data

#12 Post by evan_calgary » Fri Mar 11, 2016 7:52 pm

Think it is pretty standard to destroy the pre-production bikes as they may not be the exact same as the production run. They do occasionally come up but the story is usually they were 'saved' from the crusher is some shady sort of way...

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JonW
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Re: How many LC's in Canada - here's the data

#13 Post by JonW » Sat Mar 12, 2016 8:52 am

same with cars etc. Ive driven some pre pro cars and understand why not all them are allowed out, sometimes they have strange specs and options and ideas and they dont always work lol
80 XT500 Supermoto!
81 RD350LC Resto
82 RD421LC Hybrid
82 RD350LC decapitation project
82 RD250LC JDM '251LC' YPVS
83 RZ350 Resto
84 RZ500 Resto
85 RZ350 F1 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Hybrid

Like Watches? www.PloProf.com & www.DeskDivers.com

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OldTZracer
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Location: Alberta Canada

Re: How many LC's in Canada - here's the data

#14 Post by OldTZracer » Sat Mar 12, 2016 9:23 pm

evan_calgary wrote:Think it is pretty standard to destroy the pre-production bikes as they may not be the exact same as the production run. They do occasionally come up but the story is usually they were 'saved' from the crusher is some shady sort of way...
The original Canadian distributors were private companies & pretty much did what they wanted. When the Japanese opened their wholly-owned subsidiaries, things got a lot tighter. Originally it was a question of liability but soon became a financial decision. Expensive prototypes could be imported duty-free under bond as long as they were returned or crushed within 12 months. since it cost more to ship them back...

Check out "Demolition for Dollars" in the March '89 issue of Cycle Canada for the tale of a trip to the Toronto Landfill. While John Gale exaggerated a bit just to push Bruce Reeve's buttons, the Venture Royale really did fly out of the back of the moving van...
"...its a 2-stroke ya twit - Its supposed to smoke..."

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Zedixe13
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Re: How many LC's in Canada - here's the data

#15 Post by Zedixe13 » Sat Mar 12, 2016 9:34 pm

Pre production cars from Chrysler Canada had no serial tag so they whent to school and museum .

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