This was recently posted picture of this beauty. However, seeing it brought out a long faded memory, and not particularly a pleasant one.
When the RT and DT360's first came out in the early 1970's, I wanted one so badly, but couldn't afford it then. Actually if you have ever been in the presence of the Yamaha RT3 motocrosser, one of those black jobs with an expansion chamber which came out about 1970, you will never forget it. The reason being that it would break your eardrums at 100 yards. I never heard a motorcycle so loud.
Turn the clock forward a few years into the mid 1980's. At the time I owned a tricked out great handling 175 Puch Enduro bike that I was riding a lot off-road.. One day in the paper, I saw the dual purpose version of that Yamaha 360, a chocolate colored 1973 DT360, for sale cheap. Thinking of all of the glorious power that engine put out, I thought, it might be a fun ride and a decent backup bike to take a friend out riding on my off road adventures.
So i bought the Yamaha on a whim, and I was so happy when I took it home. It fired up quickly and had a killer sound to it. Taking it out to a nearby vacant lot on a dusty Saturday morning I thought I would see what it would do. I hit the gas hard. Oh oh, not taking into account the DT360's power, weight, dated suspension, and trials tires, the rear tie spun so hard it tried to overtake the front wheel. Luckily I was able to ride it out without going down. Taking it a bit farther on the trail, I noticed that the bike's dated suspension really wasn't very good. Well, that useless tire spinning episode and the rest of the ride gave me a touch of reality. This bike was not for me, or anyone else I would be putting on it! I sold it that very next week! Lesson Learned: be cautious with your buying memories.