tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68553878484783854742024-03-05T22:47:29.966-08:00Eddy's RD400 RestorationFollow my progress as I rebuild this old 1977 Yamaha RD400, transforming it into a beautiful Japanese vintage racing bike.Eddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07199713800263576616noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855387848478385474.post-82943900935343932222020-07-08T23:23:00.001-07:002020-07-08T23:23:53.057-07:00Like 95% There....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As for the electrical, I kind of knew that I would be handing that over to someone else, as my electrical skills are quite limited. It's actually somewhat of a small miracle that I got the bike to start and even run in the first place. I had a basic understanding about how schematics work, but had to do a fair bit of guessing in some areas. Additionally, the old Yamaha schematics are not 100% accurate anyway!<br />
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No matter what I tried, I could not get the turn signals to work properly. And I couldn't even get the brake light to light up at all! Lots of different factors going on here. I'm changing out the incandescent turn signals for LED's as well as the brake light, so I wasn't even sure if they needed to have inline resistors. The brake light claims that no resistor is needed, but I wasn't confident with that. I know that the rear brake switch was brand spankin' new, as I literally pulled it out of an OEM bag to build the brake system. (I bought it 30 years ago and never used it- don't ask me why I even bought it.) Also could it be my bad wiring? So many questions! I just want the stuff to work!<br />
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I took the bike back to Alan & Sons. I had talked with Alan at the end of last season and he said that this kind of electrical is something that he can do. I dropped off the bike and gave him the scoop. I even supplied him with another LED brake light, in case the mounted one was actually dead.<br />
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About a few days later, he called me and said the bike should be ready for pickup in the next day or two. I drove by at the end of the week to retrieve the bike. The invoice was $409!!! Yikes! No one really likes to do electrical, so if he's going to have to do it, I guess he's going to make it worth his while. He showed me that the rear LED was working- brake light and running light, but only for the rear brake. He believed that the front brake switch was bad, something that was totally possible, since it was the original. The LED signals worked, but didn't blink. He demonstrated that when activating the switch for the left side, it is about 50/50 and suggested that I just give it a good cleaning and that should take care of it. He did have to do a bunch of electrical troubleshooting. He found that some wires were hooked up wrong and that one of the wires going to the rear was broken (no continuity) and needed to be replaced. He also had to solder resistors for the signals. He also connected my little LED's for the license plate, something I didn't even ask him to do.<br />
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I found a cheap front brake switch off of eBay- cost me $8. (An NOS one would've cost about $50. I don't think that anyone buying this bike later will even care. I sure don't care.) I finally had some time off from work today to actually test it out and get it mounted. Alan was right about that dead switch! I works now! Now I have front and rear working brake light circuits! That's a really big deal! Now, I can actually ride the bike at night and not worry about someone whacking me!<br />
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The next step is to try and get the LED signals to actually blink. I just cleaned out the turn signal switch, as Alan had suggested that I do, since when signaling left, it's kind of iffy. That didn't seem to help. I threw the original flash relay back on, but the left still didn't want to cooperate. The flash relay was crackling and making all sorts of sounds, when I activated the turns. I don't think the switch itself is the problem- it sounds like it's all about the flasher unit. I bought a bunch of flash relays from O'Reilly, mostly electronic ones. I think I just need maybe a 2-prong mechanical one. I'll check that out on Thursday.<br />
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Other successes I've had lately with the bike are getting the chamber silencers removed. I had to take them to my favorite local machinist, where he was able to throw some serious heat at them and coerce them to come off. I cleaned up the baffles and got them packed with new fiberglass stuffing. I mounted them back on the bike and did a little alignment on the left pipe. Ready to rumble!</div>
Eddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07199713800263576616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855387848478385474.post-25994579307701412842020-06-07T23:41:00.001-07:002020-06-07T23:44:07.309-07:00Making Progress!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well, today felt a bit better. I was still suspicious that the pilot, needle and main jets were all related, so I did some fishing around in the ol' interweb. I bumped into a web page published by Factory Pro, a very reputable shop in San Raphael. They are one of (I believe) two motorcycle tuning shops in the entire Bay Area that tunes by Dyno! I am familiar with them, because I have bought parts from them before for my SV650S. Excellent quality and well thought out and tested stuff.<br />
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All the tuning tips pages I have read so far start with tuning from the bottom up- get your idle going, then mid-range and lastly WOT. Their method has you start with the main jets and then you work your way down, since the main jet has an affect on the way <i><b>all the other ranges </b></i>operate. This made total sense to me and it is what I had suspected. With their methodology, you do not go to the next step until you complete the current step, since the fatter jets play major parts on tuning the smaller jets. Also this tutorial had a blurb in there about adjusting the float heights, where no one else even breathed a word about that. I changed my floats from 23mm to 24mm, effectively lowering the fuel in the bowls by a smidge.<br />
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By the end of the day, I had my bike running well into the red line and pulling pretty substantially! Best of all, not a single plug fouled all day!!<br />
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The last range I worked on today was the idle range. I had been running the 30 pilot jets all day, so just for yucks, I swapped out and put in 27.5 pilots. Amazingly, the low range suddenly had a crisp snap and got off the line without dogging! How could this be?? I fiddled with the A/F screw and took my final test ride at 0.75 turns out, basically trying to richen the pilot close to as much as possible. The bike ran well with no real flat spots, and the rpm's would climb steadily. I took her on the freeway for a couple of miles. The bike ran easily at 65-70 mph @5500 rpm. But the engine just wasn't as powerful as I thought it should be. I'll have to work on that- maybe raising the needle one more position or going back to the 30 pilots- we'll have to see.<br />
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Anyway, it was a very encouraging day indeed. Tomorrow, I'll be taking Angie into Alan & Sons to have them take a look at my electrical, signals and brake light specifically. Once those are sorted out, I'll feel okay about taking the bike out at night. </div>
Eddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07199713800263576616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855387848478385474.post-51942309209054831672020-06-02T10:25:00.000-07:002020-06-02T10:25:26.322-07:00Trying to Keep Sane....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'm just taking a few minutes to reflect. Building the bike was [somewhat] easy. Sure there were lots of little one-off problems to solve, as is with any "custom" situation. But having to tune carburetors goes to a whole new level!<br />
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2-stroke bikes are a completely different animal already, so we're already starting off at a disadvantage- everything has to be just perfect. Then there's the fact that these bikes have been around for so many decades and everyone has them set up differently! Ported cylinders, modified heads and higher compression rates, different air intake systems, expansion chambers, crossover tubes and bottles, reed cages, spacers, etc., not to mention differences in altitude, climate and fuel. So one bike's setup isn't going to be the same as another. And since these bikes are so old, if you've got a more rare pipe, it'll be harder to find someone with another to help you. Yes, there are plenty of forums and QA websites to help, and there are general formulas and methodologies to help get them dialed in, but in the end it's still your headache.<br />
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Plus when starting with a freshly built bike and something's not working right, it's not always easy to figure out what is the issue that's hold you back. Since the entire bike is a "system", one area/component can cause another to not function properly. i.e. if your electrical isn't functioning properly you may not get a spark, so the motor won't fire. Or more recently in my case, the head bolts weren't tightened enough, so I was loosing compression hence making it harder to start. So in order to work on one problem, you have to know that the other factors are working.<br />
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Last week, I did the famous Dave Feist carb mod (which is a refinement of the Dale Alexander carb mod), which basically reverts the "modern" RD carburetors back to the older R5 carburetors. As I understand it, the R5 carbs were using the primary-type needle jets and had amazing fuel flow. When the RD series came along, the bleed-type needle jets were employed, introducing better gas mileage and emissions. I bought the various Mikuni parts from EconomyCycle.com, as I already had some of the included items in their packaged kit. The conversion simply opens the air jet to 2mm by drilling out the brass ball, then swapping the bleed jet to primary, then swapping out the needle for a more compatible needle. So much fuel is free to flow that smaller main jets are needed that if using bleed-type jets.<br />
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I'm still in the process of tuning the carburetors. I just want to be able to pop wheelies like the bike's supposed to, and to know that if I take it out to the track or on a hard ride, the engine will be fine (not seize or foul out). And I know that if I can't figure, I can always bail and hand it over to BRG Racing to stick a sniffer up her ass and Dyno tune her.<br />
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Since the Dave F. carb mod, I'm feeling more confident about not hurting the engine (although now I hear ticking noises coming from the top end). I keep a <i>long </i>running Excel spreadsheet with all the different combinations of carb variables i have tried. For a while, the engine would keep dying on me when I take her out for test runs. After the first time, I just bring extra spark plugs with me, since the issue seems to be plug fouling. I'm still learning lots as I go and I'm not always sure what's happening to my engine. But as far as I can logically reason, if the bike dies and new plugs bring her back to life, then the plugs are fouling, which is most likely caused by a fuel mixture that is too rich. As long as the oil injector is working (and is hooked up), then the fuel is getting lubrication and the engine [in theory] shouldn't seize. I'm finally getting out on some longer test rides that demonstrate that the plugs are darker than they should be. I do believe that I have the pilot jets and needle positions figured out, so it's just the main jets now.<br />
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I'm constantly feeling that I may just have to resign the bike to a professional tune. But if I have to get the bike up to 500 miles on the new motor first, chances are good that I have effectively figured out the jetting anyway. I'm about half way there now on miles. We'll just have to see...</div>
Eddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07199713800263576616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855387848478385474.post-43787404277498600632020-05-18T00:05:00.000-07:002020-05-18T00:05:13.602-07:00I Hate to Admit It....But I Might Have Overlooked Something...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I went back to a more conservative jetting setting and within 5-6 kicks. I took a short video for Julian to show him that the bike was actually running and to demonstrate the popping that I told him the bike was experiencing. When I reviewed the clip, I noticed that some of the popping was coming from the head gasket, that puffs of smoke were coming out when it popped! I suspected that maybe the head bolts needed a little tightening. Indeed they did!<br />
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I checked the bolts and some were so loose that I could unscrew them by my finger strength! I guess it's my fault that I didn't think of this earlier, since the motor was freshly built. But I would have thought that Paul should have told me that after heat cycling the motor a number of times, I should tighten up the head bolts!! Details, Paul!<br />
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I tightened the bolts to 17 ft/lbs. in a criss-cross pattern across the entire head, since it's a one-piece head. Amazingly afterwards, the bike started on 2 kicks! And that's when the engine was dead cold from a sit overnight!! I heat cycled and cooled the engine 4 or 5 times and retorqued the bolts over and over again. Funny thing- the popping went away!! as well as the puffs of smoke!<br />
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So the loose head could explain a bunch of things going wrong. First of all, the engine wasn't getting good compression, which would make it hard to start the bike. Also it made it harder to reach the top end, running out of power. Secondly, the fuel ratio in the combustion chamber was more lean, because every time the piston moved downward to do a filling cycle, it would be pulling in additional air through the head gasket leak! So suddenly my A/F mixture was all off and all the testing I did has to be done all over again!<br />
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After a little testing, I calculated that I would be able to move down to a smaller pilot again. So I popped in the 30 pilots and I put in smaller mains, moving to 250's. I took the bike out on a run and it ran nicely on the low end. (I still have to work on the mid-range.) I took her down Isabel and yanked on the throttle WOT. The bike actually pulled up to 8500 rpm, that's the redline!! It probably could have gone into the red, but I didn't want to hurt the motor just yet. Just after that, the bike died, running on one cylinder. At first I thought that maybe I seized the engine, but after testing I believe that I just fouled one of the plugs. I looked at both the plugs and they were a pretty nice tan. I think maybe one of those old spark plugs just gave out. I'll pop some newer ones in and do more testing tomorrow.</div>
Eddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07199713800263576616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855387848478385474.post-54880691085929247532020-05-14T22:53:00.000-07:002020-05-14T22:53:19.715-07:00The 2T Shuffle<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's been a couple of weeks now that I've been fiddling with the jetting off and on. There was a point where I had the low end cracking pretty nicely into the mid-range, but when I tried to hit the open throttle, the bike would just bog, never really getting past 6500 rpm. Making the change to a larger pilot jet really helped the low end, plus I raised the needle just a bit.<br />
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In my quest to perhaps still take the bike to someone for tuning, I called and left messages with a couple of parties- Roland Cushway, a well-known internationally famous 2-stroke tuner who worked with Erv Kanemoto, and has won 5 national titles! The other was BRG Racing. I wasn't even sure that it was Roland's phone number, but I left a message anyway. To my surprise later the next evening, I got a call back! He told me a little about his history, but he's very modest about it. He told me that he's more of a machinist. I told him what I've got and he gave me an education in 2T theory! He did have some very good suggestions, some that might be a little over my skill set. The conversation lasted about an hour- I was very surprised that he was that engaged! I really felt honored to have even been able to speak to this man of such greatness!<br />
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I also got a call back from BRG Racing. KC called me. He's the owner of the shop. He told me that it would probably be about $400 to do the job, which included about 4.5 hours of labor and dyno runs. They would change the timing, gaps and needles as needed- everything was included in the price. I told him that I would give him a shout in about a month when I've got more miles on the new motor.<br />
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Meanwhile I answered a Facebook post to someone who was looking for an RD400 engine case. Turns out that he actually lives in Livermore, so I replied that I've got one. He messaged me and the next day he came by the house. A nice fellow by the name of Julian. I've seen his pictures on the Internet- he's built quite a few bikes and he really knows his way around the Yamaha 2-strokes. I showed him what I've got cooking in my shop. He brought me an assortment of larger Mikuni main jets for me to try out. When he asked me how much I wanted for the case, ti told him that I was going to give it to him- that stopped him dead in his tracks. I really feel like this Yamaha 2-stroke thing is a community. I've met so many helpful people over the decades all having to do with this bike, if he could use the case, he can have it. But I did ask in return that he help me get my bike running and that I may need to borrow some tools. We agreed it was a deal!<br />
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A couple of days passed. I tried making some more changes to my carbs, going BIG, but the bike didn't want to start. That's when Julian came over, while my carbs were all over the place. He brought over a couple of timing dial gauges and asked if I wanted to do my timing change to 2mm BTDC now. I said sure!<br />
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I showed him a new method that I just pinched off the Internet where you actually use the spark of the spark plug to see when the points were opening. We got the left side set up and found that my original timing wasn't 1.8mm like I thought I had it set- it was more like 1.3mm. That could've definitely had an affect on my top end not going so well. He set it to 2.0mm BTDC. The other side was even worse! It was reading 1.1mm!!! Man, I suck! So he dialed that one in to 2.0mm also.<br />
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Then he asked if I want to try and start her up. Oh, shit! I have to assemble the bike under the watchful eye of this 2T stud!? Ooohh, the pressure! Plus I can hardly even breathe with this N95 mask on with all this Covid shit going on! I was sweating and panting! But I did get it back together. And wouldn't you know it? it wouldn't start! I kicked and kicked. We threw a spot of fuel down the right cylinder. Still nothing. Maybe the battery needed more of a charge? Perhaps. He suggested pushing the bike down the street to compression start it, but I said no, because we would just have to push it back. I'll leave it till Sunday. But now I'm just dying to see how the bike pulls with the timing set correctly!!</div>
Eddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07199713800263576616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855387848478385474.post-75240529047012822642020-04-30T16:59:00.000-07:002020-05-01T23:25:34.762-07:00Cool Your Jets!Change of plans. I figured if I was going to turn the bike over to the shop in Martinez, they need to have 800-1000 miles on the new engine first, which means that I still need to get the bike started again. I've got plenty of time to work on the jetting, so I decided to get her going this week.<br />
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Not so easily done. I tried firing her up and she wasn't having any part of it. I was confident that the starting issue was almost strictly an air/fuel mixture problem, since it was running before. So I systematically started to change the A/F mixture keeping track of exactly what I was doing. I first started incrementally turning the screw out counterclockwise, but was having no success. I would periodically check the plugs and they were pretty dry. I did a spark test on her last night to confirm that the plugs were still firing. Yup. Everything looked good. Well, it can only be a small number of things- spark, fuel, compression or timing. I was sure that the bike was good for compression and timing, and I just checked the spark, so I was on the right track changing the fuel mixture.<br />
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Today I started turning the screw back in. Around one full turn out, the bike started acting like it wanted to start. As tired as I was from kicking, I continued my attempts after resting in between tries. After about 3 cycles, the bike started running again, but the idle really needed to be turned up.<br />
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I started working from the top of that pdf worksheet on carb tuning, recording meticulously everything I was doing. The bike was running its best around 0.75 turns out. I got the bike to idle at 1800 rpm's. I took it out for a ride working in the 0-1/4 throttle range. Everything seemed pretty good, so I put in a fresh plug and did a plug chop. When I pulled the plug out, it was so white! Not barely even a hint of tan! So this engine is idling super-lean. That's probably why it's having such issues getting started. And the A/F screw is almost turned in all the way, being as rich as it could go, while still having a little adjustment left to it. That was a sure sign that I need larger pilot jets. So I put in an order to EconomyCycle for a could of larger sizes of pilots, and a leaner range of main jets, because I'm pretty sure that I'm running really rich on top.<br />
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The jets should arrive in a few days, then I'll be at it again! The jets cost me roughly $50. If I could save that $500 from the shop cost, that would be awesome! I don't need it to run race ready, just good enough to be smooth and enjoy! I'll just take my time and be systematic about the process and I think I can have a good outcome.Eddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07199713800263576616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855387848478385474.post-45341036180534295272020-04-26T17:27:00.001-07:002020-04-26T17:27:26.975-07:00SIP UpdateWell, I'm pretty bored with this whole Covid Shelter-In-Place thing. I don't have it quite as bad as some others- since I'm a healthcare worker, I need to go out and get to my job. But still, on my days off, I'm here at home trying to keep busy with whatever I can.<br />
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Today, I decided to get working again on Angie, my RD400. When I left off at the end of last season, I still needed to get the bike properly jetted. I messed around with a few carb configurations, but it actually resulted in killing the bike altogether. For about a week, I tried to get the motor to fire, but it was a done deal :(<br />
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I woke up early. Got some coffee in me and started picking at the bike. I hunted down the original carb configurations for when I had my first successful start and I figured I'd go from there. I swapped out the main jets from 280's back to 260's. I found that I had put in 27.5 pilot jets, so I returned them to 30's. I checked the needle position and the A/F mixture screw. I double-checked my plugs to make sure that I wasn't running 7's. I made sure they were gapped to 0.025-0.028". I wasn't entirely sure if which plug wires went to which plugs, so it was going to be a crapshoot. After a few unsuccessful attempts, the bike finally roared back to life! It ran hella smokey and the idle was high, but at least it was running again!<br />
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While I was tooling around the bike today, I also installed the aftermarket horn, although I didn't bother yet to clean and paint the mount.<br />
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Last year, when I put her to bed, I was thinking of doing to jetting myself, but now I think I'm over it. There's a shop in Martinez that can tune it in. I spoke with them last year. They had just finished doing an RZ350 and they were comfortable with 2-strokes. I think they quoted me around $500, which is pricey, but I just want it done correctly.<br />
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The majority of what still needs to get done is the jetting and the last parts of the electrical that I haven't been able to get working yet- the brake light and the turn signals. I found a small shop in Livermore that said they could hunt down the electrical problems. I'm in the home stretch!Eddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07199713800263576616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855387848478385474.post-70356979603265636442019-10-04T19:34:00.000-07:002020-05-21T23:38:56.765-07:00It's Alive!!!!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A new day, a new challenge, a new chance for success.<br />
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I called up a couple of local shops. I spoke to a guy at a Harley shop, but he said he had lots of experience on 2T bikes, so I told him what was going on. I was just desperate to get the bike running. I could tune it myself later. He said he could take the bike, but it wouldn't be done till next week. And unfortunately, he had to leave in an hour to go to a hill climb competition. (Good for him!) But before we got off the phone, he advised me to maybe switch the spark plug wires around, because it really did sound like a timing issue and I agreed. I swapped the wires and it fired up on the second kick! He was right! I'll stop by with some beer for him next week.<br />
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Eddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07199713800263576616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855387848478385474.post-10570984867450097332019-10-03T22:59:00.003-07:002020-05-21T23:39:14.572-07:00We're Getting Close!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well, I spent some time putting the bike together a little more. I'm so busy now. Between work (which keeps trying to get me to work <i><b>more </b></i>hours) and my dad, who is very sick right now, I'm just trying to squeeze a little work in here and there. After work, I'll come home with a to do list and I'll usually try and do a couple of things off the list just to get a jump on the next days tasks.<br />
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Over the past two days, I installed the oil tank, battery box, seat pan and fuel tank. I know they sound like such easy tasks, but everything always becomes such a big issue! First I couldn't get the filler neck on the tank. Ultimately, I soaked it in some boiling hot water and it was able to stretch over the opening. Mysteriously, the neck clamp got lost, so I had to take some bailing wire and create a clamp. Then I found that I didn't have the screws to secure down the filler neck! Oh, God! another trip to the hardware store! With the seat pan secured to the frame, the oil cap needed to be cut down to fit the profile. And I had to hack about half an inch off the top of the dip stick too. Then there was the battery box that was such a tight fit that I had to grease the rubber mounting pieces to force it in.</div>
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Fitting the seat pan was not really a big deal, except that some powdercoating paint was clogging some of the cotter pin holes, so I had to take some tiny drill bits to them to open them up. The gas tank was a tight and secure fit. But getting that tight hosing over some of the fuel fixtures was a bitch.<br />
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I ran down to the local Chevron and bought a gallon of the Supreme 91 stuff. I thought it might be a good idea to do pre-mix for the start up, so the engine wouldn't starve of 2T oil and seize up. Doh! I did a 32:1 ratio. I figure that'll be good for startup until the oil is getting sucked up from the Yamalube system.<br />
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While the bike was still on the hydraulic stand, I cut down the rear engine mounting bolt, since the chain was rubbing on it. And I did a quick clean and lube of the brand new chain. I installed the newly painted kick stand and stretched the new retention spring on it. Then I let the bike stand on it's own.<br />
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I installed the Factory Pro expansion chambers and attached the new Moose exhaust springs to them. The oil tank was filled and I started putting the pre-mixed gas into the tank. Then panic sets in! The petcock started leaking gas like crazy! The gas was coming through the screw holes! I threw some towels under it, so it wouldn't get on the engine cases too much.<br />
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Then came the moment of truth...would the bike start up? I turned the key and made sure the kill switch was on run. then I gave it a kick. Nothing! Then another kick. Still nothing! After about 6 kicks, I turned off the key and gave up. Hmmm....back to the drawing board. Dammit!<br />
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Tomorrow I'll try and throw some sealant at that petcock, then I'll check to make sure I'm getting a spark across the plugs. I've emailed Paul to see if he might be able to help me to start it up on Sunday. After he got his money from building my engine, he's been less helpful. Imagine that.</div>
Eddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07199713800263576616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855387848478385474.post-20241402101928477282019-10-01T00:58:00.000-07:002020-05-21T23:39:32.695-07:00Electrical- My Nemesis<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's been a while since my last update. As for past problems, I was able to pull out one side of the front wheel bearings, then I slipped a very slim shim on top of the spacer, before pressing the bearing back into the wheel, essentially lengthening the spacer just tiny bit. And voila! It worked like a charm! No more binding wheel bearings and I was successfully able to torque down that front axle to 60 ft/lbs.! Yay! That will surely help the steering system rigidity.<br />
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I tried filling the rear brake system, but wasn't successful. I tried to burp it. Also used a MityVac to suction the fluid through. I still never got to the end of the air. I got tired of trying to solve such a simple task. I still have a couple of tricks up my sleeve, but I thought I would give it a rest and move onto something else for a while- something that I've been avoiding since the very beginning. The electrical system.<br />
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Mind you, it's been over 10 years, since I dismantled the bike. When I pulled out the electrical harness, I tried to label the ends and take lots of pictures best I could. But over the years, some of the printing on the Dymo tape had faded and become illegible. Plus many moons ago, had some shop in Concord, Grumpy Bear (since defunct), rebuild my alternator. When they returned the bike to me, they used whatever colored wire they had on hand, <b><i>and </i></b>they hard-wired the alternator to my harness, doing away with any connectors! They just crimped all the wires together! I was young and naive. The bike worked, so what did I care?<br />
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Anyway, so for me to wire the alternator to the harness again, I wanted to do it right, to do it stock again. When Paul built my engine, he installed the original correct colored wires with appropriate connectors, minus one which I didn't happen to have at the time. But in order for me to know how to connect the alternator to the electrical backbone, I had to rebuild the old wiring system, marrying the original parts (wires), just so I could realize what had happened. So my old harness didn't have any alternator connectors, plus some it had other issues. I just happened to have <b><i>three</i> </b>RD400 harnesses!! 1) my original dilapidated harness 2) one that I had purchased from Australia through the early days (late 1990's) of internet buying/trading and 3) I don't even know where this harness came from- I probably just bought another one off eBay.<br />
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Well, after careful analysis, I realized that that Australian harness had too many wires in the front. Let me just put this out there- a simple disclaimer- I suck at ready schematics. So I was afraid to just cap off the "extra" wires, not knowing if I really need them or not. But luckily, the mystery harness was very similar to mine, so I decided to use that one. I did have to re-wrap much of the harness, but it cleaned up quite nicely!<br />
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Since I'm using high output coils with more resistance, I needed to get rid of the resistor unit. I did have to look at the schematic to figure that one out, but it wasn't too bad. I had to construct a robust and complicated spreadsheet with all the connection numbers and appendages they belong to, which really aided in patching together the front of the bike.<br />
I spent a few minutes just to hook up the battery to see if I was on the right track. Moment of truth! I turned the key and the oil and neutral light came on! The headlight worked both low and high beam. And the rear turn signals worked, but they didn't blink, because they're LED. So that's a huge step in the right direction! Encouraging.<br />
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Tomorrow I'll start attaching the oil tank on the bike. I might be able to fill fluids too. If I'm lucky, I might try kicking the motor over!</div>
Eddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07199713800263576616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855387848478385474.post-35801922556256353672019-09-21T19:15:00.000-07:002020-05-21T23:39:49.360-07:00Perfect Timing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Work has been keeping busy lately, so progress is slow. My painted parts are nearly finished, as I anticipate retrieving them sometime this week. Lately I've been working with some small irritating problems- 1) the used bent kickstart lever I purchased from another forum member didn't quite clear my Tarozzi rearset peg and 2) after torquing down on the front axle, the wheel bearings are bound so tightly against the spacer that they are practically seized up!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">The kickstart lever wasn't even close to clearing- it needed another 1.5" of clearance. I really didn't feel like taking a torch to the lever discoloring the chrome finish and all. After some email correspondences with Jim at Fast From the Past, he convinced me the newer improved model would clear the peg, so I took a chance and ordered it. Luckily it did! Problem solved!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">With the front bearings, I thought that maybe once I swapped out the old bearings for new, that would take care of the clearance/tolerance issue and it would be a done deal. Nope. I got the new bearings in and same issue </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">So I had to remove one of the bearings again and now I'm in search of a thin shim, so I can create a little more length on that axle spacer.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">I also purchased a dial indicator timing device, so I could get my ignition timed. The indicator was in inches, while I needed to configure the timing in metric- it just took a little calculation and I was all set. The timing is set to 1.8mm BTDC, which should be appropriate for the air intake and chambers I'm running.</span></span><br />
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I'm hoping to get the electrical cleaned up and wired by the end of next week. Fingers crossed!</div>
Eddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07199713800263576616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855387848478385474.post-12650491838025840632019-09-16T00:23:00.000-07:002019-09-16T00:23:07.402-07:00My Church of Motorcycle<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Lately I've had a lot of little stuff going on, so I've just been picking at the bike little by little. I picked all the parts off the original frame and started installing them on the Primose frame. I got the engine in there and installed the new headset in the frame, then installed the forks. Funny thing (not so funny)- when I was torquing the triple crown nut down and had the forks flopped all the way over to one side, that small amount of effort knocked off the front steering lock stop that I had brazed onto the frame! I was astounded at how weak the bond was! Maybe when the frame went into the oven after powdercoating (twice) it weakened the braze? In any case, I had to sand down the surrounding surface and braze it on again!<br />
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Then there's that same problem that I had before with the front wheel bearings. After torquing the front axle, the spacer got smashed in there between both bearings that the bearings wouldn't spin anymore. So I thought that it might be different after I put in the new bearings- perhaps the old bearings were so loose that they moved too much. Well, after putting the new set of bearings in, the same thing happened! Argh!!! I think I'm going to just add a thin shim between one of the bearings and the spacer, hoping that it would create some relief. I'll get to that later- that problem isn't going anywhere.<br />
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I also had an issue that had been bugging me for a while- the pre-bent kickstarter lever that I bought from another forum member did not clear the Tarrozzi rearset peg. I somehow thought that it could be an issue with fitment from the Marsh frame, so I decided I would revisit the problem when I swapped the motor to the Primrose frame. Guess what?! The problem didn't go away!<br />
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I knew that the PO had purchased that kickstart lever from HVC and I also had the feeling like Fast From The Past had the exact same product, so I emailed them both to see if they knew of a fix. Brad from HVC had a fairly useless (unhelpful) response. Jim from FFTP suggested that perhaps the "boss" was not straight (the piece that actually clamped onto the spline). Since I had the original boss, I swapped out the parts, but it yielded the same results. I emailed the guy I bought the kickstarter from, just to give him a shout. He was very receptive and offered the refund my money if I chose to return it. I did still have the option of throwing some heat at the lever (the original straight lever for that matter), but I didn't really want to discolor the chrome. Part of me was saying that I shouldn't have to modify an already modified part- it should work as it was designed to work. I saw that there was a new and improved lever that HVC and FFTP was selling now. Jim said that if I bought a new lever from him and it didn't clear the peg, I could return it, so I pulled the trigger and bought another new lever. After almost 2 weeks of dicking around with this problem, I put the new lever on and guess what?! It clears the peg!! I emailed Jim and shared the good news. Problem solved!<br />
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So today I got a <b><i>bunch </i></b>of stuff done! I mounted the license plate and LED bolts (only to find out later that I had to rip it off the frame, since it wouldn't clear the rear tire), and the rear turn signals. I cut and installed the rear fender. I cabled up the carburetors and oil injector pump, then synced and adjusted the play on them. I installed all the carb overflow hoses. Then I mounted the rear wheel, cut and installed the chain. (That was a bitch, since I couldn't press out the pin, then I finally realized that I had 2 chain breaker tools sitting in my tool drawer!) I installed the clutch cable and adjusted the clutch lever. The clutch lever itself was a little sticky, so I had to sand down the surfaces a little to relieve the pressure points.<br />
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All in all, it was a pretty productive day. More positives than negatives. Can't beat that with a stick.</div>
Eddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07199713800263576616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855387848478385474.post-74726377772264333482019-09-02T23:04:00.000-07:002019-09-02T23:04:44.064-07:00Finally Finished Up Those Pesky Wheels!Tomorrow I'm heading to the CHP to get VIN verified, hopefully for the last time. Please Lord, just let Officer Buchannon sign me off! And please let AAA DMV take my verification proof and registration payment, so I won't have to go back to that dreaded DMV line to wait 2 hours!<br />
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I don't know why, but I have totally been dreading doing the work on these wheels. Maybe because I don't know what I'm doing and there's a whole lot of guessing going on?<br />
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So last week, I had Cycle Gear mount the new tires. When I went to pick them up, they told me that they didn't use the tubes, nor were they able to fit them in anyway. I do know for a fact that they fit, as many others online have done it, but I'm sure it takes much more skill than they have. I didn't argue too much, although I was slightly leery that they might blow off in the middle of a turn one day. But they did seem to be holding air pretty well. I told them I'm sleep on it and if it really bothered me, we'd have to figure something out. Well, after searching around the internet, I think that since the RD400 was literally the first bike in history to come from the factory with cast mags, Yamaha didn't really think about putting an indent around the rim for the bead. Other subsequent models came with tubeless tires and their wheel profiles looked exactly the same. Days later, the tires are still holding air.<br />
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So over this Labor Day weekend, I was able to squeeze some time in today to get my wheels painted and polished. Yesterday morning, I stopped by my FLAP and grabbed me a free bearing setting tool rental. Then I went home and pounded the wheel bearings into place. All went well.<br />
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This morning, I loaded up my swamp cooler with ice and water and got busy finishing the polishing of the sides of the rims. One of the wheels, I had already done, but it needed a little touch-up love, since the CG guys gave it some scratches with their tire irons. The task didn't take long.<br />
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It took me about an hour to mask up the wheels for painting, but it really made the paint job so much easier to do. A little thinner afterwards to clean up the overspray and I was good to go! I cleaned up the brake discs, associated hardware and other wheel hardware parts. Then I installed the new 520 37T rear sprocket. It looks solid. I can't wait to give it a whirl!<br />
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Here are some before and after pics of the wheels.<br />
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The gold paint was a little brighter than I had anticipated, but I'm good with it. The job came out fantastic and the paint against the polish was tight.<br />
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I got the wheels mounted on the bike, so tomorrow morning, I just have to install the exhaust chambers and I good to roll the bike back on the trailer. Wish me luck!!Eddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07199713800263576616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855387848478385474.post-30430526781491806002019-08-29T14:18:00.001-07:002020-05-21T23:40:27.363-07:00DMV Woes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So I trailered up the RD this morning and took a short drive to the local DMV. Another swing and a miss! Since my federal sticker was illegible, I got referred to the CHP. Luckily I made an appointment earlier in anticipation of this problem. Now I have to wait another week to get verified! Oh well, I can probably spend some time polishing and painting the wheels....<br />
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Eddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07199713800263576616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855387848478385474.post-79456747017504113592019-08-26T14:04:00.001-07:002019-08-26T14:39:33.570-07:00Trouble in Tinseltown....I'm trying to get the wheels all situated now, so I can get the bike in for inspection. Yesterday, I tried getting the bearings out of the front wheel. No bueno. That flippin' axle spacer is in there so tight that it won't budge to one side or the other but just a teenie bit and that's just not enough for the drift to get a bite on the inner race. I decided to wait till I tear down the bike again later, then give it another whack. So I figured I'd just do a dry fit on the fork, before getting the tire on there. After I started torquing on the axle, the wheel wouldn't spin anymore! What the heck??! I can't just leave it loose or the forks will twist. I removed the wheel from the forks and checked the bearings. They were frozen! I think that space itself is frozen in there and when the inner race of the bearings got tightened against the spacer, the bearings won't spin any more. Dammit! After doing some research online, I bought a bearing removal kit off of Amazon for $28. I'll take care of that later.<br />
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Today I was putting on the front tire. I bought some new 11" tire irons, so the leverage factor will be much easier. I sprinkled some talcum powder inside the tire and filled my spray bottle with soapy water and I was off to the races. Everything was going as planned, albeit tough, as changing tires is always tough. But after I was done and was filling the tube with air, it seems that there's a leak at the stem!! Somehow, the tube must've gotten pinched when I was installing it!<br />
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I seem to have a bad luck when installing tube tires. I had to do that twice on the Harley front wheel. Then the tubes exploded two times about a day later. I finally took the wheel into Cycle Gear to have them do it. We discovered that I was recommended, but the Jake Wilson website, to buy the wrong size tube for that tire! That's why it kept bursting. For $15 I had them install it. It's been fine ever since. I think I'm going to do the same thing for both of these wheels. I'm so sick of changing tires having them lose air!! ARGHHH!!!!!Eddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07199713800263576616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855387848478385474.post-82428095904645292902019-08-22T21:32:00.000-07:002020-05-21T23:41:01.380-07:00Inching Closer to D-Day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I spent the last couple of days painting a couple of parts. I had purchased a fuse panel a long time ago and although it was in excellent condition, it was white. I'm guessing that perhaps some previous owner thought it might match the color scheme of his bike better or something like that. While I was at it, I gave my battery box a good scrubbing to get the surface rust off, then I shot it with a few coats of black paint. I was finally able to put some of the new rubber parts on the battery box. Check that off my list!<br />
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Today I spent some time tooling on the carbs- installing the new pilot jets and mains. The pilot was size 30 and just for a guaranteed starting point, I installed 270's. It'll probably run rich, but better rich than lean. I still haven't adjusted the A/F screw yet.<br />
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Then I started assembling the bike for the DMV. I called my local CHP office the other day, thinking that maybe they make house calls, so I wouldn't have to get a trailer. But no, I would still have to drag my bike down to their office for the verification process. But Officer Buchannon did explain to me the DMV inspection process, informing me that I wouldn't even have to step foot inside the DMV building- I just need to drive my trailered bike around back, where a DMV employee will be waiting for me to do the VIN verification, clipboard in hand. As far as completion- the brakes do not need to be operational, nor does the bike need to start up, so I'm going to leave all the main electrical parts off the bike (battery and harness), as well as cables, that way the disassembly will easier and I can avoid the current headache of hooking up the harness just for the inspection.<br />
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I made some great progress. First I had to scrub and install the old nasty swingarm back on the frame, since I farmed out the other swingarm for powdercoating. After I reassembled the rear brake and shocks, I got the carbs and intake system on there, as well as the side covers. I had to do a little scrubbing, so the red parts would look nice. I installed the gas tank and lid. Then I put together the rear fender situation. The bike is probably about 95% inspection ready- I still have to remove the cables from the instrumentation, tuck away some of the wiring, then get the tires and wheels on the bike.<br />
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So the next major step is to finish up those wheels. I don't know why I've been so reluctant to work on them. Probably because the task seems so daunting. I still need to polish up the outer rims, install the new bearings, install the new tubes and tires, then shoot paint. Yup. sounds like a real pain in the ass all right...<br />
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I did take a minute to check out the riding ergonomics on the bike. I know that the position will be slightly different in it's final rendition, since I'll be installing a lower seat. But still, I was thrilled to be able to get on it. It has been over 10 years, since I last sat on the bike! And I have been dreaming of putting new rearsets on the RD for even longer than that! So to actually realize the work that I've been doing was pure awesomeness!!!<br />
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Eddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07199713800263576616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855387848478385474.post-27805359805312462732019-08-17T21:59:00.000-07:002020-05-21T23:41:22.134-07:00Back to the Grind<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
After a 3-week break, I'm finally back working on the RD with a passion! Actually I was running so behind schedule that the first thing I had to do when I got back from vacation was rework my build schedule with some new deadlines.<br />
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At the beginning of the week, I tore apart the carburetors to take inventory of what parts I actually still need. I cleaned and rebuilt these carbs over 10 years ago, then put them in a box for safe keeping. At the time, I did take notes of what was needed, but now looking back, the notes were unclear and incomplete- the only way to be certain of needed parts was to do another tear down and take inventory. Luckily the only parts needed were the main and pilot jets- exactly what Paul told me I needed to order for the newly built engine! I turned to my trusty source,<a href="https://www.economycycle.com/" target="_blank"> economycycle.com</a>, and ordered a range of Mikuni mains from 250-280 and pilot jets in 30.<br />
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For the past 2 days, I've been working on fitting the seat pan to the frame and grinding off unnecessary metal. My final seat pan fixture system was four clevis pins brazed to the frame. That way, I can just remove the clevis pins and the seat comes off. (I still need to access beneath the seat to fill the oil tank.) I also fabricated a license plate and LED brake light mount out of some leftover steel I had laying around from some previous project, then brazed those onto the back of the frame.</div>
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I removed the two grommet tabs which used to hold the stock airbox in place. I also ground off the center stand mounts that stick out off the rear of the frame, being careful not to cut too much away, since the right side holds the brake pedal spring mount peg, and both are used as engine mounts. While I was down there, I also decided to remove the stock footpeg mounts. Tons of grinding in a hot little garage on a 100°F+ day!!<br />
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The end result was very satisfying! Tomorrow I will take the new unmolested seat pan and fit it to the pins on the bike, that way I can send it out for paint. I need to remove the steering lock stuff (door, pin and lock core if possible), the do a final sand on the ground areas of the frame, then it'll be ready for powdercoating. I'll try and cut and shape the front fender tomorrow, so I can run all the parts out for paint this week.<br />
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After all the parts have been prepped for powdercoating and paint, then I'm free to continue working on the DMV build, so I can get the bike registered! One step at a time....</div>
Eddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07199713800263576616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855387848478385474.post-10605713341726181072019-07-21T23:40:00.000-07:002020-05-21T23:41:42.737-07:00The Heart of the Matter<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today is the day I have dreamt about for a very long time. My RD400 motor was assembled and ready to be picked up!! I arrived a few minute before 9am at Paul's house. As always, he had his garage opened already and was waiting for me. I saw the engine and tt was beautiful!<br />
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He helped me install the shift rod and tachometer drive components. Then he went over the break-in routine for the motor. Of course, half of that went in one ear and out the other. We told stories, he helped me to load all the parts into my Jeep, then I was off.<br />
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I spent part of the rest of the day cleaning engine mounting parts, mixing and matching with a spare set that I had on hand. One of my front mount spacer tubes got slightly dented, so the mounting bolt didn't want to slide through, meaning I had to use one of the yucky corroded ones. I tried cleaning/polishing it for a while with some success, but in the end, I just wanted to plug the motor in the frame, so the refurbishing will have to wait till the motor moves to the other frame. I also discovered that I am one rear mounting bolt short of a full set! After scouring through my archive of old documentation photos, I noticed that I never even had one in the first place! Thank God for eBay! In the end, I was successful in mounting the motor in the frame, minus one rear mounting bolt.<br />
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I fitted the carbs on the engine, then the Y-boot with the K&N air filter on it. (I still have to locate the manifold clamps. I hope I don't need to order <b>more </b>parts!) Surprisingly, the filter sticks way above the frame rails where the new seat will go. Hmmm...I don't ever recall anyone making mention of this problem. I do know that K&N makes a shorter filter. Maybe others have been using the short filters? In any case, I do happen to have a foam Unifilter that I can fit on there if I don't feel like buying a another K&N filter.<br />
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This week is going to be hella busy. I'm working a shit ton of hours and weird shifts, due to coworkers taking random vacation days off, and the management not hiring much needed extra help. I'm also shoving off for a cruise to Alaska on Friday. Of course I have to work all the way through Thursday, then take my dog and drop off a second car at a relative's house after work, not to mention that it's actually my birthday that day :(<br />
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But if I get the chance, I would love to start hooking up some cables, getting a little closer to a "complete" bike, so I can get the bike VIN verified by my local DMV. What a total hassle!!!!</div>
Eddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07199713800263576616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855387848478385474.post-1671131258461781052019-07-05T10:50:00.001-07:002019-07-05T10:50:48.358-07:00Learning to BrazeLately I've been inundated with work hours, plus other shit is going down in my life lately. So work on the RD has been slow lately. I've kind of been dragging my feet- some of it is just laziness, as I've been stuck in my head about solutions for seat mounting and stuff.<br />
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I have two RD400 frames and on <b>both </b>of them, the steering stopper tab/button has been knocked off. I was lucky enough to be able to relocate one of the original tabs- it was from my original Marsh frame. Since I will be riding the Primrose frame, the one that I'll be cutting up, I really need to have a button on that one. In case you have no idea what piece I'm speaking of, from the Yamaha factory, there is a small metal tab that is welded to the front of the headstock. It works in conjunction with the bottom triple tree clamp, which has a couple of stopper tabs sticking up. If the handlebars move too far to the left or to the right, the triple tree tab will effectively hit the stationary stopper welded to the headstock, preventing the steering from turning any further, therefore (in theory) stopping your handlebar (or triple tree nut) from putting a dent in your gas tank. Well, my bike has gone down a few times and the force of the crashes were probably strong enough to break the welds. I presume the Primrose frame suffered the same fate.<br />
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After putting some thought into how to address my missing steering stopper tab, I eventually decided to try brazing it back onto the frame myself. So I'm stealing the tab off the Marsh frame and brazing it onto the Primrose frame. The first attempt didn't go so good. I was smart enough to know that I needed a hotter flame than propane, so I bought a canister of map gas. But still that steel was way too thick to let the heat penetrate.<br />
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I thought that maybe a better torch handle could bring more heat, so I stopped by my local Lowes hardware store. They just happened to have a <a href="https://www.bernzomatic.com/Products/Hand-Torches/Manual-Ignition/WK5500OX" target="_blank">Bernzomatic kit that came with map gas <i><b>and </b></i>oxygen</a>!! For only $70, it was worth giving it a whack. After I bough it, I went home and read the reviews, which were not good. Apparently people were having problems with the flame blowing out and the sensitivity of the controls. I searched a little more and found some helpful videos on how to get the flame to ignite and how to do careful adjustments.<br />
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8LKY9CYOLwI/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8LKY9CYOLwI?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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This video is really a life-saver! It will save you from valuable minutes of wasted oxygen consumption.</div>
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It really didn't take long for the headstock metal to heat up. I used the bronze rod and after doing three sides, the welds seemed <i>very </i>strong! I am confident this stopper will hold, even after a crash!</div>
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So now that I have a little bit of brazing skills, I'm probably going to braze some nuts or T-nuts directly to the frame, so I can fasten the seat pan down. I believe that I will also have to braze a cross-member to the back of the frame, so I have somewhere to mount the rear brake lamp. I'm still working out the details and dimensions on these last two points. When these things are done, I can finally take this frame to the powdercoater! And when I finally cut down that front fender, I'll be able to haul all my parts to my Sacramento painter!</div>
Eddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07199713800263576616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855387848478385474.post-83302326139291075812019-06-27T21:42:00.000-07:002019-06-27T21:42:43.520-07:00Let There Be Light!!Well, as soon as I can hook up the harness and the battery, there will be light...<br />
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In one of my earlier entries, I noted that my headlight rim was severely scratched. I just picked it up today from <a href="http://www.highlustrechromeplating.com/" target="_blank">High Lustre Chrome Plating</a> in Hayward this morning.Rich did a phenomenal job on the rim. It actually does look better than brand new. He charged me $125 for the job (although he quoted me $90 over the phone), but his turn around was like 3 business days!<br />
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Over the past few days, I bought a few LED lighting pieces for the bike- 2 turn signal sets and a brake lamp. All the items arrived already, so I got to work on mounting up the headlamp assembly. Some of my headlamp parts were missing or too damaged to use. Good thing I had a second headlamp bucket and parts! I bought a new <a href="https://www.economycycle.com/shop/yamaha-rd250350400r5ds6ds7-parts/frame-related/rubber-parts/yamaha-rd-headlight-mounting-kit/" target="_blank">reproduction mount kit</a> from EconomyCycle to help with the mounting. The holes in the aluminum ears that I bought were a little too small, so I had to file on them for a bit with a rat-tail file. I also upgraded the headlight to a Hella H4 headlight and replaced the supplied H4 bulb with a PIAA Night-Tech 60/55W bulb- that should make huge difference in seeing at night! Everything went together beautifully! So now the front end is pretty much finished with the exception of reshaping and painting the front fender. Oh, and I still need to get those wheels finished!<br />
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Paul asked me to get a few missing and worn parts. I ordered them from Partzilla, since they seem to have the best OEM prices around. Unfortunately, they're waiting on one part to arrive before shipping them out to me, so this order will take about 2 weeks to process :(<br />
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In the meanwhile, I picked up my freshly honed cylinders last Sunday. After all the honing oil and Simple Green, the paint job I had done was fairly ruined. (He did warn me about that, but I just wanted to get them painted, while they were not assembled yet.) I just repainted them again. It didn't take long since I had done them once before. I'll return them this Sunday, so Paul can resume work on the motor.<br />
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I'm still awaiting my replacement seat pan from the UK. It should be here on Saturday. When that arrives, I can pull out the other frame and start fitting the seat to it. I will probably have to grind off the hinges and the seat lock, possibly even cut off the end of the frame. After I weld a chunk of metal to the front of the headstock (the steering turn-to-turn lock), I can take the frame down to the powdercoater to shoot the paint.<br />
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If I can get the front fender shaped, I can drop off all the parts to Ryan, my painter. So if I'm lucky, the motor, the frame and the painted parts will be ready all at the same time! Now this has become an exercise in project management! We're really starting to come to a close fast!Eddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07199713800263576616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855387848478385474.post-15593417147771149352019-06-17T12:55:00.002-07:002019-06-17T12:55:49.309-07:00The Next StepsSo I had to order all new wheel bearings, since I changed design plans away from the RD350 wire wheels. Now I have <b><i>TWO </i></b>sets of All Balls wheel bearings! I disassembled the rear sprocket and gave that wheel a good decent scrubbing. I did attempt to remove the old rear tire, but it was a no-go. After finding some help in the internet, I bought a good utility knife and I'll swap out the straight blades for hook blades. Those beads are not going to play nice, so I'm just going to cut the old rubber off of the wheels. I'm sure they won't be a problem, when mounting the new tires on them. After that, I can repaint them, polish the rims and get some fresh bearings in there. Once the tires and wheels are on the bike, I can verifiable claim that I have a "roller"!!<br />
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When the seat comes in, I'll have to figure out how to mount that sucker and what might need to get cut off the frame (the other frame). When that is sorted out, I can send the parts off to paint. There still is that issue about the front fender. I do believe that I will cut it down, but I'm thinking that I may just leave it chrome. Maybe not. I still haven't figured it out yet.<br />
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I need a brake light system and turn signals for front and back. I am not a big fan of the rear "integrated" turn signals. A new battery is on the way, so I need to refurbish the old battery box. At that point, I may as well try and string in the entire electrical.<br />
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Once the engine and the painted pieces come back, I'm just about ready to complete the bike! For the first reincarnation, but bike will have the old ugly seat, just so I can get it to the the DMV for inspection as a "whole" bike. Afterwards, the parts will get transferred to a cut and powder-coated frame for final assembly!Eddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07199713800263576616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855387848478385474.post-64806200541950858822019-06-13T12:01:00.000-07:002019-06-17T12:28:07.124-07:00Latest Updates<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJJRjtXbNzFHFI_z41Z85v-vZkJu65B96dI9WNA3LpMPqRcYg_rL26gq7aB_7yShe2n8teg3s8zVtBguhfbH74yIWhADYa9UUbLHyua_XAb_DzDvQEKDSUPoleZ6Nv5PbwjSGYPayRU31s/s1600/20190609_102816.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="778" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJJRjtXbNzFHFI_z41Z85v-vZkJu65B96dI9WNA3LpMPqRcYg_rL26gq7aB_7yShe2n8teg3s8zVtBguhfbH74yIWhADYa9UUbLHyua_XAb_DzDvQEKDSUPoleZ6Nv5PbwjSGYPayRU31s/s320/20190609_102816.jpg" width="153" /></a><br />
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Last Sunday, I dropped off all the motor parts with Paul. I think he was surprised at how nice all the parts were looking. He was definitely a little amazed at how I was able to find some of the NOS parts out there, especially at such reasonable prices. But then again, I had forever to collect all of these things- when time is on your side, anything is possible! It's going to take 3-4 weeks before I get the motor back, depending how busy he is in his life and if any parts are missing and still need ordering.</div>
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So now I can focus on some of the other smaller matters. I swapped out the Woodcraft clip-on bars. They are a little longer and they are black as opposed to the chrome bars that came with the sale. Even though they have a little more length, the mounting assembly still gets in the way of the master cylinder- I think that I'll just need to shim it with a thin slab of aluminum- that should fix and secure it good.</div>
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I did receive another used meter bracket off of eBay. It was claimed to be straight and unbent. I also came with the four black chrome screws to hold down the turn signal cover. When it arrived, it was 95% straight with one of the meter tabs slightly bent up. I messaged the seller and he gave me $15 to keep it. I was successfully able to pound it back to a workable angle. Then I painted the bracket and meter covers. Everything mounted up beautifully. I attached the speedo, tach, clutch and throttle cables and called it a day.</div>
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I tried to polish out all the scratches on the headlight rim, but it ain't looking too good. After searching for a new or even good conditioned old one on the inter-web, I called up a few local plating shops. This one shop in Hayward quoted me an estimate of $90 to do the job. Not bad. I think I'll take it! So the front end assembly will have to wait until I get the rim back.<br />
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I have been searching for the proper seat for months now! I knew for sure that I didn't want a big OEM saddle, one that uses that gigantic seat pan. I really wanted a cafe-style seat with a hump. I had to come up with a solution for filling the 2-stroke oil though. I think I'm just going to keep the filler in the same position, but I may have to cut down the length of the dip stick. I'll mount the seat on a mounting board to give it some height and flexibility on how to mount it, and I'll put it on a hinge attached to the rear of the seat- that way I can [somehow] unlatch the front, tilt the seat back and fill the oil. I carefully did some measurements to figure out what would be my ideal length and I ultimately decided on <a href="https://www.classicbikeshop.co.uk/universal-cafe-racer-seat-t-classic.html" target="_blank">this seat</a>. With VAT and shipping, it came to just under $210, complete with upholstery. I'm still working on a solution for the gaping hole it's going to leave at the gas tank, but I'm getting closer to a final solution. This seat is actually so long that I don't think I'll even need to cut off the end of the frame. But I will probably have to grind off the hinges and the lock mount.<br />
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I'm looking for turn signals now, front and rear. I think I'll get an LED brake light/license plate mount combo thingy. That should work out fine.<br />
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More to come.....Eddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07199713800263576616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855387848478385474.post-15998421672023557392019-06-05T15:55:00.000-07:002020-05-21T23:42:20.013-07:00Engine Cosmetics Just About Done!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'm meeting up with my engine builder on Sunday to drop off all the parts. It's my last push to paint, polish and shine all the exterior engine parts, before handing everything over.<br />
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For the past 3 months, I've been trying to buy everything needed to get this motor done right. I've bought almost all Yamaha OEM engine parts, with the exception of the connecting rods, some gaskets and miscellaneous parts that were sourced by Yamaha at the time i.e. Sudco seals, etc.<br />
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Here's some before and after pictures of the head.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxp2ipzSL8f0Fqv0Uueprfe7_CIWo850QcrD2-6A_Run-H0k_LBalGwijYNf3rlM6FYMmcZdwwUY3RkwQbr34_uVIBX80IrO2OrfGudbZz7K60f1svzenJ7w3kZFMhBxNIfWTKKtvCjWZ6/s1600/20190219_124145.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="1600" height="96" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxp2ipzSL8f0Fqv0Uueprfe7_CIWo850QcrD2-6A_Run-H0k_LBalGwijYNf3rlM6FYMmcZdwwUY3RkwQbr34_uVIBX80IrO2OrfGudbZz7K60f1svzenJ7w3kZFMhBxNIfWTKKtvCjWZ6/s200/20190219_124145.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8OwANuYMhVDKHWnpzDlhhY71ttk8n_zcKzmh7mJ9HdL4jLdtR8CCxwvpN05_tEPtyAf4LXjFsjtxc8JRM5diqKM_EJ9TrciaTady6RGNYaPbxkFqpiYkPzeqrozSTOViGIWnLQfZWkrsR/s1600/20190605_143939.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="1600" height="96" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8OwANuYMhVDKHWnpzDlhhY71ttk8n_zcKzmh7mJ9HdL4jLdtR8CCxwvpN05_tEPtyAf4LXjFsjtxc8JRM5diqKM_EJ9TrciaTady6RGNYaPbxkFqpiYkPzeqrozSTOViGIWnLQfZWkrsR/s200/20190605_143939.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
The first thing I did was strip down and polish the Daytona head. I actually started the stripping process 10 years ago, but then just stopped. I've had to buy a used right side engine cover, since one of the allen bolt tabs was broken off. I probably bought the bike like that. All the covers were cleaned, degreased, paint stripped, then painted with PJ1 satin black. I media blasted both cylinders and the inside fins of the head with walnut shell, then painted those with PJ1 high temp flat black paint. Afterwards I took a Dremel flap wheel to the edges. Everything came out fantastic!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOA_O74xcrKgBhw-VhNJz1DBlpwYal4sp2iYzN8XJQBO8KrMegWbNs1R8DNbFErlF4FizgV6SAFqYimwwV2C8vvgAJRD7z4TxExQbu1p60eJJsNAp54UhyvBihF1v2_B8VhqYubDy9VY_Z/s1600/s-l1600+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="895" data-original-width="1600" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOA_O74xcrKgBhw-VhNJz1DBlpwYal4sp2iYzN8XJQBO8KrMegWbNs1R8DNbFErlF4FizgV6SAFqYimwwV2C8vvgAJRD7z4TxExQbu1p60eJJsNAp54UhyvBihF1v2_B8VhqYubDy9VY_Z/s200/s-l1600+%25282%2529.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOAiIuhipB4U5e3s5dg72SeEmXa4TO6p5JaF7TKaKi_bEkzaWmQ5CSyE0Q0Z2xBMyd-EQWC1mTc-L8vtcwTBEQdGV1Q9Q-plGzY3uXSbMIB6gAEaJ4H1vAf5SX_coU4txpJdyG674qgR0W/s1600/20190605_143708.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="1600" height="96" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOAiIuhipB4U5e3s5dg72SeEmXa4TO6p5JaF7TKaKi_bEkzaWmQ5CSyE0Q0Z2xBMyd-EQWC1mTc-L8vtcwTBEQdGV1Q9Q-plGzY3uXSbMIB6gAEaJ4H1vAf5SX_coU4txpJdyG674qgR0W/s200/20190605_143708.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Originally I thought I was going to media blast the engine case too, but in the end, I just took some aluminum polish to it and polished it up by hand. I bought some stainless steel allen bolts for the covers on eBay. The finished product should look fabulous!<br />
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The build process should take about 3-4 weeks, depending on what Paul has got going on in his private life and how many parts might need to be ordered. I'm pretty confident that he will have all he needs to get complete the job. After the initial build, I'll install the motor, finish the build, and hopefully the bike will start up. I may just bring the bike back to Paul on a trailer, before the inaugural start up, just in case I missed something critical in the build process.<br />
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Here's a quick mock-up of the motor- just a glimpse of the what the motor might look like when it's done.<br />
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Eddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07199713800263576616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855387848478385474.post-23777957280666637952019-06-04T14:58:00.001-07:002019-06-04T14:58:42.410-07:00It's Like Christmas!I started with the task of finishing up the front end of the bike. I had already sanded and painted the headlight bucket, but the chrome ring still needs to get the scratches buffed out of it. I thought it would be nice to tidy up the headlamp area with some new "ears", going with a more modern look. I found some nice billet aluminum brackets on eBay, but I'm sure they're made by the same factory that cuts for <a href="https://www.speedmotoco.com/LSL-headlight-brackets-street-fighter-naked-bike-p/mla-lsl-hb.htm" target="_blank">Speed Moto Co.</a> If I had really spent time thinking about it, I would have preferred to get the brackets with the turn signal holes, but it's not a deal-breaker.<br />
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I finally had a chance to check out the speedometer and the tachometer. On my original set, the tach stopped working. I probably broke something loose when the bike went down before. So I had purchased another set of speedo/tach off of eBay 10+ years ago, complete with a meter bracket. I hooked both items up to my cordless drill via appropriate cable and indeed they did work. It's nice to know after all this time that I didn't purchase duds. But as it turns out, the meter bracket was one belonging to a different RD model. I tried to reuse my old bracket, but it was way too bent to salvage. So I purchased another used one off of eBay, one that claimed it was "not broken or bent". When the part arrived, it was definitely bent. I just dropped in the mail today to do the refund/return process. The seller was very good about taking the item back. Over this past weekend, I was able to find another used one on eBay, complete with lights, covers (albeit chipped), and with screws! I really just need the bracket and the screws. A fresh coat of paint for the bracket and the speedo and tach covers and I should be good to go!<br />
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I have been looking high and low for plugs to go into the center side of the clip-on bars. I took a chance on some cheap ones on eBay coming from China. They arrived and were way too ugly- they fit the inner diameter of the bars, but the outside plug area was too huge. I finally broke down and called Woodcraft. They were able to send me a set for $8, which included shipping. When they arrived, they fit way too loosely! so I emailed Jan from Woodcraft about the issue. Tim took over thinking there might be a production problem. I took a bunch of pictures and emailed them to him. Then we found the problem- the used Woodcraft clip-ons I bought did not have Woodcraft bars!! The wall thicknesses were too thin, so the inner diameter was bigger! Tim was good about offering me new bars at a discount, plus free shipping. The bars just arrived today.<br />
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My front <a href="https://www.economycycle.com/shop/yamaha-rd250350400r5ds6ds7-parts/frame-related/brakes/brake-line-kit-rd25076-78rd350rd40076-78-front-braided-stainless-steel/" target="_blank">Galfer brake line</a> showed up yesterday. Last night I had a chance to mess with them and get them on the bike. As it turns out, the caliper side of the brake line didn't come with a banjo fitting- it came with a 10x1.0 thread fitting meant to thread directly into the caliper! Sweet!!! (Actually, if I had just looked at the picture, that should've clued me in.) Now, I don't have to order another banjo bolt! A pleasant unexpected surprise. I'll take it!<br />
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Yesterday, my <a href="http://www.fastfromthepast.com/09-0465" target="_blank">Tarozzi rearsets</a> arrived. I purchased them directly from Fast From the Past. They really are a work of art! When I opened the box, I was stunned. Most all of the parts were vacuum wrapped against a cardboard card- a nice way to ensure they won't get banged around in travel- very clever! This morning, I broke them out and got them onto the bike. Installation was pretty straight forward. I did have to fight with the brake side fitting on the spline, but after a really good cleaning and a little help from a C-clamp, it got on there with little damage. The workmanship is remarkable. I did not Loc-tite the bolts yet, as I will be tearing this build down after it gets registered, so I can swap it to another frame that I plan to cut. I plan to keep the original matching numbers frame whole and unmolested.Eddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07199713800263576616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855387848478385474.post-80398689080843094802019-05-27T15:17:00.000-07:002020-05-21T23:42:54.873-07:00Restoring the Hand Controls<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The last time I operated the bike, the old hand controls were still functional, but the paint is well worn and just look beat. Surprisingly, the decals all look pretty good, with the exception of the Off/Run/Off sticker, which is has been completely rubbed out. I looked around online for new decals and they can be bought for a <a href="https://www.diablocycle.com/RD350J-and-RD250J-1980-1982-Handlebar-Control-Decal-Set.html" target="_blank">very reasonable price from DiabloCycle.com</a> (formerly Reproduction Decals). It's not that I don't want to spend an extra $7 on stickers, but I <i>really </i>want to try and keep as much original stuff from the bike as possible and these old original stickers are certainly worth keeping.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy2NbO1Xui6AYz6l9b497GyhYTUalE0AuPnUhS0DxSMWl8cB4Lr8YufX_ZcgUO9QB5mwWjKsOylK9CIJ50tjsCY6XHEyVfy7Ll0rz_JTem6P5IKfT78tTspvZvxSKN8n09lEnW_EAP6VsQ/s1600/20190527_084400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="778" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy2NbO1Xui6AYz6l9b497GyhYTUalE0AuPnUhS0DxSMWl8cB4Lr8YufX_ZcgUO9QB5mwWjKsOylK9CIJ50tjsCY6XHEyVfy7Ll0rz_JTem6P5IKfT78tTspvZvxSKN8n09lEnW_EAP6VsQ/s200/20190527_084400.jpg" width="96" /></a></div>
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I spent some time sprawled out across my kitchen table disassembling all the parts for a deep cleaning. I stole a Run switch from a lot of hand controls I bought a while back and swapped it out with the deeply gouged existing one. A couple of wires did come unsoldered when I took the parts apart, but that was easily fixed. All the parts were otherwise in very good shape- nothing broken or worn.<br />
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I carefully masked off all the stickers and gave the parts some new coats of satin black paint. I was able to find a Off/Run/Off decal from one of the other spare hand controls and applied it to the part. A little spit shine on the wires and the buttons and we're good as new!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFaMCOWq3B6jNOT590UmgYSWCTseLrM9eCWN4QB55cdmJYytslkJQKwUe8fmLb2c6vQCmsT1PIeVDgwScLXMui10vyhPP3zeWDYSF3nTWdpmFrF4DKV5rSlcPIdutIXQqKOhmV6Blq4rLt/s1600/20190527_165005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="1600" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFaMCOWq3B6jNOT590UmgYSWCTseLrM9eCWN4QB55cdmJYytslkJQKwUe8fmLb2c6vQCmsT1PIeVDgwScLXMui10vyhPP3zeWDYSF3nTWdpmFrF4DKV5rSlcPIdutIXQqKOhmV6Blq4rLt/s320/20190527_165005.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
When I put the clutch perch and hand control on the bar, I was so excited that I texted my old housemate this picture. I purchased this polished clutch lever off of eBay back in 1999, when we were living in Castro Valley together. I have literally been waiting 20 years to put this lever back on my bike again! :D<br />
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Eddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07199713800263576616noreply@blogger.com0