I Love the DMV!!!

Over the past few days, I was able to give the frame an initial scrub down to remove most of the grease and grime from it. More work still needs to be done, as some of that dirtiness just won't come off that readily. But I did get it cleaned up enough to actually give the swing arm an initial fit test. Man! I've literally been waiting 10 years just to do that! I know it's not much, but it really made me smile!

I was able to spend a little bit more time with my tool wall getting frequently used tools up where I can grab them. This will also help me to be able to keep track of the commonly tools more easily. Of course I still have a shit ton of more tools that are in drawers unorganized- wood working tools, motorcycle and bicycle specific tools, odds and ends tools that I can't actually hang, etc.

Additionally, I'm finally trying to get my motorcycle "closets" more organized too. I probably have 4 or so riding suits of different kinds- the Alpinestars track suit, my neon yellow winter/rain suit, and my everyday cordura and leather wears. Then there's the boots and the gloves too! I bought some metal closet rods from Target that I'll get mounted, so I can actually hang the pants and jackets.

The biggest triumph of the week happened today, as I had my first official trip to the DMV. I was expecting some big runaround like what happened with my classic BMW car (it took me 5 trips back and forth to the DMV). I had a 2:10p appointment, so I showed up early. I was told to sit down and come back to the window, when my appointment time came up. Hmmph! When it was 2:10, I stepped up to the window and was scolded because I didn't fill out the application! (The one she snuck in behind all the paperwork that I brought to the appointment.) So I filled out the paperwork and returned to the window a third time! But then she realized that she had already given me a number and told me to sit and wait for my number to come up. I only had to wait about 5 minutes to see the registration clerk. After going over my paperwork and forms, she told me that I owed $140 and that I would have to bring in my old license plate.! Wow! It was really just that simple!! But I would have to have the VIN verified. But since I was the owner, I wouldn't even have to go through the CHP- I could do it with no appointment with that same DMV! Wow! My day just kept getting better! The only caviat was that the bike had to be assembled. But I was just ecstatic to know that my bike was now 100% for sure going to be able to get registered on the street! That brought me true peace of mind!

The Calm Before the Storm

I am considering this to be the build of my life. I have built and modified other cars and motorcycles before, but never as a frame-up restoration. I purchased this bike back in 1986, so I've literally been carrying this bike around for the past 33 years in one shape or form. I've been buying parts like mad and have my engine builder totally on board for my specs, so we're really nearing the time to build.

With all that in mind, I thought that a little reorganizing of my garage spaces would be in order. I had all my RD parts in the big garage on the shelves with the Harley and Miata parts. But I'm pretty much going to dedicate the smaller garage to 2-wheel vehicles now- my Harley, the mountain bike and the Yamaha. So I moved all the boxes of RD parts to the small garage, renamed the Pit.

I did a little shuffling around with the work equipment- I have an old hospital cabinet dolly that I absconded with from one of my former places of work that I basically use to store BMW parts and other shit, which now acts as a platform for my portable parts washer. (I found this awesome plastic parts washer online that usually retails for $145, but I was lucky enough to bump into a website that was selling it for $90!! What a steal!!) I bought another inexpensive shelf from Costco to house the boxes of RD parts and shoved it in the corner. And I have a Black & Decker Workmate 425 that I positioned against the wall across from the main work bench.

I've been living in this house for over 3 years, and I'm finally getting around to putting up a pegboard to hang my tools! The old house used to have a small pegboard, installed by the previous owner, so I already had some hangers ready to go. I stopped by Home Depot on my way home from work a couple of days ago and bought some supplies, all of which cost me just a hair over $30! Then I spent yesterday afternoon cutting, hammering and screwing till the board was in place.

I'm still putting up the tools, finding out that some of the hangers aren't sufficient for some of the tools I want to hang. Looks like another trip to HD is in line.

I had a chance to check out the new parts washer and it's pretty awesome! (I filled it with a gallon of the purple Simple Green. After adding water to dilute, it came out to 4 gallons.)

Some time this week, I'll probably start working on the bike again. I would really like to get the frame cleaned up, so I can put the swingarm and triple tree on it- that way I can actually remove the fork caps!

Registration- Coming Out of Mothballs....

A few days ago, I began the long and painful process of getting this bike registered again. (I have an old classic BMW car that sat in it's previous owners garage untouched for 30 years, but was luckily put in non-op before being put to bed. It took me 5 trips between going to AAA and the DMV to get the registration up to date!) It was fairly dizzing sorting through all my old DMV paperwork. It seems that at some point, I got a new license plate number for the original frame. And it looks like the bike was actually put into non-op back in 1994! (or at least I have paperwork (proof) from the DMV that I did change the status to non-op.) which is great news, considering that I shouldn't be responsible for back registration, although there might have been an old California DMV policy where the owner had to pay non-op fees every year. If that's the case, then I let it lapse. I'm counting on the fact that the DMV computers have lost all that information, so they will hopefully go off my paperwork and let me go on all past fees.

I have verified on the engine stamping and on the frame stamping that all the numbers match up with all the old registration paperwork. So that should help when it comes time to get the "vehicle" authenticated and verified by local LEO.

I made a couple of calls this morning, trying to get some insurance on the RD. I first tried American Collectors Insurance. Their online interface plain ol' sucks. It bonked out somewhere along the process and referred me to make a phone call to the office to finish the application process. So I made the phone call. They pretty much stated that since the bike was in boxes, the bike would not be insurable.

Next I tried to add the RD to my Geico Harley policy. Their web app also broke, so I called them up. After about 5 minutes, I had successfully acquired the insurance I needed to register the motorcycle! And it only cost me about $35 for the entire year! I printed up my proof of insurance and got all my paperwork together to get ready to do battle with the DMV.

I made my way down to my local AAA office to present my case. Immediately I was informed that if the papertrail went back beyond 10 years, I would have to go to the actual DMV office to deal with the registration.

I drove down to the closest DMV. The time was only 10:00a and the line was already 10 people out the door. After a quick calculation, I decided that I just wasn't that desperate to get this process rolling. I came back home to make some online appointments, hoping to find an early date with a DMV that's not too far away.

A quick trip to the California DMV website got me an appointment next week! Not too bad!

Update- Parts and Pipes

Lots of stuff has been coming in the mail lately! I have probably spent about $1500 in parts over the past 3 weeks- engine building, brake, suspension and wheel parts mostly.

ALERT:  Bridgestone is running a promotional rebate right now- buy 2 tires, get $60 back! That brings my new set of Battleax BT-45 tires down to just over $100!! How do you beat that??

I've got airplane paint stripper and 3 cans of PJ1 black spray paints. Engine emblems just arrived in the mail yesterday. The polishing project on the Daytona head is almost complete. The cylinders that I bought on eBay arrived a couple of days ago and they measured out to 63.93mm for one hole and 63.98mm for the other hole- it's absolutely believable that this motor didn't have many miles on it, as they came with the original standard pistons, rings, wrist pins and bearings. I just have to swing by Paul's on Sunday again to see what he says. I'm even wondering if the bores can take a light hone and we just reuse the same pistons again? If not, it won't kill me to buy a new OEM setup of 1st overs. Things are really starting to take shape quickly!

I've been having problems getting the Factory Product Pipes apart- I've removed the circular retainer clips that fit on the inner rim of the silencers, but it seems like the baffles are frozen to the supports somewhere down near the exhaust tips. No amount of twisting and pulling makes a difference. I've squirted shitloads of Liquid Wrench down the pipes, but still no luck. I'm just afraid of snapping the baffles off.

I tried emailing Factory Pipes in Northern California, asking for removal tips and/or if they do restorations/refurbishings on their old pipes. No reply. I tried calling their company phone number one week later. No answer, just voicemail. Two days later, I called again. I got the receptionist, who passed me onto another number, but I ended up in Cindy's voicemail. This company really sucks balls with their communcations! No wonder they're still so small time! I'm really not holding my breath on any return calls. I think I'll bring the chambers with me to Paul's to see if he can work any magic.

Making Some Positive Moves :)

A year and a half ago, I shot off an email to some guy that I bought some eBay parts from 20 years back to see if he would build my motor. I remember him, because we both lived in the same town, so I did a local pickup and met the seller, Paul. I remember that he always had RD400 parts that he was selling and he told me that he likes to work on those bikes. Somewhere along the lines, I found out that he does full restoration work on them. So I found his old email address and sent him a note, hoping that he might answer. Lo and behold, he actually replied. It took a few weeks, but he did get back to me! We went back and forth about what I had and what I wanted, then I got busy, so that kind of died out.

Well, just a few weeks ago, I drummed up this old email and hit him up again. Surprisingly, he answered again! He gave me a very reasonable quote and was confident he could build my engine to my configurations. So I started buying up all the engine parts. But one area about the engine that concerned me was the cylinders. The right cylinder seemed to be pretty much the stock bore measurement, but the left one measured out to 66.00mm! We talked about it, that the wall may not be able to take another bore. Me, eager to buy the pistons, asked if maybe we could meet, where he could do a physical assessment and give me his opinion. He agreed. So FINALLY after all these years, I finally got to meet Paul again today!

Paul has extensive experience building 2-stroke motors. He was once trained as a mechanic working for the local Yamaha dealership, so he really knows his shit. Over the years, he's built countless RZ's, RD's and earlier models. When I showed up this morning, he was in his garage where there was a pristine RZ350 and an FZ1- this guy bleeds Yamaha!

He pulled out his micrometers and took several measurements of both bores. He believes that the right cylinder still had its standard bore, while the left one was bored out to 66mm, just as I had measured. The left cylinder wall was getting thin (and there was a gouge that needed to get removed), but he thinks it should be okay to use. Earlier we had talked about just getting another set of jugs, but they're getting so hard to find and the prices are getting pretty lofty. We both had eyed a set that was currently on eBay- advertised as being pulled from a motor that only had less than 400 miles on it, standard bore, matching pair. But I figured that by the time the auction was over, it would be in the range of $400. But still, that was a sweet set of cylinders. Nonetheless, I had that set of cylinders on my watch list.

I set an alarm on my cell phone to remind me to watch the end of the auction. With still an hour left to go, the cylinder set was only up to $122 (an additional $30 for shipping from the East Coast). As we neared the 10-minute mark, I decided to put in a bit to flush out the highest bidder, or to just feel how high he might go. I bid $200 and the price only jumped to $135! What??! Just for safe measure, with 10 seconds left to go, I put in another bid at $250, then the auction ended. And I won! The final price was only $204 and change. Unbelievable!! I totally lucked out on this one!

Okay, now I don't have to worry about thin walls, plus with so much meat on the sleeves, I can buy Yamaha OEM pistons and rings! Now, I need to meet up with Paul again, so he can verify what size pistons I need to buy. But that's not big deal. I'm so happy!!1