Yamaha rd350 Road Racer Liquid Cooled!!

Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

teazer said:
Nice RS125/MT125 seat. Did you say that the tank is fiberglass? I just bought a dented RD400 steel tank which I have already cut the bottom out so I can panel beat it straight and take a mold off of it. Any idea who made it or who has a mold for the top half? I don't need the bottom, just the top for a drag race project.
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Hey thanks for letting me know what that seat was. I didn't think it was old Yamaha, but wasn't to sure what it was. This bike is enough of a mod podge of junk that I'm not to stuck on authenticity.
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The tank is one of 3 that the guy I got it from had made back in the late 70's or early 80's. He sold one and has the other on the bike still. I talk to him regularly, and will ask if the molds are still available.

If you get a chance, could you throe that stock 400 tank on a scale? I'm trying to figure out the weight difference from stock vs fiber glass.
 
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

ridesolo said:
Hey, that's going to look the real deal, bro. Very nice.
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Thanks Cory!

As you can see your not missing much here in the tundra. Just cold and ice
 
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

hurco550 said:
If you get a chance, could you throe that stock 400 tank on a scale? I'm trying to figure out the weight difference from stock vs fiber glass.
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science-bitch.jpg
 
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

I don't know what you plan on doing with the bodywork. But it might be cool to keep the dirt (I mean patina) on this old road racer.
 
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

davedogg said:
I don't know what you plan on doing with the bodywork. But it might be cool to keep the dirt (I mean patina) on this old road racer.
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That's actually the exact plan =) digging the "been there, done that look" even if the bike hasn't... yet.

Id really like to know the history on the fairing itself. Im pretty sure its tz, but may have been a privateer team.

it reads "hoyt-clagwell Yamaha" on the side.

hoyt clagwell was the fictional brand of tractor on the green acres tv show. I think someone had a sense of humor back in the day
 
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

hurco550 said:
That's actually the exact plan =) digging the "been there, done that look" even if the bike hasn't... yet.

Id really like to know the history on the fairing itself. Im pretty sure its tz, but may have been a privateer team.

it reads "hoyt-clagwell Yamaha" on the side.

hoyt clagwell was the fictional brand of tractor on the green acres tv show. I think someone had a sense of humor back in the day
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I loved that show as a kid.
 
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

hurco550 said:
The tank is one of 3 that the guy I got it from had made back in the late 70's or early 80's. He sold one and has the other on the bike still. I talk to him regularly, and will ask if the molds are still available.

If you get a chance, could you throe that stock 400 tank on a scale? I'm trying to figure out the weight difference from stock vs fiber glass.
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I already cut the bottom out, but I'll see if it's still in the junk pile and if so, I'll weigh top and bottom together. Today's thought is to simply weld back the rear section of the bottom to make a small tank and leave the front as an empty shell. For teh class we intend to run this thing, the tank has to be at least 1 gallon and that roughly 8" x 8" x 4" or 0.15 cubic feet if I calculated that correctly. 1 gallon is 0.133 cubic feet, so 1.5 should be enough. It only needs a liter of gas per run or less,but gotta stay within the rules..
 
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

BTW, do RD350 heads use long reach or short reach plugs? I know that R5 are short and RD400 are long, but I don't know about RD350s.

I need a pair of heads for the drag bike and would prefer a pair of RD350 IF they take long plugs. If not, I'll have to get a pair of small square heads machined out of billet.
 
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

teazer said:
BTW, do RD350 heads use long reach or short reach plugs? I know that R5 are short and RD400 are long, but I don't know about RD350s.

I need a pair of heads for the drag bike and would prefer a pair of RD350 IF they take long plugs. If not, I'll have to get a pair of small square heads machined out of billet.
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This is an rd 350 head. Just traded my r5 heads literally yesterday for another set of rd heads at the savage yard so I don't have a set to compare lol
 
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

teazer said:
Thanks. I'll grab a set from somewhere.
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Let me know, I can get a few pretty easily if you can't source them. EBay does have them pretty cheap at times though
 
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

Levi, the spare RD400 tank I have weighs in at 9lbs on the digital bathroom scale.
And that's minus fuel tap and cap.
 
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

Redbird said:
Levi, the spare RD400 tank I have weighs in at 9lbs on the digital bathroom scale.
And that's minus fuel tap and cap.
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Thanks man. As I'm reading this I'm on my way to Georgia for the holidays, so I won't be able to weigh mine until after I get back, but I'm willing to bet a dollar and a high five that the glass one weighs less than half that
 
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

Nice project! I especially like your fixture for squaring up both top and bottom of the cylinder. I'll borrow that idea and put it to good use on my own (racing) RD ...
 
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

+1. R-5 (and Ds7) and all RD 350/250's use the short reach B*HS (NGK) plugs and RD400's use the long B*ES plugs. DG's (also Ottoco and now HVC cycle) also use the long plugs. Also the early 350 heads have the inside cooling fin interrupted by the head bolts where the later versions have a continuous "wavy" fin that curves to miss the bolts. Those are the preferred heads at least for me as they seem to be less prone to cracking and have greater beam strength for clamping the gasket uniformly - a real weakness with all the 350 heads.
 
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

der_nanno said:
Nice project! I especially like your fixture for squaring up both top and bottom of the cylinder. I'll borrow that idea and put it to good use on my own (racing) RD ...
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Thanks! Can't take credit for the design though, I was inspired by this write up.

http://justyamahard350.com/articles/dale_1.htm

One thing I did differently though was made it so the all thread went clear through the spindle vs just bolting into the arbor. Just a little extra safe guard to help hold everything together
 
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