DWMS Racing RD350 Cafe Racer! New Gold Leaf Lettering And Graphics!

DWMS Racing RD350 Build! Lightweight Racing Crankshaft!

bradj said:

Yea clem there huge in the banshee world and all the vito stuff ive ever bought has been top notch im just shocked there making air kooled stuff

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If only they made a 400 crank

Re: DWMS Racing RD350 Build! Lightweight Racing Crankshaft!

if the sell 10mm stroker cranks for banshees and they sell rd350 cranks ill bet a a phone call would get a rd400 crank they got the parts

Re: DWMS Racing RD350 Build! Lightweight Racing Crankshaft!

The fellow told me they were working on a 400 crank next. It's great to see support for vintage bikes, shows there is a market.
Cheers, 50gary

Re: DWMS Racing RD350 Build! Lightweight Racing Crankshaft!

Brother clem as far as quality the castings all look very nice and after test fitting it everything looks perfect, I love that this crankshaft has a keyed center shaft and that it is lighter than a factory crankshaft!

Brother johnu there was never a secret about this crankshaft, I wrote that it was from Vito's and I posted a photo of the box that it came in for you all!

Most of the engine parts are here so I test fit the crankshaft, transmission, and seals today!

Re: DWMS Racing RD350 Build! Lightweight Racing Crankshaft!

joeyputt said:

Brother clem as far as quality the castings all look very nice and after test fitting it everything looks perfect, I love that this crankshaft has a keyed center shaft and that it is lighter than a factory crankshaft!

Brother johnu there was never a secret about this crankshaft, I wrote that it was from Vito's and I posted a photo of the box that it came in for you all!

Most of the engine parts are here so I test fit the crankshaft, transmission, and seals today!

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I'm just giving you guys a hard time with all of the "pm me the cost etc" all of us 2 strokes boys want to know the details (aka the price) The crank assy looks awesome and seems like the price is a bargain. Nice work, keep it up

Re: DWMS Racing RD350 Build! Lightweight Racing Crankshaft!

Everything is cool Brother johnu, I try to post information about most of the parts we use on our builds so that other people that are interested in using the same parts can find them easily however I can also start adding links to the parts if you all would like me to!

I installed the crankshaft, transmission, and the new seals into the bottom engine case, sealed the cases with Yamabond 4, and bolted the cases together today!

Re: DWMS Racing RD350 Build! Lightweight Racing Crankshaft!

Ahhhhh why you guys keeping the 350 trans ??? ??? i figured to longer legged 400 gear set would find its way in to the mix (it will never be eazier). with that new lite crank being well suited to big rpm your high rpm pipes. your gonna run outta pull mechanicly way befor the pipes really start to work and look foward to constant shifting. just seems like a handycap.
Eatherway I would take that 40 year old plastic tach gear outta there too befor it blows apart but that just me. motor looks great though

Re: DWMS Racing RD350 Build! Lightweight Racing Crankshaft!

Brother Bradj this is going to be a street engine so the factory transmission should help give us the reliability that we would like and this transmission is one of the nicest factory condition transmissions that I have ever seen. I almost removed all of the engines internal tachometer drive parts as Brother bluesmokey already told me that he is not going to run a tach however I left them in the engine just in case he decides to add one later on, I could remove just the plastic gear if he would like to so I will talk to him about it. I talked to a friend of mine yesterday who has a RD125, a RD350, and a lot of RD parts that he is going to sell so if you or anyone else here is interested in them please let me know!

Re: DWMS Racing RD350 Build! Lightweight Racing Crankshaft!

Just a few random thoughts:

How on earth do you get those parts so clean Joe?. Amazing work as always.

Tach is important on an RD to avoid revving too high especially with JL pipes and light crank. That crank will still break if it's revved too high too often. Even our TZ cranks crack and fail if we rev them too high.

Tacho nylon gears are fine. They rarely break and are available from MeadSpeed in the UK if they do. I prefer an electronic tacho and typically take all the tacho drive stuff off.

RD 400 Transmission has better spaced gears than a 6 speed 350 and work well on a stock or tuned motor, but for a bike that's not ridden to the limit, a 350 trans will be fine.

Don't abuse it and it will all be fine. I just like to see the shift light come on just before I change gears and tend to assume that others also like to stretch the throttle wire. If not, the risks are lower, but what fun is there in that? ;-)

Re: DWMS Racing RD350 Build! Lightweight Racing Crankshaft!

Brother Teazer I was hoping that you were still watching this build! You always comment on how clean my engine builds are and your compliments truly mean a lot to me! As for cleaning the parts for the engine builds I still wash almost all of the parts by hand with soap and water and I use a wire wheel on a bench grinder to clean all of the bolts, nuts, washers, etc. I have a large cast iron sink in the shop that I put a piece of expanded metal on top of to set the parts on while I wash them and the faucet pulls out so I can rinse everything. I also have a tv on the work bench next to the sink so I can put a movie in to watch while I wash parts! Hahahaha!

Brother bluesmokey is thinking about running electronic gauges on the bike if he decides to have gauges. I have always thought it would be a cool idea to run a Digatron tach like the ones we use on our racing karts on a bike engine and they have them with a tach, cylinder head temperature gauge, lap timers, etc. all built into one digital gauge box. The Digatron systems are battery powered and they are very easy to connect to the engine as you just zip tie or tape the tach wire to the outside of the spark plug wire and the cylinder head temperature wire has a ring that goes under the spark plug. Have you ever used any of their products? We have had them on the karts for years however they now have motorcycle models available as well. Here is a link to some of their products http://www.digatronusa.com/products.shtml

This transmission truly is one of the nicest factory condition transmissions that I have ever seen so hopefully it will be reliable and last a long time, I am sure that Brother bluesmokey will want to rev her up and play some however I also know that he will take good care of her!

You know I always value your knowledge and experience so thank you for taking the time to write my friend!

Re: DWMS Racing RD350 Build! Lightweight Racing Crankshaft!

That's what I like to see, the info and link to the Digitron is awesome I use to race shifter karts (250 Rotax) but we never had data logging back then just tacho and water temp! I might look into one of those Digitrons for my T500.

Re: DWMS Racing RD350 Build! Lightweight Racing Crankshaft!

Digi's have come a long way over the years. They look pretty good now with expanded functionality.

Our first data logger was an old Aim Sport Mychron (?) that we still use to measure CHT/EGT - have to choose which, and as a shift light. I love the row of lights that progressively light up but it's two big yellow boxes so it's not elegant or subtle..

On the Phat Trakka there's O2, TPS, EGT, CHT, RPM, MAP and acceleration logged to an SD data card. I think I'll try something more cost effective next time - maybe a Danmoto or Koso just for a change. I'd like to use a Motogadget but that will have to await until the winning lottery ticket heads my way.

Re: DWMS Racing RD350 Build! Lightweight Racing Crankshaft!

Brother johnu my Dad and my Aunt raced road course karts back in the 1960's then me and my Brother Jason raced speedway karts for several years in the 1990's, I love karts man and I am hoping that I will be able to build a racing kart track soon!

Brother Teazer the Digatron gauges really are nice, when we first started racing karts we used a Digatron DT6E single display gauge that had a tach and cylinder head temperature gauge however they have gauges now that have four displays that are very nice! Mychron is still making some very nice gauges as well!

Here are a couple links to the gauges! Digatron four display with CHT, EGT, Tack, Mph http://www.magnaracing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=37_97_117&products_id=392&zenid=29bbcd84a94749ac8c731d09c3931a41 and here is a link to some of the Mychron products http://www.aimsports.com/

I worked on the engine some more and added the rotor, generator, points, clutch push rod, front sprocket, shifter shaft seal, crankshaft drive gear, plates, idler gear, and the kick starter assembly!

Re: DWMS Racing RD350 Build! Cylinder Head Speed Holes!

We decided to cut some speed holes on the outside fin of each cylinder head so I started working on them today! I cut four one inch holes that are spaced a half inch apart with the two center holes a quarter inch lower than the other two holes. After I finish cutting the speed holes in the other cylinder head we are going to powder coat them both gloss black and polish all of the cooling fin edges and the sides where we cut the speed holes!

Re: DWMS Racing RD350 Build! Cylinder Head Speed Holes!

I'm not a big fan of holes in cooling fins as I think they work in reverse I.E. reducing mass and surface that sink away the heat. However I would have cut your stylish "7" logo in each head. Now that would be cool!
Cheers, 50gary

Re: DWMS Racing RD350 Build! Cylinder Head Speed Holes!

Ohh that will look fantastic joe!

Re: DWMS Racing RD350 Build! Cylinder Head Speed Holes!

Brother 50gary our number seven logo would definitely look cool on an engine!

Thank You Brother Green199, I am happy that you are enjoying this build!

I sanded the edge of the cooling fins today and I also started to smooth the outside of the fin where we cut the speed holes!

Re: DWMS Racing RD350 Build! Cylinder Head Speed Holes!

Those heads are awesome!!! Once again you raised the bar.
Great job brother!

Re: DWMS Racing RD350 Build! Powder Coated Rims With Stainless Spokes!

Thank You Brother Habanero52, your compliments always mean a lot to me my friend!

We sent a lot of the parts for the bike to be powder coated and it took longer than we thought it would to complete them however we received them today so I started to assemble the front rim this afternoon with a new set of Buchanan stainless steel spokes! Most of you know that I love before and after photos so I included a photo that shows what the rim looked like before I took it apart and a few photos of how the parts and front rim look today!

Re: DWMS Racing RD350 Build! Powder Coated Rims With Stainless Spokes!

Before and After are always great!!!!
The rim looks super cool.