Tune-A-Fish
BOTM LOSER Proudly Deplorable
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer
How about cutting in dowels for apposing head bolts?
How about cutting in dowels for apposing head bolts?
Yamaha rd350 Road Racer Liquid Cooled!!
- Thread starter Hurco550
- Start date
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer
You can still center up the head and drill for pins, and you can with care make additional heads fit the pins in an existing pinned cylinder but it isn't convenient. Hollow dowels around the head bolts would be great, except there is still a fixturing problem with centering up the heads on the cylinders. Not actually a problem, just a pain as regardless of how you do it, you have to make some sort of fixture to precisely center the head so you can bore holes for the dowels. Little pins are easier because you can just take a gun drill (which is just a long twist drill) and drill between the fins on the head directly into the cylinder once you have it jigged up. You could do the same through two of the head bolt bores if you don't mind the removal of so much material - Air cooled RD heads pretty commonly crack at the head bolt bores as it is - so personally I go with some small pins. I use some small spring pins - also called tension pins, split pins expansion pins etc. - which are spring steel rolled into a cylinder with a split down one side. Roll pins which are like a little sheet rolled in to a dowel would work fine as well or even just a plain steel solid pin. I drill the holes through both head and cylinder to the diameter of an interference fit and then bore just the head to a tight slip fit. That way the pins stay in the cylinder. You have to be quite careful where you drill to make sure there is enough materiel to support the pin in the cylinder.
You can still center up the head and drill for pins, and you can with care make additional heads fit the pins in an existing pinned cylinder but it isn't convenient. Hollow dowels around the head bolts would be great, except there is still a fixturing problem with centering up the heads on the cylinders. Not actually a problem, just a pain as regardless of how you do it, you have to make some sort of fixture to precisely center the head so you can bore holes for the dowels. Little pins are easier because you can just take a gun drill (which is just a long twist drill) and drill between the fins on the head directly into the cylinder once you have it jigged up. You could do the same through two of the head bolt bores if you don't mind the removal of so much material - Air cooled RD heads pretty commonly crack at the head bolt bores as it is - so personally I go with some small pins. I use some small spring pins - also called tension pins, split pins expansion pins etc. - which are spring steel rolled into a cylinder with a split down one side. Roll pins which are like a little sheet rolled in to a dowel would work fine as well or even just a plain steel solid pin. I drill the holes through both head and cylinder to the diameter of an interference fit and then bore just the head to a tight slip fit. That way the pins stay in the cylinder. You have to be quite careful where you drill to make sure there is enough materiel to support the pin in the cylinder.
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer
I was thinking about just doing the roll pin and drilling through the head into the barrel with it centered and bolted up, just as you had described. Hoping that I will only be running this set of heads on it, but if not a local salvage yard has probably 50 sets of rd top ends..... which I can get for about 50 bux a set. hoping it doesn't come to that though lol!
jpmobius said:
I was thinking about just doing the roll pin and drilling through the head into the barrel with it centered and bolted up, just as you had described. Hoping that I will only be running this set of heads on it, but if not a local salvage yard has probably 50 sets of rd top ends..... which I can get for about 50 bux a set. hoping it doesn't come to that though lol!
Tune-A-Fish
BOTM LOSER Proudly Deplorable
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer
When you get a set all done you should sent them and the heads to restocycle for a vapor blast carbys too!
When you get a set all done you should sent them and the heads to restocycle for a vapor blast carbys too!
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer
Orange is pretty.
Did this come from a dumpster?
Orange is pretty.
Did this come from a dumpster?
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer
That said, those vapor blasted parts you post do look great! Maybe if I decide to tear it back apart and make it shiny someday I'll go that route
Haven't said too much style wise on this, but I'm not going to go with a pristine finish on this one. The fairing has a been there and seen a thing or two look to it, and the bike does too, so for now I'm leaving it that way. Gonna build it mechanically sound (as much as a smoker can be) and leave the rest pretty sweaty. Kinda like I "found" an old race bike from back in the day and just washed it up.Tune-A-Fish said:
That said, those vapor blasted parts you post do look great! Maybe if I decide to tear it back apart and make it shiny someday I'll go that route
Tune-A-Fish
BOTM LOSER Proudly Deplorable
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer
Both great plans... I am doing much the same with the DeadTail. I will incorporate some shiny bits like the pipes and controls but that tank wheels an motor are not getting any paint or polish just a light scotchbright bath and showroom shine lol
hurco550 said:
Both great plans... I am doing much the same with the DeadTail. I will incorporate some shiny bits like the pipes and controls but that tank wheels an motor are not getting any paint or polish just a light scotchbright bath and showroom shine lol
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer
Got some parts piling up for this thing. Still need to get the crank and pistons, cylinders bored ect, but anyhow, I have a few more little projects that I can get done now.
520 chain conversion setup. Brass swingarm bushings, yz125 reeds. And a gasket set.
And the real exciting part, full cdi ignition. It was a little spendy, but my old system was clear roached, so I could have nickle and dimed myself to where I would have had close to the cost in finding a used setup. Hopefully this will be a much more reliable system
Got some parts piling up for this thing. Still need to get the crank and pistons, cylinders bored ect, but anyhow, I have a few more little projects that I can get done now.
520 chain conversion setup. Brass swingarm bushings, yz125 reeds. And a gasket set.
And the real exciting part, full cdi ignition. It was a little spendy, but my old system was clear roached, so I could have nickle and dimed myself to where I would have had close to the cost in finding a used setup. Hopefully this will be a much more reliable system
Tune-A-Fish
BOTM LOSER Proudly Deplorable
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer
I was happy to see that the Wassel ignition was a Vape unit, stuff has a good rep and I'm married to a Czech
I was happy to see that the Wassel ignition was a Vape unit, stuff has a good rep and I'm married to a Czech
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer
The Ignitech ignitions we use come for the Czech republic too. They make good stuff in small companies. Have you checked out their web site http://www.vape.cz/en/
Hurco. It's getting close. Soon be filling the shop with smoke. BTW, I am pretty sure you can slip a set of RD400 gears on your trans shafts and keep your 350 clutch and sprocket, or go all RD400. So many options for upgrades, so little time (and cash).
The Ignitech ignitions we use come for the Czech republic too. They make good stuff in small companies. Have you checked out their web site http://www.vape.cz/en/
Hurco. It's getting close. Soon be filling the shop with smoke. BTW, I am pretty sure you can slip a set of RD400 gears on your trans shafts and keep your 350 clutch and sprocket, or go all RD400. So many options for upgrades, so little time (and cash).
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer
thanks teaser. I will check with my salvage yard guy and see if he has any rd400 transmissions around that he would trade for the rd350 guts. often he would do a straight trade.
Im hoping the engine will be ready to fire in the next month or so, and be on the road by spring. not far on the engine "running", but the whole bike being road worthy in still a bit farther out..
thanks teaser. I will check with my salvage yard guy and see if he has any rd400 transmissions around that he would trade for the rd350 guts. often he would do a straight trade.
Im hoping the engine will be ready to fire in the next month or so, and be on the road by spring. not far on the engine "running", but the whole bike being road worthy in still a bit farther out..
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer
Projects take longer than planned and it's the finishing details that really take time. Big chunks are easy to do and see and small stuff takes time and is hard to see an progress.
When we think a project is 95% complete, in reality we are really only half way there.
Projects take longer than planned and it's the finishing details that really take time. Big chunks are easy to do and see and small stuff takes time and is hard to see an progress.
When we think a project is 95% complete, in reality we are really only half way there.
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer
I don't have a real deadline for this one either, which doesn't really help. I'd sure like to take it to meltdown in March, but if it doesnt make it, it doesn't make it. I do all this as a hobby, and deadlines make it less enjoyable to me, thus making it less than a hobby and more like another job ha
Absolutely. And that's any project. I remember that feeling when I was building stamping dies, and the 95% 5% holds true there as well. My boss would come out day after day asking why the die that "looked" finished wasn't making parts.teazer said:
I don't have a real deadline for this one either, which doesn't really help. I'd sure like to take it to meltdown in March, but if it doesnt make it, it doesn't make it. I do all this as a hobby, and deadlines make it less enjoyable to me, thus making it less than a hobby and more like another job ha
