Yamaha rd350 Road Racer Liquid Cooled!!

Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

Well, I don't think even Mr Rogers would call it a beautiful day in the neighborhood today. I have never fought unsticking an engine this bad.
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Finally got it loose, put it the jug down on the table, and this happened.. I must have fractured it while persuading the piston out.
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And I uncovered this beauty in the mess..
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Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

My spare right hand jug is already .040 over and the sleeve is getting a bit thin for comfort.
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Really thinking about just going this route and being done with it. Any of you guys used radjoot stuff? Not a bad price for brand new pistons and barrels. I'd just like some first hand advice

Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/291853498081
 
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

VonYinzer said:
Dear god. Go back and punch the guy you bought that from in the neck.
Ha, to be fair, when this all started, I was just planning on using this lump for the trans and build that r5 motor, but then I decided on the rd for the reed/part availability. May do a little research and see if I can run an rd top end on an r5 bottom end with the rd 6 speed
 
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

You can do that RD top with RD 6 speed in R5 cases. I believe that vitos sells the RD cylinders with US spec porting. The Indian porting is not as good as USA.

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Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer



Really thinking about just going this route and being done with it. Any of you guys used radjoot stuff? Not a bad price for brand new pistons and barrels. I'd just like some first hand advice

Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/291853498081
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From what I found on google a while ago Radjoot stuff is very detuned RD350 stuff so if you want at least stock RD performance you need to port the Radjoot barrels. If you were going to pot anyways then it might not be a big deal. It is because of low quality fuel in India I think. But I could be wrong.


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Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

R5 and RD top ends are interchangeable. R5 crank is supposedly slightly different to an RD.

RD has a different gear change cam than the R5, so it's better to start with an RD set of cases.

If you have to get barrels, look at a set of LC barrels and water pump set up if you can find one, or see if you can find a decent complete motor. There are people on here that probably have whatever you need. Motors are heavy and expensive to ship, but if you get a good one, it might be worth the expense. If not, see what parts you need when you get into the bottom end and work out a plan of attack.
 
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

Agree it's the best direction for perf and service, but adding water is changing the whole blueprint not just adding a wall.

Long live air cooled motorcycles LOL kidding, but please don't wet yer pants :eek:
 
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

Lots to figure out/ decide. my r5 bottom end is in much better shape, but from what ive read the crank bearings for an rd350 have o ring grooves and the r5 doesn't, but vitos sells the crank as a drop in for a ds7, rd250 r5 and rd350, so that makes me assume that they are still interchangeable.

what I have in my possession are

a good set of r5 cases
a good rd350 complete trans, which could hopefully go in the cases, and I should have all the pieces since they are both complete.

The other thing is, once I get the rd350 motor torn clear down, there is still a possibility that the cases themselves are ok, im just worried that there may be cracking since there has obviously been water in the crank, it is an ohio bike and it has probably frozen in the winter time.

as far as the lc jugs, I was thinking obout that already, BUT I was just thinking that since all those lc models were only sold in Europe and Canada, parts may be a little scarce to come by in the states.

down the road I have "plans" to fabricate some rd350 watercooled heads as an add on, but that will be a ways off, I think for simplicity and budget sake, I should stay aircooled for now.

I will be having some port work done already, so I was hoping that the radjoot barrels would do ok. I was worried more about quality ect, but maybe I should just go ahead and buy the vitos setup and have the pistons too, by the time I buy the radjoot and a set of pistons, ill have only a little more money in the vitos kit, which I tend to trust more in the end
 
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

Those Indian cylinders are not well liked. I'd avoid them. Apparently the Vito's are better, but I have not compared nor seen either myself.
 
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

The RD cranks have grooved seals not bearings. You can buy repop r5 style seals. It's actually only on the ignition side.

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Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

Sav0r said:
Those Indian cylinders are not well liked. I'd avoid them. Apparently the Vito's are better, but I have not compared nor seen either myself.
I think for peace of mind I will buy a vitos kit and be done with it, I think if I go with the cheap Indian setup, I'd be mad at myself down the road for not just spending the extra 100 bucks for the us spec stuff
 
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

clem said:
The RD cranks have grooved seals not bearings. You can buy repop r5 style seals. It's actually only on the ignition side.

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Are you sure Clem? RD cases are "grooved" on both sides for seals, but R5 are plain on both sides. RD cases are better IMHO but not a whole lot different.
 
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

Teazer I'd have to go look at the parts book but I thought that the only difference on the primary side of the crank/cases was the added o-ring with the square nub on the RD but the seals were the same. Edit, just looked and they are different part numbers but appear to both be smooth on the outside.
I tried trimming an RD left side seal to get rid of the lip and it didn't work out well for me. Haha.

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Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

Just as well because they also fit all the 72-80 TZ twins too. TZ cases also have an extra pair of grooves to retain the center main bearings because the outers change to rollers to go with the straight cut primaries. Other than that they are very similar to RD cases. RD and TZ both have the raised ring around teh crank oil seals with a matching groove in the cases. R5/DS7 do not. They have seals which are smooth.
 
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

This is why it's so good to have someone like you hanging around. Us young ones have to learn from somebody.

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Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

Picked up a neat old fiber glass rd400 tank and some kinda road race style seat. I think it will fit the bill. Even though it's a balmy 12 degrees here in Ohio, I couldn't resist rolling it out for a few pics.
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Also picked up an rd250 motor just for the cases
 
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

Hey, that's going to look the real deal, bro. Very nice.
 
Re: Yamaha rd350 road racer

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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