1975 Yamaha RD200 - Resto/Cafe

Ill get some better pics soon, been too busy riding her.

The skinny:

-6331 miles as of Wednsday night when I brought her home.
-Speedo cable broke this AM on the way to the ModsvRockers at 6445 miles, so not sure exactly how many miles shes seen since Wednsday, but its over 110 before the break and at least 50-60 more throughout the day. New cables all around getting ordered.
-100% original, except for the lower bars I tossed on (I HATE THOSE STOCK MID RISE 70s JAPANESE BIKE BARS!).
-Runs great, except for some 1st gear, sub 4k RPM hesitation.
-After running her pretty hard (but within her limits) today, the bike wants to slip out of gear at higher RPMs. Also difficult to pop it back into first when hot. Ill change the oil a couple times and adjust the clutch this week and hope that works the issue out.
-Tires are good enough for the rest of the season here, but will get replaced this winter.
-Turnsignals dont work. 99% sure its the switch, but didnt want to dig into it until after this weekends show.
-Headlight is burnt out. New one on order.
-Front brake switch is bad. The PO had the wires ziptied so tightly to the bars that they are barely hanging together. New one on order.

Coming up:

-Paints damn near perfect, well at least at 75%. This winter Ill buff the clear out as much as possible. I have a local guy with a basement full of spares, which includes a couple tanks and extra side cover/oil tank, so I may get extras from him to custom paint, and stick the stockers on the shelf.
-Had a talk with Jim of Alchemy Upholstery (AlchemyPGH here in DTT land) and were going to do a "cafe" seat on a (spare) stock pan over winter. Think original 60s Thruxton fully upholstered solo seat.
-The frame is clean enough for me so it wont get touched.
-The swinger has some wear spots, so Ill probobly touch it up.
-Motor is in great shape, looks wise, so some cleaning and paint touch up and thats it.
-Stock pipes are near perfect, buuuuuut... I kind of want to have them blasted and powdered gloss black. Im up in the air on that. If I can find a spare set, Ill do it for sure.
-Looking for some dingy stock fenders to chop up and paint gloss black.
-Mini signals.
-Im undecided as to whether I want clubmans, or go all out and get clipons, and some custom headlight ears.
-Doug (Beatnic) will be getting the forks once I have some scratch, as they are busted. They need seals, and if i can find something, stiffer springs.
-Id like to polish the drums, but I hate polishing ( ) so they probobly just get cleaned up and left alone.
-Carbs will get a good cleaning.
-If somehow I come into a bunch of scratch, Ill get a race style full fairing... Dont expect it though.

Other than that, I wont do anything much to her but ride. The motor will stay in the frame, and if it doesnt bolt on without harming the ability to put it all back to stock, it doesnt happen.

Ill warn you now, this will be a boring thread.

Its more of a build "log" for me to keep track of everything and hopefully share a cool cafe/resto with you guys when its done next spring.

Like I said, NOTHING will be done to this bike that cant be reversed back to the way Yamaha built it.

Looks sort of familiar!

http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=15707.msg306038#msg306038

Yours is in much better shape though! These are awesome bikes, really the fastest little guys of their time or so I've heard.

revheadgl said:

Mike,

These could be of interest.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/YAMAHA-RD200-125-MICRONS-CODNOR-LIGHT-EXHAUSTS-/320742021293?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item4aadb6d8ad

Also waiting to hear back from a friend re some custom made chambers for it.

Glenn

Click to expand...

Glenn, thanks man! I have them on my watch list. Unfortunatly, I have a feeling they will end up being really expensive and shipping to the States will invariably be restrictive.

As far as your buddy who makes the chambers, I cant thank you enough for looking into that option on my behalf! I owe ya a few tall cold beers to say the least.

Dirty Dan said:

Looks sort of familiar!

http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=15707.msg306038#msg306038

Yours is in much better shape though! These are awesome bikes, really the fastest little guys of their time or so I've heard.

Click to expand...

Dan, thats awesome.

After tearing up the streets on her for the past few days, I will tell you its the fastest "little" bike Ive come across.

Just signing up......

As always, you know if I can lend a hand just say the word. Remember, those anodised blue bars are still on the CR60 too. Can I offer you a Wassel tank? Or how about 30 different front end swaps?

;D

Well, in about nine days of ownership, Ive logged close to 450 miles. Im not 100% sure because either the speedo, or the drive gear shit the bed last week. I thought it was the cable, but I replaced it and no-go. No biggy, always good to have spares in the garage.

Im not real concerned with the speedometer at this point though. More of a winter fix. Im also planning on replacing the stock gauges with something a bit cleaner anyhow.

Im still looking for a gas tank, oil tank, and side cover to paint up all fancy like.

Oh ya, apparently stock headlight bulbs for this bike are made of gold and come with a free pass for a handjob from the supermodel of your choice. At least thats the kind of money folks ask for them. ($80 for a fucking headlight bulb? Really?) So, since mine is burnt out I ordered the chrome "tracker" (6" bucket) headlight unit from MikesXS. It takes H4 bulbs, so no more scrounging for overpriced crap.

The turn signals still dont work. Still cant exactly pinpoint why, but honestly Ive spent about 5min total trying. Theyre getting replaced at some point anyhow and Im still pretty sure its in the switch.

Well, thats about it. Hopefully in a few months you'll be seeing a "how to mount a full race fairing to an RD200" pictorial here.

Should be fun. If it all works out, this old girl may just be making a showing at the Lake Erie Loop next year.

Sweet ride with a very cool vibe to it.

Clem, thanks man! It was good to meet ya at MvR!

Glenn, its all good. Thanks a million for your help.

Like this TA125 or

like a 250 TD3 perhaps


For those you need a front mount and across bar for the two rear mounts. The front is easier to fabricate without a headlight in the way, so a U shape will work there with one arm either side of the headlamp shell which will now sit in the fairing and not on the forks.

Thanks man. I have a good idea of how Ill set it up if I can afford the fairing this winter.

I may have another project on the way though, one that Ive wanted ever since I was a kid but never thought I could afford.

If it happens, the RD200 will be staying as is and going into storage (in the living room I believe, which is AWESOME) until spring.

That said... This thread may get real boring for a couple months. Haha. Ill do a how to on proper winter storage, and detailing a bike. After that there wont be too much happening (if the new project comes through).

Just thought I'd drop back in to see how this is goin!

Hey, have you heard of moto carerra? They have some pretty affordable fairings, check em out: http://www.motocarrera.com/fairings.htm

Oh, and kinda besides the point.... I FOUND A RD! After hunting a bit more I've found one without a douchey owner that's going to sell it out from under me... and it's a 350. Stoked.

Thats awesome Dan! Really happy for ya.

Ill be honest, Ive always been a Honda guy. After owning this nice Yammie smoker for awhile though, I definitly see the draw.

Theres going to be a bigger RD in my future for sure.

I foresee a 500 triple smoker in my future. Oh wait. That's just my dream.

Well... The baby RD up and died today. Not sure whats up yet, as I was too frustrated and just parked her in the garage and walked away.

Went for a nice leasurely ride in the country with Greg (minidriver8) and for the first hour she ran just fine. We turned onto a steep upgrade and the bike just shut off half way up. I shifted into neutral, hit the starter and she fired right up. Ran well for awhile longer, than died again. I assumed it was a fuel issue at first.

Well, a couple miles down the road it died again. I pushed her into a gas station, filled the tank (just in-case) and hit the starter. Nothing, just spun. Kicked it 100 times, nothing.

So I bump started it, and she fired than died. Bump started it again and it was only running on one jug.

After limping it a couple miles home on one cylinder I noticed that it was blowing gas out of the left pipe, and the left cylinder was cold.

ZERO spark.

Dammit.

Probably just a loose wire or something. I wouldn't be TOO worried about it.

Did you see the other RD200 on clist?

No Rich, I didnt see it. Ill look now.

And ya Im sure its something simple, just pissed me off. Haha.

You'll figure it out, duder.

So....... what's the story Von? Did you fix it?
Fond memories of the RD200, my first proper bike. Wicked little critters with a good power to weight ratio. Crisp as hell with allspeed expansions on. Sweet sweet engine, I always assumed it was based on the 125 and taken to the full potential. Couldn't fault mine

Not really... No. Got it running better, but not right. Unfortunatly I havent really had any time to hang in the garage and dig into her. Im going to try and get it together this week though. Still a few weeks of decent riding weather here in Western PA. Also, I just learned today that theres a really good chance that I am losing my workspace for the winter. Long story, but that sucks. Looks like my bike projects will be on hold until spring. Fuck.