1972 YAMAHA R5 350 CAFE RACER PROJECT

[Jeffcoatd2]

Hello, Im fairly new to DTT but have already found it incredibly usefull. I've had a 1972 YAMAHA R5 350 that i been trying to revive for about a year now. I found the bike while helping a friend move out of a rental house. I wish I had a picture of the condition it was in. There was grass growing out of the bottom end.but Id always wanted a bike. didn't matter what it was, i just wanted to have something i could speed around downtown charleston and pick up CofC girls with. Gave the owner 18 dollars and 27 cents (All I had at the time) and threw the bike in the truck. I spent about 3 months working on the damn thing pretty religously and got it to crank with the help of Retro Classic Cycles. Since then i ve haven't done anything to it because shortly after it cranked, i bought a 76 CJ360t. been comsumed with finishing the CJ. but the CJ is pretty close to being done other than the seat and im going back to the R5. Ill up load some photos soon just to show the condition. I foresee needing lots of help during this build since its my first complete frame up restoration. seeing as im going to college in Rockhill for the time being, this project will probably be off to a slow start. But I figure once Im back in charleston at the Citadel, Ill be able to make some real progress. Im going down the charleston this weekend and am going to get some pictures and hopefully develope some sort of plan or at least find a starting point.


If you got any ideas or advice on where to start or intial problems to look for don't hold back. i could use all te advice i can get

 

[jeff4uk]

welcome to DTT, First how much do you want to spend
(2)dose the bike run? if not get it running.
(3) i take it you wana cafe it (use what you can from the bike as it is = lights,cans, wheels, tank ect)
(4) paint job or ratter?
(5) look at other bike for ideas of what you want your end build to be
Hope this helps

 

[Makr]

I love two strokes. I have an R5.

If it has been sitting that long the crank seals are toast. You really need to split the cases to replace them correctly. Some people have done it without, but the lip on the seal is a bear to deal with. Splitting the cases may seem daunting, but it is really a pretty simple project. I suggest doing that before you spend time trying to make it run.


Good luck.

 

[teazer]

R5 was a great little bike. The RD350 is basically the same bike but with reed valves. An RD350 top end will slide straight on.

If you want a café look, I suggest you talk to Rick Merhar at Accu-products. He has been building Yamaha twins for ages and can source almost anything. He's a racer, but understands street bikes too. Airtech have tanks and seats and fairings. Frames and forks didn't change much over the years, but disks tend to work better than drums. Any RD front end will fit. There were two different axles sizes, and if you end up with a mix that doesn't match, it's an easy fix.

Motors are tough but seals get hard and then they seize, so split the bottom end and get new seals if you didn't already do so. 6 speed trans from an RD will also fit in with no modifications if you have access to one. Porting is pretty mild so there's lots of scope for performance improvement if you want to go down that road. Wiseco make pistons for them up to 2mm O/S so they are an easy café conversion.

My favorites are TZ clones, but there are many other ways to make a sharp R5.

 

[Jeffcoatd2]

Hey thanks for the input but im actually think pretty seriously about selling the bike to a friend who's got a little more time to spend on it since my CJ is taking up most of mine. Hopefully i can get him to pick up the thread if he decide to restore it.