73 RD350...it screams

[sqrt4 stroke]

It seems like every time I rode the RD someone would tell me how they used to have one and how it screams.

So here goes. I got the bike and rode it for a while in the original rusty form. Then I decided I'd strip it down and build it into something like a cafe.

That was over 3 years ago. Here's a short time lapse of the 3-hour tear down
<a href="http://vimeo.com/3827878">rd350 Teardown</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user802810">Jamin Otte</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

It very slowly started going back together. I powder coated the frame, built a stainless tank and seat. Fab'd a few other little things, lost quite a few other parts, replaced most parts, respoked the wheels.

Post tear down

Tank mock-up

Finished frame and the beginning of a seat

Almost finished tank and seat

Somehow this thing goes together

Moving along

Where it sits now

I'm brand new to the forum but I thought I'd share my project and get some ideas from everyone here. I really can't decide on a tailight. I have no clue what would look good back there.

 

[bradj]

good stuff man there is a few rd guys ont this site myself included

 

[scottyfunj]

The tank and seat are amazing! Isn't the tail light in the cowl? Or are those holes for something else?

 

[sqrt4 stroke]

Thanks. I was going to put a bunch of LEDs in those holes on the cowl but I think it might look too modern or flashy. I dont know it just didn't seem to fit. I could cut that section out though...

 

[Redbird]

LED's too Flashy?! Blasphemy!!

Sorry, I have an LED fetish

I think if you put clear LED's in the holes it would downplay their existance but still give you better than average lighting.

 

[JustinLonghorn]

Mmm-hmmm, I can dig it.

 

[YogiBear]

It's coming along nicely. I think if you lowered the front end a bit it would do a lot for the looks of the bike.

 

[sqrt4 stroke]

Its been a while since I updated. I've been riding it around and having a lot of fun riding. Well onto the pictures....

Battery box in progress. I decided to use some cells instead of the typical battery. It gives much more flexibility in mounting. I went with a mahogany ply box with stainless inlay mounted under the seat.

Mounted under the seat with wiring just starting

The fun stuff

You can see I went with the ridiculously large tailight. I decided it'd be worth the extra brightness since I usually almost always end up riding home at night.

My friend took some pictures when we were out riding

So I got the bike running about midnight the day before the Dime City Cycles Sake Bomb show. After one quick carb rebuild in a fantastic sams parking lot I made it to the show

I won best garage built cafe racer!! Could not have been more stoked about that. It was completely unexpected for me

So a little back story. I started this project close to 4 years ago but working full time as a mechanical engineer took all my time from working on the bike. A few months ago I decided that sitting in a cubicle for 9 hours a day doing wastewater engineering was only teaching me one thing, how to calculate the amount of water it takes to flush my dreams down the drain. So I quit with no job lined up. I decided finishing the bike would be the one fun project I did with the time off. It was worth it to ride again lol. I'm now going into business doing design, fabrication and product development. If anyone has any need, shoot me a message (sorry for the ad lol)

 

[Rich Ard]

This is a really neat solution for those of us not comfortable soldering up the A123 cells, and I may copy your method as soon as I have my router table done. Thanks a lot for sharing.