I got the RD for $500 (it was 95% complete with a clear title), but I bought more than another crappy old motorcycle. I bought a good story. It apparently got impounded by the San Antonio Police department a LONG time ago, where it sat forgotten for the past 30 years in the back of a police warehouse. I got it with 1800 original miles, and all the shiny stuff was perfect on it. I replaced everything rubber, sandblasted and painted the rest (everything but bodywork), and now it is running more or less fine so I can drive it around while I build it into something I would like to drive. I am sorry I don't have any true "before" pictures. I broke my camera and bought this one after I had already started working on this bike.
I stripped and repainted the everything. I chose paint over powder coating because it is easier to repaint after a little cutting and welding.
Coming together. I like a clean machine.
Aside from its low mileage and interesting mythology, this old RD really was nothing special when I got it. The tank paint was faded, the seat was torn up and all the rubber parts were tired from neglect. And this is how it am driving it right now. All in all it is OK. I will be putting the side cover and 2-stroke oil tank in place just as soon as I finish rebuilding the 2-stroke injector oil pump. Aside form that and some carb tuning, I will not be doing much more until after I have my CB750 up and running. My son loves to help with all this stuff. He's a great kid.
The headlight.
This is a short video demonstrating the Bi-Xenon HID headlight.
[youtube=425,350]YIkGkSd6i2Q[/youtube]
Very briefly, a HID bulb is either a high beam or a low beam. Because they are ballast controlled they can only illumine one projection (high or low) per ballast The new Bi-Xenon bulbs are a really slick thing. They have an electromagnet/solenoid attached the Xenon bulb that physically moves the light forward and backward inside the headlight housing, providing both high and low beam projections. You can hear the solenoid click when I switch from high and low. FYI the high beam really is brighter, but the low beam was more pointed at the camera. While I was shooting the video I got the great idea that I should point my headlight a little higher.... If you watch closely at the end of the video the headlight is at a different angle than at the beginning.
This has been a project I have been wanting to tackle for years now, and when a buddy of mine said he was willing to go half and half on all the parts (buying them for a car so we got x2 of everything) I decided it was time to give it a shot. The long short of it is that it cost us each about $120, and that was for a set of two 5 3/4" tri-bar H4 headlight reflectors, a Bi-Xenon H4 to HID conversion kit for a car's two lights, and then an extra wiring harness since the HID kit was for one car. I did a lot of shopping and then bought it all off of evilBay. I am happy with the quality of all the parts, and the HID kit is all German made parts, so you know it is top notch too.
CLICK HERE to go to a post in another forum where I post pictures and links to all the individual parts I bought to make the light.
In my opinion, one of the first noteworthy bikes that Yamaha imported into the US was the 180cc YCS-1. I am not a big Yamahahaha head, but I like the way that the YCS looks, so I am building my 350 into the style of that older model.
This is more or less where I will be going with that idea. I still need to cut/weld the tank a little for the frame tunnel, and I will be building another seat that fills the gaps and fits my style goals a little better. I probably will replace the side cover and oil tank with ones from the YCS too. To top it off, after I finish my CB750, I will add a few more performance goodies to the RD.
One more close up of the retro-cool for which I am shooting.
And that is more or less that for now. I am fortunate that I don't have to get into the motor. I did pop off the cylinders and inspect them and give them a quick de-glazing hone, but aside from that the bike is off to a good start. Total investment so far, including everything from carb cleaner to a fresh set of Bridgestone Battle Axes, to gasket sets, to engine oil, to gas in my van when I drove to buy it -- everything spent so far -- comes to about $1800. So much for a "cheap" $500 bike being a really good deal! ...And I still have not even mentioned my plans for the monoshock swingarm conversion I hope to do, or any of the ever so desirable RD350 hop-up parts I intend to purchase in the relatively near future.... It might be cool to build bikes, but it is more profitable to buy other people's completed projects. ;D
Peace and grease
-steve
I stripped and repainted the everything. I chose paint over powder coating because it is easier to repaint after a little cutting and welding.
Coming together. I like a clean machine.
Aside from its low mileage and interesting mythology, this old RD really was nothing special when I got it. The tank paint was faded, the seat was torn up and all the rubber parts were tired from neglect. And this is how it am driving it right now. All in all it is OK. I will be putting the side cover and 2-stroke oil tank in place just as soon as I finish rebuilding the 2-stroke injector oil pump. Aside form that and some carb tuning, I will not be doing much more until after I have my CB750 up and running. My son loves to help with all this stuff. He's a great kid.
The headlight.
This is a short video demonstrating the Bi-Xenon HID headlight.
[youtube=425,350]YIkGkSd6i2Q[/youtube]
Very briefly, a HID bulb is either a high beam or a low beam. Because they are ballast controlled they can only illumine one projection (high or low) per ballast The new Bi-Xenon bulbs are a really slick thing. They have an electromagnet/solenoid attached the Xenon bulb that physically moves the light forward and backward inside the headlight housing, providing both high and low beam projections. You can hear the solenoid click when I switch from high and low. FYI the high beam really is brighter, but the low beam was more pointed at the camera. While I was shooting the video I got the great idea that I should point my headlight a little higher.... If you watch closely at the end of the video the headlight is at a different angle than at the beginning.
This has been a project I have been wanting to tackle for years now, and when a buddy of mine said he was willing to go half and half on all the parts (buying them for a car so we got x2 of everything) I decided it was time to give it a shot. The long short of it is that it cost us each about $120, and that was for a set of two 5 3/4" tri-bar H4 headlight reflectors, a Bi-Xenon H4 to HID conversion kit for a car's two lights, and then an extra wiring harness since the HID kit was for one car. I did a lot of shopping and then bought it all off of evilBay. I am happy with the quality of all the parts, and the HID kit is all German made parts, so you know it is top notch too.
CLICK HERE to go to a post in another forum where I post pictures and links to all the individual parts I bought to make the light.
In my opinion, one of the first noteworthy bikes that Yamaha imported into the US was the 180cc YCS-1. I am not a big Yamahahaha head, but I like the way that the YCS looks, so I am building my 350 into the style of that older model.
This is more or less where I will be going with that idea. I still need to cut/weld the tank a little for the frame tunnel, and I will be building another seat that fills the gaps and fits my style goals a little better. I probably will replace the side cover and oil tank with ones from the YCS too. To top it off, after I finish my CB750, I will add a few more performance goodies to the RD.
One more close up of the retro-cool for which I am shooting.
And that is more or less that for now. I am fortunate that I don't have to get into the motor. I did pop off the cylinders and inspect them and give them a quick de-glazing hone, but aside from that the bike is off to a good start. Total investment so far, including everything from carb cleaner to a fresh set of Bridgestone Battle Axes, to gasket sets, to engine oil, to gas in my van when I drove to buy it -- everything spent so far -- comes to about $1800. So much for a "cheap" $500 bike being a really good deal! ...And I still have not even mentioned my plans for the monoshock swingarm conversion I hope to do, or any of the ever so desirable RD350 hop-up parts I intend to purchase in the relatively near future.... It might be cool to build bikes, but it is more profitable to buy other people's completed projects. ;D
Peace and grease
-steve
