RD400 'Motopaika'...Yeah I'm back.

Re: RD400 'Motopaika'

Thanks man, they're mounting to the existing holes in the top tree. I'll probably put a small rubber puck between the panel and the tree to dampen some of the vibration. I was going to try and get the fork lowers polished today, but I've been doing yard work and cleaning the garage up all day and now just want beer and video games. I'll plug away at them over the week.
 
Re: RD400 'Motopaika'

I polished up one fork lower tonight. It was in pretty rough shape so this is a huge improvement. It's not a nice as some of the polishing jobs on here but I think it came out pretty nice. About 2 hours of work to get it to this state. I'll try and attack the other one tomorrow. The tubes are pitted right below the lower triple, so they have no affect on performance, but look pretty shitty. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.


RD400 Fork Lower by TMK84, on Flickr


RD400 Fork Lower by TMK84, on Flickr
 
Re: RD400 'Motopaika'

When I first looked at this I thought you had them copper plated or something... I see its just an illusion. Looking good I Loooooooooooooove me some rds! Fyi a friend of my turned me on to some stuff for final hand polishing, sounds silly but its Colonel brassy, wich hass abrasives in it that removes scratches and leaves meatal matte finish, then the second part is Major shine, it polishes to high luster, They are the poop!!! Keep it up.
 
Re: RD400 'Motopaika'

Ok so I took the easy way out and purchased a seat instead of investing copious amounts of time and resources into producing one. I fount this seeley mk2 seat from TGA in the UK:

seeley_mk2_seat.jpg


According to my highly skilled measuring and calculating ability, I have decided that this should be a very close fit to the RD tank and frame (in theory :rolleyes:). No matter what I should be able to make it fit without too much headache, and hopefully minimal frame molestation. I think I will have to cut the seat latch and hinge mounts off however, which is a shame.
 
Re: RD400 'Motopaika'

bradwsm said:
sounds silly but its Colonel brassy, wich hass abrasives in it that removes scratches and leaves meatal matte finish, then the second part is Major shine, it polishes to high luster, They are the poop!!! Keep it up.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot man, I'll have to check it out. I hate polishing but it's a necessary evil on this build.
 
Re: RD400 'Motopaika'

Hey man,

Moto Carrera sells a "Nard Guard" for the RD400 tank. Check it out here:

http://www.motocarrera.com/seats02.htm

Nice way to finish off the space between that seat and the mounting points of the RD400 tank.

NARD%20GARD.jpg
 
Re: RD400 'Motopaika'

Yeah I've seen that thing on a couple of builds. Unforutnately I don't think Motocarrera is in business anymore? I know the guy sells some stuff on e-bay but I don't think he operates the site/storefront anymore. Someone on the 2 stroke board would know better than me.
 
Re: RD400 'Motopaika'

Setup a soda blaster today so I could clean some aluminum stuff up. Works really well and doesn't effect any metal. I got a campbell hausfield blast gun for about $20 from tractor supply, and a 50lb bag of soda from harbor freight for $30. I used a kitty litter tub with a hole in it for a hopper. Worked perfectly.


PC031969 by TMK84, on Flickr

Before:

PC031972 by TMK84, on Flickr
After:

PC031973 by TMK84, on Flickr

The carb bodies were in pretty good shape with just a little varnish on them. I soaked them in citrus degreaser for a bit then gave them a light scrub with a wire brush. They cleaned up well.


PC031975 by TMK84, on Flickr

Also started polishing the hand controls. I'll finish these up tomorrow, along with the other fork lower.


PC031977 by TMK84, on Flickr
 
Re: RD400 'Motopaika'

I finished buffing the switch housings and put the controls back together today. Like a knob I buggered up the FZR master cylinder I was going to use and managed to get a cir-clip stuck in the bore....yup, don't ask. So I need to source up a new front brake master. The throttle side will remain incomplete for now. Now I just need my seat to show up, as a lot of the build will revolve around that.


Controls by TMK84, on Flickr


Controls by TMK84, on Flickr


Controls by TMK84, on Flickr


PC041982 by TMK84, on Flickr
 
Re: RD400 'Motopaika'

Terrfic man! I am really digging the polished stuff. Polishing is just plain time intensive, so kudos on the good job!
 
Re: RD400 'Motopaika'

Alright, Holidays are over, time to get back down to it. The seat finally showed up from France and meets my expectations. I love the shape of it with the RD tank. The proportions seem just right to me. I've acquired some new toys for the Speed Lab, like a 6" Wilton vise, Milwaukee angle grinder, torch, clamps, and some stuff for the wall. I cut the seat hinges and lock off of the the frame and smoothed it out. The first cut is always the hardest, but now that that's out of the way and I've asked God's forgiveness for cutting up a classic motorcycle, we can move on.


Seeley Seat by TMK84, on Flickr


Seeley RD 400 by TMK84, on Flickr


Seeley RD 400 by TMK84, on Flickr


Before by TMK84, on Flickr


Forgive me. by TMK84, on Flickr


Forgive me. by TMK84, on Flickr


Seeley RD400 by TMK84, on Flickr


Seeley RD400 by TMK84, on Flickr


Seeley RD400 by TMK84, on Flickr
 
Re: RD400 'Motopaika'

Good looking RD! The gauges look awesome
 
Re: RD400 'Motopaika'

I started fitting up the seat to the frame and tank. It's going to be a little more challenging than I thought, but we'll get it sorted. The tough part now is deciding to mod the standard oil tank of do a complete fab of one similar to a seeley. The fill neck is going to go where the cutout in the seat it either way. Unfortunately I had to pull the upholstery off the seat but I thought I would have to do that anyway.

The wheels are off at the powdercoater getting done up in gold, with fresh tires and new bearings waiting to go on as well.

P2042070.JPG

P2042071.JPG
 
Re: RD400 'Motopaika'

How did your rotor come out, I used a 1/4" end mill on mine and modeled it off of the 2010 cbr600r. It came out great

http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=29489.90
 
Re: RD400 'Motopaika'

Yeah that's right, I'm resurrecting this thread and my attendance on DTT.

I ended up taking a hiatus on the RD and the vintage bike thing in general for a little while. I've been riding a lot of off road and building my DRZ400 to run some NASA RallyMoto events. I've had an absolute blast and I ended up winning the championship this year.

photo.JPG


Rally+WV+3.jpg


Rally+WV+15.jpg
3

Now I'm in a position to get this going again, so I tore into the motor full swing. This is what I started with after the motor dropped a cylinder.

RD+Motor.JPG


Yuck.JPG


Clutch.JPG


After tearing the motor apart I found that the ball cage in one of the crank bearings came apart and tore up the crank seal. This caused the motor to suck in gear oil and give me no combustion. So after lots of fresh new parts, soda blasting, parts washing, cleaning, painting, and polishing...here's where I am:

P1013539.JPG


P1013540.JPG


P1013582.JPG


photo1.JPG


Polished+head.JPG


I'm going to send the side cases, triple trees, and fork lowers out to get a black crinkle finish powdercoat.

P1013585.JPG
 
Whoa! Squad is back......

Welcome back to the madness man. And congrats on winning the championship too.
 
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