My 'old' new toy

[motorgod]

Purchased a pretty clean 1975 RD350 last week. 4900 miles and runs good. I plan on riding it for about a year before I tear it down and restore it. I already have started buying a few parts for it. It has the twin K&N filters that are going to replaced with the stock air filter set up. You can follow the progress on my blog.

Motorgod's blog

Here is a picture for your viewing pleasure:

If anyone would like to offer constructive criticism or ideas feel free to post 'em.

Thanks for looking.

 

[FarWestFastEddie]

That is SWEET! its clean overly appeareance, and WOW does it bring back clean lines.... Those Rd's moved!!!

FWFE

 

[gearman]

Very nice. Now get some chambers on that thing and irritate the hell out of yur neighbors! Here's some vid of a smelly ol H2 I shot this weekend.

 

[timk]

My love of all things 2-stroke started in 1966 with a yl1, and progressed till a 750 tripple Kaw. I have 2 76 RD 400;s now,one being a parts bike, with a couple rods hanging out of the bottom end. It's nice to step back in time. Agree with putting chambers on it.

 

[MotorToad]

Freaking nice! Now make an 80hp grenade!

 

[dcarver]

Freaking cool! :yahoo:

 

[Bungie]

OOoo that makes my naughty bits all tingly.

I had a Daytona Special for a while. I'm surprised that I'm both still alive and still insurable.

Oh btw, I used to ride with a guy who had the exact same bike who went on to become the Castrol Superbike Champion. Never could keep up to that guy...

 

[BwanaDik]

Awesome bike! I had a Ready Death 125 in college. Yes, they were actually made, a 125 twin.

So, do you have the oil injection pump set on "seize" "normal" or "mosquito control"? :lol:

 

[fljab]

Damn cool bike MG! Those RD's were da she-ite back in the day on the curvy roads for sure.

I've had 2 strokes on the mind since Memorial Day weekend up in the NC/TN mountains. I was @ Deals Gap one day and there was a regular 2 stroke gathering staying there. Mostly Kawi Mach III's and such, but a little bit of everything.

I was perusing Feebay just this morning looking at RD's, Kawis, and even some clean old enduro type dirt/street bikes...

 

[RacinRay]

When I was a kid in Orange County, NY in the '70s my friend bought an RD350 and stripped off the lights, fenders and anything else he could. He slapped on a set of knobbies and used the thing as a dirt bike! Faster than snot but it handled like crap. We used to ride on a lot of old railroad beds and on those the bike was scary fast. Ahhh...the good old days.

 

[motorgod]

Thanks for all of the comments. I really am happy I was able to find a good running RD. When I was 16 this was the bike to have...mommy said "NOT OVER MY DEAD BODY!" So I settled for a Honda Elsinore MT250...dual sport. I prolly won't be getting the chambers, as tempting as it sounds, going to keep it as stock a possible. The auto-injection is still connected. What type of injector oil would anyone suggest to use? I'm looking at getting Maxima injector oil. Any comments about that?

 

[FarWestFastEddie]

Run some Blendzall in it for nostalgia, and call me, I love the smell! I remember well being in the pits of several NorCal Scramble and short tracks, the deep blue smoke with its very distinctive odor, lined up staging for practice laps or for races, we would be dizzy from the thick smoke and lack of oxygen.

In the early '70's, very few race production bikes were available, so street and enduro bikes were refitted to race bikes, and the two strokes ruled the roost up to the 650cc class, then the Triumphs, Beezers until the Yamaha 650. then it was lights out for the brits. These were very small tight tracks, the 250 class (mostly Buls,Ossa's, and Montessa's) were the fastest lap speeds. All pre Motocross in our area.

FWFE

 

[Patriot]

ah man...my blue RD400 with MC1 premixed in

just like this one:

 

[Bigbeavk]

Oh baby that is saweeet. My first bike was a 76 Suzuki 380gt :yahoo: ran like a bat at a hell especially after a fresh tune up. 3 sets of points didn't last to long though. Could ya bottle up some of the 2 stroke smoke and pass it around? :clapping:

 

[bbdig]

Charlie Hoss on this forum has a sweet RD200 and is a good mechanic if you have any questions.

I have my Yamaha 74 DT250 sitting in the garage, hasn't been registered for about 5 years, but may have to get it going again for the daughter to learn on. :yahoo:

 

[oldryder]

I work on a lot of old bikes. After riding a new bike my vintage bikes feel like the shocks are dry, the frame is cracked, and the brake pads are made of wood.

Unless you want a pure stock restoration I'd suggest considering brake and shock upgrades as you go thru it.

Also, most of the old bikes had ball bearings in the steering head and benefit from going to a tapered roller bearing. If you find one of the websites for the RD you'll find a bunch of options for upgradses as the RD is a popular vintage racer.

my 2 cents.

ps. congrats on getting a nice old RD. they were very cool bikes in their day.

 

[Big Sky]

Yup, does bring back memories. My first street bike was a used red '76 RD 400, bought in 1978. It would wheelie very easily from a roll in first gear. It would run with my buddy's KZ 650 up to about 85-90. I once took it for a day-trip out on the highway. I was just 22 and it still beat the hell out of me. I also remember using a rubber tarp strap as a "bungie" and having that thing come loose and drop into the rear disk brake at speed. It's interesting what happens then.

 

[Spook]

I had the 350 Big Bear.

 

[fljab]

I prolly won't be getting the chambers, as tempting as it sounds, going to keep it as stock a possible.

Smartest setup IMO