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In at least one flat track scene in "On any sunday", a Kawasaki triple is shown, most likely based on an early Mach III (500) And it seems to struggle with grip and a difficult powerband for flat track. I guess Kenny Robert's famous TZ750 based flat tracker was the only somewhat successful large 2 stroke in flat track, and mainly due to higher top speed on the straights.

the vintage smoke rearsets dont use any of the stock linkage. so much lighter than a conventional rearset. 

That is indeed a sensible approach. Any experience with that setup? Especially how the brake behaves over bumps/ with suspension movement?

blue dot caliper, fzr rotor and adapters still lighter yet and work better. as far as the rear..if retaining stovk linkage i agree, cabke lighter. rearsets, depending, not always the case

I was only considering rearsets when recommending cable actuation. The stock brake pedal shaft including inside lever, bracket and all linkage components become redundant when using a cable. The cable itself weighs more or less the same as the stock brake stay, and just connects directly to the pedal. Only additional part required is a bracket for the wheel end of the cable outer.

Since it was an ex race bike, I assume it already had 520 chain and sprockets? If not, going from the stock 530 setup will also save quite a bit of weight. Especially with a Supersprox or all alloy rear sprocket.

Right, nearly all the low hanging fruit has been picked (seasonal metaphor)
220lbs is impressive and I'm sure," hard earned

You may lose a pound, maybe more, if you convert the rear brake to cable actuation, like rear drum brake TR/TZ models.
If the headlight has a glass lens, a H4 alternative with a plastic lens used to be available from EC or HVC.
If your caliper is the oem cast iron one, EC used to have alloy repop calipers.

That bike seemed to be quite fast though.....

Keeping the stock brake actuation arm, rod, etc with rearsets ends up being a heavy and clunky arrangement. IMHO, the best rearset brake arrangement would be a disc brake rear hub. Second best would be a cable actuated rear drum brake, similar to TR3/ TZ350 .See pic below.
Note the smooth curve of the cable, very different from one aftermarket setup I have seen advertised. Also, that curve prevents water accumulation in the cable.

thanks, good to know Given that, it kinda makes the idea of commissioning someone like Vito's to build a minimum order of 500 with huge upfront cost less appealing.

I wonder if these guys would ever make a run of RD400 if contacted? They do a LOT of 250/350 new cranks. I even bought 2 of them and they look really well made- but haven't installed yet to rate them.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/364763626092

Just out of curiosity, have you weighed the Vito's crank vs an oem RD crank? It must obviously be lighter, but by how much?

Stock alternator? Ported engine/ chambers?
The heavy stock rotor combined with higher rpm would cause more problematic crank dynamics, from what I understand.
TZ's had much lighter rotors...

and recess for the o ring, etc. hard to find a shop here to do it. i can do it and it was easier to find different tubes

I never did that on FZ/ FZR fork tubes, but did it on a pair of extended ("chopper") fork tubes for a 72-76 XS 650, for use on my RD. And on a Suzuki GN125 that I modified to a more "standard" stance. Both were straightforward, since the O-rings were in the top plugs.

i still have it. the stem is the right size but too long. swap the rd/fzr stem, mod the steering stops and its good. the forks stick up about 2" thru the tree.  however, theres a year or 2 fjr 600 fork tube that swaps in thats shorter. i have those in mine but can not remember the year

Shortening fork tubes is pretty straightforward. Cut off the excess at the top, then into the lathe for machining and single point threading.

what are the advantages of goin to a 520 chain

You are asking the wrong question.

Rather: What is the point of 530 chain and sprocket on a 50 year old 350-400?

Answer: None whatsoever. 520 is fine on 100 hp bikes. So perfectly fine on even the hottest RD.

I also suspect that using the stock brake light switch may increase lever travel a bit, and also make bleeding more difficult by potentially trapping air bubbles.

I had big problems when trying to use some "anti squeal" shims that came with a set of new pads. Binned them, and all was good.
My setup is an alloy repop caliper from EC, one piece steel braided teflon hose, 13 mm Brembo master cylinder, coffin style reservoir. Works great!

ill take the 300hp h2r for 50k. that's ridiculous

However,  the H2R is a porker compared to the Ducati....