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I found some more detailed pics of the brackets on the HVC website. The brackets clamp around the top frame tube on a stock RD frame. I don't have that center spine tube so I will have to figure out a different mounting arrangement.

I just recently ,like 3 weeks ago, bought my Vape from John@Economy. yes it is pricey ( about $ 280/290 is just tarriff taxed  ). do buy the upgraded retaining bolt, a new grommet , and I bought the 2 coil brackets , though I could have made it work without. be carful routing the neutral wire too. took me about 1/2 a day to get it up and running. fyi, I marked my timing mark in case I need to pull it back off , for like a pinched neutral wire 

I'm about to pull the trigger on the Vape kit from Economy. Curious about the coil brackets for the Vape coils though. Looking at the coil bracket pics on Economy website I can't visualize how they mount to the frame. By the way this is for my SRX/RD250 project where I modified the original RD coil bracket to span across the frame (hope the pics show this clearly). Would I be wasting $$ buying the coil brackets in my case?

After 9 great years together it's time to let her go:
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1988-yamaha-fzr400/

Not mine, but wish it was:
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1021287160522249/

I'm so done with this 50 year old tech. The Vape is calling me. Anything I should know before I pull the trigger?

Here are some test results:
stator:
check continuity of each white wire to itself, should be almost no resistance
1-2 = 1.0 ohms
2-3 = 1.0 ohms
1-3 = 1.0 ohms
check continuity each white wire to ground, should be zero continuity
> Affirmative - zero continuity on all 3

rotor:
take brush holder off. check continuity of slip rings, should be 4 ish ohms between slip rings.
> 4.9 ohms

brushes:
make sure the black one is grounded
with all wiring connected, check voltage on green wire with key on. i think it sees like 7 volts max? this is what excites the rotor. it turns off after reaching 13 ish volts.
> 6.5 volts

Now the mystery deepens:
I re-checked points gap and both are in spec. With ignition on, I turn crank with a wrench to check for sparks. I get a consistent spark on left cylinder, but mostly no spark on right. However there is a spark/flash at the points. Any ideas?

on my 74 350 , when i got it it had a no charge condition. did all the meter checks and everything passed. put on a Ricks reg/rec and had it charging again. then about 3 weeks later a no charge again! got out the meter installed new brushes i had stuffed away and still no charge. pulled the trigger on a Vape and golden . takes the worry out of several issuies with the factory dynomo system. "No one will ever know" God bless America and never forget !

When I start thinking about all the possible root causes of the charging issue and replacing one thing after another, I am seriously starting to think about Vape even though it's a big financial hit.

Thanks m in sc! I will try the suggested tests and report back. I should have mentioned that I already have the relay mod in place so I should be getting 12v direct to the coils.

[Finding out if the charging problem on a R5, DS7, RD250 and RD350 is the alternator or the regulator and rectifier.]

My RD250 motor is still not running right and I suspect charging issues. I found this information on Oregon Motorcycle Parts: https://oregonmotorcycleparts.com/FAQ.html

I followed these steps but as soon as I disconnected the regulator/rectifier (Ricks aftermarket), the motor shut down.

What am I doing wrong here?

Finding out if the charging problem on a R5, DS7, RD250 and RD350 is the alternator or the regulator and rectifier.


To do this, start by running the bike until it is warmed up enough to idle properly.  Unplug or remove the regulator and rectifier.

Make up a jumper wire with a 2 amp fuse and run power from the positive side of the battery directly to the green wire from the alternator.

With the engine running test the voltage AC output at the 3 white wires from the alternator with
the engine running at around 4500 RPM. 

If you get 40 or more volts AC the stator, rotor and brushes are OK.  If the voltage
is low or the fuse blows, the problem is under the alternator cover.

Since India is now adding 20% ethanol in petrol,do we have any manufacturer who makes ethanol resistant Viton, PTFE. FVMQ, FFKM oil seal, gaskets etc for our vintage motorcycles

Some years ago I bought a couple of carb gasket/o-ring kits for my 1988 FZR400 from this company in Thailand. The gaskets & o-rings were made of Viton. I don't see any older Yamaha 2-strokes listed but might be worth contacting them. They were very responsive and kits were shipped quickly.
https://www.litetek.co/ReplacementPartsYamaha.html

Not mine:
https://www.facebook.com/share/18vjPyZ4wV/

I found a pic of one a few years ago that I used as inspiration for my project. Build thread here:
https://www.2strokeworld.net/forum/index.php?topic=3909.75

I have never seen one in the wild. You should definitely get it
Good luck!

I forwarded that article to some of my riding mates who are also avid 2-strokers. Here's some of the comments that came back:

"The motor is very interesting, but damn couldn't they just pay some Italian guy to make it beautiful also. It looks like you are sitting on a bag of potatoes over a tank that's not level at all."

"It looks like it overheated and melted...."

"I like it but would be sweating bullets riding that thing with some serious hand over clutch hovering. I rebuilt my Aprilia 125 engine and I couldn't imagine an 8 cylinder version with 8 carbs. How would you know if No 7 was a bit out? 🤷🏼.
The biggest esthetic problem for me is the ugly single sided swingarm. I think it would have been better with a nicely shaped twin sided unit. Let's see what their 4 cylinder will be like. Might actually be better."

I'm very interested in this topic as I also have charging issues. On a previous post of mine I found that the green wire had a bare patch and was shorting:
https://www.2strokeworld.net/forum/index.php?topic=7029.msg57821#msg57821
So I joined the green and black wires directly together, bypassing the whole phenolic washer arrangement.

Thanks for the suggestions. I did a temporary direct feed off the battery to the coils and that made a huge difference. She will now rev past 6K in all gears, albeit with a bit of a stumble around 6-7k. So I guess I've got a voltage drop somewhere in the ignition circuit. I plan to do the relay mod so I can get power directly from battery to coils.

I am suspecting the stumble might be fueling: I'm running DG chambers, Uni foam filter and Y-boot. Pilots are 30, mains are 130. One of the needles is pitted. I think I might need larger mains for this setup and replace the pitted needle.