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I bought an HPI 210 ignition from treatland and am trying to get it to work properly. Let me preface this thread by fully admitting that I am not great with electrical- I can read a schematic and trace wires, but I don't fully understand the underpinnings of what's really happening. I've got a '77 RD400 and the HPI is replacing a Newtronic ignition, which worked beautifully. I've read all the threads on this forum (and others) that I could find and they have been extremely helpful so far. What might be making things more difficult is that I'm trying to ditch the battery altogether, while still maintaining the normal function of the stock electrical. I'm still using the stock harness. All lights on the bike are LED with the exception of the tach and speedo.

The rotor is on and the bike timed to 1.9mm BTDC. The bike has had some cylinder porting, the heads skimmed and reshaped, carbs modified and some pretty hot chambers. Yesterday I tested the new coil and CDI (not hooking up the yellow wires and regular) and the bike ran fine, so I verified the timing with a timing light at 3800 rpm. I bought a new Trailtech variable regulator (the one that Mark suggested) and a Bosch 5-pin relay. No rectifier, since I'm not planning on using a battery. Both OEM rectifier and regular have been removed from the bike.



I floated the light coil ground at the stator and ran a second yellow wire with the rest of them. I wired the regulator as Trailtech suggested, and I tried wiring the relay the way Chuck suggested AND the way Mark suggested- both ways the bike did not start.



I patched in the lighting (power) feeds to the red battery positive wire and the rear brake light switch wiring (brown wire). I jumpered the two ground pins together on the relay and grounded the wire to the frame. I also grounded the black battery ground wire to the frame.

When I tried to start the bike today after configuring the relay the way Mark had suggested, the motor was already warmed up from earlier, so it should have readily started, but it was a no go. The key was in the ON position. I tried kicking with the headlight off and on. I tried the kill switch in both off and on positions.

Any suggestions where I could have gone wrong?

- Could I have bought the wrong relay?
- When I floated the lighting coil ground, I disconnected it from the allen screw, there was a black wire and a bare wire soldered together attached to a circular connection. I soldered a (yellow) wire to the whole thing, then taped if off and taped off the corner where the screw hole was, so there's no possibility of grounding again. Should I have cut the black wire off of it and separated it from the bare wire before running the additional lighting lead?
- Should I detach the black battery ground wire?
- Could the LED resistors have anything to do with the bike not starting?


If worst comes to worst, I can always buy a new appropriate rectifier and hook up a capacitor, but I'm trying to keep things simple 

Not mine, but this looks pretty good.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2032771627106331/?ref=browse_tab&referral_code=marketplace_top_picks&referral_story_type=top_picks

Here's a '77 French Blue that showed up on CL today. 80-90% complete!
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/mcy/d/napa-1977-yamaha-rd400/7705647682.html

An RZ350 just popped up in the Lake Tahoe area. Looks pretty good.
https://reno.craigslist.org/mcy/d/tahoma-1984-yamaha-rz350/7682780911.html

Not mine. Thought this might be of interest to someone.
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/mcy/d/hayward-1985-yamaha-rz350-kenny-roberts/7669907196.html

I don't know if this is allowed, since this is a Craigslist/eBay watch, but this just popped up in Facebook Marketplace. Seems to be all there in pretty nice condition!
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/275720528491039/?ref=messenger_share

Not mine, but I thought I'd pass these along, since they're so spectacular!

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/mpo/d/san-jose-webco-heads-yamaha-rd400/7190428984.html

Not mine, but I found this today:

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/mcy/d/concord-yamaha-rd400-daytana-special/7153009908.html

Not mine, but this deal looks pretty promising!

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/mcy/d/eureka-rz350-pair-of-bikes/6993494369.html

Not mine. Reasonable price. Just needs stripping and polish.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1979-Rd-400-Heads-Daytona/303303246513?hash=item469e4842b1:g:mPQAAOSwb59dkTgE

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1979-Yamaha-RD400-Daytona-Special-Head-RD400f-New-79-RD-400-2v0-2vO/153576695412?hash=item23c1e26674:g:m3EAAOSwmpBdNkNG

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/mpo/d/redwood-city-rd400-parts/6929272907.html

I just bought the Newtronic ignition for $50. Here's the sweet ride he's building.

Not too bad...

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/mcy/d/redwood-city-1973-yamaha-rd350/6928195660.html

I wasn't looking for a classic car to work on- this old girl pretty much just landed in my lap. A work friend overheard my miscellaneous ramblings about how I crashed my track car in to a wall at Sears Point, and the monumental effort I had to expend to get it in drivable shape for my next event 8 days later. She told me that she had a 1974 BMW 2002 sitting in her garage and that she didn't know what to do with it. One day (thirty some years back) the engine started "smoking", so she tucked the car away. And there it sat. Fortunately, she had put the car in non-op before retiring her. Her house and garage were a total mess, as she was somewhat of a hoarder, so it took a long 3 months before she allowed me to come over and view the vehicle. It had a tick over 50,000 miles on it. The body and interior were in very good shape for being over 40 years old- it was like a time capsule! Negotiations moved very slowly. I had to be careful- she was like a feral cat- one quick move and she would run off. Finally the day came when we did the paperwork! I bought the car for $1500.



It took some effort to actually get the car home. The brakes were locked up, so I had to make a second trip to her house with more tools to free up the brakes. Then she tells me that there's no key. The steering wheel was slightly turned to the left, so we had to keep adjusting the car, as we rolled her out. We called tow truck, but after he arrived, he refused to pick up the car, since the registration wasn't current! (Really???) After 2 more hours of phone calls, we finally found someone who would take her to my house.

The first few months were the hardest. I had to locate the key code on the car, then order keys from Australia. (I wasn't about to pay BMW $400 to cut me a key!) When the keys arrived, I found that the pins in the ignition were stuck, so I had to break open the ignition core to fix it myself, since no locksmith would do it without first locating OEM parts to put it back together again. I had the radiator boiled and checked. I drained the old gasoline out of the fuel tank. Amazingly there was still 6 gallons of 30-year old gas back there!!! I gave the carb a good cleaning and changed all the fluids out. I replaced all the ignition parts and bought a new battery. Then came the day of reckoning- the car actually started!

I was pretty excited that the car didn't seem to have any real bad damage done to the motor. I did see the smoke. I'm pretty sure that it's just a head gasket that needs to be replaced. I went ahead and purchased all new suspension (Bilsteins, springs, sway bars), full stainless steel exhaust and header, bigger brakes, restored basket-weave wheels from Hungary. Then I got tired of working on the car. There she's sat for over 2 years now- occupying one of my garage spaces on jack stands. I put so much work into getting her started that I felt exhausted from the efforts and was just looking for easier stuff to work on- projects with instant gratification. I built a couple of other vehicles up. And now it's time for the RD400.



Somewhere along the RD build, I'll get back to the BMW. I'll sell off the Miata to make some room. Then I will need to shuffle some cars around the garages. When the Yamaha is finished, then work on the car will resume. I guess I'm a little moody about my projects- I just have to go with it, when the feeling is right.

I sold my 2001 Suzuki SV650s that was totally setup for the track- the race crouch was completely killing my back. I just wasn't quite ready to hang up my riding boots just yet, so I thought I would try out a cruiser. I found this little 2010 XL883N "Iron" for cheap and immediately started working on it. This picture only shows some of the work done- it's had SOOO much more since! The first things to go were the horrible suspension components. New Progressive springs and shocks front and rear. Nightster wire wheels replaced the heavy cast mags. New brake lines, pads and Michelin tires helped with contact and control. I converted the rear end (used to have a side license plate), then replaced the saddle and got some saddlebags for commuting. I replaced the intake, got a full 2-1 Vance & Hines exhaust, installed a "big bore" kit and upped the cc's from 883 to 1250, did a little regearing, then added a new engine management system. New mini-fairing, headlamp and mini-ape hangers, and there's probably more that I forgot about. I've had this Harley for 5 years now and have never had a sore back from riding ever! I haven't had the bike dyno'ed, but it probably has about 85hp. Plus this bike still gets 45 MPG to boot! Not too shabby!

I've bought this used RD400 back in 1986, while going to school in San Luis Obispo, California. I've always loved the way they looked and I would frequently drop by the now defunct Kawasaki/Husqvarna dealership way down on Higuera St. to sit on bikes. One day, this old beat up RD was sitting in front of the shop. It was being sold on consignment for $500. I asked for a test ride and the salesperson replied no problem, provided I had 3 things. 1) I needed to be wearing pants (I was wearing shorts)  2) I needed to wear a helmet which they could provide for me  3) I would need to produce either a M-class license or at least a permit. I told him no problem and that I would be back the next day. I didn't have a license or permit, so I then ran literally across the street to the DMV and took the test without even looking at a handbook. The following day I took the bike for a test ride and fell in love! I was able to haggle with the owner a little and purchased the bike for $400!

I rode the bike for a number of years while going to school, as it was my daily commuter. Eventually the bike was retired in 1994, as I bought a car, then another brand new bike. So for years after, the bike sat around in various garages until I bought my own house. Finally around 10 years ago, I tore the entire bike down and put her in boxes, awaiting the time for a nice restoration.



I've always had intentions of rebuilding this RD- it was the first bike I've ever owned and I was totally in love with it. I started buying parts for it in the late '90's, pretty much when the Internet was starting to make a major impact on the world. (eBay was still in its infancy, but I still hadn't discovered it yet.) I found a wiring harness in Australia off the Internet. That was my first parts purchase for this bike in the new era. Over the years since, I've collected another RD400 frame (complete with clear California title), engine case complete with transmission and extra kick starter, forks, headlight buckets and ears, Daytona head, Factory Products chambers, side covers, fuel tank, RD350 wheels, MotoCarrera coils (probably just Emgo), gauges, and boxes of other parts not worth mentioning. My computer probably has about 1000 bookmarks having to do with this bike. Over the years, I've had interesting conversations with Gary from Spec II, Doug Johnson of MotoCarrera fame (we had talks about me purchasing his company), Scott Clough for building my motor. It's been a long journey, but now it's finally time to actually begin the build!

For years, I've dreamed about building up a TD3 replica vintage racer, but more recently, I've decided to go with a more ridable/streetable RD creation with no fairings. That alone will probably cut a few thousand off the budget. I'll be using a stock coffin fuel tank, while I'm still shopping around for a nice aftermarket seat.  I've already purchased all Race Tech internals for my forks and I'll be going with Ikon rear shocks. For the first iteration, I'm going to use the RD350 wheels with Battlax tires. I'll still be using points and condenser for ignition- I'll probably switch to a different system later. I'm handing my motor off to a local engine builder- a Yamaha trained mechanic who's been building these motors for 30+ years. One of my cylinders was already bored out to 66mm, so there wasn't much meat left to bore. I was recently lucky enough to snag a set of jugs off of eBay for just over $200! These cylinders are still standard bore, claiming that the engine had only less than 400 miles before it was torn down! I've managed to purchase just about everything OEM for the engine except for the connecting rods- I went with Pro-X.

I spent last week polishing up the Daytona head. I don't really care for it to be mirror fine- I'm not after "show" quality. I do plan to use this bike and I just needed it cleaned up, as it had really oxidized a bit.



I spent a few hours thumbing through all my old paperwork and I do believe that I actually registered the bike non-op back in 1994! I am pretty certain that the DMV will have no record of my bike in their system. I'm hoping that they're just going to have me sign an affidavit about non-use, then have me verify my bike with my local LEO. With any luck, I can get this bike registered for under $200! (I have an old classic BMW car that sat in it's previous owners garage untouched for 30 years, but was luckily put in non-op before being put to bed. It took me 5 trips between going to AAA and the DMV to get the registration up to date, so I kind of know this drill!)

Yesterday morning, I did some insurance shopping. I was able to add this old RD to my Geico Harley Davidson policy for a mere $35 more per year! That's good enough to get the registration process rolling. Once the bike is built up, I'll shop for better insurance.

I then drove down to AAA and presented to them my problem. The told me frankly that if the non-op goes further back than 10 years, I need to pay a visit to the DMV- just what I had suspected. I stopped by the DMV, but the line was already 10 people out the door! and it was only 10:00am!! I went home and made an online appointment for next week rather :)

So now is the waiting game. I've still got parts coming in the mail, so all is good. It's a good time to take a little break and get my garage organized for this build. I've got a small parts washer coming that should show up in the next couple of days. Last week, I bought a fairly large compressor for media blasting that I need to get set up and situated.

Howdy! I'm new to this forum, maybe. I've been lurking on 2-stroke forums for so long, I could've had an account here long ago, but I can't remember. I bought my '77 RD400 back in 1986. I finally put her to bed after about 8 years of daily commuting, since I bought a new SV650. For years she got moved around from house to house. Eventually, I broke her down and put the parts in boxes. I've always had intentions of doing a full restoration, possibly building a vintage replica racer. For the past 20 years, I've been collecting parts, buying mostly from eBay and Craigslist.

Since I really wasn't sure of what I wanted to build, I just started buying all sorts of stuff. My registration lapsed and the back reg was going to be so steep, I just bought another frame (complete with clear title). I've got a spare engine case complete with tranny, RD350 wheels, spare gauges, forks, fuel tank, oil tank, etc., etc.

Over the years, tackling this RD project just seemed so daunting, other simpler projects always came first. I built the SV650 and a Mazdaspeed Miata for track days, a Jeep JK for crawling, a Harley as another DD and I still have an old BMW 2002 on jack stands! But FINALLY the time has come to build this RD400!!!

I found an old certified Yamaha mechanic in my area who has tons of experience building these 2-strokes. We've been emailing back and forth for 10 years now about getting this motor built. (I actually bought some parts from him off of eBay 20 years ago!) I'm planning on using a Daytona head that I just finished polishing. I'm just about ready for him to start the build, but I'd like to repaint the engine covers and blast the engine case first. I picked up an old set of Factory Pipes that are in pretty decent shape- they just have a few dings that I'm hoping to pop out by freezing.

I'm hoping that I can use this forum for support while working on this build. There's so much to learn. So much I don't know. In any case, I'm very excited about finally getting to work on this bike! With any luck, it might be up and running by Fall!

Cheers,
Eddy