Pidjones' bicentenial build (a '76 RD400)

[pidjones]

can you send a photo of the seat? I am always looking for a new seat.

Maybe in a few days. I've already mounted everything from the old seat to it, wrapped it back up and stashed it away. Doesn't look fantastic - looks like a $180 seat, not a $360 seat. But, will do for my purposes.

Well, this happened today. Also showing a method I use for removing the center stand spring easily. Spring hooks are great for light springs, but I've been taking them off  of CB750s and GL1000s. I am afraid that the center stand isn't coming off, though - the center stand pivot seems rusted into one piece. Presently soaking in penetrant. Discovered one fork spring missing  yeah! Ordered a pair of used ones on ebay. Not looking for fantastic performance so they should be fine. Next comes the degreasing and preparation for paint.

[pidjones]

After about four days soaking with a gallon of Evaporust, I drained the gas tank, rinsed, and dried it followed by spraying the inside with fogging oil. Now the Evaporust is in a plastic tub with the rear sprocket, washers, etc. soaking in it.

[pidjones]

No photos today, but the RD400 case mating surfaces are cleaned up (about six hour's work) and the transmission installed and tested that it shifts (one hour's work). Tomorrow the crank goes in!

[Czakky]

Moving along nicely! It's a good feeling when all those gears are in there and the thing actually shifts!

[pidjones]

Case mated. Did some cleaning on the frame and parts while waiting for wrist pins and clips. Took the frame to a car wash, sprayed it with Gunk, then oven cleaner, then hit it with the soap wand and rinse wand. It shows evidence of having paint over rust (not real bad, but that's never good) as well as paint over the headstock label and rear Brake Fluid label (probably others, but that's all I can find). Thumbnail brought them both semi-legible. Did a little abrasive wheel work and more scrubbing. Primed a few spots  on the frame, and primed and painted (first coat) the footpeg mount, pillion peg mounts, and swing arm. I'm sure the swingarm welds are good, but what did they use, a Harbor Freight AC flux core MIG? That's much more weld spatter than I've ever seen on factory welds, even Hondas.

[pidjones]

More removing rust that was painted over. Nothing deep or extensive, but to an old Navy nuc, you never pretty-paint over rust. With the frame flipped upside-down, I got to ~80% of it, wiped it down with acetone and isopropyl, then sprayed with etching primer. Ran out of that, but have two cans coming from Amazon tomorrow. I won't do anymore cleaning until the primer is here to prevent flas rust. Have found that the most effective for this is an 80 grit nylon abrasive wheel on 1/4" shank chucked in my old 1/4" Black and Decker drill.

[pidjones]

No pictures today (well, I took them, but forgot to bring the camera up from the garage). All buttoned up, rotor and stator mounted, and timing set (figured it would be easier with the engine on the bench). Plugged intake and put it in the big plastic storage box. I need to do some lathe bit grinding and cut a flange on the lathe, so best to have it protected from that. After finishing with the lathe, I might get to de-rust the remainder of the frame and prime it. Then, ,all get stored away as we are having work done on our house that will require me to consolidate two GoldWings and the RD400 parts into the front half of the garage so that sheetrock can be ripped out over the garage door.

[pidjones]

[m in sc]

progress!

i usually just zip tie bags over the intakes and stuff rags in the exhaust. plugs are fancy. 

[pidjones]

progress!

i usually just zip tie bags over the intakes and stuff rags in the exhaust. plugs are fancy. 

The plugs are what I used for the pressure testing, just poped in without clamps.

Not much more yesterday. Had to blow/shred/haul leaves. Only the third time this year so far. I expect four or five more sessions at least. A little cleaning on the frame upside-down, then primer. Then, the wife started cleaning shelves next to me kicking up dust on my wet primer. Moved the frame away from her and calked an end to the day's frame work.

[pidjones]

I had started cleaning off the spots where I could see that the frame had rust painted over (a no-no for Navy guys). Got about half of it done and the wife started doing dusty things so I put it up. She worked today, so I finished putting etching primer on the spots I had found before and cleaned up the rest of it and applied etching primer to the whole frame. About an hour later I was able to get a coat of Rustoleum Appliance Epoxy Black to the part of it that I could hit with it upside-down. Tomorrow, if the weather is still good, I will flip it over and finish the black on it, then hang it from the garage ceiling until ready for assembly.

[pidjones]

A little memory here of my first '76 RD400c that I bought new in Charleston, SC. It was ~'77 or '78 and I decided to ride the bike home for a long weekend.  This is more than 500 miles, even with today's interstates. They were not complete back then. At least I only had a ~25-26 year old back at the time. Really, after Columbia SC headed North I became either numb or found the right position and the miles went by easy. Headed back to Charleston (Must have been a Tuesday, because I voted before I left) it all went real well until Columbia, SC at around midnight. Torrential rain started and I had to be back at the base Wednesday morning so I pressed on. I had purchased a rain suit at Kmart and it was just as good as you might suspect for a Kmart product. I was wearing a Bell Star full face helmet (one of the early ones) and that kept my glasses fairly clear, plus the visor didn't fog. Good thing because the rain was falling so hard that I could barely see the road. I made it home around 4 am and actually poured water out of my boots before going inside. My clothing was 100% soaked. I took a quick shower and shave, donned a clean uniform, and headed for the base, just getting there in time for muster. The RD never missed a beat. I don't remember how many miles I put on it, but purchased in late Summer of '76, sold in January '79 and although I had cages it was my main transportation the 50% of the time I was home (2 crew submarine). It never had an issue. Started right off every time. I never did any service beyond topping off the oil, tire pressure, and changing the transmission oil (once). Never took it back to the dealer for anything. Lots of trips to the beach, daily commute ~12 miles each way, at least once a week ride to friend's house in Ravenel Evening rides through the "marshland" (I was warned never to call them 'swamps') and up toward Summerville on Ashley River Road under the Live Oak canopy were memories I like to recall, too. That was a great age and time to be on a bike. I was mature enough though, to know that I was not mature enough to have that bike when I moved back to the mountains.
This my mother with the RD behind my Cougar:

[m in sc]

thats a fantastic pic and great story.

[85RZwade]

  thanks for sharing that 

[pidjones]

I try to do at least a little something on it every day, even though most is now put up in preparation (soon, we hope!) for house remodel. Yesterday I cleaned, tested, and painted the clocks and their frame. Today I assembled the dash and tested all lamps and the circuit that switched on-and-off from the speedometer to give input to the signal cancel unit. Full speed fast (in reverse) on my VSR battery powered drill is ~ 30 MPH and 6 K RPM.