1973 Rd350

[oxford]

I never intended to do a build thread on this bike so I am lacking a lot of progress pictures but since it isn't quite finished and I am chasing a few little problems I decided to put it here instead of the show off section.

1973 Rd350 that I bought for $150 off of Craigslist years ago.  It was pretty much complete but was a little crusty.  Last registration in it was 1979 and I assume that was the last time it was on the road.  I believe it sat inside most of that time but the elements still got to a lot of it.  It didn't really matter as most of it wasn't used anyways.
The pictures make it look nicer than it really was.

[quocle603]

Cool! Keep us posted. I have a 73 with a sissy bar as well, I think I can officially take it off since my gf knows how to ride now. MORE HP baby! 

I remember someone posting a 73 with one on a two stroke page and people gave  him so much crap for having it with comments like "It's an RD, not and HD". 

[oxford]

Here is where I ended up at.





Some details of the bike. 

Motor rebuilt with stage 1 porting and heads cut, crank rebuilt, and running pwk28 carbs with a powerdynamo ignition.

JL mild steel pipes

Stock Rd350 rear brake and tx500 front hub with rd discs.  Excel rims(2.15 front, 2.5 rear) and stainless spokes. Nissin radial master cylinder with 3/4" bore(19mm)

Rd400 swingarm, tx500 front forks, aftermarket steering damper.  Progressive rear shocks(13.5", I think) and racetech front springs.  Fork tubes are from a Yamaha XS which are longer than the rd tubes.  This pokes them out above the triple clamp and allows the clipons to be mounted above the triple rather than below.

Tz350c aluminum tank, tz350 seat from Meadspeed and Airtech front fender.  Rear of frame was cut off and re-tubed to fit the seat.

Fast from the past rearsets, Tazzori clipons, Speedhut tach/speedo.

[oxford]

There is a lot of hate for the dual disc on a rd but I like the look of it.  I did my best to keep the weight down as much as I could.

I thinned down the stock discs to 5mm on the lathe and each one got 100 3/8" diameter holes drilled in it.  The carriers were lightened up a little where I could.  The front hub was also lightened up some and the speedo drive deleted.  Calipers are aftermarket aluminum with 202 Eric's aluminum pistons.  Stainless lines were done via the Supertune method using AN fittings and separate lines.

[oxford]

The TZ tank was an entire project in itself.  As a lot know, the tz350a tank will pretty much drop onto a rd frame.  This tank was from a "C" which is the mono-shock bike but the tank looks the same other than missing the sump that the earlier tanks had.  In my stupidity I assumed that the tanks were pretty much the same and just the sump was different.  Well that was WRONG.  The underside of the tanks are completely different and the "C" tank does not drop onto and fit a rd frame.

I discovered this after winning the ebay auction and anyone that watched TZ parts will know that the parts don't go cheap.  This tank was no exception.  To make matters worse after getting it and poking around there was quite a bit of body filler it it from years of racing.  I don't believe the seller knew how rough it really was under the paint.

Well it was decision time, try to re-list it on eBay and most likely take a bath on what I paid for it or start cutting.

Well, pictures should tell what the decision was.

[oxford]

Cutting the bottom of the tank out did allow me to access the inside and pound a lot of the dents out.  The tank still isn't perfect and I still had to use some body filler in it.  I have a feeling these tanks were a little rough on the bodywork when they were new. 

Here is a few pics of the rear frame.

[oxford]

Here is what I did to rubber mount the JL pipes in the rear.  I started out with a 1/2" bolt and milled two flats on it to fit the slots.  The heads of the bolts got faced off so the pipes don't stick out any further then they have to.  They were then drilled and tapped 5/16".

The pipes were drilled out to fit a rubber grommet and a shoulder bolts holds the whole thing up.  It came out pretty good.

[oxford]

2 problems I need to sort through on it right now.

1, the gas cap leaks.  The seal and spring were both new.  The top lip of the tank was a little rough which I thought was the problem.  I filed/sanded the marks out to a flat area for the seal to sit on.  That may have helped a little bit it still leaks.

Anyone with any experience on the TZ caps have any suggestions? 

2, the electronic/gps speed is not happy with no battery in the bike so I need to add something.

I need to get it painted but I would like to get the gas cap sorted out before I do.  The jetting is also a little rich but rideable so I may not screw around with it too much more this year.

[RDFL]

Very nice, impressive work on the tank.

[m in sc]

 

[RustyRD]

The bike looks fantastic, I am really liking the wheels and front brake setup

[85RZwade]

I'm a fan, you're setting the bar pretty high! Mad welding skills 

[Jspooner]

Looks really good. 

[SoCal250]

  That's some quality work there! Impressive

[OnlyCrimnson]

Impressive, it looks great.