'73 RD350 "Grape Ape" restore

[Cam]

I picked this up about a year ago, a little work has turned into a "restoration" that is still in progress. Not a OEM restoration but it will look stock with reliability upgrades. I took pics for my own reference but I can post them here if anyone is interested. The story was that it sat for 20-30 years in the basement of a NAPA store before it was bought from the guy who sold it to me. He left it as it was, and I'm glad he did as I would find out later. This is the condition as I found it:

 

[SoCal250]

Were those handlebars on it when you got it? Those are huge!

Nice score. Looking forward to seeing the progress on this one.

[Cam]

Yes, that's exactly the way it came! I still have the bars lying around. The cables were longer than stock but they had stretched the switch harnesses out of the headlight bucket.

[Organicjedi]

Leave the apes and sissy bar then hard tail it. 

[Seizer]

Leave the apes and sissy bar then hard tail it. 

Thank you for the legitimate belly laugh.

[Gill]

Please share pictures of the work carried out.
Those handle bars are boon in hot weather for underarms.

[Cam]

Leave the apes and sissy bar then hard tail it. 

That's always an option! 

More pics as I got it, not bad overall:

[Cam]

Fuel tank would be a challenge:

[Cam]

Sorry if these pics aren't the greatest, they were just for my reference. Grass in the slide was one reason I'm glad the PO didn't run it! Parts of the harness and frame were spray-bombed black decades ago.

[2 Stroke Jamoke]

Hears an excellent trick for the rusty inside of the tank. Go to home depot and look in the paint/cleaner section. Look for a product called prep n etch. It's for concrete prepping. Its basically a phosphoric acid solution and it will eat the rust out in no time. It will actually eat the whole tank! It's easy to use though,  just plug your tank holes, put about half the jug in and shake it! I left my tank sit on one side for 10 mins, then the other, and so on. Vigorous shaking helps, you will see the bare metal come through.  Make sure you neutralize the acid with a baking soda/warm water mix afterwards. I had excellent results! Good luck

[teazer]

Brandy Red.  Great color but the clear coating flakes off.  I have one in the shop right now for engine rebuild.

[Cam]

Hears an excellent trick for the rusty inside of the tank. Go to home depot and look in the paint/cleaner section. Look for a product called prep n etch. It's for concrete prepping. Its basically a phosphoric acid solution and it will eat the rust out in no time. It will actually eat the whole tank! It's easy to use though,  just plug your tank holes, put about half the jug in and shake it! I left my tank sit on one side for 10 mins, then the other, and so on. Vigorous shaking helps, you will see the bare metal come through.  Make sure you neutralize the acid with a baking soda/warm water mix afterwards. I had excellent results! Good luck

I've already got the tank done, but that's a great idea. I have a few other tanks I'll try this method out on. The bike is about 90% done, I thought i'd post my progress from the beginning up to now. Worked on bikes for years but this is my first full blown "restore", and it's been a great learning process. If anything it's tested my patience!

[SoCal250]

Another tank cleaning method is electrolysis. 
Here's an example: https://yamaha-rd125.blogspot.com/search/label/rust%20removal%20inside%20fuel%20tank

[Kawtriplefreak]

Plus one on electrolysis. I used it on my 75 RD tank several years ago with great success.

[Cam]

Teardown and starting to re-hab parts.