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Two different bikes.

YDS3

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/253180516765124/

TR3

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2725480510876358/

I really think I'd like an RZ350. Liquid cooled, better ergonomics, etc. Bit, are they really worth the added expense? Just basic parts for these bikes can be almost double what an AC RD runs?

I know it comes down to personal preference but a lot of you guys have owned one while I'm a noob at this. I've never even seen one in person yet. So there's that as well.

Same thing goes for the GT750 pipe dream I have lol.

This looks like it's in decent shape and it's a good price. I'd make the trip for anyone interested if I don't snag it lol.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/587530202687606/

https://www.ebay.com/itm/363565515087

Claims they haven't touched it mechanically. Yet also claims its worth 10k? Non Running? LMAO.

I'd buy it if it wasn't gonna go for stupid money. 

I saw this on EBAY and I'm curious. I see there is little information on actual pump numbers available for these RD's. I mean, the parts inside them etc are shown, but YAMAHA left the entire pump assembly off the parts fiche's that I've found.

So, what is this pump: https://www.ebay.com/itm/124915803284

Are the bodies the same for the RD? What do you think he damaged when messing with it? I found it hard to tell.

I just picked up a set of NOS float arms for the RD (Ebay actually came through with a good deal). They are your typical brown brass color from age with small hints of corrosion, but far away from the float operation. Aside from setting the fuel height, etc. I was just gonna clean them off with a course rag and some carb clean. Should I be concerned about polishing the float arms up a bit?

Oh what is that.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/174949491567?hash=item28bbcd636f:g:zisAAOSw8z1hS4T3#viTabs_0

Ok, it looks... ok? But, no title, and non-running for... 8k? I mean come on. Yea its OBO, well my offer would be 4k if that.

Question time.

It seems no matter how meticulous I try to be I can never assemble a motor without a bit of dust getting in it. My garage is not clean, but neither are any of the motorcycle shops I've ever been in where people service a plethora of bikes... 2 strokes included. Vertical scratches on pistons and in cylinders, a pattern? Is it just me? Are we really expecting to see pristine pistons every single top end refresh? How do some people manage this seemingly miraculous feat, but others (myself) can never seem to make it happen?  It's not like I'm pouring dirt in the motor ffs.

but not out of ports.

I was really curious if the HCL-based Works cleaner would clean the cylinder walls of aluminum on my bike. But, alas, it seems this will not work as well as hoped. No minty fresh smelling cylinders for me. So, muriatic acid it is? How does one prevent the ports from getting acid on them? Q tips?

How do I know what is or isn't aluminum on the cylinder? The scratches don't really look aluminum colored... just black kinda.

Not wanting to reinvent the wheel. But are there any advantages to running a grose jet in a stock RD350 mikuni carb?

Do they even make one that would work?

Motors out.

Let's see what we got.

May I have another?


https://www.ebay.com/itm/184882869816?hash=item2b0be0b638:g:894AAOSwC6tgujoi

These look pretty cool. They look a lot like allspeeds to me.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/512030516656751/

I need a headlight rim and this guy has one. I worked like crazy to fix my old bucket so everything was straight. But, I messed up my old headlight rim, so it doesn't look right (drilled out the adjuster bolt and accidentally sent the drill bit through the rim).

https://www.ebay.com/itm/233848106856

Problem is... and forgive me if anyone here either is this person, or knows this person. But, I got banned from buying from this guy after he sold me a bent up and cracked RD dash for $250 and refused to refund me any of the money. As far as I'm concerned he can pound sand, but... he does have the best price on the rim's I've seen for anyone that wants one.

The best of topics that EVERYONE LOVES.

Motor:

Timing set to 1.8 (Dial-indicator set only. Janky timing light is janky.)
Exhaust is Street Retro JL's. (Lomas himself said they were designed to mimic the stock exhaust in an email to me.) Although how that supposedly works confuses me.

The carburetor specs I started with were as follows,

Stock Mikuni VM28's that are Dave F Modded (drilled out, not tapped.)
Needle in 3rd position.
40 pilot.
270 main.
Air screw turned out to 1.5.
Idle screw at 1.25 in. (1400 RPM idle.)

Where I ended up to get smoothest, fastest idle was as follows,

40 pilot (3 turns out)
37.5 pilot (2.25 turns out)
35 pilot (not 100% sure just yet. Seems to like 1.5?)

I'm just having a hard time tuning the pilot circuit by ear. The throttle is settling into a steady idle off a snap open fairly quickly, but it is lagging slightly as compared to what it was with the 40 pilot (almost instant return to idle). If this is the case, something was definitely off with the 35 pilots before at 1 turn out.

So, are there any similar setups that are a better baseline to go off of? Anyone else end up higher than a 35 pilot with stage 1 porting, etc?

So, I ran into this issue when I initially switched the stop lamp to an LED. The lamp checker flashed the stop lamp bulb constantly. So, I removed the bulb and away I went. This might sound counter-intuitive, but since switching to the Vape ignition, I wanted to switch back to a regular bulb and just use the LED as a spare. Simple reason, I wanted the stop lamp indicator to just work.

Obviously I re did the whole harness. Everything is working better than it ever has... But, the stop lamp light is always on. The rest of the dash lights aren't though... So,  either the lamp checker relay is staying powered, or, I hooked something up wrong. Anyone have any thoughts?

I knew somewhere along the line I'd forget something.

The relay for the vape... the brown wire is what again? It looks like a ground with the loop on the end. Anyways I can review chucks post on that.

The rest of the wiring harness. The plugs I remember were for the old reg/rectifier. But.. the yellow wire on the new harness is a male and so is the rear light wire. I'm assuming the maker of the harness screwed up?

I don't remember if I need the green/yellow wire, or the red/yellow. And there's a random ground hanging out. Sweet.

Also, the long connector for the turn signals. I have them connected but the colors don't make sense to me. *Audible Sigh*

A slow process... Soon to be accelerated.

Most are of parts prepped. But the wheels are back on the bike. Parts are bolting up slowly. I just need the paint work. Should be ready Thursday... I'll believe it when I see it! Is this Cafe Racer of Ypsilanti all over again?!?

God I hope not. Lol

Should you soak your used clutch plates again when reassembling the motor?

I've been painting my side covers in preparation for reassembly on the motor. But, oil makes a mess. I figure the clutch fibers have plenty of soaked in oil and aside from that I'll have a fresh amount of oil in the motor once in the bike.

Am I working on messing something up if I don't?

A few folks have inquired so I figured I'd share what I found and use frequently to save money on standard shipping charges.

www.parcelmonkey.com

I am not in any way affiliated with them. I started looking around for ways to save on your typically high shipping charges from FedEx and UPS. As an example, a 15x15x12 box that weighs 20 lbs, if you were to go to the UPS site and ship it across the lower 48, would run you anywhere from 70 to 100 dollars or more depending on insurance.

Through parcel monkey that same shipment would run around $35.

I am not 100% sure how they do it, but I think they buy up a bulk rate and resell them to site users at a slight markup. In the end we both win. I've shipped 8 or so packages ranging in sizes and weights from 70lbs or less and have never paid more than $55.

A great example was the label I paid $30 for I emailed to Mr Ritter so he could send my cylinders and heads back. It got sent next day air from UPS. I didn't pay extra or anything.

Just thought I'd share what works for me.