Messages

The wire brush treatment is good for the interior walls but for the seal lands I use stainless dental picks and scrape the lands by hand.  Does a better job and gets all the rust out.
Lyn Garland

Yamaha designed the seals to be installed dry and taught in their schools that they should be installed dry that is why I mentioned that.
You see no mention in any service or technical manuals of the use of bonding agents on the OD of seals while you are instructed to seal the case mating surfaces.
Lyn Garland

If/when you replace the sprocket seal clean the area with laquer thinner or acetone very well and assemble the new seal dry; do not put Yama-bond on the OD of the seal.  Put all the case seals (and bearing surfaces) up clean and dry.
Lyn Garland

The stock RD rims. 1/6 and 1/85, work very well with 90/90 and 110/80 tires.  We were required to use OEM stock rims in Formula RD and those are the size tires we raced with and they worked, and looked, great.  I am partial to Avon's but there are very good tires of other brands that are a bit cheaper that work very well in both wet and dry conditions.
Lyn Garland

Yamaha had a kit for the individual that used Timeserts that replaced the spark plug threads.  In fact they sold 6mm and 8mm kits also. I have the entire series in the shop and have used all of them over the years.  Haven't tried to buy the inserts from the local shop bud did find them on the internet.  If anyone wants more info, post the request here and I'll get it for you.  They are very simple to use and better, in my opinion, than heli coils. 
Lyn Garland

I would ditch the stock air box and use the Y boot.  Reason is that it is easier to work on the carbs by sliding the Y boot back up and out of the way and the filter system is quite good.

Stock carbs is a good idea.

I am not a real fan of cross-over tubes; had one on my last street 400 and didn't see any real benefit/impact, but I'm not the most
sensitive guy to mid-throttle engine smoothness either.  If it begins to buck a little, I simply down shift and gas it...

I find nothing wrong with OEM steel reeds.  We used them for many years, both street and racing, before fiber reeds came out and I still use the steels on the street.  I only had one steel crack on the track and it was a length wise fracture.  I think broken reeds might come from people who cut the cages and aren't careful about leaving the rubber cushion seat.  I do not believe anyone can tell the difference between fiber and steel reeds in street performance; maybe on a dyno but it won't be significant. 
Lyn Garland

The Festival has been cancelled but the race has not been cancelled; at least at this time.  I can't give you the site to authenticate this info but I got it from a good source.  As soon as I have a lock on this I'll post it here. 
Lyn Garland
PS:  Duhh.  I went to AHRMA.org and they said that the race will go on as scheduled from 8 to 11 October even though the festival has been cancelled.  It appears that all facets of the race, dirt and road events will be held.
LPG

It has been my experience that the needle reduces he flow of gas more than the slide reduces the air flow therefore leaning out the mixture.  Less gas but almost the same amount of air = seizure.
Lyn Garland
PS: I didn't say 7/8 throttle, I said close the throttle just a bit; just ease off a tad.

I believe I have one RD 400 right side carb still in the Yamaha box sitting on the shelf. If you are interested let me know and I'll get it out and look at it. 
Lyn Garland
vintspclty@aol.com

I do, or did a couple of months ago.  If you want a copy email me at vintspclty@aol.com.
Lyn Garland

There is a lot wrong with this bike.  Here are the things I spotted:
Pipes appear TZ 250, maybe C or D.  Hard to tell because of silencers.  Certainly not TZ 350.  Wrong hangers also.
Fairing is not original but that is not a big thing except at that $11 K price.
Rear gas tank support pads are wrong.
Wrong kill switch.
No temp gauge.
Yazaki tach.  Should be Nipon Seki.  The Yazaki was a TD1 item, maybe early TD2; not TD3 or TZ.
Wheel rims are not OEM.  Like the fairing, not a big thing because that was frequently done back in the day. 

I didn't bother to look at the spares but this will be a very expensive project.  I guess I should go back and look at the VIN to make sure it is really a TZ 350 and not a 250, 383 frame number as opposed to a 430 frame number.  If it is really a 350 chassis and the numbers match it's probably worth $7.5K if it's a 250 in that shape it is worth $5K. 
Lyn Garland

I sell aftermarket base gaskets, both TZ style and RD style, in three thicknesses developed specially to avoid the problem you had.  The real problem with the OEM TZ gasket is the center web is very thin because the TZ cylinder is a mono-block and the transfers are made that way.  Even enlarged the RD transfer ports don't work well with that gasket and mine is larger so you get a good seal.  My TZ style base gaskets are available in .22mm, .35mm, and .56mm sizes.  price is $13 each or $11 if you buy more than one.  Postage is $3.58.  The RD gaskets come in the same sizes and are relieved in the center section to avoid your problem.  Prices for them are $7 each, no discount for multiples. 
Lyn Garland

Whenever I could I removed the stock air box and used aftermarket filters.  I did that on all my street RDs and the race RDs, rules permitting; it just makes working on the bikes so much easier and makes them cleaner looking.  When I first started the only thing available was individual pod filters, so that is what we used, then the Y boot system became available and that is what I used.  As to reed systems; I suggest you just clean up the OEM reeds.  You are building a street bike and I don't know anything about your riding conditions in Denmark but you do not need a V Force system and boost bottle.  Crossover tube MIGHT be of some value to smooth things out a bit but I would try the stock set up first.  I am a strong believer in keeping the engines as stock as possible for street use.
Lyn Garland

To correctly check the crank you will need to pull the outer mains (support the crank on V blocks under the inner main bearings) so you should replace the outers and the seals.  If you haven't the tools required, dial indicators, support devices, etc, either Chuck Q or I can check the crank for you.  Only cost is the postal charge to and from you to me and I think Chuck provides the same service at no charge
but I'm not absolutely sure.    If your crank needs truing there may be a small fee but it isn't much. 
Lyn Garland

Interim Report:
I ordered the reverse bleeder from Amazon and bought the Pittsburgh pressure pump from Harbor Freight.  When comparing the Pittsburgh unit to the brake bleed valve on the caliper I thought there was no way that I could get an effective seal between the large hose and the small bleed valve.  The Amazon reverse bleeder has an adapter that fits the brake bleed fitting perfectly and it took me longer to set up the unit, purge the air from it, and connect it to the caliper.  With my trusty helper mechanic (wife) watching for the fluid to be expelled into the reservoir it took about six squeezes on the handle to purge the system of air bubbles.  Hold the handle closed, remove the line, tighten the bleed fitting and you are done. 

Except in my case.  No more brake than before.  Sooo, the problem is either a poorly rebuilt caliper or maybe the M/C is the wrong size.  The brake pads are moving, just not very far.  On one occasion, early on, I used a RD front M/C to activate the rear brake (took the Brembo out of the system) and it worked fine.  That is why I thought I had an air pocket in the line someplace. 

Thanks for everyone's advice; not I go back to work...
Lyn