Okay, so I have spent the last month trolling FBmarketplace and stumbled across this find. I would like to know what you guys think as to what the value is as pictured would be. I will disclose what I paid after a few post are made. Thanks for playing along. I was very excited to find a stock, basically unmolested example of an RD. No keys to the bike so I have to map out the key situation.I am so curious as to how the inside of the tank looks.
500-1200
I paid $800 for a 73 in similar condition around 5 years ago. It came with a spare engine and a box of spare parts. The engine in the bike wasn't stuck. About the same amount of rust as yours. I hosed it down with penetrating oil a few times and everything came apart OK.
IR8D8R
It's rough. I think that is an $800 motorcycle. If it has a title $1000-$1200.
Thanks for the input, I scored the new project for $300.00 . reminded me of deals back in the day. LOL
I hope you bought a lottery ticket as well, because it was clearly your lucky day. Congratulations on a great find!
:bang: :bang: :bang: lottery ticket dang it... your right Wade. Thanks I feel like was a good deal..the plan is to keep a very stock appearance, I have the RD400 engine that John Ritter built a crank for and extensive and head work. I now have a fire lit under me to finish assembling the engine and install into the frame. Tires chain and sprockets, brakes ya know yada yada yada...
WOW! Congrats RUSTYYY
A very nice deal and a fun project. Good score there!
Thank you guys. Should be fun to put one back to stock appearance instead of going away from stock. At least in appearance.
yeah, good score indeed. they are def out there.
That's a cracking deal. Nice one!
Congrats! Nice score.
Keys should be fairly easy to acquire. Just get the key number off the lock and order from ebay. I've bought OEM NOS keys from seller rigentinc-cycle in the past.
Thanks for the info on the keys.
Nice score
I'll allow you to double your money and sell it to me for $600 :dawg:
I once got a 78 rd400 for free! Ended up costing around 5k to get it built but I spared no expense. Cheep bikes are the most expensive! Cheers to a good score
Very Nice find :whoop: That tank alone looks worth more than what you paid for the whole bike :thumbs:
you are correct, I bought an ebay r5 tank and seat and both with shipping were more than the bike. :umm:
we all get lucky every now and then.
tires and tubes arrived today, and John from Economy has some goodies on the way to me also.
So when all your help runs away you do what is needed to get your new toy unloaded. I did get tires mounted when they arrived, waiting on more goodies.
Dunlops!
Yes. We have a winner. I have always had good results with them. Soooo. I am staying with them one more time.
Quote from: RustyRD on June 22, 2024, 10:55:05 PMSo when all your help runs away you do what is needed to get your new toy unloaded.
:clap: that's one way to lift a bike! Can't say I've seen that method used before
Necessity is the mother of invention. Something like that, I wanted to get it inside the shop to scope it out..sooo :whistle:
got around to doing some cleaning and assembling the top end of the 400 that will reside in the 75 350 I just picked up. The goal is to get it rideable and then do a teardown to paint frame and body work, all the items to make it look presentable.
Thank you guys for the info on Yambits, I ordered shocks and a few other items on Wed. the 3rd and they arrived today Fri. the 5th. :olaf: :olaf: That company does not fool around with processing your order. looking to get it functional and then do a teardown to powder coat frame and swingarm. Any suggestions on fenders, the chrome is not to good.
I had the motivation to install the engine and chain and sprockets. There are still some parts left to acquire, however that's half the fun, waiting on new parts to arrive. :clap: :clap:
400 engine in a shorter swingarm 350 sounds like much fun to be had.
Very cool project. '75 orange 350 had the best paint scheme.
Thank you for sharing with us!
so spent some time this morning with the new project and offered up the spec 2 pipes, not completely installed but to the point to see what smaller details need to be ironed out.
i think the left and right pipes are swapped.
LOL might be , they have been hanging on a shelf the past year, I went out this morning and offered them up, they are loosely mounted. I will revisit later and check them out. Thanks
Mark, Thanks for the heads up ..great eye :eek: answers some of the questions going through my head earlier. They so eagerly wanted to be put to use they complained so little :rolleyes: Looks a little tidier now.
:olaf:
I have ordered multiple times from Yambits, and I am so impressed with their processing and shipping of the orders. The genie is out of the bottle , I decided to polish the sliders :rolleyes: I have about an hour invested in this slider.
spent most of the day cleaning and removing nicks and gouges from the sliders, time to order springs and reassemble. Yambits to the rescue with fork tubes, seals and dust cover. wheels and hub work is next on the list. The engine is almost ready for a first start after complete rebuild, top end and crank.
Racetech springs arrived on wed. was anxious to reassemble forks, however work dictated otherwise. I had time this morning to assemble one leg and am very pleased with the results. There is still one more leg to assemble and then swap out the legs. I am starting to get excited about engine start and first ride.
:bacon: :bacon: :bacon:
:righteous: :righteous:
clear on the forks is dry enough to install. What kind of suggestions on fork oil weight? Racetech springs only change on forks. Street use only , somewhat spirited riding :whistle: :whistle:
@200 lbs ive had god luck w maxima 20wt in rd forks. but thats me.
installed exhaust and worked on wiring, getting closer and need to find the speedo cover that I have placed somewhere to be safe. :umm:
Quote from: RustyRD on June 14, 2024, 05:01:58 PMI scored the new project for $300.00.
I hate you already
there are still a few deals floating around, I have been looking for years and finally ran across this one. I ran across it on FBmarket and price was 1234$ and I was put off by the obvious not sure pricing. The seller was a retired fella that had a small engine repair business at home, and helped someone move and was offered the bike as partial payment. He decided he would not be able to repair so listed it to get his money.
what is that front fender on your bike?
Looks like a RD400 fender to me but I could be wrong.
that's what it looked like to me too, but I have seen some cut down and shaped RD350 to look like that. Just curious if it was a DIY mod job or if somebody is selling RD400 style new fenders.
Front fender should be 400, I had purchased a 400 back in 1981 that was in need of rebuild and installed a TZ style full fairing and front fender. This has been a shed since that time, ran across it and it still looks pretty decent.
fuel lines and filters installed, tank cleaned and fuel onboard. Got the nerve up to finally crank it up, and with fingers crossed it came to life. This engine has been sitting and needing a rebuild since 1981. The crank was built by John Ritter and he performed top end work as well, and it all sounds good with no unusual sounds. I still need to do more thorough checkover prior to a test ride , but very close.
I have a video to post however I am having issues with it. A pic of it out of the shop
https://youtube.com/shorts/mPx1OMW5IVI
ok able to copy link from YouTube , need to make a better video, however here it is, IT'S ALIVE!!
sounds good. side note you can embed the video in the post. (theres a youtube button)^
DOH, :whistle: I see it now. Thank You Mark
:love: Love it, Russ :like:
Thank you sir. I would like to get a Texavina seat for it. maybe next week...
Had to do it. pulled the trigger on a Texavina seat, I look forward to posting pics of the seat on the bike when it arrives.
This is the model I have selected, hope it fits around the back of the tank ok, without too much of a gap. Now it just needs to hurry up and get here.
Well I ordered the seat 10/21 and recieved it today 12/20 what a wait, I felt like Ralphie on a Christmas story. looks great and fits well foam density seems to be ok, only a ride will determine. I really like the look. Merry Christmas everyone
The other seat loks good for me
the foam in the other seat is a repop and was very dense, and the pan had rusty edges. Are you interested in my old one?
Thanks Russ, Kind of a blueprint for my next build! Slowly amassing the parts.
the whole build turned out great :thumbs: Similar to the look I am going for.
Thank you so much. I really enjoyed this project. The bike was so complete that I quickly decided that it was going to be real close to stock at least in appearance. I still have the 400 engine in the frame that has the hot John Ritter port work and SpecII pipes. :burnout:
:metal:
What a brilliant concept of a bike. Maybe I don't get out much, but an orange '75 RD350 with a 400 in it has to be one of the best build ideas I've seen.
I had one years ago, 75 w a 400 motor. it was fun.
Beauty!
Thanks guys, that was sorta my goal. I had a bare frame and was building a roller when I stumbled onto this 75. I really look forward to getting the jetting close and seeing how strong the Ritter porting will be. I bought some brass for the carbs, I just need to free up some time to install them and establish a safe configuration. It is really rich at the moment, however it pulls good right off idle. Only 4-5 miles on the rebuild, so feeling it all out.
Today I took the time to disassemble the original engine from the RD I bought about a year ago, this is a number matching engine to the bike. I have not seen that before on any of my rd projects. Seems only fitting to rebuild it and place it back in the bike. Thought I would post some pics of the internal condition. An additional note, if you're not using JIS screwdrivers you need to make the investment. I have just in the past year purchased a set. Night and day difference in the fit. I guess I'm just stubborn but now I see the light.
(https://i.postimg.cc/njNw6xKx/temp-Image-Ncufe-X.avif) (https://postimg.cc/njNw6xKx)
(https://i.postimg.cc/hfv1V6Vb/temp-Imagemje-OZY.avif) (https://postimg.cc/hfv1V6Vb)
(https://i.postimg.cc/phgRkgph/temp-Image-Hykf-T3.avif) (https://postimg.cc/phgRkgph)
(https://i.postimg.cc/Xp6n5SRt/temp-Imageql-XYKg.avif) (https://postimg.cc/Xp6n5SRt)
(https://i.postimg.cc/KKPPZ2yF/temp-Imaged8ljnp.avif) (https://postimg.cc/KKPPZ2yF)
Quote from: RustyRD on June 14, 2024, 05:01:58 PMThanks for the input, I scored the new project for $300.00 . reminded me of deals back in the day. LOL
Excellent RD350B project bike ! :thumbs:
I had 2) 350B's back in the day.
there you go. fwiw my r5 had the original matching cases as well but a 6 speed transmission out of an rd sort of wound yup in there 😅
Makes it more fun :whoop: :whoop:
Quote from: RustyRD on August 03, 2024, 09:36:00 PMI have ordered multiple times from Yambits, and I am so impressed with their processing and shipping of the orders. The genie is out of the bottle , I decided to polish the sliders :rolleyes: I have about an hour invested in this slider.
Russ, those lowers/sliders came out looking real nice :olaf:
I just recently polished the fork lowers on my RD and boy what a difference. That same old yellowed crusty look of the original...I'm guess clearcoated finish. All gone! Now they just look smooth and shiny very akin to the polished cylinder heads and polishing on the clutch and Sprocket covers. Not perfect by any means and a lot of elbow grease. I had never done it before and watched a lot of videos but I had some of the stuff necessary but maybe not the best of abrasives. I used what I had...3m 220 grit wet/dry sandpaper wetted with water. Then I made a huge jump to 1000 grit wetted with water. Then I used an old tee shirt and Mother's chrome polish. I did it till I got sick of doing it and it came out pretty nice but again not perfect.
yup that works well. I usually last stage it with red scotchbite, then polish. if ypu want to keep it clean and shiny, wipe down w lacquer thinner and thrn hit it with gloss wheel clear ( if you do it again)
Good to know. Yeah I kinda felt bad doing it as I figured once you go that route there's no going back but it was just so far gone and it just doesn't seem realistic for me to try and recreate the original finish.
I used some clear I had on hand, that all is sound advice. I used Semichrome polish on those sliders.
well the time has come to tackle the wheels, new spokes and rims. So how should I finish the hubs? polished sides and mat centers, or all black?
(https://i.postimg.cc/7fJbKGMy/temp-Image4jw-Kz2.avif) (https://postimg.cc/7fJbKGMy)
(https://i.postimg.cc/4YCyqfBH/temp-Imagem-N0f-Oy.avif) (https://postimg.cc/4YCyqfBH)
Quote from: RustyRD on June 12, 2025, 09:12:52 PMwell the time has come to tackle the wheels, new spokes and rims. So how should I finish the hubs? polished sides and mat centers, or all black?
(https://i.postimg.cc/7fJbKGMy/temp-Image4jw-Kz2.avif) (https://postimg.cc/7fJbKGMy)
(https://i.postimg.cc/4YCyqfBH/temp-Imagem-N0f-Oy.avif) (https://postimg.cc/4YCyqfBH)
All black semi-gloss ?
couple of items arrived today, front
(https://i.postimg.cc/w7kQTVx6/temp-Image-MCa-Ooj.avif) (https://postimg.cc/w7kQTVx6)
rim and bearing set for rear hub.
Quote from: RustyRD on June 17, 2025, 04:40:52 AMcouple of items arrived today, front
(https://i.postimg.cc/w7kQTVx6/temp-Image-MCa-Ooj.avif) (https://postimg.cc/w7kQTVx6)
rim and bearing set for rear hub.
Russ,I've always liked how Nice those rims are;never had the $ for a set.
That rear rim w/ bearings in this picture:is that a 2.15 width ?
This is the front rim,1.85 and bearings are for rear hub. Rear rim actually arrived today, waiting on spoke set to arrive.
polish work on the front hub has began today , decent progress but I ran out of compound. Still have 50 years of imperfections to remove, however work has begun.
(https://i.postimg.cc/s10hgygm/temp-Image-Opaw-Fx.avif) (https://postimg.cc/s10hgygm)
Quote from: RustyRD on June 22, 2025, 11:38:50 AMpolish work on the front hub has began today , decent progress but I ran out of compound. Still have 50 years of imperfections to remove, however work has begun.
(https://i.postimg.cc/s10hgygm/temp-Image-Opaw-Fx.avif) (https://postimg.cc/s10hgygm)
100% better
Used a different tool on it today to remove more dings
(https://i.postimg.cc/f38t8BvW/IMG-1898.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/f38t8BvW)
Quote from: RustyRD on June 23, 2025, 09:27:42 PMUsed a different tool on it today to remove more dings
(https://i.postimg.cc/f38t8BvW/IMG-1898.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/f38t8BvW)
Polished alloy will look better than semi-gloss black.
Thank you , a little more time with the scotchbrite and the back to polish.
Quote from: grcamna3 on June 24, 2025, 02:08:08 AMPolished alloy will look better than semi-gloss black.
Definitely! I vote for brushed finish or polished.
Thanks, I have been thinking about semi gloss black just in the center of the hub.
Well indecision has led me to just polish on the outer flange and natural in the center, took the time to assemble the hub with new bearings and repack the speedo drive. Laced up and trued the front wheel, look to start on the rear wheel this week, hopefully it will happen.
Looking good.
Out of curiosity how long does it take you to lace and true a wheel?
Thank you. I'll spend about an hour to hour and a half on a wheel. It's therapeutic for me , so I don't really rush/push it.
Very nice! :clap:
Quote from: RustyRD on June 27, 2025, 06:06:35 PMThank you. I'll spend about an hour to hour and a half on a wheel. It's therapeutic for me , so I don't really rush/push it.
Dang, that's pretty quick. Lacing/truing wheels is a skill I do not possess.
Thank you. I spent 15 years in the bicycle business , and building wheels for some of the local motorcycle shops and riders. I had ample practice.
Quote from: RustyRD on July 05, 2025, 08:32:09 AMThank you. I spent 15 years in the bicycle business , and building wheels for some of the local motorcycle shops and riders. I had ample practice.
nice. That jig on your bench looked like a purpose-built unit in your picture. I have a question you may be able to answer with your expertise: are there any offsets used on USA RD air-cooled wheels? Reason I'm asking is I relaced a handful of bicycle, then motorcycle wheels over the decades and always just let the wheel kind of "center" itself in whatever jig I had rigged up tightening spokes small amounts at a time evenly as I went around the wheel and pulling left or right as needed to spin true before final tightening all around. Never had a noticeable problem with this method.
Some years ago I met a friend in the VMX community who lived nearby and would lace up a wheel for me for very reasonable price and warned me about using correct offsets when doing myself? I never heard of such a thing but he insisted he always used correct offsets and got specs from wheel builders like Dubya. Was he telling the truth or blowing smoke on this?
as far as offsets are concerned, I have always set up a wheel on my truing stand and brought my new rim to the same position as the old. I am sure there are some offsets on some wheels. so I just use the original as point of reference for position of new on. The fixture on my bench is an Artisan antique wheel truing stand it is at least one hundred years old. I have owned this stand for 27 yrs. It is missing some its components but I love it..
Quote from: RustyRD on July 06, 2025, 05:55:21 PMas far as offsets are concerned, I have always set up a wheel on my truing stand and brought my new rim to the same position as the old. I am sure there are some offsets on some wheels. so I just use the original as point of reference for position of new on. The fixture on my bench is an Artisan antique wheel truing stand it is at least one hundred years old. I have owned this stand for 27 yrs. It is missing some its components but I love it..
How will it work when I set-up the position of the rim,to look through the valve stem hole and adjust the rim to the exact center of the hub,in reference to inside both flanges ?
several tools and methods to check offset. here is one. bicycle or motorcycle the rim can be checked for center placement once mounted, and if needed the rim shifted by tension of spokes to make corrections.
It's such a pleasure doing business with Yambits. I placed an order on the 3rd and received it today the 7th. :whoop: :whoop: :whoop:
Quote from: RustyRD on July 07, 2025, 03:59:42 AMseveral tools and methods to check offset. here is one. bicycle or motorcycle the rim can be checked for center placement once mounted, and if needed the rim shifted by tension of spokes to make corrections.
Russ, does(when using that dishing tool you posted)the RD250/350 have any offset in the rear wheel,or is it neutral ?
Do you also 'center' the rim in the swingarm.. and does it match the centerline of the frame that way ?
Quote from: RustyRD on July 07, 2025, 07:44:25 PMIt's such a pleasure doing business with Yambits. I placed an order on the 3rd and received it today the 7th. :whoop: :whoop: :whoop:
Agreed, they're awesome! :thumbs: (and the opposite of Partzilla or Babbitt's/Yamaha Parts House)
I set my stand up with original wheel and proceed from there.