i received a UPS email saying my cylinders will be in tomorrow. i have never been so ready.
i am not really into riding in 30 degrees but i don't think i'll be able to control myself.
What brand of pistons are you running.
they are ProX with the tab removed.
i am ready to go.
Get 'er done
rolling right along.
i know when i was working on bikes starting back in the late 70's i didn't know what a torque wrench was. over the years and now doing things the correct way i realize how much i have over tightened nuts and bolts over the years.
Looking good!
i had a problem with no spark on the vape system. i had to cut all the wiring harness zip ties. got spark and rezipped the harness. it doesn't happen to standard relays often but the relay was bad. just a standard automotive relay so i had one.
tomorrow i am going to gas it up and set the timing. not sure about a ride. it's been raining here off and on for 3 weeks now and my gravel road is still wet. i do have that front fender to protect me and my bike. :thumbs:
super nice looking. I love the 75 colors.
75 is my favorite year as well. Beautiful work :patriot: :patriot:
Beautiful bike ! I have to ask, as my next sitting in garage is a 75. Is that factory color, or a different color. It looks more red than the yamaha orange. I think your color is great Have fun on the ride.
sorry to say i hate the color. it's rd400 red. i wanted it factory orange but things don't always go your way. it does look good in red.
Looks great with that seat also.
the seat was from Vietnam. it does make the bike and it is very good quality and fit. i do have the original seat that's in very good condition also.
hopefully i'll be able to move it from turning wrenches to show off soon.
you are going to hate me for telling you this NOW, but chevrolet orange (engine) is a dead match for portugese orange.
Chevrolet engine orange is what I have my '75 project painted. Awaiting application of decals and clear coating...
The reason I asked about color is that I have been looking at colors for my 75. The engine orange looks perfect. I looked at the Dupli Color Hugger Orange at the local oreillys and it looks very close also. What do you guys think of it?
parts of this were original, some done w chevy engine orange.
(one of my old bikes)
So it's really a Chevy 350 is what you are saying... :whistle:
that is identical to the rd i had in high school. that was my transportation to school and work no matter the weather. graduated in 1981.
i was a ford mechanic for 30 years. i bought this mac dial advance timing light new. the date code is 01/85. still works great.
I checked the timing today and it was right on 1.8.
then something went wrong with my ignition so i need to diagnose further. something to do.
got the timing checked and ok. had an oil leak only when running. actually oil ran down the kick stand. even though it showed up on the left of the bike it was from the right side cover and needed to be torqued. like a lot of others the oil looked like it was from the engine studs but luckily it was just the cover. of course i removed the exhaust to diagnose it. it was worth removing the chambers to clean any of the oil residue. NEXT.
i was lucky that my older brother bought the rd350b brand new. he then went to trade school in Oklahoma. he left me the bike. when i was 16 i used it to get my M/C license.
i also had a job and i put bassani chambers, air pods, and i can't remember if i or who jetted it. that's what i rode year round. after 2 years my brother was coming home so i threw all the stock parts back on and cleaned it up. he looked at it and said i can't believe how well you took care of it. then he said what happened to the chambers? i found out my sister sent him a picture of the bike while he was gone. end of the story we bolted all the performance parts back on.
you got to love a brother like that.
That's a great story. Blast from the past. Thanks for sharing.
well here it is 1 month later of my one more day post. everything is good and in working order. i know for a fact i have had the carbs. off at least 8 times. what i had on a test drive yesterday was a flat spot right off idle which i couldn't adjust out with air screw. went up on the pilot and put carbs back on today.
The weather should be in the 60's.
i finally think i got it set for the cold weather. come summer i think it will only need the air screw adjusted. Here are my plugs. tell me what you think.
looks safe down the porcelain, but a true plug chop will be best. how did it feel?.
try to richen the needle one clip and back off the pilots a bit with the airscrew, see if thats better. my rule of thumb is throw as much fuel as it will take safely. i think you are compensating, possibly where the needle needs to be with the pilot.
:twocents:
i think you are correct. i was just thinking today that i may be going up on the pilot to compensate for the needle. we will see tomorrow on my 79 degree day.
thanks,
also it does run very good. maybe a little flat before the power band. i am pretty sure the main is right on because it pulls really strong above 75% throttle.
i went 1 groove rich on the needle. i haven't had this much fun riding in years.
that said it runs like a bat out of hell. good power through mid range and through the power band till max rpm.
the only thing i can complain about is while cruising and i let off the throttle. when i start to turn the throttle on normally or gradually i get a slight sputter that is just off zero throttle. it is so slight that if i had to i would live with it.
i have been making minor adjustments to the air screw and at 1 turn out seems to run best. the problem i have is some days it is 40 degrees out then other days it's in the 70's.
i am not sure if the sputter is a rich or lean symptom. the picture is plugs after the needle adjustment.
jump up one size on the pilot and set it to 1.5-1.75 out. the circuit velocity is causing the burbling a bit i'd bet.
the mikuni official 'range' on air screw settings are 1-3 turns out as acceptable.
i think right now i am really happy with the outcome. i found that i accidentally had 2 different settings on my air screw. i reset them and took most of the sputter away.
thanks,
mark
i found this video and this rd350 has the off throttle sputter. mine wasn't quite that bad. i kept fine tuning the air mixture screws to finally get rid of it. i did find that the mixture setting was a little different between the two carbs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K82uJoCML0s&ab_channel=phoenixvids
Yeah my RD 4 strokes a little in the mid range. They tend to run a little rich at Deals Gap. The elevation here is 570 if memory serves. At the Gap it is 1100.
i didn't consider the elevation. good call.
actually the first ride i took today that i didn't say i have to do this or that. great weather and riding.
sweet! :cheerleader: :olaf:
yes mark i think your weather should be hitting the 90 mark.
i am someone who hates cold weather and i like it hot 85-90's.
so today is going to be a good day.
mark
a great ride today. i don't know what people are wearing nowadays but i wear a padded jacket, jeans, boots, gloves, and a full face helmet. The bike was running great so i thought I would get out my 12 year old favorite helmet. this helmet is actually quieter than my full face helmets.
Love that helmet. Look like the helmet of a guy that's been shot out of a cannon.
you mean shot out of an RD?
sorry i dropped off radar. more important issues have come up.
i can say after running the stock carb setup i am converting back to the dave f mod..
hopefully be back soon,
mark
When I first bought the 75 rd350 it was pretty nice. It had jl pipes and y-boot. It ran pretty well but needed some work. I took the carbs off and took off the float bowls. it was clean inside. I decided to take them apart and that's when I noticed the needle jet was loose. I removed the main jet and noticed the washer was worn out and the needle jets had seen better days. It did have the dave mod but whoever installed the mods had cut the needle jet shroud and one was 3mm and the other was under 2mm. Having not ridden an rd with the dave mod i decided to order stock carb kits from economy. I went with new washers, 230 mains, and 30 pilots. Used the stock air jet. Needle in the middle slot. Air screw 1.5 out. I have to admit it did run good. I did notice the mid range power loss. It already had a vape ignition so i bought a dial indicator from economy and the timing was right on 1.8.
I rode it like this for a few weeks and decided to buy all new parts to convert it back to the dale mod.. I already had the 2mm air jets to reinstall. I didn't cut the needle jet shrouds because i think m in sc ??? told me i didn't need to. Well again it ran pretty good and i did notice the mid range was better. Also it ran really good in the high rpm range. I still had low power on take off so i added more fuel with the mixture screw. It ran better for a short while then i had to add more fuel till i was almost screwed all the way in on the mixture screw. Now pull the carbs and change out the pilot from 30 to 32.5. Set mixture screw to 1.5 and still needed more fuel. I went up to 35 pilot and the same thing. It ran better but still not right.
Ok let's get to the real problem. As i usually do, I will not give up. Sometimes a little or a lot of luck helps.
The other day i started the bike and put it in gear. I started to take off and the bike started to move backwards. I shut it off and started it again and it moved forward. Ok timing is way off. I checked it and i believe it was 4 or 5 degrees or more advanced. Remember vape ignition doesn't have a keyway. I removed the flywheel and found the crank screw and washer was never updated to use the larger thicker washer. So i cleaned everything up and reinstalled the flywheel with the new bolt and updated washer. Set timing to 1.8 and it runs really good now and the low end power problem is solved. I believe the timing didn't change all at once. I think it was gradual and that's why i was getting different results with the carbs.. I took the heads off and luckily i didn't cook the top end. Since repair i have ridden it several times and all seems well. Now i am at 220 main, 32.5 pilots, and needle on the fourth clip.
The only other time i had a engine run backwards was when i had a yr5 that the crank bearings were so worn out that at times it would run backwards.
I know this was long and rambling on but the outcome might help others.
glad you found it! :olaf:
thanks and me too. a great learning experience.
Quote from: kramdua on January 23, 2023, 06:51:22 AMthey are ProX with the tab removed.
If you dont mind me asking, Why do you remove the tab?.
Quote from: Karl squire on September 30, 2023, 06:57:46 AMQuote from: kramdua on January 23, 2023, 06:51:22 AMthey are ProX with the tab removed.
If you dont mind me asking, Why do you remove the tab?.
AC motor does not have a bridge on the intake and the tab can catch in the port id left there.
Quote from: rodneya on September 30, 2023, 07:26:40 PMQuote from: Karl squire on September 30, 2023, 06:57:46 AMQuote from: kramdua on January 23, 2023, 06:51:22 AMthey are ProX with the tab removed.
If you dont mind me asking, Why do you remove the tab?.
AC motor does not have a bridge on the intake and the tab can catch in the port id left there.
Thanks
that is the reason i removed the tab. i read somewhere to remove it. i even think it is on 2 stroke world to remove it.