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Thinking out of the box, and having much experience working with disabled patients, I thought (about 30 years ago), a Geri-lift patient transfer crane might just be the hot ticket for bike work, so I bought a used one at an estate sale for $100. One of the best investments I've made, and I still have it.

I use it constantly, and with a rated capacity of 600 pounds, it will loft any 2-wheeled device shy of a Luxo-barge. It came with a box of chains and straps which can hook to most anything without damage, and it comes apart so is easy to transport; it has been through 3 moves to Wisconsin, Arkansas, and Phoenix slid under bikes on an open trailer. 

It works especially well on bikes with expansion chambers or no center and/or side stand since you lift from the top and not the bottom - especially useful for race bikes. It's also great for extracting and installing heavy motors, changing wheels, forks, or doing swingarm work.

One of the nicest parts is it is on caster wheels, so can be maneuvered in any direction easily, even with a full load. I swear by it, not at it!   





Warren

Hi Tw,
Here's the ingredients for about a gallon of Zinc electroplating 'Salts,' done in Metric (easiest for me):
 
1 - 3 Liters Distilled Water 
2 - 0.2 Liters White (cheap) Vinegar
3 - 0.12 Liters Karo Syrup (or about 120 Grams pure cane sugar) as a whitener/brightener 
4 - 300 Grams Epsom Salt
5 - 100 Grams Zinc Sulfate Monohydrate (powder); super cheap. ZnSO4 provides the zinc ions in solution to facilitate the transfer of the Zinc Anode to the Work.
6 - Pure Zinc Anode strips or sheet; again cheap, just be sure it's 99%+ pure.

Worry not if measurements are not 100% perfect; a Ratio-Rite and Food Scale are plenty close. Give the mixture about 24 hours for everything to completely dissolve before using. I mixed mine up in a 1-Gallon capped jug, shook it every few hours, and used it the next day - it doesn't pressurize if you leave the cap on.  

Zinc Sulfate Monohydrate Powder - 35.5% Zn - 2 Pounds | eBay

12 Pcs Pure Zinc Anode Sheet (99.995% Pure) for Plating and Zinc... | eBay

7 - Power Supply:
No need for a plating transformer for smalls like the YA-1 levers; dry-cell 1.5V batteries - AA/C/D work. I used a parallel type flashlight battery holder with 4 AA's before buying a used electroplating transformer - 2V~10V at 3 amps was needed for bigger pieces like rims and handlebars. Anodes go to the + side, Work to the - side. I use 2 Anodes (one on either side of the work), or you can turn the work around at 5 or 10 minute intervals to get an even plate - just  be sure to expose all surfaces to the Anode(s).  There is a formula for how much voltage to use for a given surface area but I go seat-of-the-pants. Too much voltage and the plating will come out grainy, thick, and gray, and not enough voltage gives a thin, 'rainbowish' colored finish that takes forever. When you get it right it takes about 30 minutes, and leaves a nice, smooth, bright finish; expect bubbles to form on the work after a few minutes, and a light foam (sometimes) on the surface of the bath around the work. No bubbles usually means more voltage is needed, and too much bubbling (white opaque foam) means reduction. 1.5V to 2V does most everything M/C. Rinse thoroughly in tap water when done. I usually polish the part with 0/00 Steel Wool for more shine. 

I used Fine Glass Beads in a blaster to prep the levers; rock/vibratory tumblers work great too. Wipe the work down with 99% alcohol and let it dry before plating - if not, you may leave fingerprints or bare spots in the Zinc. The hangar wire will leave a bare spot where against or too close to the Work too.  

Another addition to the restoration progress, rebuilding the YA-1 Advance Mechanism; it was stuck retarded (I can sympathize), had corrosion, and both advance-springs were missing. Being careful not to over-restore an engine part (good excuse, huh?), I took it apart and spent maybe 15 minutes at the wire-wheel (bench mount with extra-soft bristles) to eliminate the corrosion and rust, a once over with medium steel wool to get the crevasses, then washed and rinsed everything in distilled water. The pieces were staggered along a piece of safety wire hanger and plated all at once using the same setup exactly as for the levers - a piece of masking tape was wound around the pivot shafts on the flyweights to prevent plating. 

The big trick was the springs; all newer Yamaha (and several other's) advance springs were way too large. The YA-1 springs were sandwiched in a space that measured 4mm wide; Back to China =( for a bulk 1 foot length of 3.5mm OD Expansion Spring to make new ones. Luckily Yamaha used the 'down and dirty' method to make the springs and both end loops were just a coil of the spring bent straight out. Hardest part was keeping 4 spring ends hooked up and screwing the tension plate down at the same time. Works fine now!

Warren 

Thanks for that!
Had to refresh 3 times to get the above 3 pics to show. Hope I have it now...
Warren

6 Years Ago

PHX Facebook Stock RD350 for $2K

Warren

The zinc electroplating worked fine using the new (home-brew) salts mix and pure zinc anodes on the kick-start and shift levers; I had a Caswell Copy-Cad kit before but used their 'secret' Caswell zinc alloy anode (used it up) instead of pure Zn.

The chemistry was nothing exotic being a mix of vinegar, Epsom salt, corn-syrup as a brightener to get that cadmium/white look, powdered zinc-sulphate, and distilled water.
I have a low-voltage plating transformer, but it only goes down to 2V - the surface area of the levers calculated to 1.5V so I used the primary windings from a Yamaha coil as a 0.5V resistor; otherwise the zinc plating goes on too fast and leaves a 'sandy' surface that does not polish out well.
Turning the work every 10 minutes, it took a total of 30 minutes per lever. Polishing was done with 000 steel-wool. Engine electrics are next.


 
Warren

Restored RZ500 in Phoenix

Warren

Restored RZ500 in Phoenix

Warren

An amalgamation for sure:

CL 1978 RD350 - $2600

Warren

At least it's not rusty ... you know how troublesome those bare petcocks are!
A racer/rider friend bought a 400 bone rougher than this one (a SouthEastern rust bucket), and sold the gearbox and crank/cylinders specifically to a vintage racer for more than he paid for the whole bike.

WW

Probably worth more parts - no title:
1977 Yamaha RD400 Restoration Project - $925

Warren

Gasket time! I am sure many here probably already do it this way, but just in case it has never come up...
Smaller gaskets are easy; make a tracing and get out the Exacto knife and hole punch, and go to it. But if a big gasket (like a clutch cover) is needed, it can be a real pain to get right. OTC gasket material comes in a roll, which makes no sense because gaskets are flat. Here's a method that usually works first try:

To start, the gasket material is flattened (sort of) using a hot-water soak then laid out on a piece of board with the side-cover on top. Next, several drywall-type screws are ran into the board through the cover's bolt-holes, and tightened down to hold the gasket material firmly sandwiched between the cover and board. Then using a box cutter (my preference), cut around the OD giving the exact shape that looks pro on the edge that will show after installation. 
      
For screw holes (which can be quite deep), a long 6mm drill bit is used, with the angle on the cutting ramps reduced to about 10-degrees to stop he bit from grabbing and tearing the gasket; this minimal angle on the bit is also used for drilling screw holes in plexiglass windscreens without causing stress-cracks or spidering. There was only one hole in the YA-1 gasket, but that's rare. The cover is now un-screwed from the board (by now the gasket has mostly flattened) and the ID is cut. 

A pencil-compass (like those is used to draw drafting circles) is set to the width of the gasket face, and ran around the entire OD to mark the inner margin and give a point of reference. For screw bosses the 'dirty-finger' method works well; with the cover pointing up and the gasket blank held in position with the case screws, press very firmly around the inside curves of the boss edges and your fingers will leave a 'dirt' mark to trace around with the knife. To cut the ID, the box-knife was used except for the Exacto knife for tight curves - curved drafting protractors make excellent cutting guides. And that's it!

Next, the cover gets a trip to the wet-slurry blaster to erase the battery-acid etched cover (wet leaves a very original finish), and the kicker and shifter get re-plated. The pure (99.44%) zinc anodes arrive in a few days for the home electroplating process on the levers. Nickel is too 'gold,' and does not look like the bright cadmium used in the day - zinc is almost cad-white when polished.



Warren

Biggest reason (I've found) for inherently stable bikes - like RD's - to 'wobble' when getting light in the front end or the wheel coming off the ground at speed is improper rear wheel alignment. When the wheel comes down full force it tries to align with the rear and is snapped one direction or the other until the two wheels are playing as a team again.

The list of culprits can be anything from worn swingarm bushes, loose rear wheel bearings, loose steering-head bearings, cupped front tires, or improper chain puller adjustments. Checking bearings and bushings is done static, but since I've found adjuster hash-marks that are off, I check alignment at speed - get your body as straight on the bike as possible and let go of the bars; if the bike goes perfectly straight alignment is good. If the bike pulls to one side, move that side adjuster back until it tracks true. If the hash marks are in fact off, remark the puller to match the opposite side.   

Since your wobble went away toot-sweet, it sounds like an alignment issue; most wobbles don't resolve on their own and often get worse, until you get the bike slowed down. Worst wobbling vintage bikes I've found to be short-frame BMW /5's, especially with handlebar fairings; they wobble easiest when the front tire cups - I've has some frightening tank-slappers on Beemers, but so far have never been spit off - 60 years and counting! 

Warren

Thanks for all the encouraging replies! Luckily there were no real stoppers, just lots of challenges.

I did submit a request for one of the Rubbers Kits, but was rejected even though it was one of the first received. According to the response, they made 5 kits but will only sell them to verified Japan resident owners. They were very nice about it though...

I failed to attach the picture of the tool to cut the clutch inserts to the correct shape so here it is.

Warren

Bottom end is done! The crank with new OTC main bearings and seals went together fine, with the drive side seal sandwiched between two main bearings (the outer oiled by the gearbox, and the inner by premix), and only one timing side bearing with the seal mounted in a carrier much like a YDS/TD. The bottom-end is all done and the cases are Yambonded shut. The gearbox was originally shimmed a little too tight - the synchro clearance in neutral  was 0.002" at the C-shaft gear, so was relieved of a few shims. Shifts like butter now!

Interesting that there are no Phillips Head screws anywhere on the motor or chassis; all engine screws were Cheese Head. Even though the DKW RT125 they copied almost exactly used a center-case gasket. The actual engine case is slightly (maybe 5%) larger than the DKW; a DKW qasket set was obtained and the base and head were exact matches - the center case and clutch cover gaskets were too small. All tolerances and fitments were very tight; reminded me of the British.  

The clutch was a problem; the fibers welded themselves to the steels over the last 60 years, and was stuck into a big chunk. The disks had to be pried apart, leaving much fiber bonded to the steel faces. There were no equivalent fiber plates available, but luckily the fibers (48 cork inserts) were replaceable, like many British bike clutches from the 50's and older. Fortunately working in a British shop back in the 60's gave OJT to re-corking clutches. 

To recork, the friction disks were thoroughly cleaned and wire brushed, and a sheet of 4mm thick (0.3mm thicker than the originals measured) cork was obtained to cut the inserts from. The inserts should be 1mm oversize/OD all around since there is no adhesive - tolerance fit. Make a metal template on a stick to use as a pattern , then cut the pads (48) out with a utility knife. Cut the pads slightly larger than the template to allow for sanding the edges smooth and true; a flat sheet of 150-grit sandpaper taped to a board works well - match them to the template.

The inserts were then softened up for pushing into the holes by soaking them for about 20 minutes in near-boiling water (a shallow bowl in the microwave), 8 at  a time.  A bit of panache is needed, but after mastering the technique, they go in pretty fast. Bare fingers worked best (for me). Finally, sand the entire face or each side using the board and a metal disk to insure a full contact patch and solid engagement; when saturated with oil, cork glazes instead of wearing in.

Once complete, the corks must be sanded flat to insure maximum contact - same 150 grit flat sandpaper with the disk held true with a flat piece of wood; both sides. Sand until all faces make contact.

Warren 

To the vintage TZ racers, being competitive is of little consequence compared to actually being out there on their beloved machinery. The comradery among the vintageists is amazing. Chances are in the USA at least, a TZ750 rider is going to be the only 2T out there anyway.

When racing a vintage TZ in a modern class, the fun is surprising the modern-bike riders by staying with the front pack on that smoky old fossil!


Warren