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Ever look down a rd pipe with over 10k miles on it lol... What holes ?

Well that's why it's an imperative part of maintenance on these to remove and totally clean the baffles WITHOUT waiting 'til 10K miles, more like every 3K.  A welding glove and handheld propane torch are your friends..........

With the better part of 3-5 days, and a great deal of help from ex in-law Nephews and his buddies, I FINALLY got my remaining parts & stuff out of storage, got HD shelves up, and most of the parts sorted on bike-specific shelves. Only trouble is now having to move bikes to get at stuff but I'm working on it. I'm SO glad to have everything back home and soon start on stuff like the little G5 100. In the upper left of the pic you can see part of the bare frame, and the bubble wrapped parts that are re-chromed, painted or powder coated. on the top shelf 

What isn't visable is the rolling chassis of the '76 RD400. Motor is out for a(nother) rebuild, top & bottom end. What also can't be seen is a YSR-50 sitting perpendicular to the rest of the bikes aginst the front wall, next to the dryer. The rest are the '84 RZ, '74 RD Cafe, '69 HS1, '75 RD125, Z1000 and FZ07.  Even figured out room for the lawn mower and was able to have enough on the L side of the garage for Kevin's car!

Well,
had a bit of luck yesterday evening. Won this one in a raffle in the UK. Hope to have it in Germany end of march.

Regards Uwe

  WOW, that's one hell of an awesome Raffle prize!  The only raffle I've won was a fundraiser for the local VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) and the prize was a Bolt Action Hunting Rifle chambered in
  7mm Mauser. Like Greg said, pretty much the only Raffle Bikes here are Old Harleys, Indians or other Cruisers. I suppose winning one of those could bring enough cash upon sale to buy an
  exotic Euro market specific bike.   Speaking of such things, I've always loved little bikes.  I believe this model was German market only.  I used to see them keep up with my RD350 until I went past 100kph, then I'd lose 'em.  Always thought it'd be a killer addition to my garage.  If you EVER see one for sale - I believe the model was a 1977, send me a PM!   Missed out on one about
12 years ago:

As long as you have some sort of stand for the bike where you can get the wheels off the ground it's no big deal without a trying stand other than you are working a little closer to the ground. 
A wheel mounted in the forks or swingarm and somehow secured to the bench or in a vise would work fine as well.

You have to get a little creative on what you use for an "indicator" and how to "mount" it.  I'm sure there will be some argument on what's better but I just use a simple pointer that keeps getting moved closer towards and it gets more "true" rather than a dial indiactor.  Something plastic zip tied to the fork or swingarm works fine.

I have never used a torque wrench either but a quality spoke wrench is a must.  I've only gone by feel.  I'm sure there are some tighter than others but as long as there is no loose ones and the rim is straight I'm happy.

  Thanks for posting.  I called Buchanan and DAMN they are indeed expensive as hell.  Still not sure I want to try this though. 

I'm really not sure what you mean regarding an "indicator" and how to "mount" it.  I just watched a video of someone lacing on YouTube.  After a few more, I might just try this myself.

[quote author=oxford link=topic=2428.msg21053#msg21053 date=1599686401

I have a truing stand but you really don't need one, you can just as easily do it with the wheels mounted on the bike.

Be prepared for some sticker shock if going with Buchanan's, it's not cheap.
[/quote]

  Thanks for posting this!  I've been wanting to start reassembly of a '72 G5-100 Kawi & had the stock rims rechromed.  As to trying it myself without a truing stand....boy, not sure that's viable. I've never done it. Is it a matter of having a small torque wrench to be sure they're all the exact same tightness. Clueless on this subject.

Inov8, we suspect timing due to some conflicts with the "builder" who ended being somewhat noncompliant with certain aspects in the end. We also had discussed a resolution, in which I offered a compromise in which I'd actually accept LESS than his offer.....upon which he ghosted me. That's what made the entire affair want me to push it out of my mind for awhile. That's ancient history now. Another possibility might be clearance issues: as I understand it, when @ a larger bore size, in this case 65.25mm, there may be a need for slightly different than standard clearance. When I bring the cylinders in for rebore we'll find out if that was a contributing factor. I actually have a recently acquired other set of cylinders which, if they have less gone, I may use instead.

85RZWade, right venue, wrong other bands. I saw Cheap Trick there, opening for Heart and Arnel Pineda version of Journey.  In 1977 or '78 I went to see Kansas in Germany during their Leftoverture tour. Opening for them were an unknown band called Cheap Trick!

These are my parts. Good to see the forum is back!

I'm really just looking to clear out my garage more than make money of these parts. If anyone from the forum is interested I'll let everything go for 500! Needs to be picked up in Ventura, don't want to ship.

Do you have the round generator engine case cover (left side)?    Since it's just one small part could you consider shipping it to zip code 98604? (SW Washington St.).

  TIA

  Now, back to the subject at hand.  Belated thanks to everyone for their replies.  I hope to have the bike going within the next couple months.  Complicating things is Kevin finally got called back
  to work.  I really want to do some of the wrenching myself, it's been too long, but with the arthritis in my hands, I can't do more than 15-20 minutes at a stretch.  Still, if there's a will, there has to be a way.  Damn, I miss my shop..............sigh.

I don't have a answer either.. but as a dedicated BÖC fan.. I just gotta say..
I love your username.❤🤘

   Thanks.  Have you ever seen the RD/RZ based BOC Cafe bike I built some 20+ years ago?  It too is awaiting a partial resurrection, and not fully together, but this was taken some years ago when it still was whole. The first pic is of it's initial stages w/o the RZ wheels/forks. I was visiting the "Stormbirds" project where they were building 5 brand new exact replicas of the Me262, with the except of using modern engines. An original Jumo004 engine of the 1 of six remaining in the world they were restoring is on the stand in back of the bike.  Everyone else has seen it I'm sure, but since you're likely nearly as big of a fan as I, here goes:   

   Finally, 2 years after the $2000+ plus RD400 rebuild debacle, I decided we'd go ahead and rebuild the top end of my '76.  I only got to ride it 15 miles before it seized and the entire ordeal made me too depressed to think about rebuilding again until now.  Continued health issues also made it difficult to ride at all, but I miss that bike.  My FZ07, while a nice, light bike, just isn't the same as my beloved RD400!

  Going through what I could find on the current forum, I saw a note from SoCal250 about using TZ750 bearings, part no. 93110-216E1-00, which appear to be available.  I saw that the old Kawi bearings some used were NLA.  I also saw in Supertune's "Tip of the Day" in the Vendor section a post about Crank rebuilding in which he talked about a ProX bearing replacing the OEM ones, but didn't specify a part number.

   We have old notes about WiseCo bearings, I think the part no. was B1021 (something like that).  Another note was a vague reference to some using an available ATV bearing (model unknown) although that might be the same as SoCal referenced in his post with a Kawi Watercraft one NLA.

   I need to know what the best one available is and what to use.  What have you all been using lately, since some are NLA?

       Thanks in advance for your assistance!

[How much additional clearance do you suggest with that oversize of pistons, Chuck?]

In a quick answer... Mark replied in brief. 

In order for me to understand all the hoopla, I need facts, Was the engine bored with new pistons?
What brand and what clearances were used? How big is the bore now? As you go to the much larger bores I add clearance to the now thicker and heavier pistons and never stock clearances in the OEM manual unless your going to run fuel you DON'T buy at any unleaded street pump.
Oversized pistons can drive up the stock compression really high after 1mm over.

Carb jetting we used just several years ago now seem a bit too lean if run too hard.

  Thanks so much, Mark and Chuck.  It's good to be back, but not for this reason!

All new top & bottom end: ProX pistons @ 65.5mm, clearance s/b whatever those call for.  How much additional clearance do you suggest with that oversize of pistons, Chuck?  Perhaps that was the issue, using the standard ProX clearance??
Bike was nearly empty when we took off. I didn't want to put very much non-ethanol in, I don't like to run it at all, but to get to the Amboy where there is non-ethanol, I put in maybe one gallon.  The bike wasn't run hard, never did more than 40mph as I was trying to get used to it again.

This board is invaluable with guys like you and Mark giving me all the stuff I need, it's much appreciated!  What's keeping me from wrenching now is severe arthritis, my fingers & hands can seize up worse than that engine with too much gripping, but I might just tackle the RZ or my custom RD next, minus the boring and crankshaft work.

I can't really spring for a more modern ignition, assuming the module on this one is still okay. I've already spent more on the bike than I thought it would be, so I hope the ignition's still good. 

Thanks again guys.  If it wasn't raining right now I'd go for a spin on the HS1 or RD125. I need to hear more ring-dinging!

Question for you all with electronic ignitions. First off, I haven't done much wrenching in many years, so please bear with me.
Do all electronic ignitions available today (I see several who say they have "Vape" ignitions) use optical triggers?  For those with optical triggers, it's my understanding you use the devices above, with a dial indicator, to set timing.  It's also my understanding you cannot use an old-fashioned "timing light" to try and time an optical-triggered electronic ignition, in this case, an old XR700 Crane ignition. 

I farmed out the rebuild of my RD400 to someone who insisted on doing the entire rebuild themselves w/o any input from a certain person banned on the old board.  When discussing the ignition, he related to the builder how it had previously been timed using a dial indicator. When the rebuild was done (several years ago) it ran perfectly and never went out of time for over 15,000 miles. I took the bike on several 1-1/2 day, 550 mile trips without incident. That was before an recent ill-advised venture into a rebuild in which clearances for Wossner pistons, but from another bike were used, with disasterous results. 

At that point, partly because of a very significant change in work hours, far more than before, I decided not to ask him to rebuild and farmed it out. It had nothing to do with the previous rebuild or the troubles he had with the Daytona which were eventually solved, and that bike was ridden for another 70,000 miles (!) before sold. It was merely a question of not having the time to do so anymore, as he no longer works from home.

I got the bike back, and after doing a once over, safety-wiring the injector lines on, & a couple minor things, then doing a couple of static heat cycles to ensure the head torque remained okay, took the bike out for it's first ride.  About 13 miles from home, the bike seized.  The builder is speculating that the ignition -- presumably the module -- failed.  But the bike had been running fine and idled perfectly.  If the timing wasn't set right, being retarded for instance, wouldn't the bike not have been idling perfect? He says that would cause a lean condition, but that makes it sound like rather than the ignition failing, that it wasn't timed properly?  I don't know exactly how the timing was set but he was having issues trying to use a timing light, at least initially. That's when the process of using the dial indicator was told to him.  I don't think he had any faith in listening to him about how it had been set on the successful top & bottom end rebuild that had been done years before.  At this point I haven't talked directly to him yet, just texted, but it appears from what little correspondence we have, that he possibly blames the seizure on ignition failure.  Now, we have instructions on how to test the module and other components of the ignition we can provide to him. I really would like to know what the cause of the seizure is and basically put it on him to figure it out and get a bike back that will run for several thousand miles, not 13.  I also acknowledged it will be some time because of a huge amount of family issues he has to deal with before he can have time to pursue reason(s) behind what happened, and told him I understand that has priority for him right now.

So, the point of all my long-windedness to know what the proper and best way there is to set ignition timing on an optically- triggered XR700 ignition.  1976 RD400C.  The bike has stock porting, stock pipes, 145 mains, 27.5 pilots.

sweet!congrats! i have rack envy

  LOL Mark.  Well, it's a bit louder than it should be, baffles were apparently removed. I suspect without the back pressure they provide it would feel a bit stronger, although with my excessive weight I should be happy it'll hold me at all!  I found one on eBay but 2 would be better.  That first gear is short!! Almost like a granny gear on the old Chevy pickups.   I wish there was access to the old forum's posts & data.  Didn't you do a bunch of stuff to yours?  I don't remember all what was posted.  The bike could use a new throttle cable, as there's a little kink in it near the bars, but the bike starts right up & idles fine. Nice that they put Mikuni carbs on these instead of the weird Teikei ones on the RD125.

Look what I just brought home this afternoon.  Really good original condition, 4300 miles.  I already rode it up & down the block a couple of times.  Weak drum brakes but I'll adapt!