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Mark,
that is really a sweet bike. Sadly we never got them in Germany.
Regards Uwe

Great story. I love it
Regards Uwe

World champions Todd Ellis/Emmanuelle Clement will have their first TT also. So could be quite interesting.
I am a bit sidecar biased as my daughter is deeply in there as a passenger which culminated in a World Championship campaign in 2018. Sadly after 3 meetings money dried up. Now she is racing in our clubsport series and sometimes helping out in other series.

@SoCal250
In my opinion he got the best available passenger. Let's see if they harmonize.
The only question mark is that Kevin Rousseau has not much experience at the TT, it will be his 2nd time there.
I am curious if Ben Birchall will do a World Championship season also. But then he needs another passenger as Kevin is racing there with Harry Payne. But the World Championship is not confirmed anyway. The promoter gave back his rights. So the FIM will do 3 rounds of the championship themselves and for further 3 rounds they are in negotiations with the old promoter to work something out. But it looks not good for the WC.
Regards Uwe

Another cool feature is what appears to be an adjustable swingarm pivot.

Hawaii-Mike,
the genuine Bakker frames had this feature up to 1976. I have a genuine Bakker TZ with this adjustable pivot also. Their first cantilever frames in 1976 still had these pivots but through that year they changed it to "normal" configuration.

Early twinshock Spondon TZ frames had this also. Not sure if that feature was an improvement or not. I read different stories.
Regards Uwe

Hi Mark,
sadly track use is the only option. You need not even think about to get the bike or the engine moved in a still registered frame through the german registration process. We have very harsh requirements what you can do and what not. Every piece you bolt on a bike in Germany which is not homologated by the bike manufacturers needs a certificate. And a bike(frame) which never was built by a bike company is a no go. It would need to fulfill the actual emission laws for example.
I have a 4cylinder(built out of 2 aircooled engines) on the workbench also. That one was registered an ridden on the streets in the UK 15-20 years ago. Not possible in any other country in Europe.


Regards Uwe

Yes Mark,
375ccm now. 525ccm with 350 cylinders fitted. But even then no chance. The bikes who races in that class have all above 70hp, some of the best bikes 85hp and more. And far better forks and brakes. I have other bikes who fit into the race classes better.
For parades to potter around it is okay as it is
Regards Uwe

Hi,
I only did a functional test at a field lane myself. I would say it goes like a good running RD350. I suggest maximum 42-45hp. With other carbs and port work you can gain probably 10-12hp easily.
I or as most times I lent my bikes out will run it at parades/demonstration runs only. In the race class it fits in at our races it would be hopelessy underpowered and underbraked. Racing against TZ350 and RD350YPVS would be like David versus Goliath.
The builder of the bike did around 10 parade meetings over the last 5 years with it and the bike ran flawlessly then.
Regards Uwe

Hi guys,
stumbled over an interesting RD this summer. After a bit of thinking, bike stood in the Netherlands, I decided to have a go an buy it. After a 14hrs roundtrip I had it at home......
It is a complete homebuilt. The clever guy did everything himself. Converted RD engine into a 3 cylinder. Frame is a roughly built after a Bakker twinshock TZ frame he used as an inspiration. Fairing, mudgard,tank and seat he made of alloy. Engine is only blueprinted as he used it at parades only.
Everything was fabricated and built in a 2,5m x 4m garden shed





Regards Uwe

thats awesome. the uk guys must be going nuts over this. 

And I sold my box full of these lids too late now I suppose

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RZ swingarm will need the pivot tube narrowed about 1/4" to fit in a 350 or 400 frame. I assume the Daytona will need the same.
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Yes, the Daytona is the same frame as European E/F models and they have the same pivot width like the former aircooled RD models.
Regards Uwe

Georgios Sotirchos in Greece makes them. Search for him on Facebook. He is very responsive with messenger and was a pleasure to deal with. I recently bought two of them but have not installed them yet. One for my RZV and one for my LC350. RZV was about $2,000 and you need to send him your side cover to modify. LC350 was about $1,800 and he provides a modified side cover. I'll try to take some pics later this evening. 

@Acme Moto
I have seen that Georgios Sotirchos does them for the RZV500, RZ350(a friend has one) and LC but I have not seen or read that he makes the dry clutch kits for the aircooled RDs.
Regards Uwe

Fondseca is no longer selling the kit. I really want one. I emailed Nova Transmissions in England and they can make the input shaft but that's about it. Anyone know where I can still get one???

@RayL I wrote in 2020 in this thread that a german guy do the long shaft and the clutch sidecover with kickstarter hole. This guy, a racing friend of mine, did made the parts for Fondseca. I got the 2 shafts and a cover from his last batch. He got a victim of the big flood here in Germany in 2021 and lost his complete workshop. He did a lot of replica parts, mainly for TZs. That is one of the reasons Fondseca don't sell them anymore. He just started to get things sorted to do a bit of work again but sadly life was not good to him. He passed away this morning after a long battle with COPD. RIP Bernd
Regards Uwe

Hi,
I have a bike which has this engine configuration from new. It was a dealer special back in period done by the biggest Yamaha dealer here in Germany back then. They got around 50 overstock european 400E/2R9 models to do with them as the 400 were sold very slowly here as anyone went on the 4stroke waggon.
Beside the engine converted to 424ccm with the modification as written above you had the option of various aftermarket parts. Mine was built with PVM wheels, different fuel tank and seat, Noguchi expansion chamber, clip-ons and Raask rearsets. Some other bikes got full fairings and Lockheed brakes on top.
But I never had the engine open as the engine had only around 16000km when I got the bike around 19 years ago. Only rode the bike for around 100km in that nearly 20 years. But I will restore the bike in the near future and will open the engine of course. I will share my thoughts then.
Bike looks as it left the dealer parts wise beside the missing front mudguard(which I have) and the indicators which were changed by the owner in front of me.


Regards Uwe

Clean, nice bike. I like it