Messages

Reference the 20 thousandths clearance, I assume you mean 2 thousandths (0.002"). It will work but don't expect 20'000mi out of them.

My last set of pro x pistons were fitted with 0,0016" clearance (1.6 thousandth), I was very gentle with the break-in process and now have 3500mi on them. While I may not recommend such a tight clearance for others, i would be confortable recommending 1.8 thousandths clearance.

One of my bike has +0.005 clearance of forged pistons and still has good compression and is quiet once I get cruising, the other website doesn't like it!

If your bike is hard to start you need to use a bigger pilot jet, try something like a 32.5 Mikuni and tell me how it starts.

Only use genuine Mikuni jets.

My RD350 has foam pod filters and use a 35 pilot jet. It starts great with choke no problem.

The Canadian version is rev limited to 11500rpm due to noise regulation.

I use cheap foam pod filters from ebay and UNI, I oil them and they all last few years so far. I find the cheap ebay filters clamp better on the carb because they have a smaller diameter. I also used k&n pods in the past, they worked fine too.

I'll buy a set for one of my Daytona Special bike, my factory CDI bikes run hotter than my 77 and would probably benefit from the better head cooling.

Would these heads be beneficial to an RD400 with only pipes and pods?

And remember it's the same clutch as a Banshee, so aftermarket baskets, hubs, pressure plates are available...and I probably have spares if you need 'em

Do Banshee pressure plate use RD400 or RD350 springs?

I got one in grey last year, it needed a bit of break in in the cheek pads to accommodate my big jaw, I really like it now.

Are the Hagon shocks inverted?

Good job!

Are the transmission gears all good?

Beautiful V7 !!!

My two 1979 RD400 have Wiseco forged pistons. Both bikes had the cylinders bored to the recommended Wiseco specs. I have limited experience with 2 stroke engines so consider that. My experience is that the pistons will slap until you heat them up, I found that if your tune is rich, or if you don't ride hard enough, the pistons never get hot enough to fill the larger clearance and this could lead to premature wear.

One bike was initially tuned rich and after approximately 3000km was showing clearance of 0.0045" to 0.005", mostly from cylinder wear (front to back and in the lower portion of the cylinders). I honed the cylinders, put new rings, leaned the tune and put another 2000km on them. At this point the bike could only be ridden hot or it would slap. It was smooth as butter on highway when showing +320f CHT. The last 2000km added a little bit of wear to the bottom of the cylinders, front to back. The pistons also added a little bit of wear, anyway at that time I was measuring a total clearance of 0.005-0.006" and decided to stop there for now. Ring gaps were 0.017-0.018" for the top and 0.020-0.021" for the bottom, absolutely no sign of blow by.

Believe it or not, I decided to hone it again (no rebore) and I put new pistons (Wiseco) in these worn out cylinders, I have 2400km on them at the moment, I will open the engine at the end of this summer, unless the engine open itself! It shows 115-120psi compression, no sign of blow by.

The other bike was tuned leaner from the beginning and has 10000km on the pistons, but I seriously think it needs rebore. (Rings were replaced once) This bike is parked at the moment until I decide what to do.

I've been using Wiscco 513 RZ350 pistons for 10 years. They are lighter than the ones listed for RD350. I replaced them once when the clearance got to .005" and I think the second set may be that much now. I'm going for a rebore soon. They are a little lighter than OEM and seem wicked strong.

How many miles did you get out of the pistons before hitting 0.005" of clearance?

Looking at the amount of blow by, that piston looks like it went thru 100 fuel tanks.

Did you tune the bike yourself?