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https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/383675464430615/

I'm building a 1975 Honda MR175 Elsinore of which I am the third owner.  I'm friends with the second owner who bought it from the son of the first owner.  The son estimates that his dad bought the pipe for the bike in 1976 or within the first two years of owning it. The pipe gives it incredible bottom end and turns it into a wheelie machine.  I just did a 050 bore, and I may go to a 30 or 32mm Mikuni, so we'll see how it's different. The son didn't have any information on the manufacturer, so I'm just throwing it out there to see if anyone else in here has seen one or might know who made it.  Eagle, or double eagle, Maverick names were thrown out there, but those seem like Harley names.

An older fella in a 2023 extended Silverado came across the line exiting Chick-Fil-A. All I could do was grab a bunch of brake and low slide to his front bumper.  Didn't have enough road grip to move right and by. 

I questioned leaving the stock pegs when I put on the chambers, but at least today they seem to have prevented more damage.  I got out of this with nothing more than these few scrapes on the bike and a hole in my pants. 

Trucks have gotten too big and with less cargo space.  Today's mini trucks are the size of past full size trucks.  Riding in town has gotten a lot more stressful.  LOL

The ask seems pricey to need a crank and rebuild, but here it is anyway:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1623419824808194/

Thought I'd share a build I just finished. 

About 10 years ago, I searched for a few years for an FT500. I finally found one and a year later it was stolen along with a street titled 1985 XR250r from in front of my garage. That began a mission to find another FT500 when I came across a 1979 XR500 lump at Barber.  I had thought to mate an XR500 engine into an FT500 frame before, which gets you a lighter crankshaft and a kick start. The FT starter is weak and poorly designed, imo. I missed on a few FT deals over the years since I bought the lump, then finally bought a titled FT frame off Ebay. 

It's a 1984 FT500 frame, 1979 XR500 engine bored to 530cc, Mikuni VM38, DR350 front end and hub set with Warp 9 supermoto wheels.  The bike weighs in at 294lbs with a 59" wheelbase, 28 degrees of rake and 98mm of trail.

Not a two stroke, but still a blast to ride.  It won't steal seat time from my RD, but it's sure to cause the airhead to collect more dust. 





   

I've been running TKRJ RZ pistons in my RD350. The bike had been running extremely well and reliable for a year until one day last week when I'm cruising down the highway about 5500rpm on the way to work.



On the good piston you can see where the edge of the cutout is rounded and stretching. Is it possible they didn't remove enough material to cause this.   

Can I get an opinion on a plug chop? Running an RD350 converted to LC. Basically TZ porting with RZ pistons. TM34 carbs. I'm comfortable throughout the throttle range to WOT, but then it was completely falling apart at the end of the cable. I was way off on the main jet, so I started going up. This is my last chop with a 280 main, which felt really good by my butt dyno. It looks good to me with a neat 2mm ring, so I'm wondering if I'm still on the lean side, if I'm good here, or if I should maybe go to 290 or above. Seems to be a lot of internet posts where the people are more at 300 or above with TM34s.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/778379376567303/?mibextid=6ojiHh

Can anyone in-the-know tell me the direction of coolant flow in an LC?  I am currently pushing coolant into the bottom of the rad, and wonder if I should flip the flow to be pulling from the bottom of the rad and pushing coolant into the back of the head.  It's working now, but when i have tested the current system in an overheat situation, boiling off any coolant creates an air bubble and if too much coolant boils out, I fear the coolant will quit reaching the top of the rad and not make it to the inlet on top of the head.

I have a vintage race fairing i acquired amongst all the RD stuff that became the liquid 75 I finished last year.  This kit raced in the early 80s by privateers from Mid-Ohio area.  They matched it with an RD400 glass tank and 60s Honda glass race seat.  Both are on the LC RD.  The radiator kept the kit off that bike, so I set out to find another frame to build around this fairing with.  Last weekend, I headed to Brunswick, GA to pick up the R5 frame.  Pretty neat deal with this frame is it shows a 7/71 manufacture date.  My birthday is also July 71, so now I have my first birth day bike.  Expect something in the way of the RD 350/400 tank and TZ twin shock seat Airtech makes. 

I have most of what I need to piece together an engine, but I need to double check if it's RD250 bottom end.  I definitely have a 350 crank and a complete 350 transmission in addition to that bottom end.  This will stay air cooled, but pistons and bore are tbd.  I have stock LC pistons left from when I robbed the LC top end, but that's all.

I would love to be as close to era specific on this build, as far as can be done with a stock frame and lights.  I've seen Teazer post about using FZ400r forks, but they're hen's teeth in the US best I can figure.  Only other front ends I have are EX500 and Katana traditional fork front ends.  I do not have an RD front end, so if I go that route having to buy a set would factor into the price of making them as modern as possible.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1980-yamaha-tz350-yamaha-roadracer/

On my RD350 that's been converted to LC, I am running an electric coolant pump with no thermostat, but switched through the right handlebar controls.  If I let it run from start up all through riding, I am sitting in mid 160s in the summer and so far mid 140s in the winter.  I have also noticed more bog during early, cooler parts of my runs since winter started.  (I am in Georgia, so the notion of winter is up for debate) 

I am curious, generally speaking, if I am hurting performance by keeping it too cool.  Power still feels like it's there, but I haven't been able to consistently keep it between 180 and 210 with the switch, so I typically just run it switched on and keep the temps where they are. It's my thoughts that I am probably burning less off and that's contributing to increased early bog, and possibly affecting atomization or the something I don't know enough about throughout my rides. 

This is the culprit:



1975 RD350, 1985 Honda CB700SC rear shocks at the lowest preload, 1982 Honda CB650 front forks with air caps, no air pressure, stock springs, 15W fork oil, 17" wheels front and back.

Here's the issue:

I have about a 1/2" of chicken strips to give you an idea where the bike really feels maxed out (less than what this early pic indicates).  I don't know what you can glean from one pic, but it should be clear I am a bit squat in the rear.  This was intentional, as I expected the rear end to be stiffer than it turned out to be.  I expected to also feel more rear end grab in turns and on take off.  I get it on take off, not so sure about the turns.  There's more shock angle, which may have softened the rear end a bit, but I also have much more preload to add.  I like the spring rate and damping on the rear.  The front, however, is clearly too stiff.  Is it too long?  Is my feeling of unease at all related to the power to weight of the bike?  Is this a condition of uneven suspension front to back?  I absolutely want to put this bike on the track, but I am going to get killed on entry in turns.  It's fine going throttle on exit, but it's a combo of throwing weight to the outside (maybe pushing?) and the rear end not feeling like there's enough bite. So I end up way to cautious entering, and raising hell to recover on the way out.

Thought I'd share a project I have going on that went back on the lift post Mid-Ohio.  It's a bird-in-hand type build, as many of my projects tend to be.  I've been collecting piles for basically nothing the last 10 years, and now pillage the piles for parts.  The engine is a DT1 and the frame is later.  I got the engine in a pile of trade.  It changed hands 4X amongst friends and finally found a home with me.  I bought the frame for $100 at Barber along with another cool bill for the British bolt on hardtail.  The wheels are RD350 and the forks XS750.  The tank is from a Motron moped and comes with a fun spring loaded rack.  The handlebars are from an XR80, iirc.  The seat is an XL engine guard that's got the right shape and it's symmetrical.  I have an idea for how I want to upholster it.  That's a bicycle spring for a seat spring, which has the perfect rebound.   

I had been looking for a down pipe over a year now and finally just settled on a KDX250 snail pipe that I cut up and twisted the bends to get the routing.  It all measures out, but I know it's a shot in the dark that it will work.  I am not averse to sending the bike to JEMCO or someone, but that's big money for a yard build.  The snail pipe was a whopping $25 at Mid Ohio.  If the bike works well from 0 - 45 mph, I'll be happy.  If it doesn't work, at least I know it will look rad not working.

Hi Guys,

Here is another build I have going on.  Most focus, atm, is the RD350 LC hybrid, but this one gets some love in-between RD sessions.  A buddy in Pittsburgh passed down a DT250 motor through our Motorcycle Underground Railroad.  It made it to Barber this past fall.  That same Barber netted a DT frame.  The frame and engine years don't match, which mean I'm having to do some frame adapting.  I also bought a BSA bolt on hardtail at Barber, which is welded to the DT cradle.

For the moment, the build is a bit stalled while I look for a pipe.  Being it's a chopper, I was hoping to find a low slung expansion chamber.  I don't think a stock DT pipe will work as well as I hope, but if nothing else comes through that may be the way I go.  If anyone is super familiar with the DT's and can offer some suggestions for a pipe, please speak up.  I'm open to something custom, as well.  I figure there has to be a snail pipe out there that works with these engines, if it comes to that. 

This bike needs to be as stupid as possible.

I recently joined the forum as I'm diving into the deep end with 2 strokes.  The build begins over on Do The Ton, where Teazer has been loads of help and a wealth of information so far.  It's pretty cool the willingness for 2T guys to share information.  I figure I'll run parallel threads and absorb as much as I can

This summer, I took a trip to a buddy's house in Ohio to trade a trailer load of bikes.  In the haul I brought back to Georgia was an IT200, several bins full of RD parts and a titled 75 frame.  There's a vintage fiberglass race fairing, tank and seat to build around.  I had considered building a legit race bike, but have opted instead to build a street bike that plays on track days. 

This is as it sits today. 



The mock-up includes a GSXR front end, Radian Swingarm and wheels from an 87 ZX600.  The pile includes an LC top end, a Banshee manifold and I think YZ85 reeds.  Stock carbs are also in the bin.  I'm also trying to identify the crank, which I've been told is a TZ/RD hybrid.  Not sure how I confirm that information.