My RD400D Slooooww Build

[svgarage]

Pretty cool project SV! looking forward to the upcoming progress

Thank you! It's been an interesting journey, this build- a labor of love and sometimes of frustration. It's been more than 25 years since this bike has been on the road. Tomorrow I'm headed to the DMV to complete my registration process provided I don't hit any speed bumps. The bike is pretty much [temporarily] assembled and ready for the inspection. I already got my frame back from the powdercoater and all I can say is WOW! They did a spectacular job! and it was finished in less than a week, including the sandblasting! He gave me a total deal- $300 for the frame and swingarm. The other parts are off to paint. Those will take another week or two. So if I'm lucky, tomorrow afternoon will be spent swapping parts over to the modified frame.

[svgarage]

Last week I got the painted parts back. They look pretty awesome! The painter did a very nice job. I spent a couple of days trying to hack together a working electrical harness out of three that I have accumulated over the years. It wasn't easy, since I'm really not all that great at reading schematics, plus some of the wire colors weren't always what the schematic said they would be.

I hooked it up as best I could. I knew I had to delete the resistor ballast, since I was installing some old (never been used) Moto Carrera coils. In the end, there were a few wires that I didn't know where they belonged- I figured I'd just get to that later.

I bought a dial indicator to help me get the bike timed. For my configuration, my engine builder suggested that I try 1.8mm BTDC. I got the plugs and points gapped. New everything. I new Yamaha OEM where I could. All the engine internals, with the exception of the con rods and bearings were NOS stuff. The condenser I bought wasn't old stock- I bought an aftermarket fresh one.

After the battery was hooked up, I turned the ignition and I got lights! What a total relief! And nothing melted or went snap/crackle/pop. The neutral and oil idiot lights came on, the headlamp worked hi/low, and the blinkers worked (but they didn't blink, because I installed LED's). The one thing that didn't work was the brake light. I tested it on the blinker and it fired, so it's something else. I'll get to that later.





I filled the bike up with fluids and did pre-mix gas for the startup, using 32:1 ratio of the Yamalube 2S. I tried to start the bike last night, but it was a no go. I was racking my brain to figure out what it could be. I'm certain that the timing was dead on. The motor is definitely getting gas. So this morning, I tested for spark. Yup. That was firing.

I called up a couple of local shops. I spoke to a guy at a Harley shop, but he said he had lots of experience on 2T bikes, so I told him what was going on. I was just desperate to get the bike running. I could tune it myself later. He said he could take the bike, but it wouldn't be done till next week. And unfortunately, he had to leave in an hour to go to a hill climb competition. (Good for him!) But before we got off the phone, he advised me to maybe switch the spark plug wires around, because it really did sound like a timing issue and I agreed. I swapped the wires and it fired up on the second kick! He was right! I'll stop by with some beer for him next week.

Click on the picture below for video!

[Czakky]

Looks awesome. Not too many better feelings than that!