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RD350 Project Mustakrakish

Started by bostontrackrat, May 22, 2020, 12:26:31 AM

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bostontrackrat

Hi 2SW!

About Me
I'm an engineer and a motorcycle nut.  I've been riding and wrenching on bikes for about 8 years, and I've recently taken to 2 strokes.  I work in audio, and the acoustics/wave/resonance factor of 2 strokes makes a lot of sense in my head and it's really fun to learn about.  I race in USCRA (#86).  I also own an SV650, a Hawk GT, and a Peugeot 50cc moped.

About the Bike
1975 RD350 assembled from various piles of dry bones.   A friend locally was selling a bare frame for 40 bucks.  Well I couldnt pass that up.  After buying that he discovered that he had the numbers matching frame to go with it.  There went another 150 dollars.  A few weeks later I'm hunting on Craigslist for parts and I found a guy selling what was very nearly a complete bike, disassembled in boxes for 300 dollars.  On this platform I got to work rebuilding everything from scratch.  Every part was taken apart, cleaned, blasted, painted, greased and slowly assembled into something resembling a bike.  This started in spring of 2018, so it's been going for 2 years now.

About the Name
I've always been a big fan of heavy metal.  I loved the tv show Metalocalypse.  In one episode, the band reads a spell from an ancient book of spells and accidentally summons a Lake Troll.   My project reminds me of the lyrics of the song a lot.  Resurrecting an ancient evil beast to terrorize the land!  :metal:









85RZwade

So, an artistic engineer who's into heavy metal and two-strokes? Come on in, grab a beer, man!  :bacon:
Let's get that bike together  :righteous:
I post waayyy too much

Kawtriplefreak


bostontrackrat

Thanks!

The bike is actually a full roller now, and I'm working on engine assembly at the moment.   I'll continue posting my progress pictures from the past year in order until I'm caught up.


I was excited about my collection of parts, so of course, the first thing I did was make a rolling chassis and sit on it making "vroom vroom" sounds.



The seat came with the box of parts from the second bike, it cleaned up decently.  The tank I scored on ebay (no cap or petcock), and another racer in USCRA gave me a really nice set of German made Telefix clip ons.



Here you can see the state of the frame.  Looks like it was at the bottom of a swamp for the last 10 years!   parts of it were full of dried mud.







I got to work with a wire wheel on a drill.





Then laid down a few coats of rattle can primer.





Rattle Can black, followed by Spraymax 2k Gloss Clear (the best clear you can get from a rattle can).






bostontrackrat

In the midst of this, I finally decided that I was long overdue for some home workshop upgrades.

Enough of this crap.



I needed a proper workbench.  So off to the home supply store to buy a bunch of lumber and screws.



MUCH better!


bostontrackrat

Suspension refresh

Eventually, I'd like to have a full track spec suspension with Hagon shocks and Racetech springs and emulators in the forks.  But for now my budget says "make due with what you have".

To start, I got some nice brass swingarm bushings from Economy Cycle and cleaned up the stock swingarm pivot bolt, and put it all back together with fresh grease.  Also converted to modern zerk fittings to make life easy. 



Up next was completely stripping the forks and giving the lowers a lap around the sand blaster.  Fresh seals and fluid, and back together they go.



I had a nice clean set of stock rear shocks, they'll work until I can upgrade to the Hagons.  I found a guy on ebay in the UK who makes reproduction bushings for old bikes, so I got fresh bushing rubbers for them to help a little in the mean time.   

Here is is all back on the frame.



I didnt get a picture of it, but I also disassembled the stock steering damper, blasted it, and reassembled with fresh oil.   Doesnt feel like it does a whole lot of anything.... Maybe I need a more viscous oil? Or just bite the bullet and get a proper damper.


bostontrackrat

Brake time!

The front caliper got a full refresh.  I milled out the flange for the steel line and milled a flat surface on top so it would accept a modern banjo bolt and braided line.





Test fit



Then it was off to the sandblaster, and then the paint booth for a fresh coat of paint. Then I treated it to fresh seals, new stainless pistons from HVC, and a spankin' new sticker to boot!  :whoop:



And it was at this point that the 2020 SUCK hit the whole world.  I heard the rumor that there was a confirmed case of 'da RONA at work.  I frantically ran into the machine shop where I've been doing a lot of this work to grab the frame, engine, and any other spare bits I thought I'd need.  I also asked to borrow a bottle of cleaners and a handful of bolts, nuts, and a wire brush.  They had no problem with it.  I had a REAL strong feeling this was my last day in the office for a good long while.  Guess what?  That night they sent a corporate wide email telling us to stay at home and only return to the office to grab laptops/work supplies.

Fortunately, I got her home and tucked away nice and safe in my workshop to ride out this storm.  Now I'm extra glad I just built that workbench!



sav0r

I built that same workbench a few years back. It has served me well!
www.chrislivengood.net - for my projects and musings.

85RZwade

To paraphrase one of my favorite lines from Blazing Saddles: Never mind that shit, what's the story with that swoopy Honda in the background
(Really good story, pics and work, also)
I post waayyy too much

dgorms

Yeah, and the sacred rite with the candles and handle bars?..................................D
rz,r5,ds7,srx,fzr400rr,vfr,cl77,s90, F-7,CL 77, CA-77,ad infinitum

teazer

Honda looks like a CB1100R homage/tribute on an early CBR600 Hurricane.

Love the witch rituals around the bike to banish bad spirits. I see it was surrounded by good spirits.... :whistle:

SNice

Looks like an nt650 hawk gt in disguise!  I have one too! I also have a gen 1 sv650!  I also am back to working on my rd/r5 - it's currently in boxes.  I'll be following this one!

bostontrackrat

#12
Ding! We have a winner!

That's my 1989 Honda Hawk GT!  Aka NT650, Aka the RC31.  Aluminum frame, single sided swingarm by ELF (direct descendant of their GP program), with a V-twin (4 stroke, shhh) engine.   Dead nuts reliable.  I put fresh oil in it at the beginning of the season and then all I have to do is show up on race day and put 87 pump gas in it!

This bike was once owned by Jay Larossa of Lossa Engineering.  My buddy bought it off of him, raced it a little bit, then made a deal on it.  It was primer grey at the time.



Then I started painting on it.  Base layer in white.



Striped off with masking tape, and laid down blue and red.



Then added decals and number.  The Honda Wings, and the HRC decals came off ebay, the rest I made in a computer and printed on a vinyl cutter.



In the pits at Canaan Motor Speedway




I have the suspension fully set up with a Penske shock in the rear, and springs and emulators up front, all set up by GMD Computrack, Boston.  I've never felt a bike handle like this before.

bostontrackrat

#13
Back to project at hand.

Now at home in quarantine, I have to get more creative.

I made a truing stand for the crankshaft out of some angle iron.
Note: After this picture I realized I was an idiot and needed to have the stand rest on the outer bearings to get a proper reading.  I cut the stand down shorter, but didnt get a picture.



The crank was in remarkable shape.  I only had to replace one outside bearing that was clicking, and the only measurement that's out of spec is connecting rod side to side play, and that was only by a little bit.  So I decided to put it back together for now just to get it running and try it out.  Later I'll either do a full crank rebuild, or look into one of those Vito's cranks.   In the mean time, runout at either end is within 1 thou, so I think I should be okay for a little bit.

[gifv]https://i.imgur.com/t7KsIJZ.mp4[/gifv]


Time to clean the cases up.  I made a "hot tank" by pouring HOT water into a 5 gallon bucket with a scoop of Oxyclean to degrease the cases and remove dirt.   I let it soak for a little while, and occasionally moved it around for some agitation.



Not bad!  Not pro level results, but not bad!



I installed the shift drum and forks, and the neutral switch, and then test fit the crank.



Then dropped in the transmission.  A note here.  For now, this is the stock RD350 transmission.   In my box of supplies I have a complete RD400 transmission.  I tried to swap out the gears to get the closer ratios, but was unable to budge the 5th gear with just a bearing puller.  I cant do this until I get access to a shop press again, so I think that will be a project for next winter, along with the crank rebuild, and getting the cases properly vapor blasted.


85RZwade

 :rock2: just awesome. Love what you've done with the Hawk and appreciate your ingenuity with the hot tank and truing stand!
As a P.S., doesn't everyone perform purification rites around their bikes? What else would you do with chicken bones?
I post waayyy too much