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Introduction. I'm new, sort of.

Started by Inov8, December 27, 2020, 11:01:03 AM

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Inov8

Hello everyone and Happy Holidays.

My name is Allen and I live in Ormond Beach, Florida. I registered for this forum the other day but I've been lurking since the site came back up. I used to belong to the old forum, I think, but I mostly read and don't do much posting. I'm 52 and have been riding and working on bikes since I was about 14. Over the years I've owned an S3, 3 RD400s and an R5; as well as, a Harris TZ250 framed, RD400 powered street bike that I built in my shed (I'll try to find pics)  I've always wanted a 350 and for Christmas this year my wife got me the bike shown. It's mostly stock except for a Vape ignition, pipes and heads. It runs ok, but has 400 heads and the Vape is not timed correctly. This bike will be the subject of a build thread; my goal being a total sleeper on the street and something different to ride on track days.

I'll just shut up now and go back my Crayons and coloring book

Arrow

Welcome in. Nice project.

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk


suey1958

Welcome, Very nice Christmas gift indeed ! Looking forward to your build thread.

SoCal250

Welcome :cheers:  Congrats on the new bike. That's a great gift! (The wife is definitely a keeper!)

Are you certain the heads are for a 400? The only way to tell is to look for the stamping on the underside of the fins. The DGs for both the 350 and 400 are the same dimensions, so they will have an overhang on the 350 engine. In any case, it's best to get them recut for proper squish and today's fuel (and decked for a 400 type gasket or cut for O-rings).

Looking forward to watching the progess.
75 Yamaha RD125B   75 Yamaha RD125B (project)
75 Yamaha RD250B   75 Yamaha RD200B (project)
73 Yamaha RD350     77 Yamaha RD400D   79 Yamaha RD400F  
91 Yamaha TZR250R  89 Yamaha FZR400   05 Yamaha FZ6   
05 Yamaha XT225TC  82 Honda MB5  02 Aprilia RS250 Cup (sold)

AAAltered

Great bones to start with.

Like SoCal said,  pull a head and see what they are stamped.  Mine were 400's, cut and corrected for a 350.  Thankfully restamped too.

If you send those heads out go for the o-ring option, I wish I did...
1971 R5
1976 RD200
2022 Moto Guzzi V7 850 Special

RDFL

Is that the one that was on CL recently?

85RZwade

Nice to meet you and welcome aboard! I like your 350 and look forward to your build  :thumbs:
I post waayyy too much

Inov8

Thank you all for the welcoming and the tips. I like this forum because of everyone's willingness to help out. I only had the bike a few hours before I had to investigate why it had no guts. My bone stock R5 was must faster than this bike. First was a compression check which showed a tick over 100 psi. So, I kind of suspected 400 heads at that point. But before I pulled one, I did a leak down test which checked out fine. I pulled a head confirmed that they are indeed 400 heads (see pic). Next, I checked ignition timing. I felt like the bike should run better than it did even with the low compression. Ignition was set at just under 1mm BTDC. Mystery solved. I could hear that something was off, even in the idle. An otherwise stock bike with just DG heads and pipes will still have a nice "crack" in the exhaust sound and a "ring" in the pipes at idle. This bike sounded muted and soft. Another clue was that it had no torque down low, as if it were a race ported bike. But, when it hit the powerband, instead of rocketing forward on one wheel like I was expecting, it just pulled slightly harder. I've already stared the teardown and will start a build thread soon.
I'll just shut up now and go back my Crayons and coloring book

JB Weld

Welcome back! Look forward to seeing your progress.

Greaser Greg

Welcome home and your input will add more  :bacon: to an already  :righteous: forum!  Thank you! :cheerleader:
Every day above ground is a good one.
'71 R5B "Rusty"  '71 R5B "Decaf"   '99 KZ 250
'97 XL1200S "The Vibrator"   '08 XL1200N  "Greenie" (totalled)
'78 CB750F "The Skunk"   '74 CB550 "Blackie"    '78 Honda Hobbit