1971 R5 not a restoration

[mewherman]

I figured I would make a project thread for this bike. I've gone through the trouble of filming the first episode of a YouTube series about fixing up this machine. So I figured I would post that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXx2B0xN538 here and I will also post photos in here. No idea if I will make subsequent videos since it was a bit annoying and there seems to be no interest in it,  I'm no Ken Burns.

I bought this bike about five years ago, it has been sitting forever and was missing parts, but I was able to get it up and running, and I did some work to it at that time to get it road safe and use it for I think one season? But sadly the engine failed one day and so the bike has been sitting for three years collecting bondo dust and leaking oil in the corner.



Plans are to make the bike as nice as I can make it before I get bored.

Since filming that video I have taken the front fork off the bike and stripped the frame, and it's associated parts and those things are now being powder coated (like I said, this bike is just for me, and it's going to be nice) and the cylinders are at the machine shop awaiting pistons.

I will be repainting the whole bike, including the tank and covered in the original stripes and colours.

This will most likely exceed the value of the bike 

I plan to fit some "sporty" accessories as I mentioned in the video, although it will be more for looks than actual performance. I have been looking at the "JL Street Retros" because they allow me to keep the stand, but I'm torn on whether to bother with them if they have no real performance benefit, as the stock exhaust is one of the few parts of this bike that is actually in excellent condition.

I have filmed the disassembly of the engine and will edit that video and post it this evening. If anyone has any comments about all the things I'm doing wrong, or sees any major concerns, feel free to mention it, and I'll attempt to correct it :

[pidjones]

As you don't mention any plans for racing, I'll suggest staying with the stock pipes and such until it is all running 100% then consider if it really needs (or will get) a performance improvment by changing exhaust, intake, etc. There are so many threads of folks making changes and then spending more time and money chasing the jetting, etc. to get performance back to baseline.

[m in sc]

itll help. My 72 is very similar in approach. it def runs stronger than my 70.

Id consider a cdi at least as well, or at least an electronic ignition.

[soonerbillz]

Pretty cool.!
Thanks for sharing.  I swear I'm seeing more and more R5 stories.. or maybe I'm just paying more attention 
Either way it's pretty cool.

[85RZwade]

They're all just copying you, Scott! I don't know if you know this, but you're a pretty big deal. sorry!
I say get it back together stock and see if it makes you smile inside your helmet. You can always make changes later if you find it lacking. 

[Czakky]

My opinion on the JL street retro's. Keep your stock pipes and have your cylinders ported. Plus I think r5s look right with stock pipes.

[soonerbillz]

They're all just copying you, Scott! I don't know if you know this, but you're a pretty big deal. sorry!
I say get it back together stock and see if it makes you smile inside your helmet. You can always make changes later if you find it lacking. 

Ha!..
Sure my freind. Thanks..

[mewherman]

My opinion on the JL street retro's. Keep your stock pipes and have your cylinders ported. Plus I think r5s look right with stock pipes.

I think I probably will keep the stock pipes for now since I won't have to do any tuning and the bike ran great before it blew up. The cylinders I bought to replace the cracked ones actually have been ported by someone, but I have no idea if it's been done correctly or competently.

[Greaser Greg]

The one time I did any kind of porting, it was a matter of measuring the dimensions of the ports and distance from top of cylinder.  Both sides should be the same with identical angles on the edges for each set of holes.  Post the numbers and someone else here will know what they mean regarding what pipes they'd be good for and where to start with jetting.

[m in sc]

if they are ported you'll have to retune from stock anyway so... might as well fit the chambers. 

years ago i restored a 71 like yours, had beautiful stock pipes.  I procured a set of really nice j&r pipes and put them on (chrome). Eventually i sold the bike to Tom who swore he was going to put the mint stock pipes back on that came w the bike.

He bought it back in... 07? he still has the bike and it still has the same chambers on it. 

[mewherman]

The one time I did any kind of porting, it was a matter of measuring the dimensions of the ports and distance from top of cylinder.  Both sides should be the same with identical angles on the edges for each set of holes.  Post the numbers and someone else here will know what they mean regarding what pipes they'd be good for and where to start with jetting.

When I get the cylinders back from the machine shop, I'll have to photograph the porting and get more detail about how it's been done.

[mewherman]

if they are ported you'll have to retune from stock anyway so... might as well fit the chambers. 

years ago i restored a 71 like yours, had beautiful stock pipes.  I procured a set of really nice j&r pipes and put them on (chrome). Eventually i sold the bike to Tom who swore he was going to put the mint stock pipes back on that came w the bike.

He bought it back in... 07? he still has the bike and it still has the same chambers on it. 

Oh I think I've spent enough money on this bike at this point haha, I spent $300 on candy orange paint, vinyl fine line tape and clear coat yesterday. 

Hopefully the jetting will be similar, I had a uni with ypipe on the bike when it was previously on the road and was running premix and I actually never changed the jetting from stock and it ran fine.

[mewherman]

I fixed up the side covers yesterday, not perfect but, they were petty beat up. I've ordered some replacement stickers for them, hopefully they're of a better quality than the ones I used on my RD350 from Economy cycle, they kinda wrinkled up around the edges.

[SoCal250]

But sadly the engine failed one day and so the bike has been sitting for three years collecting bondo dust and leaking oil in the corner.

I had a uni with ypipe on the bike when it was previously on the road and was running premix and I actually never changed the jetting from stock and it ran fine.

I don't think you mentioned the cause for your engine blow up, but this probably contributed. Jetting should be larger with that intake setup and premix. It was very likely lean.

[mewherman]

But sadly the engine failed one day and so the bike has been sitting for three years collecting bondo dust and leaking oil in the corner.

I had a uni with ypipe on the bike when it was previously on the road and was running premix and I actually never changed the jetting from stock and it ran fine.

I don't think you mentioned the cause for your engine blow up, but this probably contributed. Jetting should be larger with that intake setup and premix. It was very likely lean.

I discussed it and showed in the video there. The cylinder wall cracked on the left side and moved out of position, the piston smashed into that edge and it locked the engine up, it actually seized sitting at a stop sign, so I don't think leanness caused it. That's not to say it was jetted correctly, just to say I think the failure was unrelated.