YL1.. Project thread

[m in sc]

what isnt shown is how utterly mangled the footpeg assembly was. it took me 2 hours with a torch, vice, big pipes and suche to get them straight again. I mean they were fubared. the 'w' when you look at it from the front was angled back on both dies, pushed vary far IN on the RH side , and both pegs were andgled back like 10-15 degrees. and up like 5. Im shocked it got it straightened out.

[m in sc]

Pic dump/update on the YL1E:  Its amazing how such a little bike that is relatively straight can have so much shit done wrong to it in the past. lol. after replacing broken wires in the harness, repairing the generator/starter assembly, taking the neutral switch apart, cleaning the contacts, repairing the LH bar switch by making a switch plate from scratch out of brass stock, straightening the bent handle bars, (and they were pretty fucked up.) I finally got it to charge and all the electrical now works as it should. also serviced the steering neck bearings, removed even MORE sae bolts, etc. then, i pulled the baffles  and realized a PO  hammered in the originals and broke the baffle plate in the pipes. that's right, on both sides. it was at this point i stopped. also, test fitting a  temporary seat until i can get stock pan.  Also illustrates that most 'barn finds' are rolling pieces of junk that need a LOT of attention. there's exceptions, but usually this kind of stuff is pretty normal to find on bikes of this vintage.











horn switch spring plate.. made a new one





while i was in there w the bars off:



test fit temporary seat:

[m in sc]

and then getting the charging system to work. brushes cleaned and the commutor was cleaned, all good now:



so the ign switch was mangled and no key. bought one off ebay, new, was wrong one of course so a cannibalized it for parts and repaired the old one:



'gold' one is correct:





this shows the ball, fiber insulator , then spring positioning.







stole lock cyl and key out of new one, reused old housing and contact plate.



soldered the leads back on that were ripped/cut off, closed up the switch. tape is over the back to prevent any corrosion, not to hold it together.

[Clem710]

+1, theres usually alot more work than expected but when its really done, they run as good as they ever did if not better.  If not you, who else would ever grease the head bearings before the bike was discarded:)

I find it nice that the old switchgear is a bit chunkier and it seems easier to make parts for and work on.  Then again, modernish stuff isnt usually broken although I've seen a fair amount of kill switches that needed attention especially on things that sat outside.

[John Ritter]

Mark I should have .050, .075 and 1.00mm piston kits if you find the top end in need of help.

[John Ritter]

I would have to look but I might have engine spares. 25 years ago I had a bunch of that stuff, some went to scrap when I moved to TN so not sure. If you need something let me know and I'll check my storage.

[m in sc]

ooh, thats good news john. top end seems fine, its mechanically quiet but i may hit you up anyway. i'll investigate when i pull the heads to get them vapor blasted. 

sure, let me know if you find anything.

[m in sc]

pipes had 3 broken and/or dislodged baffle plates anf just fucked up silencers. luckily i was able to repair them.

its hard to weld on a pipe when the inside is literally on fire. cranked up the shielding gas and had at it. Not a how bike but you also cant see the repairs when they are on.

product of somebody violently hammering the stock baffles in.

had already straightened the lower one out here, was folded completely over:












not super pretty but do not leak and done. had to keep temp low, relatively, to not burn thru.

[SoCal250]

Nice work! good as new

[m in sc]

thanks.

well, functional, at least, as new. 

[Clem710]

Keyboard welders scheduled to arrive in 10, 9, 8....

I'd have put 3 holes in it and had to put a patch on it, old, dirty and thin is tricky.

Its stuck together, run it:)

[m in sc]

TRUST ME, I CAN WELD BETTER THAN THAT.  But welding on chrome, on very thin & infused with 50 years of oil, is a different story. reason i didn't braze was , it flames out even more. reason i didn't tig it was the material is so thin and so dirty it would be a nightmare. only way to properly do it would be to get pipes hot tanked clean, and 1: not worth it and 2: no one around here would do it anyway. But you're right. Im not ashamed of it. Barney has had same repair for over 5 years on one pipe, no ones ever noticed it.   

[1976RD400C]

Nice. I couldn't get those inner baffles out for the life of me on mine, never thought of going in the side door. Shined a light in there and all looked ok. Then I sprayed and pressure washed the best I could. Once I got the little ones clean then a nice sound and pulse was coming out. Mine shows 9000 miles and the pistons and bores were still good. The rings were at their limit, so I replaced them. Mine has keystone style rings, they are not square, the top surface is tapered. I noticed these bikes run nice and cool even at full throttle.

[m in sc]

i got em out ok. but man they were messed up when i got em out.  few more pics i took with camera. 

also, vid from today.

[1976RD400C]

Looking real good. I see you have a real throttle on yours. Mine is a goofy thing where the cable runs inside the handlebar and there is a machined slot in the handleber, under the throttle tube, that has a slider that is hooked to the cable and a key sticking up. Then the inside of the throttle tube is a corkscrew. That slider key fits into the corkscrew, so as you twist it, it pulls the cable. Hard to turn and no way to adjust the slack except at the carbs but that doesn't take up the slack from the cable junction where the oil cable hooks to the throttle.