new member

[Plasticman]

Congratulations on your new to you RD and welcome to the group.

Regards,

Rob

[TPR5]

Welcome, this is a great place to learn and get info , great people !

[bad luck]

Hey Milan,
Good call, yes I just checked them and you were right, they were both very loose.

[bad luck]

Hey Milan,
Good call, I just checked and they were both loose.
Thanks for the advice.

[m in sc]

good call Milan.

[bad luck]

Hi plasticman,
Thanks for the welcome, yes I'm excited to have an old 2 stroke bike again.
You seem to have an awesome collection of rd400's.
And I see that you're restoring one of them.
Have any of the chrome plated parts like the taillight bracket been rusty and corroded?
If so how do you deal with it?

[bad luck]

Hi Mark in sc,
Sorry that I didn't respond sooner, we just returned from a camping trip with no signal.
Anyway thank you for the advice.
I am going to take care of the other problems first, before I get new tires.
So I have the oil to change the trans fluid, and as you suggested I will check and replace the wheel bearings if necessary.
I will definitely check the swing arm bushings too.
And I will have to replace the chain and sprockets.
The clutch seems to be o.k. so far.
And I agree with you, I should pull and clean the carbs, and find out how to synchronize them or get someone to do it for me.
I can't find my old dial gauge to check the timing, so I'll order a new one.
Do you recommend just replacing the old original coils?
And I know I need fresh brake fluid. Thanks for reminding me.
And I didn't consider the left side seals, I can tell you've done all this before.
It's a big help, this will be a fun thing to work on during the cold season.
The folks on the forum are so helpful, I do appreciate all the advice.

[bad luck]

Hi TPR5,
I can already tell that there are some incredibly knowledgeable and helpful people on the forum, I've already learned a little.
Thanks for the welcome.

[m in sc]

I usually replace the coils. see the tech section for the sv650 coil mod.

tbh, you can set the timing with a timing light (if you have one). IF you need a dial gauge, the one from economy is a good unit and priced very right.

i alwasy feel regardless, if the tires are questionable... just change them now. or at least plan on it.

as far as synching carbs, it s a5 minute job, people make way too big a deal out of it. (i need ot make a video of doing it). the way -i- do it is, synch them up TOP 1st. i use a mirror, look in there, when the slides align at the top of the bore... they will be synchronized. as far as down low off idle...

get the bike running, then stop it, pull a plug wire, and run it on 1 cyl. turn the slide screw in (side) until it idles at 1100-1200 rpm. on one cyl.  turn bike off, connect plug wire. fire back up. will idle high but will clear plug.

turn bike back off, pull the other plug wire off, get bike running on the other cylinder, turn slide screw until it idles at same speed, 11-1200 rpm. turn bike off.  reconnect plug wire. fire up, will be idling around 2900 rpm or so, turn each slide screw in equal amounts (1/4 left, 1/4 right, back and forth) until the bike idles at wherever you want it to land (I like 1200-1300). carbs are synched.

worry about this after the timing is set. 

[bad luck]

Mark,
I ordered a service manual for the rd350, but it isn't here yet.
But I doubt that it would have the method you described. I'll look up the sv650 coil mod.(a very nice bike btw I just gave mine to my son)
And I definitely plan on replacing the tires.
So I need to do a leak down test, I just did a compression test and both cylinders are at 104 psi.
As you mentioned I will get the timing set and then sync the carbs.
You guys are great, if I ever meet you I will buy you a beer!