darft vader
New member
Making good progress mike, keep up the good work.:thumbsup:
Club Scuderia
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RD250LC Project
- Thread starter Mike01606
- Start date
neil-f
Active member
+1 :thumbsup::dude:
Mike01606
Active member
I started the fork legs tonight. I have quite a few rubbish jobs to do now......I should have spaced them out a bit.
Anyway, this is what I started with......
About an hour later using wet and dry and wire wool......I'm trying to achieve a satin finish so avoiding autosol etc.
I'm not sure this is going to work!
I persevered until I'd had enough. It is Ok but I'm not sure I'll be happy with it once fitted against the rest of the bike.
I will do the other one later this week then make a call. Has anyone got any suggestions on how to refinish and protect without powder coating them silver?
The final job for tonight was to repair the brake line clamp lug which had been chewed off by someone over tightening the clamp.
I cleaned up the edges with a file....
I then used Belzona molecular metal and a piece of tube to form it around...
Once fully cured I'll file it to shape...it is actually hidden under the clamp when installed.
Anyway, this is what I started with......
About an hour later using wet and dry and wire wool......I'm trying to achieve a satin finish so avoiding autosol etc.
I'm not sure this is going to work!
I persevered until I'd had enough. It is Ok but I'm not sure I'll be happy with it once fitted against the rest of the bike.
I will do the other one later this week then make a call. Has anyone got any suggestions on how to refinish and protect without powder coating them silver?
The final job for tonight was to repair the brake line clamp lug which had been chewed off by someone over tightening the clamp.
I cleaned up the edges with a file....
I then used Belzona molecular metal and a piece of tube to form it around...
Once fully cured I'll file it to shape...it is actually hidden under the clamp when installed.
Last edited:
markst
New member
friend of mine has a fully restored 350LC........lovely bike ...:thumbsup:
I'm half tempted with a HD slim at the moment
Mike01606
Active member
Any pics of the 350?
I've looked at Harley's a lot over the years and will eventually buy (I think)....the problem is I'm not sure how much use it would get....
Mike01606
Active member
I carried on with the other fork leg tonight and ended up reassembling them.....
I pushed in new forks seals even though they weren't leaking as I'd bought them.
I then reassembled the damper rods, put 142ml of 10W-30 oil in each, put the spring back in and closed them up.
I have no pictures of the final stages as I needed 3 hands to compress the spring and fit the cap and circlip in place!
I must say after being a bit unsure last night I'm chuffed with the end result.
I even re-tapped the mudguard mounts and put some new SS bolts in place......
Next up....permanently fit the swinger and sort the wheels....
I pushed in new forks seals even though they weren't leaking as I'd bought them.
I then reassembled the damper rods, put 142ml of 10W-30 oil in each, put the spring back in and closed them up.
I have no pictures of the final stages as I needed 3 hands to compress the spring and fit the cap and circlip in place!
I must say after being a bit unsure last night I'm chuffed with the end result.
I even re-tapped the mudguard mounts and put some new SS bolts in place......
Next up....permanently fit the swinger and sort the wheels....
Mike01606
Active member
Mike01606
Active member
For what it's doing it will be fine. It is just a clamp that holds the brake line in place. A previous owner had over tightened it and pinched it off.
Mike01606
Active member
Thanks again......I'm glad people are first reading it and second enjoying it!
Mike01606
Active member
Quite a bit of progress this morning and some advice now needed......
I started by degreasing the engine with paraffin. This was the job I was least looking forward to
Before shots.
After
With the grime off I removed the heads
The bores are on standard size which backs up my theory they'd never been off. The head bolts looked completely undisturbed.
I then removed both pistons and little end bearings and reassembled thrm as they came off to keep the parts together in right place.
I them gave the crankcase another clean after plugging the openings.
The engine looks a lot better and I will paint the heads and barrels before reassembly.
It would need to be split further and the cases vapour blasted if I was looking for concours.
Finally....I was advised to replace the little ends and rings as a minimum.
On inspection they are perfect, no play at all and the rings, bores and pistons look fine.....
What do you people think?
I started by degreasing the engine with paraffin. This was the job I was least looking forward to
Before shots.
After
With the grime off I removed the heads
The bores are on standard size which backs up my theory they'd never been off. The head bolts looked completely undisturbed.
I then removed both pistons and little end bearings and reassembled thrm as they came off to keep the parts together in right place.
I them gave the crankcase another clean after plugging the openings.
The engine looks a lot better and I will paint the heads and barrels before reassembly.
It would need to be split further and the cases vapour blasted if I was looking for concours.
Finally....I was advised to replace the little ends and rings as a minimum.
On inspection they are perfect, no play at all and the rings, bores and pistons look fine.....
What do you people think?
Chriss
New member
From past experience I would leave well enough alone. Factory tolerances, nicely bedded in, are mostly better than what can be achieved by an amateur rebuild.
On an older bike you aren't going to thrash it within an inch of it's life anyway.
If you have any doubt when the bikes up and running again it won't be a huge job to go back and do the engine then.
On an older bike you aren't going to thrash it within an inch of it's life anyway.
If you have any doubt when the bikes up and running again it won't be a huge job to go back and do the engine then.
Mike01606
Active member
This morning I've had a look at one of the cylinders in detail.....
I cleaned the gasket faces and lightly polished the piston crown with some Mothers Mag polish.
The bores look ok but they have 15k miles on them... I believe 2 strokes can normally go about 20k between rebores .
There is a ridge visible on the next pic but I cannot measure the wear.
To go a bit further I removed the top ring and measured the end gap with it installed a 3 points in the bore
The result 18 thou which is right at the top of the spec.
At this point I'm minded to replace the rings and see if I can source some Yamaha first oversize piston kits. Them maybe get it rebored over winter.
I will leave the other barrel for later.
I will paint with PJ1 satin black when I've found some.
I cleaned the gasket faces and lightly polished the piston crown with some Mothers Mag polish.
The bores look ok but they have 15k miles on them... I believe 2 strokes can normally go about 20k between rebores .
There is a ridge visible on the next pic but I cannot measure the wear.
To go a bit further I removed the top ring and measured the end gap with it installed a 3 points in the bore
The result 18 thou which is right at the top of the spec.
At this point I'm minded to replace the rings and see if I can source some Yamaha first oversize piston kits. Them maybe get it rebored over winter.
I will leave the other barrel for later.
I will paint with PJ1 satin black when I've found some.
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Definitely am. Like Carl, not even a massive bike fan, never had one, but really enjoying watching the progress you're making bringing this one back to life. Great thread :thumbsup:
Mike01606
Active member
The powder coating on the frame is so thick the chassis number was not legible.
I masked the area around it and started to sand it back with wet and dry. Very quickly any text that was visible was gone!
I was committed now so I has to go back to bare metal to get the number back.
I them covered the number with clear tape to protect it... I'm not sure if I should post the finished result as the number I'd fully readable.
I masked the area around it and started to sand it back with wet and dry. Very quickly any text that was visible was gone!
I was committed now so I has to go back to bare metal to get the number back.
I them covered the number with clear tape to protect it... I'm not sure if I should post the finished result as the number I'd fully readable.
Mike01606
Active member
I've spent the rest of the day on the chassis.
The top yoke needed a lot of work to clean the powder coat of the areas where the forks and handlebars locate.
I fitted the forks and bars in place along with final fitting of the rear shock and swing arm.
Next up was fitting the tyres to the rims. Actually went on quite easily.
A final view of it without wheels but with headlight housing.
I then built up the rear drum and it's a while since I've done one of these.
She rolls!
That's it for now......all up to date.
The top yoke needed a lot of work to clean the powder coat of the areas where the forks and handlebars locate.
I fitted the forks and bars in place along with final fitting of the rear shock and swing arm.
Next up was fitting the tyres to the rims. Actually went on quite easily.
A final view of it without wheels but with headlight housing.
I then built up the rear drum and it's a while since I've done one of these.
She rolls!
That's it for now......all up to date.