darft vader
New member
The bike looks like new mike, great job :thumbsup: best of luck with start up and mot, sure it will be fine.
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RD250LC Project
- Thread starter Mike01606
- Start date
Mike01606
Active member
Thanks. Close up it isn't perfect but i have managed to keep a lot of the original finish and it doesn't look over restored which is what I wanted.....
Thanks for the tip Paul. I will definitely do that.
I've bled the oil pump and the clear lines to the carbs are primed but I was wondering if to pump some 2T in the tank. I certainly don't want to starve it of oil on first run.....
PAUL V
Active member
Yes i would pre-mix a bit of fuel to start it up with, also leave the oil pump cover off and put a cable tie around the cable so that the oil pump is wide open. This way it will prime the lines to the carbs much quicker, with clear lines you will see the oil pulsing up the lines.
If you need any more help just give me a call
Mike01606
Active member
I am a total plonker......
No pics for now as I'm on the PC and I need to update from my phone......I'm a strong believer is sharing the good and bad as it shows you are human.....
It was all going too well! It was assembled and ready for fuelling up, only the weather was stopping me running it outside.
As we were heading out for a meal last night, I noticed a slight coolant leak under the bike. Rather than leave and run the bike up to temperature and re-torque then, I decided to nip them up. Big mistake!
I checked the torque and they were all ok, so I checked the torque values in the manual. I read the wrong one which was higher but it was what I wanted to see, so I started to tighten them in stages. You can guess what happened next.....SNAP! :cry3::cry3: Meal cancelled.....
So, the top end is now off again and I'm a very silly boy :joker:
I rang my local dealer this morning to order the cylinder head stud and was initially told there were none in the country and it would be 4 weeks from Japan. He advised me to try the UK importer and luckily they had local stock and put two in the post. £16 each plus P&P for a 106mm piece of M8 threaded bar! I can see why some people make their own out of studded rod.
If nothing else the coolant has had a flush, the remains of the stud easily came out of the crankcase so hopefully no permanent harm done.
When I assemble it this time I will use some gasket sealant on the head gasket as the area around the water ways is quite narrow. I believe these engines have had a bit of trouble with leaks (see mine earlier) and there have been several iterations of head gaskets.
Thanks again to Paul V for his advice earlier....Much appreciated again :thumbsup:
I'll post some pics when my phone is charged again but I'm hoping it will be back together fairly soon as the engine is still in the frame.
Lesson learnt? Read/measure at least twice.....do once and don"t start something when you are in a hurry (In this case taking the wife out for a meal).
No pics for now as I'm on the PC and I need to update from my phone......I'm a strong believer is sharing the good and bad as it shows you are human.....
It was all going too well! It was assembled and ready for fuelling up, only the weather was stopping me running it outside.
As we were heading out for a meal last night, I noticed a slight coolant leak under the bike. Rather than leave and run the bike up to temperature and re-torque then, I decided to nip them up. Big mistake!
I checked the torque and they were all ok, so I checked the torque values in the manual. I read the wrong one which was higher but it was what I wanted to see, so I started to tighten them in stages. You can guess what happened next.....SNAP! :cry3::cry3: Meal cancelled.....
So, the top end is now off again and I'm a very silly boy :joker:
I rang my local dealer this morning to order the cylinder head stud and was initially told there were none in the country and it would be 4 weeks from Japan. He advised me to try the UK importer and luckily they had local stock and put two in the post. £16 each plus P&P for a 106mm piece of M8 threaded bar! I can see why some people make their own out of studded rod.
If nothing else the coolant has had a flush, the remains of the stud easily came out of the crankcase so hopefully no permanent harm done.
When I assemble it this time I will use some gasket sealant on the head gasket as the area around the water ways is quite narrow. I believe these engines have had a bit of trouble with leaks (see mine earlier) and there have been several iterations of head gaskets.
Thanks again to Paul V for his advice earlier....Much appreciated again :thumbsup:
I'll post some pics when my phone is charged again but I'm hoping it will be back together fairly soon as the engine is still in the frame.
Lesson learnt? Read/measure at least twice.....do once and don"t start something when you are in a hurry (In this case taking the wife out for a meal).
Mike01606
Active member
This should be the final update for a while....
The broken stud was easy to remove
And the new ones arrived in the post yesterday.
In place.....
This time I used copperslip on the studs and under the washers to make sure I got a good true torque reading without any binding.
I think I may have missed something on the first build. I fitted the LH barrel ok but when I fitted the RH one it didn't sit properly and placing a ruler over the top faces it wasn't square.
On investigation the base gaskets overlapped giving double thickness at the very edge of the RH cylinder.
This was solved with a bit of trimming.
All now nice and square.....
I don't know if this was the cause of the first leak but it is possible although I checked the barrels were sat squarely the first time.
It's an odd design to have separate cylinders and a single head. There isn't a lot of room for unevenness.
The rest was straightforward reassembly and within an hour I was ready again.
The advice from Paul was to leave the coolant out until just before running as the head gasket has a thermoformable material on it that seals properly one at temperature for the first time. I'd also applied a very thin film of sealant.
Next was a small amount of pre-mix in the tank, check for fuel leaks and make sure the carb float valves seated. All good....
I then gave it a quick kick and it tried to fire so I added the coolant.
Moment of truth! Started second kick and idled at 1100 RPM. I was pretty chuffed as the carbs had been completely in pieces for cleaning but is spend a lot of time setting them up.
I ran it up to temp just blipping it to 3k and made sure the oil pump was injecting oil at the max rate for the first few minutes.
I let it cool down and re-torqued the head bolts to the correct torque
.....no leaks at all.
Next update should be the MOT......
The broken stud was easy to remove
And the new ones arrived in the post yesterday.
In place.....
This time I used copperslip on the studs and under the washers to make sure I got a good true torque reading without any binding.
I think I may have missed something on the first build. I fitted the LH barrel ok but when I fitted the RH one it didn't sit properly and placing a ruler over the top faces it wasn't square.
On investigation the base gaskets overlapped giving double thickness at the very edge of the RH cylinder.
This was solved with a bit of trimming.
All now nice and square.....
I don't know if this was the cause of the first leak but it is possible although I checked the barrels were sat squarely the first time.
It's an odd design to have separate cylinders and a single head. There isn't a lot of room for unevenness.
The rest was straightforward reassembly and within an hour I was ready again.
The advice from Paul was to leave the coolant out until just before running as the head gasket has a thermoformable material on it that seals properly one at temperature for the first time. I'd also applied a very thin film of sealant.
Next was a small amount of pre-mix in the tank, check for fuel leaks and make sure the carb float valves seated. All good....
I then gave it a quick kick and it tried to fire so I added the coolant.
Moment of truth! Started second kick and idled at 1100 RPM. I was pretty chuffed as the carbs had been completely in pieces for cleaning but is spend a lot of time setting them up.
I ran it up to temp just blipping it to 3k and made sure the oil pump was injecting oil at the max rate for the first few minutes.
I let it cool down and re-torqued the head bolts to the correct torque
.....no leaks at all.Next update should be the MOT......
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Mike01606
Active member
Well it was almost MOT time
I ran the bike to temp the other night and noticed a clatter from the clutch area. It ceased when you pulled or opened the clutch......but is was enough to make we want to look further.
So out came the fluids (again!!!...anyone got shares in coolant companies?) and off came the clutch housing.
By rotating the clutch basket you could hear the chatter. It is riveted to the primary drive gear and the appeared to be play both rotationally and laterally. I didn't take any pics of the assembled clutch but here it is with the pressure plate and friction plates removed.
At least it was nice and clean and no dwarf in there.
To removed the inner secondary drive basket you really need one of these....
So I took the clutch off completely and reassembled it. It doesn't seen too bad and quite similar to a spare one a mate has loaned me.
If it is worn it is a shame as the basket and plates are like new which again for me validates the miles.
I'm going no further at the moment as I managed to source a brand new full clutch off an eBay auction for £62 delivered. It seems too good to be true so you know what that usually means
I'll let you know how I get on.......
I ran the bike to temp the other night and noticed a clatter from the clutch area. It ceased when you pulled or opened the clutch......but is was enough to make we want to look further.
So out came the fluids (again!!!...anyone got shares in coolant companies?) and off came the clutch housing.
By rotating the clutch basket you could hear the chatter. It is riveted to the primary drive gear and the appeared to be play both rotationally and laterally. I didn't take any pics of the assembled clutch but here it is with the pressure plate and friction plates removed.
At least it was nice and clean and no dwarf in there.
To removed the inner secondary drive basket you really need one of these....
So I took the clutch off completely and reassembled it. It doesn't seen too bad and quite similar to a spare one a mate has loaned me.
If it is worn it is a shame as the basket and plates are like new which again for me validates the miles.
I'm going no further at the moment as I managed to source a brand new full clutch off an eBay auction for £62 delivered. It seems too good to be true so you know what that usually means
I'll let you know how I get on.......
Mike01606
Active member
I'm going no further at the moment as I managed to source a brand new full clutch off an eBay auction for £62 delivered. It seems too good to be true so you know what that usually means
I'll let you know how I get on.......
Well at least I was right for one thing........
'Brand new' clutch turned up and it was well second hand and worn :thumbsdow
I now had three clutches to compare and the one off the bike was by far the best and least worn.
So I sent the 'brand new' one back and got a full refund and apology :thumbsup:
When I got up this morning the sun was shining so after a spin on the mountain bike I rebuilt it again whilst taking note of anything that was out of the ordinary.
The internals are like new.
First the clutch bush
Then the basket which has very little wear again validating the 15k miles.
The clutch is actuated by a push rod coming through the case from the LH side. The is a ball bearing between the push rod and the mushroom. I bet plenty of people assemble them without the bearing!
The plates go back in alternately.......
Then the pressure plate. I measured the 6 springs which were about mid way between 'new' and 'replace'. The 250LC has blue springs the 350LC has red ones (I think!)
All torqued up. This time checked several times,
New clutch case gasket and plenty of care to make sure the water and oil pump drives mesh properly with the crank. They are plastic and both would be easy to break if you tighten the case screws without them meshed properly.
So finally I filled it up with oil/coolant and ran it to temp. No noise and I think I now know what I may have done......
The first time I filled the bike with transmission oil, I filled it on the dip stick. Today I put 1500ml of oil in with a measuring jug. When I dipped it it was 15mm above max so 2 hours later I came back with my syringe to suck some out and it was on mid stick. I think the oil flows really slowly from the clutch housing into the box and I may have under filled it the first time. It won't have done any harm but it would cause the chatter.
Either that or I have a failing crankshaft oil seal.......
Another little job was to paint the downpipes. I was in two minds whether to leave alone but one was too rusty so I decided to go ahead and last weekend was super sunny.
A rub down with some wet and dry.......
Then 5 coats of PJ1 matt black exhaust paint.
I was in Scandinavia last week so they had plenty time to cure and I fitted them to the bike today.....
I'm hoping to get it MOT'd in the week but I've been here before.........
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Mike01606
Active member
MOT time
Weather was fine up here for once so I finished work and took the bike to the local MOT centre.....
I was unsure if it was an urban myth re: riding up to the centre SORN'd and obviously without an MOT (I'm sure the insurance would use it as an excuse). A quick google on the DVLA website and it can be done but it has to be a pre-booked appointment and should be the nearest MOT centre.
I'd checked the bike over last night and everything was fine so I took it along to the appointment. Typically the headlight was playing up. One minute only the main beam was working and next it was the dipped beam. It must have been an old lamp with dodgy filaments as replacing it sorted it.
Everything else passed with flying colours and the examiner commented how well it sounded :thumbsup:
The bike has only done 700 miles since the last MOT in March 2006. I had to check it wasn't manufactured by Ferrari :grin:
I taxed it tonight so I'm good to go with two weeks to spare..........I'll give it a polish them post some pics of the finished (for now) article.
I'm going to send the stand and the replacement swing arm for powder coating and I want to paint the rear brake plate (and the wheels of course the wheels!) I think these can wait a while.......
Weather was fine up here for once so I finished work and took the bike to the local MOT centre.....
I was unsure if it was an urban myth re: riding up to the centre SORN'd and obviously without an MOT (I'm sure the insurance would use it as an excuse). A quick google on the DVLA website and it can be done but it has to be a pre-booked appointment and should be the nearest MOT centre.
I'd checked the bike over last night and everything was fine so I took it along to the appointment. Typically the headlight was playing up. One minute only the main beam was working and next it was the dipped beam. It must have been an old lamp with dodgy filaments as replacing it sorted it.
Everything else passed with flying colours and the examiner commented how well it sounded :thumbsup:
The bike has only done 700 miles since the last MOT in March 2006. I had to check it wasn't manufactured by Ferrari :grin:
I taxed it tonight so I'm good to go with two weeks to spare..........I'll give it a polish them post some pics of the finished (for now) article.
I'm going to send the stand and the replacement swing arm for powder coating and I want to paint the rear brake plate (and the wheels of course the wheels!) I think these can wait a while.......
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Mike01606
Active member
Worrying about nothing here.....dipped the bike after the MOT run and the oil level was spot on. The bike is smoking a bit more that I would expect but I'm running it in and I have a small amount of extra oil in the fuel.
With the main seal gone I'd expect clouds of (white?) smoke.
Mike01606
Active member
Just seen this. Don't you just love autocorrect :laugh::laugh:
Mike01606
Active member
Thanx.......glad people are still reading it.
I don't know whether I ever fessed up to this but no it didn't! Failed as soon as I bolted it up and pinched it :grin:
I will look for some replacement forks going forward but I have one last idea up my sleeve......
For those that are interested the cost of buying the bike and getting through the MOT was £3850 ish excluding tax, insurance and the MOT itself. I have the exact figures at home.
That is probably about £850 more than it is worth but who cares.......If you factor labour also at minimum wage I'm probably at least another grand down but it has been great fun and how can you put a value on that.:thumbsup:
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Mike01606
Active member
Thanks Mark..... I officially get the keys tomorrow. The big 5 0!
darft vader
New member
Well happy 50th, and enjoy the fruits of your labours.:thumbsup: It's been a very intresting thread, keep us posted on how you get on with the bike.:cheers:
Mike01606
Active member
Had some good news earlier in the week. I asked for an agreed value policy with Carole Nash, sent in some pictures and evidence of spend and they came back with what I asked for....£4500.
.......and this is how I found her this morning!
Been out this morning and the engine is running great. I'm keeping the revs down but even for a two stroke with an on/off power band it still pulls well low down.
I'd forgotten what fun they can be. Great sound, engine buzzes and 60MPH feels like a ton!
.......and this is how I found her this morning!
Been out this morning and the engine is running great. I'm keeping the revs down but even for a two stroke with an on/off power band it still pulls well low down.
I'd forgotten what fun they can be. Great sound, engine buzzes and 60MPH feels like a ton!
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