RZ restore

[smudge]

I have started on a restoration project for my Yamaha - it's a 1986 RZ350L that I have had from new and has pretty much sat in my garage for 12 years. Apart from a little crash damage - both pipes are really beaten up and so is my spare set - it was pretty tidy but now it's a sorry state, rusty frame, lots of corroded bits here and there. It was home to at least one mouse family who had chewed through the air filter element and built a nest in the air box. I now really enjoy shooting mice but now my garage leaks even more.

I thought I would start a thread on here so I can keep motivated to finish the job. Where it's at now is in 6 or so large boxes and I have cleaned up the frame to a stage where it is almost ready for painting and am starting to clean up the clutch cover which has lost half it's paint. My first priority though is to get the frame and swing arm painted. Time and money are tight but HOPEFULLY I will have it on the road for summer. With some help from Kawa and encouragement from Minnie we should get there.

Jobs to do:

Finish cleaning then paint the frame and swingarm
Fit swingarm and shock to the frame
Replace seals on forks and refit triple clamps and forks
Wheels cleaned, new tyres, new bearings and fit
Clean and check carburretors
Repaint the engine barrels, head and clutch cover then stick it in the frame - the motor runs and sounds good so will leave it alone at this stage.
Fit radiator
Clean up and paint all the little bits and assemble
Try to find some half decent pipes repair/repaint as needed and fit
Fit electrics
Rekit the master cylinder, brake calipers and fit new pads
Fill it up with oil, gas and glycol
Stick in some new gbox oil and run it a little then change it again
Get it VIN'ed and legal
Buy/beg/borrow new boots, jacket, pants, gloves and skid lid
Go do the Coro loop.

Easy peasy.

[Romeo]

Best of luck man, I love that model - it's the squarish one isn't it? Here's some inspiration for you - this lil' beauty belongs to one of the JCOG riders.

<center><a href="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b383/RomeoEskobar/JCOG/25-8-07/run9.jpg"><img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b383/RomeoEskobar/JCOG/25-8-07/th_run9.jpg" alt="Yamaha RZ 350"/></a> <a href="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b383/RomeoEskobar/JCOG/25-8-07/run8.jpg"><img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b383/RomeoEskobar/JCOG/25-8-07/th_run8.jpg" alt="Yamaha RZ 350"/></a></center><br/>

[smudge]

That's the bugger! I will accept all offers of luck :yes:

[Quickrik]

Good Man,

I embarked on a similar project on my '87 TZR250 over a year ago. A bike I bought from new after my 350F2 was destroyed.

Read the whole story at HERE (http://quickrik.spaces.live.com/)

Good luck

Rik

[chanceyy]

nods once I get my full & upgrade I want to do a full restoration on "Betsy"

another rz350 (83 model)

[dino3310]

nice one smudgenz, look forward to your progress up dates:scooter:

[smudge]

Rik, I liked the mice in the aircleaner, mine was the same! My bike has been raced a little but not as bad a shape as your TZR from the sound of it, my bike was very tidy apart from the pipes and a couple of small dings in the tank, just neglected it by leaving it to rust. I smashed the front guard with a pumpkin..........

[jonbuoy]

I'd like a raspy mental two stroke as a future project. Like an RG500 or something. They seem to be pretty thin on the ground and go for big bikkies though. Good luck.

[smudge]

Work this week on the RZ? Ummm nothing at all although I did pick up some bits and look at them and put them back down again. The pile of empty beer cans is getting bigger, even a few Woodstocks in the mix.

I have a mate (Kawa) who has offered to help me paint the frame, so I better go out in the cold, crank up Hauraki (it's not too bad at night) drink some more beers and do stuff.

Mostly though I will just drink beers.

Oh yeah I am now just Smudge, I dont need the NZ part here...

[smudge]

Chanceyy, hopefully mine will be back on the road before you get stuck in. I will help you where I can on one condition: don't call your RZ Betsy give it a more appropriate name like Gordon or Roger.

[chanceyy]

Chanceyy, hopefully mine will be back on the road before you get stuck in. I will help you where I can on one condition: don't call your RZ Betsy give it a more appropriate name like Gordon or Roger.

to late she is a total Betsy, & the name is firmly entrenched .. once she is restored she may undergo a name change via deed poll .. :whistle:

& bikes are woman not boys :lol:

[smudge]

Well you may have a point there, can't say I have ever ridden a boy ...:blink:

[chanceyy]

Well you may have a point there, can't say I have ever ridden a boy ...:blink:

:lol: :killingme :laugh: ohhhh to funny .... would farken hope not ..........

waits for others to see your post .... :jerry::jerry::jerry::jerry:

[smudge]

No one will see it I'm safe.:devil2:

[chanceyy]

No one will see it I'm safe.:devil2:

they will once I tell them where to look :Pokey: :devil2:

[smudge]

arrived there hungover and just as everyone was packing up. Not an RZ part to be seen. Bugger.

All I have done this week is more scraping and sanding, hopefully will paint the frame this week.

[smudge]

Got the frame and the swingarm all finished, time to start bolting things on now.

[smudge]

Got the motor in the frame, time to start spending money on things like tyres, brakes, fork seals and revinning. :zzzz:

Oh yay. Any ideas on how I can smuggle away some money so the wife don't find out???:bash:

[SVboy]

Try "Excuse me, sweetie pie, I need to spend a few $$ on my bike and I understand the importance of fairness in a balanced and loving relationship such as ours. Therefore, I think its only fair for you to spend some $ on those new shoes/dress/handbag that you wanted. Is that ok with you?"
If you can do that with a straight face and/or not throwing up, not only will you get your $$, you might be in line for a new bike, roast meals all week and that thing you only get on your birthday[if you are lucky!!]:rolleyes:

[smudge]

progress has ground to a halt. I got some fork seals for Xmas! One day....

[gijoe1313]

progress has ground to a halt. I got some fork seals for Xmas! One day....

At least you have done something recent! All I've done on my RZ250s is to bung in a RD250LC race spec engine to see if it would marry up to the frame (it does)

I'm spending my time doing a patio of all things! (mind you, when its done, I'll be able to purloin it for my selfish anti-social biker restore program! :whistle:)

[Wired1]

Photos please... at least you have swap meets up there.

[smudge]

Ummm well it's like this see.... I ran out of cash but I found some under the sofa and it's time to start putting things back together / funny how that ties in with the onset of the better weather, what a coincidence. Still looking for parts like pipes etc so if there are any around let me know.

GiJoe, is it you selling bits on Trademe? Did you get yours going or are you still making excuses for not building the patio?

Chancey, see I told you no one would see it!

[gijoe1313]

Nope! I be the one buying the bits off tardme! :lol: Patio is all done, workshop all set up, just hard yakka and procastinating! :innocent:

Would ya know it ... I was looking for some RZ350 bits and bought some off ebay from UK ... and now a whole ferk'n lot of them have turned up locally ... always the way ... always the way! :lol: ...

[Wired1]

Keep going - at least half of all bike rebuilds is labour so concentrate on the stuff you can do now like cleaning up the engine parts, getting the dirt out of the wheel hubs etc. The best treatment for the frame is sand blast and powder coating and it is a little expensive. All the small parts like brackets and bolts can be cleaned up with a wire wheel on your bench grinder and painted black with something like engine paint but the frame and swingarm are probably best powder coated. It is about $150-$200 for those two but that includes powder coating and the finish is superior to anything else. The next bext thing is a wire brush on your electric drill and something like POR15. Painting the tanks and side covers, guards etc is the sort of thing you should do yourself as it is bloody expensive to get it done uless you have a mate in the business. Either with spray cans or better - with a cheap spray gun - either way it's a lot easier than you probably think to get a good result. Get a book out of the library to learn how to do this or any other jobs you want to learn. If you have spare parts or bits that aren;t going to be used then stick them on Trademe and flick them off - use the cash to buy bits you do need. While you're on Turdeme you may as well have a look around the house for other items the kids and wife no longer use and flick them off too to raise funds.
The first step in this whole process is to sort everything out and figure out what you have to start with - do it this week, you'll feel better once you have started and it only takes a couple of hours to go through it all :)
And post some pictures so that we can give you some feedback and encouragement - you may think your pile of crap isn;t very interesting but I'll bet we all will.
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=61733

[smudge]

It's mostly all done, I did the wire brush and POR15 trick for the frame. I own a 1972 TS185 Suzuki - I painted the frame on that with a spray can - that was about 15 years ago and its in better nick than the Yamaha paint job!

All I need to do now is overhaul the brake cylinders and calipers, new pads, tyres, battery, re VIN etc ... you know ... the expensive stuff! I've owned bikes for years and have always done my own work so it's not the work side that's holding me up, just the cash.