'Barn find' RD400

[F5 Dave]

Awesome so there is no fault in the dash or main loom. So you say 3 wires in? My RZ had 2 pretty sure. Maybe take sensor out and clean in gas and check wires aren't touching or connector pins damaged so they do. Odd though.


The the plastic gear referred to is the drive from gears to pump. I'd not expect much trouble from such a low mileage bike that you've tested the pump. I wouldn't take the pump itself apart without new seals.

Dont forget to throw or heavily dilute that premix with straight gas before using in earnest.

[avgas]

score! I shall investigate this craigslist more often now

[F5 Dave]

^{hmm, where's that Haynes RD manual? I saw it just the other decade, cover is clear as day. . . Oh well. Wiring diagram is easy to google. Why is the connector wired to the neutral switch? Ahh, try putting it in gear, it will go out, it's a bulb check I guess.}

[jasonu]

^{hmm, where's that Haynes RD manual? I saw it just the other decade, cover is clear as day. . . Oh well. Wiring diagram is easy to google. Why is the connector wired to the neutral switch? Ahh, try putting it in gear, it will go out, it's a bulb check I guess.}

Problem (or lack there of) averted. When it is put into gear the oil light goes out. I am thinking it is a safety feature that the light shows it works when in neutral. I will do some tests tomorrow to confirm my theory.
I rode it today. It runs very nicely. So nice that I got stopped by the cops for expired tags (rego in NZ speak) He let me off, new years eve and all that.

[F5 Dave]

I remember my first ride on the back of my sisters boyfriends RD400. Scared me silly but way cool. One of the formative points of deciding bikes were for me. At least he didn't fire it down the road like he did off the back of my sisters xl185 after my first riding lesson.

[nudemetalz]

Reminds me, I must start restoring my YG-1.

Great find, BTW.

[Yamahardman]

I think it's a rd400 thing that nuetral oil light. Mine does it. I've got wiring diagrams somewhere too. Mines a '76, but the dash console on mine is quite different to yours, it has the gauges with the nuetral and high beam lindicator in them, and its got a little round oil light and indicators outside...

[iranana]

I think it's a rd400 thing that nuetral oil light. Mine does it. I've got wiring diagrams somewhere too. Mines a '76, but the dash console on mine is quite different to yours, it has the gauges with the nuetral and high beam lindicator in them, and its got a little round oil light and indicators outside...

As above, it's normal for the oil light to be on when you're in neutral. All RDs do it, and it's so you know that your oil light is still working (could be catastrophic otherwise). The oil light is only meant to go off once you're in gear... But damn what a find, such low mileage, very nice! Next thing to do is track down a nice pair of street chambers - I have a pair of Denco's coming in the mail for my 250. I love the look of Bassani pipes the most. Denco's are a close second.

[jasonu]

As above, it's normal for the oil light to be on when you're in neutral. All RDs do it, and it's so you know that your oil light is still working (could be catastrophic otherwise). The oil light is only meant to go off once you're in gear... But damn what a find, such low mileage, very nice! Next thing to do is track down a nice pair of street chambers - I have a pair of Denco's coming in the mail for my 250. I love the look of Bassani pipes the most. Denco's are a close second.

Cheers for the info. I was hoping that was what was going on.
As for modifying it I don't think so. It is too complete and virgin to be fucked with. I think it is worth more as is. I need to find a set of reasonable condition OEM bars and a right hand mirror to make it more or less complete. Having said that it could do with a NOS seat cover and seat foam if I could find them, a foot peg bracket dampener, a.......

[gammaguy]

complete seats still available ex japan

RD of any size now a hot ticket there,guys modifying em restoring em riding em

as it should be

[F5 Dave]

I think getting the bars right gives a good impression of being a virgin bike people will identify with.

[gwynfryn]

You sure its not a demon bike.
The number of the beast and all that.

[jasonu]

complete seats still available ex japan

RD of any size now a hot ticket there,guys modifying em restoring em riding em

as it should be

Got any contacts or info about that???

[eelracing]

Give the thing a clean and post up some more pics mate.
Awesome score.

[iranana]

Cheers for the info. I was hoping that was what was going on.
As for modifying it I don't think so. It is too complete and virgin to be fucked with. I think it is worth more as is. I need to find a set of reasonable condition OEM bars and a right hand mirror to make it more or less complete. Having said that it could do with a NOS seat cover and seat foam if I could find them, a foot peg bracket dampener, a.......

Yeah fair enough, they are worth more in their original form, and the stock pipes are actually pretty decent performers. They make good power down low, but they do leave room for improvement. I see nothing wrong with reversible mods though, and a pair of old school chambers (Denco, Bassani, J&R, Torque Engineering... Allspeeds as well, maybe?) would let you keep the stock foot pegs and stands. Newer pipes or race oriented pipes are a pain in the arse and aren't worth it, though, since you have to move a lot of stuff around... not to mention they move the power band way up in the rev range. I guess there's two schools of thought towards classic machines, and I like something in the middle ground - keep it classic, but upgrade what can be, while keeping the integrity and form of the original machine.

On the topic of seats, I need a new seat pan. Mine is rusted through in parts. If you come across a source for NOS seat pans, let me know as I've been looking for quite some time now. As far as seat covers go, I got a reproduction piece from an eBay seller called Tight Fit Seats. It is remarkably close to the original and made to a very high standard - as far as repro seat covers go, I'd really recommend em.