1981 Yamaha RD350LC rebuild

[eelracing]

My first ever big bike I brought was a second hand RD250LC.How I loved that bike even tho every second weekend usually meant a respray for the pipes from the inevitable lowside.
But I didn't care I worshipped that bike until the day some plonker told me the 350 was the one to have.
But alas I never did discover that pleasure as a serious RG250 addiction and all things Suzuki took over.

That was until 8 years ago and a chance encounter across this rough but quite surprisingly unmolested example came to be in my possession.
She started on the second kick and those long ago memories came flooding back as that sweet smell and LC burble at idle hit home.
A test ride later it was obvious something was seriously wrong as it couldn't pull past 6-7000 revs into the giggle zone.Not to worry the price was a steal and she was mine.
A strip down revealed a Piston with a section of skirt missing and a dodgily wired up fuze box and a bent jet needle among others.
But that was where it ended as the RD was pushed into the far end of the shed and the intervening years were taken up with VMX and chasing SV's on an RGV.

Until now.A month ago the decision was made as it was either now or never as the excuses were wearing thin.
I hauled her out of the garage and into the spare room so no longer could she be ignored.
A rebuilt crank and top-end later the engines together and back in the frame.Tank and sidecovers are at the painters and I await some carb parts and electricals from Yambits in the UK (an excellent source for all things Yamaha)But i'm sure the real fun is only just beginning...

[GrayWolf]

YEhhhhhhhh!!!

Had a 350 (tuned), after my H1 it was a pleasure to ride, it handled, and was as quick (OK, quicker)... Love those old 70's/80's 2T's... good on you, look forawrd to seeing pictures of the finished bike!

[F5 Dave]

Good on ya.

Though check everything you get from Yambits carefully. I only ever hear bad things about them on the forums.

[iranana]

Good on ya.

Though check everything you get from Yambits carefully. I only ever hear bad things about them on the forums.

Beautiful bike, will be a blast to ride But I second F5 Dave here. Yambits is awesome for some things like rubber dampeners, bearings, gaskets and things no longer produced by Yamaha but do NOT use their carb kits. I've had first hand experience with them and they were trash - they sent me Keyster kits (and they don't tell you this, most annoyingly, they make it seem like they're sending you Mikuni parts). Don't use any after market carb kit for that matter, only use genuine Mikuni parts... EconomyCycle sells all the Mikuni you need.

I sent the carb kits back to Yambits for a full refund without any issues. I opened them up and measured the needles from the Keyster kit against the Mikuni needles that they were meant to be a replacement for, and they weren't the same thickness or taper. The jets aren't any better, and the machine work on some of the jets was less than acceptable (manky thread work)... The kit had the wrong size pilot jet in it too. Using the aftermarket carb kits might give you issues with tuning it (especially with those crappy needles). Everywhere I read that those Keyster kits don't cut the mustard, and after examining the parts they come with, I wouldn't bother trying them out. Good news is that they'll refund you in full (just pay for postage back). Or just use them for the gaskets etc.

[Crasherfromwayback]

Awesome Bro!

[Arronduke]

Own many a RD350LC and loved them all... until they either blow up or crashed.
Looking forward to seeing the finished result.

[eelracing]

Good on ya.

Though check everything you get from Yambits carefully. I only ever hear bad things about them on the forums.

Beautiful bike, will be a blast to ride But I second F5 Dave here. Yambits is awesome for some things like rubber dampeners, bearings, gaskets and things no longer produced by Yamaha but do NOT use their carb parts

Cheers for the headsup fella's and yeah buying aftermarket does have it's hassles and I realise that.But when Yamaha quote (and I shit you not they turned the screen around and showed me) $99 for a float seat and I can get a full carb rebuild kit from Yambits for 16 quid i'm prepared to take the plunge.It's arrived and the needle and seat in the kit seem fine but of course the proof will be in the tuning.
I am currently using a Keyster kit in my TS400 and it performed flawlessly in the last VMX season but as you can appreciate she's a single and easier to tune than a twin.
I did get caught out aftermarketwise with ordering three replacement indicators.The two front ones wired in no probs but the rear one's wires wouldn't reach the harnessbut simple enough fix and the original Yamaha rubber dampeners wouldn't fit inside the indicators...a Stanley blade and a bit of sanding down later and hey presto they fit.

But thanks for the EconomyCycle lead I will def check them out.

[iranana]

Cheers for the headsup fella's and yeah buying aftermarket does have it's hassles and I realise that.But when Yamaha quote (and I shit you not they turned the screen around and showed me) $99 for a float seat and I can get a full carb rebuild kit from Yambits for 16 quid i'm prepared to take the plunge.It's arrived and the needle and seat in the kit seem fine but of course the proof will be in the tuning.
I am currently using a Keyster kit in my TS400 and it performed flawlessly in the last VMX season but as you can appreciate she's a single and easier to tune than a twin.

Christ, I've never bothered to go to Yamaha and now I definitely won't! Yeah like I said I never actually installed the Keyster parts, I decided I'd rather not try since I could get Mikuni parts for a little more. If you need gaskets and a float needle/valve then it's still a great deal for the price even if you don't use the jets! I didn't need the gaskets etc, so I shipped em back and got a needle jet, needle, mains and pilot from Economy. I'm curious to see how they go in the RZ though. I hear both good and bad about em.

[F5 Dave]

I've never used them & hate people trashing businesses on the internet, but trawling the Yam forums you just hear bad things about gaskets, bearings & other things they supply. Enough that I'd have to be wary. Ahh heck its hard to get normal gaskets too wrong if they are the right size & cut to shape.

[Arronduke]

I have spent quite a lot of money on LC's.
We are talking NOS, JMC swingarm... oh and yes the swing arm took 12months to turn up. So after about 6 months every Friday night no matter were I was and how much I had drunk I would try and find a phone to ring JMC the UK... and ask about my swingarm.

I don't think it made it arrive any quicker....

I did another one were I put an RZ in to a LC.. but welded all the swing arm mounts in from the RZ. will try and find a picture before the cold kiwi... 20years ago.
.

[F5 Dave]

I've been reading about that same crap service from JMC for 20 years. Dicks.

[iranana]

I've never used them & hate people trashing businesses on the internet, but trawling the Yam forums you just hear bad things about gaskets, bearings & other things they supply. Enough that I'd have to be wary. Ahh heck its hard to get normal gaskets too wrong if they are the right size & cut to shape.

The gaskets I bought off em all turned out to be fine (bought a complete gasket set with all gaskets) and as for the top end bearings I bought... well, only time will tell I suppose. I'm running Mitaka pistons at the moment, but I'll be doing more work on the top end in the near future anyways. I hear good and bad things about Mitaka though, so I dunno. Don't buy anything 'chromed' off Yambits, either. Tends to be crappy and rusts quickly. Yambits do a great job in cataloguing all the bits and bobs for Yammy's, but the quality is questionable sometimes.

Just on a side note, the best prices and service I've ever had is from an eBay seller who goes by the name 'yamahardbreaker'. He breaks down Yammy two strokes and parts them out. Shipping is usually free within in the UK, so I use YouShop to send parcels from the UK to NZ at surprisingly good rates (thanks F5 Dave, if I recall correctly, you put me onto this). The exhausts I just bought from him cost only $90 to have shipped which is cheap considering the size/weight of the parcel and it took them about two weeks to arrive. Lots of what he has isn't listed on eBay, so message him for specific parts...

[eelracing]

But i'm sure the real fun is only just beginning...

Third kick and RD gloriousness smoked out the shed...and the neighbours

The manual specifically states not to be tempted to run pre-mix in a rebuilt engine.
But i'll be buggered if i'm gonna trust a 30 year old oil pump before i'm satisfied it's doing it's thing.
I need'nt of worried a couple of heat cycles and straight gas later she purrs like a kitten.

The tank and sidecovers should be ready this week...can't wait for running-in.

[iranana]

Beautiful! Nothing quite like that puff of smoke from the pipes of a rebuilt smoker!! Are you running mineral oil or is it just rich as shit? I ran mine on mineral until I was on the motorway and realised I was smoking everyone out - the biker behind me didn't look too happy when he overtook. But good call on running pre-mix before checking the oil pump, tis the only thing standing between your smoker and top/bottom end destruction... Looking forward to seeing it all together!

[eelracing]

Rich as a shit after a night on the turps.
What you see is the initial burning off of the rebuild oil and premix.
Once the pumped oil came through the lines she started running rougher than an arabs armpit.

I'm just waiting for a clearcoat to be applied to the tank and hopefully today should be able to collect.