1981 Yamaha RD350LC rebuild

[Arronduke]

Nice job, looks great.

Have not heard of the oil pumps giving trouble but like you I would add pre mix until the pump kicks in.

[F5 Dave]

Something I wrote on a dirtbike forum over a decade ago but kept the text:


Oil injection has the advantage that when you run out of gas in the middle of nowhere you can blag some straight petrol from the local farmer.

Many people slag off oil injection which works just fine in zillions of road bikes everywhere. These old world closed minded people cannot accept the risk that the oil pump mechanism will continue to meter oil reliably into your precious engine.

When I discovered (just in time) that my oil level of my old DT200 was not going down I became one of these people.

We meet on Tuesday nights.

[eelracing]

Haha got any membership forms???

Well the paint shop did an outstanding job,so good in fact that it makes the rest of the bike look shabby.
But this was always going to be a rolling restoration.

Everything has been going along swimmingly that it was just to good to be true.
Running in has revealed the same test ride prob...she won't pull past 6000 revs
It's fine under these rev's (at running in speed)and the manual points to the HT leads and spark plug caps.
But I suspect the CDI,stator and coils prob need checking over.Frustrating but not unexpected I spose at this age,bit i'm rapidly getting out of my depth.

It's the 2nd round of VMX this weekend so priority calls and she's been pushed back to the corner of the shed...

[iranana]

Looks beautiful! Nice job! If you find that the bike runs a bit ratty when you turn the headlight on and off, it could very well be an electrical issue. Check how much voltage your battery is getting, and make sure you've got strong spark, and that your ignition timing is set properly. Otherwise, I'd suspect the carbs and those pesky Keyster parts (if you installed them, that is)... If the Mikuni brass is still in good nick, could try chucking it back in and see how it runs. Does it bog down if you whack the throttle open? Any flat spots when you roll the throttle on and off? What clip is your needle on? Start in the middle and lean it/richen it to see if that helps - easy to do when on the go! If you still having problems, jump on 2strokeworld. Without the help of the folks on there my RD wouldn't run half as well as it does now!

[F5 Dave]

Well it sure looks nice.

[roogazza]

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.

Nice little bike Eel, loved the little 250LC I had , in fact liked it better than the RZ250. Lyall Bay about 81/82 I think ?

[Crasherfromwayback]

Well the paint shop did an outstanding job,so good in fact that it makes the rest of the bike look shabby.
But this was always going to be a rolling restoration.

:

Looks awesome Bro!

[eelracing]

Update

Well an auto electrician has been all over the bike and declared it fit for purpose,which still left me back at square-one.
There was nothing for it but to start from scratch again so a strip down of the carbs side by side later and viola...revealed a missing brass washer on one carb between the needle jet and main jet.So simple and obvious that I can't believe it caused so much grief.
Looking through the parts left over from the Keyster kit and sure enough it has one.

A test ride later and she pulled right through the rev range,but not perfectly as a plug chop indicated richness at full throttle.
A lowering of the needle's improved the transition into the top end but still not perfect,next size down mainjets are on order...as well as another keyster kit.
I'm going to deck out both carbs with these kits just to satisfy my own curiosity and keep everything mint.

So much happier now that I can start on getting her roadworthy and registered.
To do list includes brake caliper overhaul and braided lines,fork seals and definitely new tyres.

[Arronduke]

Nice job.

Great satisfaction find a fault like that.

Nice build, wish I had one.

(What I sold my 350LC for... and the spare parts I just threw away)

[eelracing]

Big day yesterday getting the bike relicensed and legal,it was a good sign when getting to the LTNZ station and having the techo's practically tripping over themselves to get her off the trailer.I even had a good old chat with a random guy who followed me halfway across town to get a closer look as he used to own an LC way back as well.Turns out he still owns a black and yellow TDR250 that he is putting back on the road.

She flew through the licensing no worries with no yet to do's on the list...sweet give me my license plate i'm out of here.
Today was spent just riding and 200 odd k's later I'm satisfied she's run-in.
Final jetting has still got to be sorted as there's still a niggly flat spot between 5-5500 revs...but it's nothing a quick two gear downchange doesn't fix

A few pic's between smoke breaks...

[Arronduke]

Nice job, I guess it up for sale now?
Shame its out of my league... but wait..

I would like a classic LC... tried many times and seemed to F#ck it up.

5yrs, interest free, take 3k NOW we have a deal. Hell to seal the deal you can experience my wife's cooking and my kids will practice their singing for the year end play thing. That you can have for free... make sure you have about 2yrs frees... that seems about right. Even then you might miss out on the wife's cooking... not a bad thing.!

Do we have a deal?

[eelracing]

Nice job, I guess it up for sale now?

Ha you be trippn' my man...she's a keeper.

A wise man once said the best bike in the world is the one in your shed...you know it,I know it,i'm just thankfull some don't know it.
There's bargains out there to be had.

[Bender]

Very sexy. Bring back two strokes.

[F5 Dave]

Good times

[Crasherfromwayback]

Love yer work mate she looks fantastic!