More RD250 Progress

I've spent the last couple nights working hard on the restoration of my 1975 Yamaha RD250 (NOT the bike at right). I've taken what seems like a couple dozen parts to TCFWIW to perform some restorative work on them.

The majority of the parts are steel, and the black paint on them has weathered off long, long ago. Due to the paint's slow disappearing act, rust has decided to show itself, sometimes in large, destructive amounts. Fortunately, like I said, most of the parts are steel, so repair is not that difficult.

So, I loaded up the family truckster with some parts, some tape, some spray automotive primer, and some Rust-Oleum Rust Reformer and headed to my place of employment.

I'm lucky to have place like I do to perform this kind of work. The company for which I work (TCFWIW) used to have full-scale manufacturing capability under its expansive roofs, but as of late 2004, it's moved on. But, the large and well-equipped model shop has remained intact. Since the place is pretty lenient about after-hours work (especially if you're friends with the facility manager), I've got a full shop at my disposal whenever I'd like.

When I got to work, I let the guard know I was going to be there for a couple hours and toted my stuff inside. I powered up one of our solvent baths and made short work of all the grease, oil, and grime that had built up on the parts over the years. The swingarm was the worst. because of the drive chain, I'm sure.

Once that was completed, and the parts were thoroughly dried with compressed air, I fired up one of our media-blasting cabinets and went to work on the parts. Because the media and the through-wall gloves were recently replaced, getting rid of the rust and old paint was a comfortable and easy task. As I finished cleaning each part, I made sure it was dust-free and hung it in our paint booth. Some automotive primer did a great job covering the bare metal. In the places where the sandblaster couldn't remove some of the rust, the part was hit with some Rust-Oleum Rust Reformer (which is good stuff, by the way).

A couple of the parts had some pretty severe rust damage, so I had to fire up the welder to add some metal to them and then reshape them. Fortunately, that was pretty easy, and I got them cleaned and primed as well.

I left the parts hang and cure all night, and they should be ready for another coat this evening. Soon after, I'll hit them with some satin black and some clearcoat and they should look good as new. Heck, even in just primer, they look pretty darn good.

I've still got to find a place to blast and powdercoat the frame, though. unfortunately, all of the cabinets at work are too small to fit the frame, and I'm not going to make a mess of the backyard with an external blaster. Besides, I'd rather have the frame powdercoated, so I've got no issues paying someone to do it.

I also recently received the new (well, undamaged) steering stem and triple clamps, to replace my damaged ones. That's a headache lifted. I thought for sure that I was going to have a really difficult (and expensive) time figuring out how to replace the stripped threads on the main stem. I did a lot of swearing when I found that lovely surprise.

All in all, things are cleaning up pretty well. Once the frame is painted, I'm pretty much ready to start reassembling.

Once the paintwork is done, it's time to order a few new parts!

YFNN

S-S-Smoking!

I'm no stranger to mechanical things, especially vehicles. I've spent a good portion of my life lying on my back on a piece of cardboard on concrete. I know the difference between a flat-tappet and hydraulic roller cam, and I think my fingernails are permanently grimy. I was the president of the Purdue Automotive Performance Association in my college days (back when it was about good friends and fast cars, NOT the bling-bling competition it is now), and have helped to build more than a handful of road-going rockets. I even spent a portion of my career with a professional race team, building racecars and chasing horsepower. It's pretty safe to say that if it's got an engine, I'll like it.

Last fall, I bought an old motorcycle as a project for super-cheap. It's a 1975 Yahama RD250B, US model. When I picked it up, it was pretty beat up, rusty, and older than I was. It's tiny by today's motorcycle standards and it sounds like pissed-off weedwhacker on steroids. But, it was so darned cool and with only 2000 original miles, I just had to put some wrenches to it.

However, it's provided me with some challenges so far, mainly because it's very different from what I'm used to working on. First, since it's older than I am, it's carbureted and I'm a fuel injection guy. I'm more comfortable adjusting injector pulse widths than I am changing jets. Now don't get me wrong, I fully understand how carbs work and how to adjust them, it's just not something that I've ever had to do.

Second, this bike is a two-stroke. A smoker. It's a high-revving, oil-injected, cam-less wonder, which is also new to me. Running down the road, it spews healthy blue smoke out the tailpipes and sounds absolutely vicious. Apart from my weedwhacker, I've never touched a two-stroke engine. I'm most amped about this aspect. There's just something completely appealing about a loud, fast, polluting, smoking, relatively unsafe, 30-year old, rolling piece of history. It's just so, um, irresponsible. I absolutely love it.

Third, it's a serious restoration project. I'm not a restoration guy. I'm more a modern-day, horsepower-building, racecar guy. This bike needed to be stripped to the frame and completely redone. That is very different from what I'm used to doing.

So, it's definitely going to be a challenge.

As of today, the bike has been completed stripped down to the frame, and the frame itself is ready to be sand-blasted and painted. I meticulously documented and photographed every part and bolt that came off, so I know exactly how it's supposed to go back on.
I've measured every single fastener that has come off the bike and have kept a log of their location, thread size and length, so that they can be replaced with new ones. I've kept a notebook with more notes that I care to remember, and have lots of labels all over every wiring harness and connectors.

It's going to take me a while, and I'm sure I'm make some bonehead mistakes, but so far, I'm having a blast working on it.

YFNN

Nerd vs. Manly-Man, Part Two

The weather is getting warm in my part of the country, which means motorcycle time for YFNN. So, I spent a good portion of the afternoon on Saturday prepping my main motorcycle (not the restoration one) for another riding season. I pulled off the cover, disconnected the battery trickle charger and wiped away the small amount of dust that had accumulated on some of the bodywork. Just seeing the bike shine in the fluorescent lights of my garage after a four month hiatus got me feeling all tingly.

I wheeled the white and silver two-wheeler into the center of the garage bay and got it up on a stand so I could do some checks. I noticed that my license plate sticker was almost expired, so I retrieved the new 2008 one from the safe and I went through my routine spring inspection:

- change the oil and filter
- check the air cleaner
- check tires for flaws and check pressures
- check the drivebelt
- bleed the brakes
- check all bulbs and switches
- wrench-check all critical fasteners

Once all that was done, I filled it with some fresh 93 octane and pressed the 'engine start' button. It fired up on the first crank with no leaks and no unusual sounds. Then I took it around the cul-de-sac a couple of times to check the operation of the clutch, gearbox, suspension and brakes. No problems were found, so I deemed the bike ready to rock and roll for the spring.

After my little test-ride, I pulled back into the garage and shut the bike down. I looked back through the open garage door and the weather outside was absolutely gorgeous: 55 degress and sunny with little wind; for a cold-weather wuss like me, it was perfect for the first ride of the year. My eyes slid over to the leather jacket and gloves hanging on the garage wall, then to my selection of helmets. I was already anticipating the rush of acceleration accompanied by the glorious sound of a big-bore V-twin at wide-open throttle and I could still smell the freshly burned gasoline in the air. Manly-man personality was kicking in hard and I wanted to go for a country ride badly.

But, my more nerdy side quickly brought manly-man to a screeching halt.

During the winter, I de-activate all insurance on the motorcycles except for comprehensive coverage. I don't ride November through February, so it saves me a couple bucks a year to do the de-activation/re-activation dance once a year. Since it had been cold and snowy recently, I hadn't yet thought to contact my insurance agent to re-activate my insurance on the motorcycles. To make it worse, it was Saturday so I couldn't make a quick phone call to my agent to get the job done. The last thing I want is to get into an accident and not be covered by insurance, so my riding for the day was painfully limited to the four minute stint around the cul-de-sac.

Sunday was beautiful, too. Sometimes nature is so cruel.

Sigh.

YFNN