RZ350 reed block options ??

[BRG1200]

Converting an RZ250 K into a 350.
Got my old lightly tuned 31K barrels back with shiny new Wossners in them, going to pick gaskets up on Saturday, have some nice "350" carbs on the shelf. Have a "350" oil pump and a new set of seals and gaskets for it in the drawer.
Pulled the motor out of another barn find RZ 250 I've got, partly to diagnose whats locked that engine up and partly as a practice run for the bike I'm upgrading.
Had a look down the holes left by the reed blocks and thought "blimey that looks small and neat", then looked up at the gaping great 350 intakes on the shelf. Crikey, bit of a difference .
Not 100% sure if I need larger reed blocks for the 350 upgrade, but I'm presuming I do as the 250 ones look like a significant restriction.


So, recommendations.... What should I bung in the 'oles, where should I get it from, and how much should it cost?

Before you say it Jon, yup, I will have another look at the conversion page on your site , but I'm also looking for options in this area

[JonW]

LOL, and yes you need 350s! 250 wont fit, and why would you.... the 250 is basically an LC reed cage...

For best performance.... Go Vforce4 or Wicked. Wicked's flow slightly better, but Vforce are easier to find locally etc.

For cheapness... OEM RZ350 or banshee work well with banshee reeds.

For middle ground... meh, why bother... go cheap or go big...

(go big i say...)

[BRG1200]

Got any part codes for Banshee?
Will look up Wicked Motorsports in the USA
Going to local former Yam dealer tomorrow, will seek stock prices.
Local wreckers don't have this stuff.

[JonW]

http://www.partzilla.com/parts/search/Y ... parts.html

look at how cheap those fibre reeds are, yum! just find some old blocks and be done

beware the price of Aussie yam dealers... print out that page maybe LOL

[L.B.]

Agree with what Jon said,go big or ho hum.....
VF4 can be had for around 250aud Rogers ported yummy reeds are 300 or the TDR carbon reeds are a good cheaper alternative for around 50 bucks & work well (use the old reed stops tho).

Please,buy new reed gaskets & 1211 sealant,you really should buy some new intake rubber manifolds to be safe esp on a new motor.The banshee rubbers are the same & can be found oem brand new for about 40 buck each.Just did this for 2 motors. of mine.

[James P]

Some YZ80s used the same reed petals as the RZ350. As far as I remember, the reed blocks were generally the same too, except that the YZ80 block had a bigger flange area - this can easily be cut to match the RZ350 cylinders.

My records tell me that reed blocks from the following Yamahas use the same reed petals as RZ350 and may thus be of interest:

YZ80 - 80-84
YZ100 - all
YZ125 - up to 79
IT125 - all
IT175 - up to 79
DT250 - 71-73
RT360 - 71-73

I can't guarantee ALL of the above reed blocks will fit the RZ350, but the YZ80 ones can easily be modified to fit. You may have a chance at a local wrecker with some of the above.

Regards,
James

[JonW]

Hmm... Are you sure James? I say that as ive helped a local lad modifiy his RZ250 cyls to take yz80 Vforce reed blocks... and I can assure you that they would not fit a 350, theyre too small, the bolt holes would be wrong... the actual petals I cant comment on, but... either way I cant see why you would buy fibre petals other than the Banshee ones if going OEM (as a minor upgrade over the steels), they fit the 350 properly as the motor is basically an RZ350 without PVs...

[hybrid]

I've got stock banshee reeds in both my bikes with the 350 reed cages. Stock banshee reeds are fibre.

Having said that, there are plenty of options for you because all the banshee stuff will go straight in.

[BRG1200]

Well I went down to what used to be the Yam dealer in Adelaide, Pitmans. They still have the odd bit or piece but have parted ways with Yamaha, transitioned through CF Moto, now seem to be doing bloody Harley Davidson. Still, good bunch, and Brenton down there rifled through his shelves and decided to clear some old Banshee stock at a good price in the form of NOS reed cages, which, as you say, drop right in. Collected gaskets and filters while I was there.
Reeds look like plastic but I haven't had chance to really look it over - looking after bored and distracting kids right now, 300 other things I have to do. Itching to get into it.
Will need to find inlet rubbers, Will check Banshee ones, Yambits (bad idea?) etc.
Got some S/H powervalves from Germany, haven't had oppo to open that parcel yet.
Jeez this stuff adds up. I'm on a shoestring budget so will shop around.
Wife will be hopping mad when she reads the bank statements, $80 on various gaskets, $140 on reed cages, $468 for rebores and wossners. Pro-X small end bearings on the way.
Hope the combo of Yam rods, Wossner pins and Pro-X bearings doesn't cause trouble.

[BRG1200]

1211 sealant, a tip to look up there then.

What do you boys recommend as an effective carbon removal methods on all these delicate aluminium parts? Got powervalves, exhaust outlets, pistons and so on to clean up on two motors now, don't fancy scratching anything while chipping and scraping carbon off. Saw there are a few combustion chamber cleaners out there.

[JonW]

you can clean up with brass brushes (also in a drill), but I like to use pot scourers that dont scratch on things like PVs and heads, works really well with WD40 or its ilk. take a bit of time, but wont ruin anything.

[hybrid]

When you look closer at the reeds, you should find they are a light coloured woven material.
Not carbon, but fibre of some sort.

They might look like plastic at first glance through the plastic bag.

[JonW]

yep, usually Fibre... not plastic...

[James P]

Hmm... Are you sure James? I say that as ive helped a local lad modifiy his RZ250 cyls to take yz80 Vforce reed blocks... and I can assure you that they would not fit a 350, theyre too small, the bolt holes would be wrong... the actual petals I cant comment on, but... either way I cant see why you would buy fibre petals other than the Banshee ones if going OEM (as a minor upgrade over the steels), they fit the 350 properly as the motor is basically an RZ350 without PVs...

I'm as sure as I can be Jon, although I can only vouch for this one particular type of YZ80 reed block (which I think is 1980-84). The "triangular portion" of this YZ80 reed block is identical to RZ350. An RZ350 inlet rubber fits into the "hole", but you are correct when you say the holes won't line up - new ones must be drilled. As I mentioned, it may also be necessary to trim the sides of the flange portion, as they are probably too wide to allow the two blocks to be mounted side-by-side on an RZ350.
There is always an element of uncertainty when buying loose parts secondhand, but I bought two reed blocks from different places, both sold as "YZ80", both being as described above and using identical reed petals to RZ350.
If anyone can expand on this, please let us know!

Regards,
James

[James P]

What do you boys recommend as an effective carbon removal methods on all these delicate aluminium parts? Got powervalves, exhaust outlets, pistons and so on to clean up on two motors now, don't fancy scratching anything while chipping and scraping carbon off. Saw there are a few combustion chamber cleaners out there.

The easiest (although not necessarily the cheapest!) method would surely be some form of abrasive blasting. Be careful though; There are many services which are described as "vapour blasting" and they are not all the same. Some use water or solvent vapour only, while others use solid material mixed in with the liquid.

For most bare aluminium parts, I use Wayne Jacobson (http://www.wetblasting.net/). His process is a very gentle wet bead blasting, followed by burnishing. He has produced good results for combustion chambers, power valve parts and cylinder exhaust passages, as well as any bare external surfaces (crank cases, carburettor bodies etc.). The finish is much less susceptible to corrosion, as the burnishing process tends to seal the "pores" of the aluminium. I have never sent him any pistons, because I just clean them up myself (pretty much as Jon W describes) and then send them to High Performance Coatings at Leongatha to coat the skirts with molybdenum disulphide - it makes them practically seize-proof!

I do have one used piston which has been subjected to some type of vapour blasting process and it looks almost brand new. It can't have been very old though - all the machining marks are still present. Only some very minor traces of scuffing indicate that the piston is not brand new.
If anyone has had pistons cleaned by blasting, please let us know your experiences!

Regards,
James