RD350LC resurrection

[ged]

Ahh, those photos bring back memories.....

Once upon a time I would have been keen to clean the tank and carbs, change fluids and give it a kick, just to see what your dealing with.... But in reality JonW is right. You risk doing a lot of damage if it's not all well inside.

My experience (expensive lesson) is that roller bearings don't like sitting for long periods. The slightest wiff of moisture will cause (even microscopic) layers of rust, that will cause them to eat themselves in pretty short order. You might be really lucky and it will go forever, but it's more likely to need a strip and rebuild sooner rather than later. Also, the first indication your likely to get of failed crank seals is the motor seizing, so bear that in mind as well.

You might be better off to get the heads and barrels off to assess the basic condition of the top end and indication of any play in the bottom end.

That gear change seal blows oil straight onto the rear tyre once it fails as well. Ask me how I know.......

Good luck with it.

[JonW]

Bike looks like a great project, but ozzylc is right, this is no 5 minute $50 project. I think the fork legs are salvagable according to the local rechromers, but seeing how bad they are means you just know youre in for the long haul with a bike like this.

The good news is when done, if done well, your circa 4kish investment (would include paint and tyres) would net a bike worth at least double that. But it will be a lot of work to get it up to scratch and you need to be committed (in all senses lol!)

The other good news is that it looks like an Original Aussie Delivered 350, tho the tax disk holder on the side might mean its originally a uk bike? Either wayif its a matching numbers 350 then thats the holy grail. check the engine and frame numbers, the ADR compliance plate and the cc's as listed on the barrels.

Would I do it... yep, I am... I started with a frame and then bought parts to add to the random spares I had to create my resto LC. Its always worth it with one of these and you will learn a lot and process will stay with you forever, you cant buy that.

[Mullna]

Cheers boys
To be honest I can't stop thinking about it. But the father in law lives 2 hours from me. Might have to convince him to let me take it home. I'll have to get an answer off him I'm fairly certain 99% he has no intention of ever doing it up and is happy for me to do it. Mother in law told me that he said if I was to do it up he'd just want a ride and that would do him. He's a man of few words so that hasn't been uttered in so many words to me yet. we'll have to have the discussion where I say I want to put a few k in it and the keys if I'm doing that.

She's matching numbers Australian. Father in law told me he bought it brand new. He said he thinks it still has the original front tyre on it. I'm sure you guys could tell.

The thought of riding a 350 2 stroke twin is what has me pumped.

4K doesn't sound too bad either when I got quoted 6K (in parts alone) to rebuild the motor on my husky SM610

I've read you have parts too Jonw. Might have to get better acquainted haha


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Mullna]

The seat and plastics are there too. In better nick actually than the rest of the bike look like they've seen less weather. There are 2 seats.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[JonW]

Ouch, 6k to rebuild a 610 motor, oooof! Im a motard guy a as well, but luckily never had a motor let go on me, tho my last LC4 did have me worried :/

Matching numbers Aussie 350 (it is a 350 right) is a bike worth restoring, kind of a holy grail for many of us. The condition of yours means that you need to check the condition of that tank and the frame. Rust is your enemy and these need to be in good nick.

I do have some parts, Im trying to make room, help folks out and also put the cash back into my projects, a sort of win-win-win

[Mullna]

I rang 3 chromers about the forks today. 1st one said 'go to south Australia no one does it in the west!' 2nd one said '$590 a fork starting price' 3rd one said '$250 a fork'. Is the 3rd one still too much?



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[OzzyElsie]

$30 postage each way but try this guy......

http://www.radhardchroming.com.au/

[JonW]

$350 here, but send em photos so they can see what needs doing:

http://www.a1hardchrome.com.au/

[pkay]

Hey Mate
Rad Hard Chroming here in Brisbane are excellent - I'm 9 resto's in and wouldn't go anywhere else. Carbs - lots of people say ultrasonic clean but haven't done it yet and haven't seen a need to. Carb clean and elbow grease works just as well. If the tank is in good nick you are well on your way - if not don't ask.

If you've restored a bike before you'll find the LC a breeze. Lots of stuff is reproduction now and looks as good as the real thing (except the tanks out of India avoid those). The bike mags like AMCN, Old Bike Australasia, Motorcycle Trader and the like list a lot of good service providers. Also again if your new to the bike resto gig read heaps of stuff before you start so you don't make the same mistakes as everyone else - I still refer to my "How to Restore a Motorcycle" book on a regular basis. With the black plastics for example you can often bring them back with careful use of a heat gun - check Youtube and practice on something before you try the OEM rare part.

Ebay is awesome so be patient and do the leg work yourself - any shop is only going to do the same thing and charge you for it anyway. Yambits in the UK is a good heads up as to what is available new and repro. Don't always buy from them first though as they can be a bit exe sometimes.

On a bike like this the expensive things are rebuilding the engine and the paint job. My LC cost $1500 to paint and I provided the decals. But I just had the gearbox rebuilt and it only cost $400. But I sourced all the bits and did the leg work on dismantling and reassembly. They are an easy bike to work on and there is an amazing depth of knowledge on here and in the magazines. The other thing to do first up is get a parts book and service manual. And when you're looking for things go by part number not bike - the LC has a premium on its bits whereas a lot of stuff is common to the Yamaha range. There are also sites like Tamor Trading that have gems for sale.

Remember to take lost of pictures when you dismantle it and tage and bag everything in sandwich bags by sub assembly (the parts manual pages are a good way of structuring this) - you'll be surprised how quick you forget when it comes to reassembly!!
Have fun

[JonW]

Thats a great post pkay, nice one!

I agree, read around a lot... then do it a bit more. One great site I found is 2smoked.com... lol. ok, joking aside, the rdlccrazy forum is the place for LCs. Thats not to say here isnt good, but there are billions (not literally) of posters on that forum and some are complete anoraks.

There are a few NLA parts for LCs now, but only the tank has not been remade well enough yet. Pipes are nigh on impossible now tho... but maybe yours are ok? If so i'll give you $50 a side towards some aftermarket ones

Sure, some repro parts are crappy, but most is ok. The more OEM and NLA parts you use the better the resto, but costs go up accordingly.

I had a yambits order land today, mirrors... not great but OEMs are nla now, carb kits (japanese quality ones) and an engine side plate, which is OEM inside the yambits packet, even have the OEM part number. Just never (NEVER!) use yambits crank seals...

[Mullna]

This may sound stupid but would upgrading to ypvs just involve installing a ypvs head?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[JonW]

nope, cylinders have the pvs... and they dont fit the LC bottom end.

[jools]

Something like this is going to be much more desirable and more valuable if it's restored to original, not ****ed around with!

[Mullna]

if you never sell it does it matter how much its worth to someone else?

not that i plan to change anything

[Greasemeup]

Plenty of people put RZ motors in LC frames.

It will cost you around 2.5k to find a motor and all the surrounding bull that's needed to support it though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk