RD350LC resurrection

[Mullna]

Hi all
i'm new to this site i am a long time 2 stroke lover ever since my dad bought me a 1985 kx80. it was love. So much power for a young bloke

anyway i digress. i've known for years that my father in law had an old bike in mothballs but never given it a second thought. a couple of months ago he moved it out of storage to his house and i sore it for the first time. imagine my surprise and joy when i found out it was a 1981 RD350LC.

best part he seems more than happy to let me play with it and get it back on the road. down side is last time it was ridden was 1985 and last time it was started was around 1988 to the best of the father in laws knowledge.

i dont profess to be a great mechanic. more of a weekend mechanic. and i need some help

i figure ill start with getting that beautiful 350 2 stroke twin started. i had a play on the weekend with limited tools and knowledge.

i opened the top of the carbies and they looked brand new in side and i could hear the float moving up and down when i turned it over. do i need to open the bottom as well? and if i do ill need a new gasket yeah? what do you suggest i do with the carbies?

i took the plugs out and peered down with a torch as i slowly pushed down the kickstart. i didnt hear any scrapping or strange noises.

i also took the cover off the right hand side revealing the 2 stroke oil pump and water pump they look brand new from the outside anyway. i thought when i got home that i could slowly crank it over by hand and see if the oil pump spits oil to test it.

after that i thought next time i go to the in laws ill take all new fluids Petrol, 2T oil, gearbox oil, and radiator fluid. tip a little 2T oil down the plug holes crank it slowly by hand a couple of times to lube the piston. change all the fluids and spark plugs then give it a kick. that worked with yz250 but it had been sitting for 12 months not 30 years

it has done 20,000km im not sure on rebuild regularity on these bikes. but it has never been rebuilt and compound on top of that it hasnt even been started in 27 years. will it need a rebuild before i even start it?

when i got home i thought i better talk to some experts. see what im missing which im sure i am missing something.

any help will be greatly appreciated

thanks
Mullna

[jools]

What a good score mate. You're on the right track, I think some of us might recommend making up some premix fuel for it's first run, just as 'insurance' if the oil pump has issues.

[Mullna]

thanks jools. do you think i need to take the bottom off the carby?

[OzzyElsie]

Wow, by the sounds of it you have a very OEM original RD350LC with may be some age patina = $$$$$$$$$ , Now the hard part will be to keep it OEM and not fiddle and develop (get a second one if the itch turns to a rash )

At the mo the mechanical work and inspection you describe is excellent and spot on. It is ready to 'kick in the guts' and go for a quiet ride. Show the same prudence and patience you have so far and all will be good.

Depending on its ridden history I wouldn't expect a full rebuild at 20,000 k's. After standing 30 years I would sus hardened engine seals. No biggie, start it up and take it for a ride. Even if it starts and runs I would suss that some time in the near future it will need or benefit from seals.

Again depending on its ridden history I would expect ring and piston either now or in the near future, maybe rings only. Unless there is some drastically wrong (and your father in law will know) a ride and /or a mechanical inspection should give a better idea.

I'm jealous of your father in law; how could he be so lucky to get a son in law with such nonce and good taste.

Welcome to the wonderful world of power band motoring, obnoxious antisocial in ya face smoking and giant killing riding pleasure . Welcome to the forum.

[hybrid]

I would be changing the crank seals before I did any riding on it for sure. They will probably be nice and hard after 30+ years.

[JonW]

Nice score, but.... DO NOT RUN THIS ENGINE WITHOUT CHANGING THE CRANK SEALS!

Sorry to shout, but you stand a high risk of blowing it up and causing more damage. As Jeff says, old seals will be hard and will let air into the engine with disastrous results.

Instead I would buy a Haynes manual, remove and rebuild the engine. Send the crank to be checked (we have 2 tame crank guys on here), assess the cylinders and pistons and clean the carbs ultrasonically. Fit new seals (OEM only for the crank) and new gaskets.

While you wait for parts and things to be done, clean the rest of the bike up and overhaul the brakes and clean out the tank.

If its as nice as you say then you will have a great bike to ride when done.

Put up some pics, and your general location as someone local may offer to help you.

[Mullna]

Cheers all for the help

She's not quite ready for a ride the front forks have quite a few rust spots which would be kind to the seals. What do most people do there can you get them fixed or do people just replace them?

And the front brakes have been removed from the discs. The discs show a little rust which doesn't worry me too much. but the pistons on the front calipers have a decent amount of rust and I don't feel like risking my life on them. Same as the front forks what do people normally do can you recondition them? Or replace?

It leaks from the kick start and the gear lever would that be the crank seals?

Do you think I need to take the bottom off the carbies to inspect the float?

[OzzyElsie]

Cheers all for the help
What do most people do there can you get them fixed or do people just replace them?

Small pits might be cleaned and tolerated and/or fill with body filler and smooth back. But for appearance and reliability I would probably get them re-hardchromed - about $220-250 (plus popstage - where do you live) last time I looked.


.

The discs show a little rust which doesn't worry me too much. but the pistons on the front calipers have a decent amount of rust and I don't feel like risking my life on them.

Rebuild the calipers with new pistons and seals.

It leaks from the kick start and the gear lever would that be the crank seals?

Different seals but once you split the cases for the main seals you would replace the lot as a matter of course (a seals/gasket kit would include all of them.

Do you think I need to take the bottom off the carbies to inspect the float?

Take the carbies off completely to get to the floats. If you need to do that you would do a complete clean/rebuild/refurbish - or get it done.

[JonW]

fork rechrome is 350 in sydney and good value imho. Anyone who does it needs to be aware there are plastic bushes inside.

caliper rebuild: 3/4 way down this page:
http://2smoked.com/Yamaha_RDLC_Restorat ... m_250.html

Ultrasonically clean the carbs when completely stripped. old fuel will have set hard by now and you need to do everything you can to clean them up.

[Mullna]

Thanks again
I'm in perth
I have some photos on my phone but it says they're too big ill try on the PC when I get home.
She's by no means in great nick. But I can see the potential

[gman]

Welcome to the forum Mullna. you have what is considered a jewel in the yamaha 2 stroke catalogue. The rd350lc is a thrill of a ride and an Australian classic. With some mechanical apptitute and forum help they are easy to work on, and most parts are available.
I upload photo's from my phone to a web site called photo bucket. then copy and paste them to the forum. easy to do once you set it up. good luck with the bike.

[Mullna]

The photos i have are low def photos taken by my phone. i have compressed them and they are still 650kB and the site only allows 256kB. tried photo bucket but site comes up with an error when i attempt to post on my phone

not sure how you get them up on the site

[Mullna]

got it on there

[Mullna]

pic 2

[OzzyElsie]

got it on there

those forks are beyond redemption. - new fork legs for you me boy .

Actually it looks like it has been exposed to the weather for a considerable time. I would expect a complete pull down and rebuild - new tyres, brake rebuild, engine pulled down, bearings gaskets etc etc - say $1000-2000 - depending on the originality and appearance you want - 6-12 months of work and part/info searching. Both time and cost will depend on the determination, time and $$$$$'s you have or are willing to throw at the bike.