New life for the Hurricane Katrina bike
Moderator: rztom
New life for the Hurricane Katrina bike
I've always enjoyed seeing other members bike projects here and, since mine is now finally completed, it's time for me to share the details. I bought this bike over twelve years ago and I stored it for nine years while I worked on other projects. This bike spent some time in the St. Louis area but was now located in New Orleans. The previous owner had pulled the engine and had it sitting on his workbench with the top ends removed. Then one of the worst hurricanes on record came through, the flood waters broke through the levees, and this 500 was underwater for at least a week or two. Fortunately, most of the parts that you would remove to pull the engine were taken upstairs and spared from the floodwaters but it made a mess of the rest. If anyone knows more of the history of this bike, I would appreciate hearing about it.
Normally, when I do my bike restoration projects, I put them back to showroom condition. With my 500, I decided to do something a little different. I'll go into more details about my build goals later but on with the show. Here's what I started with.
Normally, when I do my bike restoration projects, I put them back to showroom condition. With my 500, I decided to do something a little different. I'll go into more details about my build goals later but on with the show. Here's what I started with.
RZ500
RZ350
SRX600
NT650 Hawk
VFR400R NC30
NS400R
CBR400RR
CBR250RR
DUC 916
Derbi GPR50 w/CR125 engine
RZ350
SRX600
NT650 Hawk
VFR400R NC30
NS400R
CBR400RR
CBR250RR
DUC 916
Derbi GPR50 w/CR125 engine
Re: New life for the Hurricane Katrina bike
Wow, good project!
www.2smoked.com
80 XT500 Supermoto!
81 RD350LC Resto
82 RD421LC Hybrid
82 RD250LC '251LC' YPVS
83 RZ350 Resto
84 RZ500 Resto
85 RZ350 F1 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Hybrid
Like Watches? www.PloProf.com & www.DeskDivers.com
80 XT500 Supermoto!
81 RD350LC Resto
82 RD421LC Hybrid
82 RD250LC '251LC' YPVS
83 RZ350 Resto
84 RZ500 Resto
85 RZ350 F1 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Hybrid
Like Watches? www.PloProf.com & www.DeskDivers.com
Re: New life for the Hurricane Katrina bike
Wow, she has a great history to start with. and a little rusty
1985 RZv500
1984 RZ500 Hybrid
1986 RG500 Walter Wolf
1986 RG500 Skoal Bandit
1984 RZ350
1984 RZ350 Hybrid
1981 RD350LC
1981 RD350LC Hybrid
2009 CR500AF Supermoto 250X
2007 CR500AF 250X
1988 YSR50 (2)
1989 VFR750R RC30
1984 GPZ750 Turbo
1984 RZ500 Hybrid
1986 RG500 Walter Wolf
1986 RG500 Skoal Bandit
1984 RZ350
1984 RZ350 Hybrid
1981 RD350LC
1981 RD350LC Hybrid
2009 CR500AF Supermoto 250X
2007 CR500AF 250X
1988 YSR50 (2)
1989 VFR750R RC30
1984 GPZ750 Turbo
Re: New life for the Hurricane Katrina bike
You'll love the pictures of the engine when I get them posted up.
RZ500
RZ350
SRX600
NT650 Hawk
VFR400R NC30
NS400R
CBR400RR
CBR250RR
DUC 916
Derbi GPR50 w/CR125 engine
RZ350
SRX600
NT650 Hawk
VFR400R NC30
NS400R
CBR400RR
CBR250RR
DUC 916
Derbi GPR50 w/CR125 engine
Re: New life for the Hurricane Katrina bike
The flood really did some major damage to the engine. It's a shame because, according to the odometer, this was a low mileage engine with just over 6k kilometers on it. Pretty much every major critical component was ruined. I wish I had taken photos of the pistons. The skirts on them were just eaten up by the corrosive nature of the water. Don't let your engine get in this condition.
RZ500
RZ350
SRX600
NT650 Hawk
VFR400R NC30
NS400R
CBR400RR
CBR250RR
DUC 916
Derbi GPR50 w/CR125 engine
RZ350
SRX600
NT650 Hawk
VFR400R NC30
NS400R
CBR400RR
CBR250RR
DUC 916
Derbi GPR50 w/CR125 engine
Re: New life for the Hurricane Katrina bike
OMFG! thats horrible. Youve taken on a hell of a task with this one.
www.2smoked.com
80 XT500 Supermoto!
81 RD350LC Resto
82 RD421LC Hybrid
82 RD250LC '251LC' YPVS
83 RZ350 Resto
84 RZ500 Resto
85 RZ350 F1 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Hybrid
Like Watches? www.PloProf.com & www.DeskDivers.com
80 XT500 Supermoto!
81 RD350LC Resto
82 RD421LC Hybrid
82 RD250LC '251LC' YPVS
83 RZ350 Resto
84 RZ500 Resto
85 RZ350 F1 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Hybrid
Like Watches? www.PloProf.com & www.DeskDivers.com
- Speed Freak
- - - - - -
- Posts: 930
- Joined: Sun Oct 28, 2012 6:38 pm
- Location: Voitsberg, Austria
Re: New life for the Hurricane Katrina bike
Just needs some paint...
By the way, I would need a front and a rear cylinder to cut it and scan the inside.
But I think after sandblasting and getting them to maybe 2nd OS they might be good again.
By the way, I would need a front and a rear cylinder to cut it and scan the inside.
But I think after sandblasting and getting them to maybe 2nd OS they might be good again.
My bikes:
RD500 YPVS 1GE
RD350 YPVS 31K 1985
Honda CBR 1000 RR SC57
Yamaha R1 RN04
RD500 YPVS 1GE
RD350 YPVS 31K 1985
Honda CBR 1000 RR SC57
Yamaha R1 RN04
- Mike Cichetti
- - - - - -
- Posts: 390
- Joined: Sat Nov 19, 2005 5:58 pm
- Location: Pa
Re: New life for the Hurricane Katrina bike
I think I just might cry, that’s horrible.
Re: New life for the Hurricane Katrina bike
No need to sandblast your cylinders , soak them in Evaporust , same with the other parts . I saved worst than that and the bores were undamaged ! You can dilute your solution to cover the cylinders completely , it will just take more time .
Re: New life for the Hurricane Katrina bike
It took a lot of time to get those cylinders back in shape. After removing the studs and bead blasting them clean, I bored them in my Bridgeport. First over cleaned them up. Then I mounted them on a mandrel in my lathe and took very light passes on the top and bottom gasket surfaces to clean them up and true them to the bore. After that, I took them to my buddies machine shop where he used his Sunnen honing machine to finish the bores to the final size.
RZ500
RZ350
SRX600
NT650 Hawk
VFR400R NC30
NS400R
CBR400RR
CBR250RR
DUC 916
Derbi GPR50 w/CR125 engine
RZ350
SRX600
NT650 Hawk
VFR400R NC30
NS400R
CBR400RR
CBR250RR
DUC 916
Derbi GPR50 w/CR125 engine
Re: New life for the Hurricane Katrina bike
Nothing was going to save the transmission, clutch, and primary gears. The gear faces were etched and badly pitted in spots. I don't know if he's still active on the forum, but Rick in Michigan saved me by selling me all those parts, and a couple of others, many years ago when I started accumulating parts for the bike.
Last edited by 2manyprjx on Sat Jan 27, 2024 3:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
RZ500
RZ350
SRX600
NT650 Hawk
VFR400R NC30
NS400R
CBR400RR
CBR250RR
DUC 916
Derbi GPR50 w/CR125 engine
RZ350
SRX600
NT650 Hawk
VFR400R NC30
NS400R
CBR400RR
CBR250RR
DUC 916
Derbi GPR50 w/CR125 engine
Re: New life for the Hurricane Katrina bike
So this is what I envisioned for this bike. Rather then doing a showroom restoration like I usually do, I decided to do something different. What if Yamaha had been able to sell the RZ500 in the USA? If they did, then there certainly would have been a Kenny Roberts model alongside the KR RZ350. And, what if Yamaha had developed the bike a little more? I wanted the bike to reflect these ideas. Any updates I do have to be with genuine Yamaha parts that they already had production ready back then or in development nearing production. Kind of my dream US model RZ500.
I don't have tons of pictures because I never really thought I'd be doing a write up. I was just taking pictures here and there so I'd have some photos to look back on in the future.
I don't have tons of pictures because I never really thought I'd be doing a write up. I was just taking pictures here and there so I'd have some photos to look back on in the future.
RZ500
RZ350
SRX600
NT650 Hawk
VFR400R NC30
NS400R
CBR400RR
CBR250RR
DUC 916
Derbi GPR50 w/CR125 engine
RZ350
SRX600
NT650 Hawk
VFR400R NC30
NS400R
CBR400RR
CBR250RR
DUC 916
Derbi GPR50 w/CR125 engine
Re: New life for the Hurricane Katrina bike
Since I built the engine first, I'll start with that. I didn't want to go crazy with the engine, but hopefully just strengthen the stock engines characteristics. I left the porting alone but focused on what I think one of the engines deficiencies is and that is crankcase breathing. The cylinder liners mask the transfers somewhat at the base. Here's the before and afters. I also modified the reed cages similar to the TSI specs and used stock YZ125 reeds. The heads were machined on my mill to get the squish down to .035" or .89mm.
Last edited by 2manyprjx on Wed May 20, 2020 5:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
RZ500
RZ350
SRX600
NT650 Hawk
VFR400R NC30
NS400R
CBR400RR
CBR250RR
DUC 916
Derbi GPR50 w/CR125 engine
RZ350
SRX600
NT650 Hawk
VFR400R NC30
NS400R
CBR400RR
CBR250RR
DUC 916
Derbi GPR50 w/CR125 engine
Re: New life for the Hurricane Katrina bike
The engine is well under way here. New cranks from Gus and with the new used internals I was able to find.
RZ500
RZ350
SRX600
NT650 Hawk
VFR400R NC30
NS400R
CBR400RR
CBR250RR
DUC 916
Derbi GPR50 w/CR125 engine
RZ350
SRX600
NT650 Hawk
VFR400R NC30
NS400R
CBR400RR
CBR250RR
DUC 916
Derbi GPR50 w/CR125 engine
Re: New life for the Hurricane Katrina bike
Nice job, That engine is looks 100 times better....
1985 RZv500
1984 RZ500 Hybrid
1986 RG500 Walter Wolf
1986 RG500 Skoal Bandit
1984 RZ350
1984 RZ350 Hybrid
1981 RD350LC
1981 RD350LC Hybrid
2009 CR500AF Supermoto 250X
2007 CR500AF 250X
1988 YSR50 (2)
1989 VFR750R RC30
1984 GPZ750 Turbo
1984 RZ500 Hybrid
1986 RG500 Walter Wolf
1986 RG500 Skoal Bandit
1984 RZ350
1984 RZ350 Hybrid
1981 RD350LC
1981 RD350LC Hybrid
2009 CR500AF Supermoto 250X
2007 CR500AF 250X
1988 YSR50 (2)
1989 VFR750R RC30
1984 GPZ750 Turbo