RZ/RD 350 & Misc. 2-Stroke Tech BBS

Congrats on the ribbon! Best Import? First place? Let us know. Bike looks sharp and I agree on the HD thing big time. Like going to a hot rod show and nothing but small block chevy's in EVERYTHING. :puke: How'd she run? Pretty extencive O/H you had going on over there. Still waiting on my tins for my '84. I wanted to ride before winter and the engine O/H, to see how my Zeel works. Looks like it might be outta the question. Again, super nice build.

Yeah, the show was a great time. Mainly being around fellow two strokers and strengthening of friendships. Bill Wilson is building an engine for me as well. Should be about like Brian's I may put it in my LC or the RZ I am building or both....

Haven't done much to the bike lately, it's been on a lift in the basement all winter long. Things are starting to warm back up a bit, so I thought I would get back to doing some things that need to be done. My bike has needed tires since I bought it a year and a half ago. The tread was okay, but they were hard from age. Last weekend, I bought a pair of Avon Roadriders for $189 shipped from Chapparal Motorsports.



I never liked the gold color of the wheels, I think it looks out of place on a yellow and black motorcycle.I plan on having my stock wheels powdercoated gloss black along with the fork legs. Last weekend, I bead blasted the wheels in our HF blast cabinet. They're not perfect, but should be okay once coated.



Of course, like every other project, this one has snowballed. While everything is torn apart, new bearings and seals will be added. And I'll be replacing the battery that should have gone away last season also. Everything is in my cart at Economy Cycle, just waiting on payday to pull the trigger!!

Those tires are a great value Brian! I'm also painting my wheels black, but I decide to just buy an extra set from an F2 and get them powder coated black. Should have them next weekend.

Yesterday, I ordered new wheel bearings and seals, fork seals, and a new battery from Economy Cycle. I also ordered a set of Progressive springs from them.

Bill came over to the house today and we tore the front end off of the bike. I'm taking the fork legs over to his house one night this week for dis-assembly, and then the fork legs and wheels will be off to powder coat. It helps get me motivated when he comes over and just starts tearing my bike apart!!! I can't have it hanging from the rafters now that riding season is here.

Beautiful bike that runs as good as it looks!!! When she's back on the road more videos please!!!

Brian if you haven't replaced the stock ball bearings with tapered roller ones now might be a good time since you're at least half way there with the forks out of the way.

BTW I got my wheels back and they look great in black

NJRZ350 wrote:Brian if you haven't replaced the stock ball bearings with tapered roller ones now might be a good time since you're at least half way there with the forks out of the way.

The bike is suspended from the ceiling attached at the bars. I would have to find another way to hold it up if I wanted to tear into it further.

I had a couple of bushings at the bottom of the fork leg that didn't want to come out, so I pried a little harder with a bigger tool and they came out. Now the forks are completely disassembled and can go with the wheels to the powder coater.





While Bill was tearing things apart, I noticed that it looks like someone has already put Progressive Suspension springs in at some time.



I had already ordered a pair of these from Economy Cycle, but John caught it in time and allowed me to change my order. Instead, I bought a pair of these. Now, I should be able to properly set up my sag.



The other night when working in Bill's shop, he told me that he had an R6 shock that I could HAVE if I helped him clean up some other parts that he is selling. I bought the bushings to convert it from John and Economy Cycle and this bad boy is going in when we put the new tires on.



I should have a package waiting on the porch tomorrow from Economy, and I'll be dropping parts to the powder coater hopefully at the same time. Things should start going back together next weekend. I hope so, it's 74 degrees and sunny today. Riding season is here!

Picked up the wheels and fork legs from the powder coater today. They turned out awesome!!! Still need to figure out what I'm going to do the things like the old rotors and the axles. They will look like crap up against these wheels.

i used paint stripper.... that 30 year old paint wouldnt budge with brake cleaner....

then a scotchbrite scourer with a creme cleaner.... jif ???

and excellent results will be achieved

by the way wheels look great.... going to add any wheel stripe on the edge.... colour or chrome ??

aaronmvrider wrote:i used paint stripper.... that 30 year old paint wouldnt budge with brake cleaner....then a scotchbrite scourer with a creme cleaner....

Thanks Aaron. The rotors have been bead blasted along with the allen head bolts. They cleaned up great, it's just now they are raw steel and are going to rust the first time they see moisture. They are also very plain. I may tape off the outside of them and rattle bomb them black along with the bolts and also the axle head and nut.

I've seen those tape stripes for the wheels. I have a guy who does pin striping. I may have him put a couple thin yellow stripes around the lips of the wheels.

Here's the latest update. I finally got the correct rim tape that I ordered and got it installed yesterday. I think it turned out pretty good.



I'll be taking them today to a guy who does all the local sport bike guy's tires out of his house. He said he would charge $20 to mount and balance the two tires. I'm also going to talk to him about setting up my new/old suspension, as he does type of work also.

The rotors have been thoroughly bead blasted and shot with clear to keep them from rusting. The allen head bolts will be black along with the speedo gear housing and the end of the axle. Once the forks and front wheel are on, I will ride the bike back out to Bill's garage to do the R6 shock conversion and put the rear wheel/tire on.

The rim tape looks nice Brain and breaks up some of the pretty and deep gloss black. How about a pic of the rim taped black wheels on the bike?

Evans Ward wrote: How about a pic of the rim taped black wheels on the bike?

I'm working on it brother! The front end should be back together tomorrow sometime. Life tends to get in the way of working on the bike sometimes.