rzresurection

BTW - nice offer DT. You work cheap. Lol.

Check out 'Closer to the Edge', it's a great movie. Yeah, the TT is a true road race course. Those guys have balls the size of watermelons. It's nuts.

I understand how important the leak-down test is to a two stroke and that it is the only way to know the health of a 2T engine I understand how a compression test will give the overall health of the top end of a 4T. I guess I was thinking specifically how to assess the spot that was originally leaking. Really, going thru all this trouble just to see if the original leak was any better is a waste. Time would be better spent repairing the root cause, with the correct, one-time fix.

Ok DT, I'm with you on that comment. OEM for sure on head and crank. I go OEM for everything. There are some crappy repro gaskets out there. Ask the RZ guys about oil seal rebuild kits.

Will a compression test really tell you anything useful about the leak? The leak is below where the rings seal to the cylinder. I think you really need a pressure test - block the intake and exhaust ports, then pressurize. This is what we do to 2T. With a 2T, it's critical that there are NO leaks. A leak creates a lean condition that could melt the top end down. I might be off here - dunno.

You can keep using the restore stuff, but I'm guessing it will be a waste of time. I'm assuming you've already bought it, since this will be the second application - it's a sunk cost, so no additional loss there. It's not like you are trying to fill a small, round pin-hole. It is more like a long, thin crack. A crack that goes thru a heat cycle (expansion & contraction) every time you run your bike. I just don't think that you'll get it sealed up that way. Make sure you buy OEM gaskets when you go to do the repair. I know that it's very critical on my bike.

Go with some Duplicolour Engine Enamel. Will need to be baked in the wife's oven. Good day to try this would be the 25th. Lol. A couple of hours will do the trick. Just make sure that you have enough time left over to do the turkey.

Pretty close in age for sure. I turn 47 a week today - Merry Birthday and Happy Christmas. Just the way it is having a Bday around this time of year. I definitely didn't get all that Moto x experience that you had. My RD was my first real bike. I started on the street. It was scary. The first night I rode it home, I went down steep hill and clicked down a few gears - locked the rear totally up and ran it off the road. Haha. Funny looking at it now, but I never did that brown streak outta my tighty whities. I'm gonna be learning all over again this spring. Well maybe, not totally. I'm not 22 years old anymore. When I drive a cage, I drive it like a bike and am always looking for an out and am always looking 2-3 moves ahead. I don't think you ever lose that skill - unless you just don't care. I hope to take a new rider course before I start riding again. It can't hurt. I might just pick up some tip that saves my butt. Jeff '87 RZ 350

Is that case cover metal? It's funny cause mine is plastic on the stator/rotor side. Jeff '87 RZ 350

For sure we're getting older. Im even older than you. Lol. I have you beat by 3 years. I got to read my copy of TOTW when I was 22, just after I got my RZ. I should have bought it when I had my RD, but I was too busy falling off it, pulling wheelies and dumb sh@t like that. Too old for that business now. Yeah, the big old tires. I was able to squeeze a 130 Micheline Hisport on the rear of my little RZ. I thought that was awesome. Now I have front tire on (the same RZ) that is almost as big as the 130. The funny part is, I haven't rode on good radials yet. I'll let you know what it feels like this spring. Lol Jeff '87 RZ 350

Great book. I remember reading it back in 1988 (or somewhere around that time period). It's funny, I remembered it being written by Fast Freddie - oops, wrong on my part. Sorry Feliks, my bad. Once I saw this post, my memory came clean. Thanks DT Lol. I lent my copy to someone back in '96 and haven't seen it since. I found one to download for free. I'll read that after I get thru reading the Sudco Mikuni tuning manual - exciting read I'm sure. Jeff '87 RZ 350

In a corner: The faster you take the corner, the more you have to lean. Add brakes, you slow down. You slow down, less you need to lean = bike stands up. You never see a GP racer straight up in a corner unless he's exiting the track - oops. Jeff '87 RZ 350

Funny this subject. I was just on another forum and came across a re-posted article from a well known motorcycle journalist. I'll copy it here below. Makes a lot of sense. My opinion as far as 'not' using front brakes in a corner - that's ridiculous. Not grabbing a 'handful' of brakes mid corner - that makes sense. Here's the re-post nick is one of our forum members on another forum I am a member of, he shared the following and I thought the members here might benefit from it. "If you have to stop in a corner, one of two things will happen. One, you will stand the bike up and ride it off the shoulder and into whatever is over there. Or two, you will lay the bike down and slide off the shoulder of the road. Braking is done before, or after a corner. The best thing to do before taking a corner is to grind the thought 'I'm going to turn this corner' into your mind." Hiya FZ1 lovers. I’ve stewed for two days about the above quote taken from another FZ1OA thread...and finally decided to launch this thread. In past years I would have just rolled my eyes and muttered, “Whatever”…but not anymore. I want to tell you that there are measureable, explainable, repeatable, do-able reasons that make great riders great. And brake usage is at the very tippity-top of these reasons. It’ll save your life, it’ll make you a champion. It will save and grow our sport. I’ll ask this one favor: Would you open your mind to what I’m about to write, then go out and mess around with it? To begin: Realize that great motorcycle riding is more subtle in its inputs than most of us imagine. I bet you are moving your hand too quickly with initial throttle and brakes. Moving your right foot too quickly with initial rear brake. The difference between a lap record and a highside is minute, almost-immeasureable differences in throttle and lean angle. The difference between hitting the Camaro in your lane and missing it by a foot is the little things a rider can do with speed control at lean angle. Brakes at lean angle. Brakes in a corner. Yes, a rider can brake in a corner. Yes. For sure. Guaranteed. I promise. Happens all the time. I do it on every ride, track or street. Yes, a rider can stop in a corner. In fact, any student who rides with the Yamaha Champions Riding School will tell you it’s possible. Complete stop, mid-corner…no drama. Newbies and experts alike. There are some interesting processes to this sport, mostly revolving around racing. But as I thought about this thread, putting numbers on each thought made more sense because explaining these concepts relies on busting some myths and refining your inputs. Some things must be ingrained…like #1 below. 1)You never, ever, never stab at the brakes. Understand a tire’s grip this way: Front grip is divided between lean angle points and brake points, rear grip is lean angle points and acceleration points, lean angle points and brake points. Realize that the tire will take a great load, but it won’t take a sudden load…and so you practice this smooth loading at every moment in/on every vehicle. If you stab the brakes (um...or throttle...) in your pickup, you berate yourself because you know that the stab, at lean angle on your motorcycle (and bicycle, btw), will be a crash. 2)Let’s examine tire grip. If you’re leaned over at 95% (95 points in my book Sport Riding Techniques and fastersafer.com) of the tires’ available grip, you still have 5% of that grip available for braking (or accelerating). But maybe you only have 3%!!! You find out because you always add braking “points” in a smooth, linear manner. As the front tire reaches its limit, it will squirm and warn you…if that limit is reached in a linear manner. It’s the grabbing of 30 points that hurts anyone leaned over more than 70 points. If you ride slowly with no lean angle, you will begin to believe that aggressiveness and grabbing the front brake lever is okay…and it is…until you carry more lean angle (or it’s raining, or you’re on a dirt road or your tire’s cold…pick your excuse). Do you have a new rider in your life? Get them thinking of never, ever, never grabbing the brakes. Throttle too… 3)If you STAB the front brake at lean angle, one of two things will happen. If the grip is good, the fork will collapse and the bike will stand up and run wide. If the grip is not-so-good, the front tire will lock and slide. The italicized advice at the beginning was written by a rider who aggressively goes after the front brake lever. His bike always stands up or lowsides. He’s inputting brake force too aggressively, too quickly...he isn't smoothly loading the fork springs or loading the tire. He may not believe this, but the tire will handle the load he wants, but the load must be fed-in more smoothly…and his experience leads to written advice that will hurt/kill other riders. “Never touch the brakes at lean angle?” Wrong. “Never grab the brakes at lean angle?” Right! But what about the racers on TV who lose the front in the braking zone? Pay attention to when they lose grip. If it’s immediately, it’s because they stabbed the brake at lean angle. If it’s late in the braking zone, it’s because they finally exceeded 100 points of grip deep in the braking zone…if you’re adding lean angle, you’ve got to be “trailing off” the brakes as the tire nears its limit. 4) Radius equals MPH. Realize that speed affects the bike’s radius at a given lean angle. If the corner is tighter than expected, continue to bring your speed down. What’s the best way to bring your speed down? Roll off the throttle and hope you slow down? Or roll off the throttle and squeeze on a little brake? Please don’t answer off the top of your head…answer after you’ve experimented in the real world. Do this: Ride in a circle in a parking lot at a given lean angle. That’s your radius. Run a circle or two and then slowly sneak on more throttle at the same lean angle and watch what your radius does. Now ride in the circle again, and roll off the throttle…at the same lean angle. You are learning Radius equals MPH. You are learning what throttle and off-throttle does to your radius through steering geometry changes and speed changes. You are learning something on your own, rather than asking for advice on subjects that affect your health and life. (You will also learn why I get so upset when new riders are told to push on the inside bar and pick up the throttle if they get in the corner too fast. Exactly the opposite of what the best riders do. But don’t believe me…try it.) Let me rant for a moment: Almost every bit of riding advice works when the pace is low and the grip is high. It’s when the corner tightens or the sleet falls or the lap record is within reach…then everything counts. “Get all your braking done before the turn,” is good riding advice. But what if you don’t? What if the corner goes the other way and is tighter and there’s gravel? It’s then that you don’t need advice, you need riding technique. Theory goes out the window and if you don’t perform the exact action, you will be lying in the dirt, or worse. Know that these techniques are not only understandable, but do-able by you. Yes you! I’m motivated to motivate you due to what I’ve seen working at Freddie’s school and now the Champ school… I’m telling you this: If you can smoothly, gently pick-up your front brake lever and load the tire, you can brake at any lean angle on and FZ1. Why? Because our footpegs drag before our tires lose grip when things are warm and dry. It might be only 3 points, but missing the bus bumper by a foot is still missing the bumper! If it’s raining, you simply take these same actions and reduce them…you can still mix lean angle and brake pressure, but with considerably less of each. Rainy and cold? Lower still, but still combine-able. 5)So you’re into a right-hand corner and you must stop your bike for whatever reason. You close the throttle and sneak on the brakes lightly, balancing lean angle points against brake points. As you slow down, your radius continues to tighten. You don’t want to run off the inside of the corner, so you take away lean angle. What can you do with the brakes when you take away lean angle? Yes! Squeeze more. Stay with it and you will stop your bike mid-corner completely upright. No drama. But don’t just believe me…go prove it to yourself. 6)Let’s examine the final sentence in the italicized quote. The best thing to do before taking a corner is to grind the thought "I'm going to turn this corner" into your mind. No, that’s not the best thing. It’s not the worst thing and I’m all for positive thinking, but we all need to see the difference between riding advice and riding techniques. This advice works until you enter a corner truly beyond your mental, physical or mechanical limits. I would change this to: The best thing to do before taking a corner is to scan with your eyes, use your brakes until you’re happy with your speed and direction, sneak open your throttle to maintain your chosen speed and radius, don’t accelerate until you can see your exit and can take away lean angle. 7)Do you think I’m being over-dramatic by claiming this will save our sport? Are we crashing because we’re going too slowly in the corners or too fast? Yes, too fast. What component reduces speed? Brakes. What component calms your brain? Brakes. What component, when massaged skillfully, helps the bike turn? Brakes. If riders are being told that they can’t use the brakes at lean angle, you begin to see the reason for my drama level. When I have a new rider in my life, my third priority is to have them, “Turn into the corner with the brake-light on.” I’ve said it before: This is the only bike forum I’m a member of. I like it, I like the peeps, I like the info, I love the bike. Could we begin to change the information we pass along regarding brakes and lean angle? Could we control our sport by actually controlling our motorcycles? If we don’t control our sport, someone else will try. Closed throttle, no brakes is “out of the controls”. Get out there and master the brakes. Thanks, I feel better. Nick Ienatsch Yamaha Champions Riding School Fastersafer.com Jeff '87 RZ 350

Hi Paul, Congrats on owning a classic Yamaha 2 stroke (2T for short). Bad part is you just purchased a bike that is going to need LOT of TLC from what you have posted. The fact that is a 1974 (old 2 stroke) makes it even labour intensive. If this is a bike that you intend to get road worthy - first order of business it to get a shop manual. This will help you immensely. You really need one. Second order is to pull the the engine and carbs apart. I'm not being a goof, but that's realistic for a bike that age. I'll try to help you out with some of your questions. It would be a great idea to search for a forum on air cooled RD's. The guys there should able to help you out with your questions regarding the interchangeability of parts/years. It would be helpful to post pictures of the things that you are inquiring about. With this being an old 2T, you really need to understand that they are prone to seizures - due to old leaky seals, intake boots, etc. Since this is a new bike to you, you can't be sure of the condition of the engine and engine seals - this is absolutely critical. If your engine sucks in air from a leaky seal, it will create a lean condition that could lead to a seizure = $$. My point being, if I were you, I'd replace all engine seals. I'm in the process of doing this now on my '87 RZ350. I've been the only owner, I know how the bike was treated, and it still needs to be done - just based on the age. You will need to do this. I'm not trying to scare you as much I'm trying to save you some money and build reliability Ito your machine. 1) what oil do I put in the oil tank for the two stroke mix? and I don't know what is in there at present(it's a pale yellow colour) so can it be mixed with another type? Pull the tank off and clean out all the old oil -all (3) lines included. I'd be inclined to pull the oil pump apart as well. If you do this, buy a rebuild kit with OEM parts. 2) What are those 3 small tubes coming from the carb area that are not attached to anything at the other end? 2 of these small tubes that your are referring to are most likely the oil supply lines to the carbs. 1 small line to each carb. These lines come from the oil pump. The third line I'm not sure of. Need pictures to see exactly what you are looking at. 5)I bought the bike knowing that the front brake was not working. The fluid reservoir lid was stuck fast but I finally shifted it with a large pair of grips only to find it full of brown lumpy gunk similar to a jar of curry paste!!! what is this?? and do you think a good clean out right down to the calliper could sort it out? You need to pull the whole brake system apart including master cylinder and caliper pistons. Clean/flush it completely and put a rebuild kit in the master cylinder. No shortcuts here. Maybe some of the other guys can chime in regarding some of your other questions. This is my first post on this forum, so I don't know what the guys are like here. There is good info out there. It'll take a little searching. Good luck and don't take short cuts. It will pay off in the end Jeff Jeff '87 RZ 350