Jack's 1977 Yamaha RD400 Restoration

Part 1

B.C. - Beginning a whole new segment in the J&B Motorcycle Restoration blog is the 1977 Yamaha RD400 belonging to a good friend of ours, Jack.  He initially approached me with the idea of completely restoring his RD, which he purchased new off the showroom floor back in the day.  As you can see from the pictures, it will take quite a lot of work, but hey, that's what we do.  No complaints here!

The RD400 is a bike which will undoubtedly turn heads wherever it goes.  Many make frequent appearances at the local vintage motorcycle meet, and many people are familiar with it, and can recall memories of riding one that either once belonged to them, or to a family member.  The one point that all conversations regarding the bike seem to gravitate towards is the fact that the bike is pure torque.  There's no escaping the pull of the twin-cylinder two stroke, especially with a displacement of 400cc's.  

So follows all the restoration process of this incredible bike.  

After the long but entertaining drive back, we carefully unloaded the bike, as well as various additional parts and such, including the engine, which had since been removed from the bike.  The parts were all set out in order as we discussed our intended order of operations. 

Our first order of business was to determine what was needed for the bike's initial reassembly, prior to separate modifications.  We decided first off that the engine would be sent to Joey's for teardown, inspection, cleaning and reassembly.  He figured it best off if we went ahead and replaced the engine gaskets, or seals, which is common practice whenever engine disassembly  is in order.  A new chain was also ordered, as the old chain had far to much flex to be regarded as safe.  In congruence, new front and rear sprockets were ordered, the latter of which came from Japan.  

It was around this time when I learned that my girlfriend's father was, at one time, a professional racer who was very well learned in the ways of the RD.  He offered his help and his knowledge, both of which came in handy.  His knowledge and understanding of the ins and outs of the bike were simply incredible, and we learned a great deal of things about the bike that we would not have known otherwise.  He offered to supervise the disassembly process and offered many suggestions as to what should be fixed and/or altered to make the bike better overall.  

Initial dissasembly then began, first with the rear wheel/hub assembly, then the rear fender and swingarm.

Here's Mr. M describing the proper way to disassemble the rear hub.

Pictures were taken of every step of the entire process, so as not to forget the way any one piece fits together in accordance with the rest.  It's a very long and arduous process, but it's the joy of doing what we love mixed with the experience and knowledge gained that makes it all worth it.  

A $40 jack from craigslist greatly aids in the whole process.  It's a whole heck of a lot easier to work on a bike when it is raised to a level where you're not constantly bending over the bike, as well as being able to reach under the frame, and remove wheels without having the bike fall over due to it balancing precariously on its front forks.

Oil was drained from the reserve.

Do yourself a favor and organize all the small parts when disassembling a bike.  It will make the re-assembly process so, so much simpler.

Joey stopped by to eat all my food.  Oh, and to work on the bike.  Only because I offered him pizza.

                                     

Down to the forks and triple tree assembly, removal is somewhat difficult...

...but has since been completed.

And this is what we're down to, just the frame.  Now it's time to begin researching powdercoating, and to clean each and every single part, down to the last nut and bolt.  Once we have everything squared away, we can begin re-assembly.  The engine will be finished up and installed, tested and tuned to perfection.  

Then we begin the process of modifying the bike to Jack's specifications.  We already have designs for rearsets in the works, and much, much more.  Stay tuned (haha, get it? Tuned? Like an engine?) for the next installment.  Until next time...

My Parts Came!!!!

J.A.  Random update:As I walked downstairs today, I saw, sitting on the steps, a box.  And in this box contained my path to true happiness. 'Twas a box o' parts i ordered of ebay!  I was so happy, actually i was taken aback.  I did not expect it to come so soon.  It only shipped on Friday.  But now I have to wait for my head gasket to arrive before i can put the engine back together.

1985 VF500F Interceptor (Part 3)

J.A.  For part three of this restoration, I have decided that with the engine out, I may as well strip down the bike completely and start from scratch.  For those of you who missed part 1 and 2, here they are:
Part 1
Part 2

Now that everyone is caught up, lets continue.

For those who are first-timers at a frame-down restoration, let me just tell you that preparation now will save you many headaches later.  That means you should have many bins to put things and you should keep your screws fairly organized so as to not mix them up.  Some people like to order things from back to front or front to back, but I like to organize it by what needs to be put on first as I reassemble it.  This will save you lots of time and energy later when it's a lot easier to make mistakes.

Again, like in motor removal, be methodical.  If something doesn't want to come out easily, then either it's not time for that piece to come out yet, or you forgot to remove a bolt attaching it.  I don't think there is much of a step-by-step manual for this, so start with the easy things like the battery box and work your way through the bike until everything is off.

Make sure to be delicate with the wiring harness, as you really don't want to destroy it and have to take it all apart and troubleshoot it.  It is a huge pain, and not too fun really.

The rear fender cage piece on this bike is a large unit and requires some finessing to get it off.  You can use some force to pry it from its metal cage, but you should not need anything more than your hands and some elbow grease.

Be careful disconnecting the rear brake assembly from the foot peg.

The headlight assembly can come off as one large unit, making sure that all of the wires trailing to the cables get removed before you yank the assembly off the bike.

Now would be a good time to place the bike on a jack as the last couple steps involve removing the two parts that hold the bike on the ground: the rear end and front end.

Be slow on the front end, as it takes a lot of work just to separate the forks from the frame.  First you must remove the fuse cover and loosen the steering stem nut.  The next step involves removing the bolts holding the top triple tree clamps in order to get to a Torx head bolt hidden up in the risers.  After that bolt is removed, you must remove another bolt securing the risers and a C-clip on the forks preventing the risers from being removed.  The same method applies for the other side as well.  Once the top triple tree is removed, you can take the remaining two nuts off and slide the steering stem out of the frame.

Place the front end is a safe place for the time being.  In order to keep it upright, ziptie the brake lever in the closed position to apply brake pressure to the wheel.

Once the front end is removed, all that is left is the frame.  Clean it up, paint it, and put everything back together, nice and clean.

 Man that little bike sure takes up a lot of garage space.

My plan for the restoration is to have a red bike with white panels, lucky enough, there is a photo of what my finished product basically should look like.

 We'll see how it turns out.  Painting the frame is my next project.

1985 VF500F Interceptor (Part 2)

J.A.:  Welcome to my next installment of my disassembly and restoration of my beloved interceptor.
If you missed Part 1 please view it here: http://jbmotoresto.blogspot.com/2011/06/j.html

Now that I have discovered a major problem, removal of the engine to look over everything else is necessary (at least in my mind.) Though I may have been able to remove the head with the engine in the bike, it is much, much easier to do so with it off the bike and on a workbench.

So begins my long and arduous task of removing the motor:

I had not previously done an engine removal on a bike of this scale, so I used the manual as my guide for the most part.  Note to anyone who has never removed an engine before and wants to:  USE THE MANUAL!!!  I cannot stress that enough.  The last thing anyone wants to do is break something that could have easily been avoided had one paid close attention and followed directions carefully.  If you are removing the engine, something expensive is most likely already broken, so don't try to make it worse than it already is.  You may end up with a screwdriver through the wall, and now there is a hole in the drywall.

If you don't have a manual to help removing the engine, you can do a google search to try and find a PDF some nice individual has uploaded or purchase a E-version or paper copy off a site.  A good place for PDF versions that I have found is http://classiccycles.org/

Moral of the story is work slowly and carefully, unplugging all the connections and disconnecting things along the way.  The motor should end up coming out easily and in one piece with little to no dangling parts like hoses and wires.

Always remember to disconnect the batter before you begin removing the engine.  This is to avoid shorting anything so as to not damage it or yourself.

Since I have only removed this engine for this specific bike, the process will most likely be a little different for other bikes, so stick to the manual and you will come out alive.

I will admit right now, I am extremely bad at following directions, especially my own, so I did not necessarily follow the manual during my removal process, but then again, a little common sense goes a long way.

I started this process by removing the exhaust.  If you seem to have a hard time removing some pieces due to rust, a spray lubricant such as WD-40 works wonders.  The exhaust tubes may require a bit of wiggling to get them off, but they will move.  When removing the collector underneath, don't forget to loosen the collars connecting it to the rear pipes.  A cro-bar does the job if it doesn't want to leave its home.

The radiator needs to be removed, but make sure to drain it first.  Anti-freeze is very good at what it does and it won't evaporate from the garage floor.  When you spill some, make sure to clean it up right away as it is poisonous to pets who like to drink it for its sweet taste.

You have to remove the hydraulic clutch slave cylinder in order to get to the sprocket.  The  manual says to remove the sprocket from the motor, but that is really unnecessary since the chain will most likely have a master link.  The manual also says to remove the alternator and the clutch to remove the engine, but to me that is asinine, so I left them.  I hope the Honda Gods don't smite me for it.

A motorcycle jack is a great investment.  You can get one at just about any auto supply store, harbor freight, or my best friend (sorry Brody) Craigslist.  The jack is a really good tool to keep any project upright and stationary, and makes engine removal a breeze.

Continue unhooking  things like coolant lines and shift levers, and take the carburetors out.  As I said before, new boots make things easy as pie.  Just loosen the boots from both the carbs and the intakes, and give the assembly some upward force and *POP* out they come.

Again, the manual told me to remove the starter motor, which is only two or three bolts, but i chose instead to remove the power wire that runs to it from the battery instead.  That's only one bolt!

The cool thing about this bike is that one of the side rail down tubes detach to reveal an exit strategy for easy engine removal.  Good thinking Honda!  Just pop this bad boy off via the four obvious allen bolts once the two lower engine mounting bolts are removed (for those that have read this through before actually attempting to remove the engine, Kudos to you!  The others are probably wondering why the subframe isn't coming off right now.)

Make sure to have a helper with you, as it will make this next step 1000000 times easier.  Once you remove that last upper mount bolt, the engine will want to fall out of the frame and even though it is probably only 60 pounds, the bike also will not have a kick stand nor will it want to stay on the jack.  A second set of hands definitely helps in this instance.  After the engine is out, lightly bolt the subframe back on so you can use the kickstand again.

Now that the engine is out, you may now take it to your clean-room, I mean crappy makeshift table, for dismantling and inspection.

And that is the end of my how-to instructable, now back to my story.



Once I took the engine out, I immediately removed the head to check the pistons and valve seats.  The top of the head was pretty damaged, so I knew I was needing at least that, but I wanted to check the pistons because if they were damaged, i was considering scraping this project and going to another one as it would no longer be worth my investment of time and money.

Luckily, the pistons were in good shape.  No signs of detonation, and the cylinders had a good crosshatch on them.  There was just a little carbon build-up, but nothing too bad.

The valves were not the prettiest, but they held fluids in my leak test, so at least none were bent.  I cleaned a bit of the head, but i then remembered I was getting another one, so there was no point.  Though I do have backup valves in case something happens to my new ones.

I ordered my head from 78tamama on eBay, and that husband-wife team has one of the nicest stores on eBay.    They are kind and considerate to me and worked with me to help me get this project on the road.  I am so fortunate there are nice people in this world who are like them.  I would recommend them to anyone looking for motorcycle parts.

I can't wait for the parts to get in sometime next week.  Until then, since the bike is this far apart, I might as well do a frame-down restoration.  More updates tomorrow!

GoPro HD Test Video

B.C.- Hey guys, just wanted to add a video using a new GoPro HD camera that I got!  Future videos to come.

1985 VF500F Interceptor (Part 1)

J.A.:  Now that school is over, I have plenty of time to work on my projects, and have gotten a good deal of work done on my 1985 Honda VF500F Interceptor.  Let me give some back story on it.

This bike was a birthday present to myself that i purchased on March 13, 2011 (my birthday).  I got it for $520 in the condition as photographed.  It had a pink, and looked promising, but someone had taken it apart once, and I should have taken that as a sign to stay away.  But I wanted a project, and I wanted a VF500 interceptor.

I did some preliminary work to it such as cleaning the carbs, wiping the dust off the bike, and checking fluids and tires.  Things were working well until I tried to get the carbs on.  One of the intake boots was ripped in half, and two were cracked a little bit.  I ordered one boot for the time being.

When I got the boot, I put it on and had a really fun time trying to get the carbs into the V4 bike.  Let's just say it took three days, a lot of cussing and fuming, and a hammer and 2x4 to get the carbs into the bike.  Time to start it.

Well, it started.  But it didn't do much more than that.  No idle, no revving, no happy purring from the pipes.  But at least it started.

I had to find the problem.  There were vacuum leaks everywhere in the california emissions system and the carbs were way out of adjustment.  The valves were tight too if I remember correctly.

Well I said goodbye to that emissions system and just plugged up the holes.  I don't need to be smogged anyways. And it's less weight.  Every ounce helps.

I kept on taking the carbs off, adjusting something, and putting them back on (which was a PITA each time) so I decided, "Screw it; I'm getting three more new boots and making my life easier!!"

Let me tell you, if you have a VF, GET NEW CARB BOOTS.  Best 30 bucks I have ever spent!  The carbs go on and off effortlessly now.  Just a little nudge and they're on.

I can recount numerous other minor details i worked on, but this post would never end, so I'll jump to the end.

Then the knocking started.  Out of nowhere, there was a noticeable knocking sound out of the right-rear #3 cylinder. But only when warmed up.  I did not like that, but it was getting toward finals time and that was a more pressing matter than my project, so off to the side it went for two weeks.  Now, yesterday I decided to get back into that bike.  I took the rear valve cover off to give it a look just to see if anything was noticeably wrong, and there, staring me in the face was a torn up camshaft. FML!!

(Top: The cam in question.  There was a 5mm wide gouge in it.  Not pretty.  Bottom: What the cam is supposed to look like)

So right when I saw that, I knew i was going to need at least a new exhaust cam.  I was going to have to pull the cams out and have a ball getting the timing right again when i replaced it.  I also needed to find the culprit for the problem.

I decided it was worth going the the process of taking everything out of the head and giving it a once-over.  I had no idea what I was getting myself into.  But then again, i love raveling myself in the mystery of the bikes.

(Both cams ended up needing to be replaced, and the gouging came from the cam holders, which were worn as well.)

The following photos are graphic in nature.  If you have any young motors,please send them to the other room

As you can see, something major happened in the top end of that motor, and I need to check out the rest of the engine to make sure.  Time to separate the soul from the body.  Updates tomorrow.