Tag: Yamaha RD 350

Joe Gresh’s Tinfiny Toys

A recent road trip took us to New Mexico, and that meant a stop at Joe Gresh’s Tinfiny Ranch.   The word “ranch” has a nice ring to it, but Joe’s ranch is more of a cool toys repository than a place where cattle range freely (the toys more than make up for the missing cattle…the stories they hold are better than any Bonanza episode).

When walking up the hill from Joe’s home to his shop, you can’t miss his powder blue MGB GT.  The MG came with the property.  At one point Joe was going to get it running again and he started a resurrection blog series on it.  He’s now thinking he may sell it.  I’d like to see him finish this one for a lot of reasons, mostly centered around my belief that any British motor vehicle is inherently cool and there would be interesting blog content accompanying the effort.  Time will tell.   And so will we.

As you can see from the above photo, it was raining a bit when we visited.  The rain gave the MGB a nice look, a hint of what it would be if it was running again with the original paint buffed out.  The MG would be a cool resurrection project.  If you agree, leave a comment here on the blog.  I’m trying to start a “Keep the MG” movement.

Joe has a  bunch of equipment in his Tinfiny Ranch shop, including a sandblast cabinet, a drill press, all manner of hand and power tools, and a lathe.  “You can make anything with a lathe…you can even make another lathe,” Joe once said.   You can read more about that here.

The photo at the top of this blog is Zed, Joe’s original 900cc Kawasaki, and it is the first resurrection story Joe wrote for ExNotes.  In my opinion, this is the coolest bike on the planet.  I especially like the original paint.  The patina is priceless.

Joe had Zed’s carbs off the bike when we visited.  Zed needs Joe, and I think Joe needs Zed.  He’s talked about selling it; I hope he doesn’t.  If you agree, leave a comment here on the blog.  You know the drill.

Joe’s well worn Zed shop manual.

One of Joe’s more famous vintage bikes is Godzilla, a Yamaha 360 he rode on the Trans America Trail.   It’s a delightfully original machine with a lot of stories, a few of which have appeared here on ExNotes.

I wish Yamaha still made these bikes. I always wanted one, but I’ve never ridden one. Someday.

Joe is one of two guys I know with a Kawasaki KLR 250 (the other guy is also named Joe, but it’s not me).   Joe has a few stories about the KLR 250 here on ExNotes.

When I first met Joe on our CSC Motorcycles 5000-mile ride through the American Southwest (with our friends from China and Colombia), Joe told me he would really love to install the 250cc RX3 engine in his KLR 250.   Joe is thinking about selling his KLR.  I get it; I sold my KLR a few years ago.  But I regretted it.   KLRs are great bikes.

I have one of these decals on my motorcycle, too.

Incidentally, if you want to know more about the RX3 and our ride with the Chinese on it through the American Southwest, you might consider picking up a copy of 5000 Miles At 8000 RPM.

Here’s Joe’s mini-bike.   He’s owned this one a long time.

Joe’s famous Husky…with the engine out.  Joe is rebuilding the transmission on this motorcycle.  He’s blogged about it; watch ExNotes for future updates.  I know Joe will have it on the road again.

Joe’s Kawi 1100 hasn’t been started in a decade or two.  He’s thinking about getting it on the road again.  That will make for a bunch of great blogs.

Joe’s most recent acquisition is this stellar Yamaha RD 350.  Joe’s written about it here on ExNotes.

Joe explaining the RD’s merits to Susie.

Joe started the RD 350 for us.  It sounded great.

It was a good visit.  There’s a lot going on at Tinfiny Ranch (living off the grid stuff, concrete stories, tractors, implements, the water wars, vintage motorcycles, and more), and you can read about it here on ExNotes.  Stay tuned, my friends.

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Yamaha RD350 Part 8: I’m Gonna Ride My Horse Till I Can’t No More

One of my many personality flaws is that I’m overly fond of television talent shows. It’s pretty embarrassing how many of these type of programs I watch by dribs and drabs on YouTube. I’d like to break free from the habit but it seems like there is always another undiscovered talent that needs my attention. One of my favorite talent show singers is a chick named Hadwin.

Hadwin has a very distinctive voice like Amy Winehouse or Janis Joplin had distinctive voices except she’s not like them at all. When she was very young, Hadwin’s strange body movements bordered on uncomfortable-to-watch but now that she is older she seems to have calmed down a little. Her voice ranges from a squeak to a low, hollow echo and it’s not so much the quality of her voice that makes her great, it’s the way she rips apart songs with abandon. I wouldn’t call her voice sweet but you’ll be able to tell it is her singing as soon as she opens her mouth. It doesn’t hurt that she looks a little bit like Emma Peel from the 1960’s British TV show The Avengers.

Which is an off-kilter intro for my first big ride on the 1974 RD350. The bike still needs some work but I really wanted to put some miles on the thing to see how it would fare on a longish ride. I started with a run up highway 54 into Carrizozo. 54 is a long, straight road that averages about 4500 feet elevation. As it’s located down in the Tularosa Valley, 54 is usually a bit warmer than the mountain roads to the east. Most of the time traffic on 54 is going about 70 mph and on this day the RD350 was keeping up easily, spinning between 55 hundred rpm and 6 thousand. Unfortunately the RD’s speedometer was showing 85 miles per hour and no way was I going that fast unless a RD350 tops out at 130. I calculated my fuel mileage at the first gas stop as 41 miles per gallon. I thought that was pretty good fuel mileage for a thirsty two stroke. Must be that Torque Induction?

On the way up 54 I noticed the RD350 had a narrow blubbery spot around 5000 rpm and as I turned onto Nogul canyon road and climbed in altitude the blubbery spot grew wider. Nogul canyon road takes you by many curves to the base of the Ruidoso/Alto area. It’s a fun road to let the RD350 wail a little and the road tops out at a little over 7000 feet. I couldn’t wail too much because the RD’s oversized rear tire rubs the fender in hard corners. I have new, correct size tires ordered. By managing my engine speed, a process made easier by the Yamaha’s smooth-shifting 6-speed gearbox, I could get past the rich spot on the fuel delivery and from 5500 up the bike ran fine. You could feel the power loss the higher you went. Gavalin Canyon Road skirts Ruidoso to the east; it’s a twisty road but has a lot of local traffic trying to avoid the zillions of Texans who visit Ruidoso. Many times there are more Texans in Ruidoso than Ruidosoans.

On my way downhill on 70 to Tularosa I took the old road to The Old Road Café on the Mescalero Indian Reservation. The Old Road Café is a multi level place that looks like some sections are real adobe. The back porch area has a decided slant, I wouldn’t be surprised if it toppled over one day. The Old Road Café has the best tacos around. They are oily corn tacos with shredded beef, homemade salsa and I love the things. I loaded up on tacos, rice, beans and iced tea before taking the final plunge into Tularosa and the Tuliefreeze ice cream shop for a little reward.

All in, the RD350 tootled through the mountains and the valley for 150 miles. It was a blast listening to the little twin sing that old song and I was surprised by the RD’s ability to keep up with modern, yet rural traffic. If you had to you could run 80 miles per hour as long as you wanted to hold on. From faded memories I thought the RD would be more of an around town bike but after I get it sorted I see no reason the bike wouldn’t do well on long trips. The only limiting factor is the 3-gallon gas tank, which means you need to find a gas station every hundred or so miles. That’s not always easy to do in New Mexico.

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Yamaha RD350 Part 4: Stealing Moments

I’ve been on a tear lately. The shed floor is nearly done and I’m laying down some slabs, man. That doesn’t mean I haven’t managed to sneak in a little tinkering on the 1974 Yamaha Rd350. I mean, once the slab is poured and finished you’ve got to let it cure for a day. Green concrete is very fragile.

I wanted to drain the RD 350’s fluids before getting too far along. Which was kind of good because I discovered the oil tank wasn’t slotted into the rubber frame peg correctly. That meant taking out the battery to access the oil tank bolts.

It was no trouble at all to pull the tank, drain it and re-slot it onto the frame peg. The original feed hose drooped underneath the carburetors then rose over the clutch cover forming a trap. I didn’t like the looks of the trap so I shortened the feed hose a bit and routed it without a loop.

When I pulled out the battery to fix the oil tank I noticed the top of the battery had a melted spot. This melted spot corresponded with a melted positive wire to the battery. I suspect the battery is the wrong one. It looks too tall and there was a section of old inner tube covering the battery. I see no evidence of arcing on the seat pan but something melted the positive wire as it has been wrapped with electrical tape.

After refilling the oil tank I needed to bleed out any air in the feed line to the autolube pump. The pump area was shockingly clean. It looked like a new motorcycle inside.

I sent Deet photos of the pump as I was well pleased and wanted to show the thing off. Zooming in on my photo Deet noticed that the autolube pump was not adjusted correctly. The pin and dot are supposed to line up at idle.

The oil pump cable was adjusted as loose as the lock nuts would allow. This RD is near perfect except where mechanics have fouled it up. Resetting the pump was quick and now the pin lines up with the mark at idle.

The chain guard was sort of floppy because the front mount was missing its bolt and the rubber bushing, along with the spacer. I cobbled one together from bits and pieces; it will work until I find the correct parts.

The more I mess with the RD350 the more amazed I am at how unmolested it is. All the case screws look perfect (except for the ignition and pump screws).  Opening things reveals factory fresh assembly. It’s almost too perfect: I’ve got to up my mechanical game to treat this motorcycle with the care it deserves.

More on the RD350 story and other Joe Gresh Resurrections is here!

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ExNotes Hasty Conclusions: Aftermarket Yamaha RD 350 Brake Caliper

This brake caliper represents a tectonic shift in my thinking. I’ve always rebuilt rather than buy new because rebuilding is less expensive. And that’s still true, sort of. The shift comes from my adding personal time into the value equation. Until recently I’ve never given my time a fair shake when it comes to fixing things. I mean, I’ve always had plenty of time, you know? But as I slip into the golden years, those final few moments of a fleeting existence that only the lucky few get to enjoy, I’ve begun to budget how I spend the remains of the day. “He Rebuilt Brake Calipers” is not what I want on the tiny, polka-dot ceramic frog that holds my ashes.

The new-to-me RD 350’s front brake is not working. Reports from Deet in Raleigh indicate the fluid is gone or the master cylinder piston is stuck in the bore. There is no resistance at the lever, futile or otherwise. I’m pretty well snowed under with self-induced projects at Tinfiny Ranch so after adding up a seal kit ($20), brake pads ($20), and the little Yamaha emblem, along with shiny new chrome hardware, this complete and new caliper at $117 seems like a fair deal if you deduct the hours it will take me to make the old caliper as sweet as the new caliper.

Vintage purists will freak out, “It’s not OEM!” they’ll cry. “Chinese junk,” they’ll type on their Chinese electronics. Look, I don’t like those purist bastards anyway. The non-stock master cylinder will really get them going. It’s a generic unit that is nothing like the original unit but I want to take the RD for a spin and this $20 master cylinder is the fastest way to get on the road. Since an OEM aftermarket copy is not available I plan to rebuild the original master cylinder when I get time. There’s that word again: Time.

For $137 I have a mostly new brake system. Going the rebuild route would end up costing around $70 and that wouldn’t include the new chrome hardware or the aluminum Yamaha caliper insignia. Keep clicking on ExhaustNotes.us and we shall see if the time saved was worth the extra money spent.

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Two For The Road Part 1: 350 Yamaha RDreaming

One of my long-time dream bikes has been Yamaha’s RD350 twin built back in the mid-1970’s. My old buddy from childhood, Billy Mac, had a new 1973 RD350 and every time I rode it back then I was amazed at the power and agility of the 350cc two-stroke twin. The bike could do it all from off road to flat tracking sideways in asphalt parking lots. With power, braking, handling and style, a RD350 had it all over the other bikes built in that era. I never forgot the thrill of riding such an utterly competent motorcycle.

The 1974 RD350 was my favorite year. The deep purple paint and tasteful graphics were made for royalty such as I. Prices for RD350’s keep slowly climbing and seem to always stay just out of reach on my personal value/desirability scale for vintage motorcycles. Stock bikes are getting harder to find as every Teen-Spirit RD350 owner butchers the bike trying to improve on perfection.

Last week, on a routine Craigslist scouting mission I came upon this RD350, my RD350. The thing is bone stock and I paid too much for it but I really don’t have that many years left to spend looking for the ultimate barn find deal. I sent a link to my wife, CT, and she said “If you don’t buy the thing I’m going to buy it for you.” She knew the bike was The One as I have been telling her about how great RD350’s are for many years.

My next step was to get a set of trustworthy eyes on the machine as it was 1700 miles away. A call to Deet, AKA Dr. Enduro, was made and he agreed to enable my addiction by driving 3 hours each way to look at the bike. And, oh yeah, buy the bike for me. The bike price was at the top-end for RD350’s but was in much better condition compared to other top-price bikes I have checked out online.

“The bike started first kick and sounds fine.” Deet told me. I left the purchasing decision up to Deet, as I could add nothing to the mix from my lair in New Mexico. The seller was a flipper and knew his values well. Thankfully he had only replaced the battery and left the bike as he found it, which was fine by me. Deet managed to beat the seller down $350, understandable as it was Deet’s money funding my dream. So we ended up at $4250. I know, I know, it’s a lot of money for an old bike.

The bike is now safely ensconced inside Deet’s top-secret Enduro hospital and after I get a few things done around here I’ll be heading to North Carolina to retrieve my prize. I guess the only question left is do I ride it back to New Mexico or bring it home in the truck?

(All photos by Deet.)

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