New LC project.... Restoration... I know, I know...

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JonW
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New LC project.... Restoration... I know, I know...

#1 Post by JonW » Wed Nov 26, 2014 12:22 am

*** Website now updated with the forum posts into a more condensed and rewritten form:
http://2smoked.com/Yamaha_RDLC_Restorat ... m_250.html

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PLEASE NOTE:

And then in July 2017 Photobucket came and fucked it all up for everyone...

This build started off with Imageshack hosting the photos, they got greedy and while they continued to host the photos for a while I moved to Photobucket and all was great with the world until they decided we needed to pay $399/yr to post our pics across the net.

So, Thanks photobucket, you trashed this thread and thousands (more like millions!) of other around the world.

IF YOU WANT TO READ THIS THREAD WITH THE PHOTOS AND MY REHASHED TEXTS (BUT NOT THE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON THE THREAD), HAVE A LOOK AT MY WEBSITE, 2SMOKED.COM.

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Many people may remember this bike:

Image

And yes it was almost done.... but... it going to come apart!

Yeah, that's crazy on the face of it, but somewhat sensible once you dig deeper. Over the past few years values of LCs have gone up in Aus. Thats not in itself a issue, but the problem I have is that the frame I used for this bike also has its original matching numbers motor stored in a box in my garage and it now makes total sense to re-unite those two items and build a restored LC, while at the same time not at all affecting the value of the yellow 421 as its very much removed from standard and a random frame number isn't an issue as it has RZ cases of course. So... with that in mind I always said that if I could find another complied frame for sensible money that I would swap the parts over onto a loose frame and build a standard-ish LC with the matching numbers parts.

I had a few aborted attempts at finding one; the first was bent, another was too expensive and another had all its lugs cut off. Most people wont sell a frame on its own either and I dont need the rest of the bike. That all changed a few week back a local lad offered for sale a complete LC in pieces as he was breaking it up. All good so far, and nice for him.... until I realised that he was about 20mins from my house. He was offering most things, including the frame... hmm.... yes, the frame....

I dropped over to check out the parts and on the seller's (Im not sure he's on this forum) driveway was his Mars Bar LC... oh my giddy aunt! I now want to own one of those... Sooo classy. Damn.... I dont think I had ever seen a mars bar in the metal before then, its quite something really.

Long story short the seller, lets call him 'Paul', and I did a deal on his frame and some other bits when he is ready as he is also going to be swapping the parts around on his mar bar LC, as he is using the matching numbers frame and motor from the bike that he was selling, so im getting the unloved frame from his LC for my 421. Everybody wins, perfect.

So... Yes... I did say a couple of things to people over the past few years:

1, I will never build a standard LC, I prefer modified bikes and the LC has spindly forks and thin rubber
2, I would never build a motor on the LC cases with LC cylinders, its old technology
3, If i ever do a standard looking LC I will do it white with blue stripes
4, I wont build any more LC/RZ motors, Ive done enough over the years

To all those people I have to admit it looks like I lied... yeah, sucks to be me... sorry....

Paul has already stripped his 'new' frame down and is getting it ready for coating and then I will help him move all the parts from one frame to another, its a ton of work to rebuild one but you can rip an LC in bits quickly enough, its also good practice for me doing it to my 421 and I can only think my bikes win in the end, and in fact Im quite looking forward to it! LB also offered to come and help me do my 421 swap over, so what goes around comes around, gotta love karma. :)

Since then Ive been right through all my boxes of parts and dig out a bunch of LC parts that I was originally thinking of selling, but now I need to keep. I had actually sold off and given away a bunch of them the past few months but that now has to stop and Ive already sourced some replacements for those that have gone, but not all of them.

I havent been idle though, I've already tracked down a bunch of new/nos parts including; foot rests, switchgear, throttle cable, headlight with bezel. Yes you read that right, I said a nos headlight with bezel! eeek! That is the sort of find that makes you want to do a really clean nos resto bike... I need to resist that urge, I cant afford to get caught up in green passivating bolts!

Ive fully cleaned and rebuilt a dirty-but-still-red-in-the-rev-range rev counter I swapped with Paul (he had my old one for his project) and I also painted the temp needle on that unit, and been cleaning up and making nice a few other parts.

I have also cleaned off about 5 layers of paint, repaired and primered a set of nice side panels and just need to do the same with a rear cowl I have. So with my dented and horribly lined (kreem :( ) tank I have just got to find a mudguard and ive a full set of bodywork.

Ive also been scouring the globe for more parts and am in discussion with forumers about a few bits and pieces. Happy days!

While this project wont be done fast, and for now its just a bit in a holding pattern as parts get put in boxes while the frame is 'coming', this should be a nice bike when done. Question is... will it be white or black?
Last edited by JonW on Wed May 15, 2019 9:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.
80 XT500 Supermoto!
81 RD350LC Resto
82 RD421LC Hybrid
82 RD350LC decapitation project
82 RD250LC JDM '251LC' YPVS
83 RZ350 Resto
84 RZ500 Resto
85 RZ350 F1 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Hybrid

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aaronmvrider
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Re: New LC project.... Restoration... I know, I know...

#2 Post by aaronmvrider » Wed Nov 26, 2014 2:00 am

nice work Jon... matching number bikes are getting rarer... my 4mm went through the same process... transferred it to a matching number.. and the 7mm is now the bastard child...
1 x 4mm stroker rz 375cc 1983
1 x 7mm stroker rz 443cc 1984 (under construction)
1 x rz 500
1 x mv agusta 1000

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JonW
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Re: New LC project.... Restoration... I know, I know...

#3 Post by JonW » Wed Nov 26, 2014 2:10 am

Yes I remember you doing that mate, its defo worth it if you have the parts and the time I think. plus I am able to do another project, and one that will probably end up n club rego which means much cheapness for when it gets ridden.
80 XT500 Supermoto!
81 RD350LC Resto
82 RD421LC Hybrid
82 RD350LC decapitation project
82 RD250LC JDM '251LC' YPVS
83 RZ350 Resto
84 RZ500 Resto
85 RZ350 F1 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Hybrid

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seahorse
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Re: New LC project.... Restoration... I know, I know...

#4 Post by seahorse » Wed Nov 26, 2014 7:03 am

Don't forget to post up the box and bag of tricks I sent you for this project mate, just for a laugh. I was cleaning out the shed after all and swept up some bits.
81 RD 250 LC Hybrid .Widened frame with Aprilia RS250 Back end & Front end, strokd RZ 421, Kennys TSA's, 31KVM26SS Carbs M-360 P-25 ALBA Ndl Pos 3, Air 1.3/4
81Rd350lc resto 2016
81 Rd250lc resto 2017
1999 ZRX 1100

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JonW
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Re: New LC project.... Restoration... I know, I know...

#5 Post by JonW » Wed Nov 26, 2014 8:42 am

Ohhhh cooool! Cheers Horsey! Im excited to have a play when it arrives. ta mate!
80 XT500 Supermoto!
81 RD350LC Resto
82 RD421LC Hybrid
82 RD350LC decapitation project
82 RD250LC JDM '251LC' YPVS
83 RZ350 Resto
84 RZ500 Resto
85 RZ350 F1 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Hybrid

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JonW
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Re: New LC project.... Restoration... I know, I know...

#6 Post by JonW » Thu Nov 27, 2014 2:28 am

While SH's box wends its way to me upon a number of the circuitous routes that only exist in the minds of the brains trust at Auspost, I thought I should start taking pics of the parts I'm collecting and cleaning up to really to give you a feel of my newly arrived parts. Ive nothing to hang them on yet, so they are making their way into boxes ready for this build...

Ever seen one of these since you were thin, had more hair, less money and felt that you time to kill?

Image

The NOS headlight in its original box was a bit special and turns out it was from a totally cool guy with a collection of amazing bikes and a bunch of the rarer nos parts, I mean, when was the last time anyone sold a NOS headlight and bezel? And he actually had two of them... Sometimes you get lucky, its not often with bike stuff, but when it does work out its very special. :)

Side panels... how many colours can you have? I was worried when I got these, they were hand painted in gloss white house paint that had yellowed and was very dirty in the brushstrokes plus it was chipping off. The sort of panels you wouldn't pay much for and dont have high hopes for anything good underneath. I actually stopped myself giving them away to a local guy who came round a while back as they didnt speak well of any kind of friendly gesture. There was a kaleidoscope of colours under the off white and the blue was actually nice, very metal flakey in real life, more than the pic suggests. But after a lot of effort they came out very nice and bizarrely these panels had no cracks whatsoever, even after all their lives!

Image

Image

Image

Clocks...

Image

Speedometer from the infamous Salty The Cat that was in good condition only missing its reset knob, I pulled one off an old RZ unit. The Revcounter came from local boy Paul and needed a through clean and the Temp needle painting up. They dont match as the main needle has faded, but many nos units look like this now and it matches speedo, so I felt doing it like this was the way to go. The bezel was lightly dented and the body was also cracked plus the tabs were missing from the sides, I didn't notice any of that when I picked it up due to the overwhelming desire for an original red rev range dial, hmmm. I will clean up and size / drill the new mounts when I build up the dash with new cases.

Image

A set of Hytech reeds in ported cages, still need the rubbers but have 31k carbs to use from my spares:

Image

Full footrests, throttle cable, handlebar switches, brakes shoes and a bunch of other things in the form of OEM Yamaha Goodness mostly from an ebay seller in Malaysia who has very very good prices and fast post. I think I may well need to add to this pile before the build is done, but this is a good start:

Image

Of course there is much more in boxes and that I need to find, but this is where Im at for now...
80 XT500 Supermoto!
81 RD350LC Resto
82 RD421LC Hybrid
82 RD350LC decapitation project
82 RD250LC JDM '251LC' YPVS
83 RZ350 Resto
84 RZ500 Resto
85 RZ350 F1 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Hybrid

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JonW
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Re: New LC project.... Restoration... I know, I know...

#7 Post by JonW » Thu Nov 27, 2014 11:05 pm

SH's box landed today with parts for me and LB in it. Too cool. Cheers m8!

Pics when I get time to add them to my growing pile of LC goodness :)
80 XT500 Supermoto!
81 RD350LC Resto
82 RD421LC Hybrid
82 RD350LC decapitation project
82 RD250LC JDM '251LC' YPVS
83 RZ350 Resto
84 RZ500 Resto
85 RZ350 F1 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Hybrid

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solo 2
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Re: New LC project.... Restoration... I know, I know...

#8 Post by solo 2 » Sat Nov 29, 2014 12:31 pm

Jon your LC is my favorite ever, I hope you're not going to tear it down and leave it. I have a bunch of LC parts that I would part with, mostly plastic stuff. Let me know if you're in great need of something particular(down to bolts), I may have it and my next LC is going to be a mod anyway. Just PM me.

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JonW
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Re: New LC project.... Restoration... I know, I know...

#9 Post by JonW » Sat Nov 29, 2014 7:10 pm

Dont worry Solo, The yellow LC will certainly live again and will be rebuilt the same week I get the new frame, Its just taking a(nother) short hiatus in its build to undergo this spinal surgery and then I have a bunch of updates for it, EGT sensors, Arrow's +18% oi pump and some other parts and then it just needs a tune up and it will be ridden.

Thanks for the kind thought on the parts, Its offers like these that not only make doing projects like this, ie start with a frame and not much else, possible, but they also serve to remind us that we are a very generous community indeed, thanks mate! :)
80 XT500 Supermoto!
81 RD350LC Resto
82 RD421LC Hybrid
82 RD350LC decapitation project
82 RD250LC JDM '251LC' YPVS
83 RZ350 Resto
84 RZ500 Resto
85 RZ350 F1 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Hybrid

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Benno #03
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Re: New LC project.... Restoration... I know, I know...

#10 Post by Benno #03 » Sun Nov 30, 2014 1:23 pm

Wow Jon,
You really are the quintessential "LC Jonny" aren't you.
I've been away from here for a while, only to pop in and find your at it again.
I too am yet to see a Mars Bar in the flesh, but have always liked them a lot.
I didn't think we got them in Aus, but who cares.
That is, unless you can find out what the original colour was and your doing a full on restoration.
Either way, I know you'll do an A1 job and I'll try and stay up to date.
When I dropped in here last, it was daunting to even try and find the time to catch up on all the projects progress.
I wish you well mate, though you can probably build these bikes in your sleep these days.
76 TZ350(project).
82 RD350LC.
82 SR250.
83 RZ350YPVS.
88 RZ250 YPVS(project).
83 FJ1100.
96 YZF750R(track bike).
99 YZF1000 R1.
00 YZF1000 R1.

72 CB750four.
Lifan 125 Pitbike.

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JonW
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Re: New LC project.... Restoration... I know, I know...

#11 Post by JonW » Mon Dec 01, 2014 7:47 pm

haha a blast from the past! Good to have you back Benno! Another of the rare band of Aussie guys who has more than 1 of 'our' bikes! :)

I dont know if my affliction with Yamaha's parallel twins is sensible or not, but I do know its filling my garage LOL! I keep saying 'no more' and then something happens and I emabrk on another build... hmm... But, I will say that I reckon I have the right set (lets not call them a collection it might send the wrong idea!) of them now; Two each of LC and RZ, one highly modified and one standard(-ish) of each. Who knows if i can keep ultimately them all, but I love having them around, if only I could find a cheap way to rego them so they get ridden, maybe the standardish bikes will go on Historic rego and at least can get road tested now and then, even if not able to be ridden 100's of kms.

I also dont think we had Mars Bar colours here in Aus, and agree that these days its not a worry. If these were $100k+ machines I might seek out the original colours and get all excited to 'be all original', but at 'around 10k' I reckon we dont need to worry, so long as they look good they will be fine, its not like we cant get paint or stickers if someone wanted to redo it at a later date, tho how they might work out the original colour would be hard I reckon as no paperwork seems to be evident for our machines and I doubt Yamaha Aus knows either, not that Ive asked, but I guess it was either blue or red decals on white tank for our market, and the year would dictate the actual decal type, so maybe its simpler than I thought, 50/50 chance of getting it right! LOL!

As for building more than one of the same type of bike, I expect that youve also found that if youve built one of something that the subsequent builds are often easier and often quicker and potentially cheaper. I say that as youve already made the contacts, found manuals, garnered knowledge and often already have a bunch of parts left over from the first one, plus you dont over buy cool shiny parts that wont actually work LOL! My experience is that if you decide to tackle some other brand and/or model it can be very tough. I was talking to LB about that a month or so back as he is rebuilding a bike for a work colleague of his and was struggling as it was a totally different bike in every way (its some sort of mid 70s 4cyl 4T Honda roadie) and that meant learning, getting manuals, making mistakes getting parts etc etc and he was drowning in the project a little, poor sod. I remember it took me 5 years to skill up and find all the parts to build my Honda XL500R as it was a one year bike, and I had a whole bike to start with, it was just missing some parts and needed tidying. It was not that much fun to be honest, and the XT500 was much better as I knew where to buy Yam parts, grab some manuals and then just needed to learn the XT specific things, join another forum and pretend I understood 4Ts LOL.

Im not sure I can build one in my sleep, but I will say that starting with a bare frame and little cash is no longer a worry for me, I always see opportunity in bare frames now and would happily buy more. I also recognise what parts fit what bikes and what parts I need without much recourse to manuals now which helps and have some of the tools I need so can make things happen quite quickly when I have to. I think all that helps and I see the same traits in others who also have a few of these bikes in their stable. In fact visiting those guys can be quite an odyssey as a 30mins visit always last all day with boxes being pulled out and rare and exciting parts being fawned over. Perfect for the afflicted of course! :D
80 XT500 Supermoto!
81 RD350LC Resto
82 RD421LC Hybrid
82 RD350LC decapitation project
82 RD250LC JDM '251LC' YPVS
83 RZ350 Resto
84 RZ500 Resto
85 RZ350 F1 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Hybrid

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expat
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Re: New LC project.... Restoration... I know, I know...

#12 Post by expat » Tue Dec 02, 2014 1:16 am

You must be getting old Jon... restoration, stock bike.... it comes to us all eventually!
I am just starting to restore my 88 YSR50, then I will move onto the hybrid.... I will start a thread for the YSR on this forum, not much out there with regular activity for the YSR's anymore but they do seem to be up in value!
Pics, where are the pics??
85 RZ350
88 YSR50
82 RD350LC (Current project)
06 Triumph Daytona 675 (track toy)
97 Honda RS125 (race bike #1)
99 Aprilia RS250 (race bike #2)
89 RGV250 VJ21
85 RG500
85 RZ350 Hybrid
86 GSXR750

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JonW
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Re: New LC project.... Restoration... I know, I know...

#13 Post by JonW » Tue Dec 02, 2014 1:45 am

Well while I'm not getting any younger I will agree with that, I do actually have an RZ F1 I've been restoring for a few years now, its on this forum (and my site), I just need to paint it and it will be complete, So Im no stranger to the world of restoration... in fact the LC should be much simpler to restore if im honest, the 85 is a one year bike, nightmare!

Ohh a YSR, superb! I wish I had one of those! excited to see the YSR pics.

no more pics of this one really, Ive no frame yet (its still holding up Paul's bike!) so its just a load of boxes and piles of parts... :/
80 XT500 Supermoto!
81 RD350LC Resto
82 RD421LC Hybrid
82 RD350LC decapitation project
82 RD250LC JDM '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

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Re: New LC project.... Restoration... I know, I know...

#14 Post by JonW » Wed Dec 03, 2014 8:10 pm

I pulled my LC tank down from the rafters of my garage. I have some history with this one, I bought it sold it and ended up with it back again over the past 4 years or so. Back when I first acquired it they sold for about $100-150 in ok condition and this one looks great from one side...

(its covered in about 3 years of dust in this pic :smt002 )

Image

....but the other had a nasty dent it in.

Image

Image

These days a tank in this condition would be significantly more that what I originally paid and luckily a few months back I managed to reacquire it for what I sold it for, phew! The bizarrity is that it never left my garage as the new owner never collected it, so I cheekily offered to charge storage of the price went up too much LOL! During its tenure hanging from my rafters it constantly drew admiring glances from visitors and could have been on sold many times but due to the fact that it wasn’t mine, it remained a permanent fixture. With this project now happening, I'm glad that it did! It's actually a very original tank with OEM paint and no repairs underneath. Amazing really.

Regular readers may remember this tank guesting on my yellow 421LC while it was being built up as it was there to mock up the steering locks etc.

Image

The paint is actually original and it would have been quite usable expect for that horrible dent, though for some reason it has been lined but I can see no reason why in fact as there are no pin holes or obvious signs of any leaks (paint discolouration or lifting) on the seams. Perhaps a PO lined it ‘in case it leaked’? Obviously the liner was fitted before the dent happened and is now chipping off on the inside where its been stress cracked due to the metal being pushed in. It all needs to come out anyway and be redone as there is very light surface rust on the exposed metal as you would expect.

Primer off and you can see the dent a bit clearer. It looks to have been made with something quite solid and rectangular a done in a single hit. nasty.

Image

Image

I had hoped I might find enough tools in my garage that would allow me to gently push and pull the dent outwards as its so close to the filler, but the filler neck baffle was in the way for the area furthest away. I tried gluing some tabs on and using a slide hammer and that worked a bit and coupled with the pressing out Ive made it better. I didn't expect to do a full PDR on this as the metal is obviously stretched and the idea was to save myself a bit of money as all the painter now only needs to do is skim it with filler rather than pull it first, tho they might get a little more out than I did, but it wont take quite as long and at least I can use any painter to do the work, rather that one who also can do dent removal of course.

So, yes, it's still not pretty but it is better and I've probably gained 250ml of fuel capacity!

Image

Image
80 XT500 Supermoto!
81 RD350LC Resto
82 RD421LC Hybrid
82 RD350LC decapitation project
82 RD250LC JDM '251LC' YPVS
83 RZ350 Resto
84 RZ500 Resto
85 RZ350 F1 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Hybrid

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L.B
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Re: New LC project.... Restoration... I know, I know...

#15 Post by L.B » Thu Dec 04, 2014 10:20 am

Lookin real good Jon. You're getting pretty good at fixing body work etc

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