My RD LC Athena 421 Hybrid with RGV suspenders

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RuZty
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Re: My RD LC Athena 421 Hybrid with RGV suspenders

#286 Post by RuZty » Sun Oct 11, 2015 10:26 am

How about threading a 90 degree barbed fitting into the front sensor port, pointing in and up a bit, then run the hose over the top on the inside of the frame tube. Play around with a piece of hose and see how it looks.

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JonW
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Re: My RD LC Athena 421 Hybrid with RGV suspenders

#287 Post by JonW » Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:11 pm

I could do that, I can even buy an adaptor that would fit the 18x1 rad bung hole (its use on the yfz was for one of the fan sensors) and 1/8npt barb, but... I want to go in the back of the rad where the pipe should be. Its finding a nut for the thread Ive got on the barb thats the issue, not the fitting of the pipe. Smoker found a great barb with a metric straight thread and an O ring, just what I wanted but it didnt come in a size that worked for this application, they were all too small. :(
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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South_Oz
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Re: My RD LC Athena 421 Hybrid with RGV suspenders

#288 Post by South_Oz » Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:19 pm

8mm barb Jon?

http://www.ebay.tv/sch/i.html?_jsoff=1% ... ng&_sop=15" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Dave
RZ 250 85 (Waiting)
RZ 250 85 (Parts)
RGV VJ21 250, Australian Speed Record Holder, MPS/G 250, 140.5 MPH
BMW R1100S 99 (Its Red)
BMW R1200GS (Its BIG)


http://www.dlra.org.au/index.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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JonW
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Re: My RD LC Athena 421 Hybrid with RGV suspenders

#289 Post by JonW » Sun Oct 11, 2015 8:21 pm

Its 6mm that im using, but liking the idea of these as they are like the one Smoker sent me the link for... expect they also have a thread ive not heard of, UNJF?

Im thinking my plan will be to rethread the one I have, Ive got it and its no loss to try that etc. If that fails I might just make one. Even for me, its only simple-ish lathe work and two flats would suffice on the outside to hold it and I could add on a nice wide flange for sealing and strength (to spread the load). I could also fit an o ring in a sized groove of my choosing... hmm... and its not like its lots of material, some 25-30mm alloy bar would do it. hmm...
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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JonW
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Re: My RD LC Athena 421 Hybrid with RGV suspenders

#290 Post by JonW » Sun Oct 11, 2015 9:20 pm

Had a bit of time so off to the shed... and this plan is a no go. I did tap the fitting down to M10x1.25 as I had a die for that and lots of nuts of that size. Simple and took mere minutes. So that issue got fixed quickly, but... my plan of bolting on hit a speedbump when I found I cant get the nut into the rad where I wanted, so its either got to go elsewhere or, be welded on... hmm... for now I will shelve the bypass hose idea. Not ideal for sure, but I do have bypass holes in the stat and Ive run a blocked off head bypass before, you just need to bleed it now and then after a refill to may sure the air is out. Phase two of the bike with the new frame which comes later will be when this will get welded up.

So, onto the next phase LOL
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

Jessy
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Re: My RD LC Athena 421 Hybrid with RGV suspenders

#291 Post by Jessy » Tue Oct 13, 2015 11:03 am

Hi Jon
Sounds like you're making good progress, had a tinker with mine this afternoon, I used a ypvs filler neck to overcome the bypass/overflow issue.
Just mocking it all up before powder coat, all fits in quite neat.
Jess

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L.B
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Re: My RD LC Athena 421 Hybrid with RGV suspenders

#292 Post by L.B » Tue Oct 13, 2015 6:56 pm

Wow,i do like that setup.

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JonW
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Re: My RD LC Athena 421 Hybrid with RGV suspenders

#293 Post by JonW » Tue Oct 13, 2015 7:05 pm

Good thinking Jess, I like the idea of that.

Mine is now filled with coolant to ensure its not full of leaks and so far so good, it was an untested rad of course.
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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JonW
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Re: My RD LC Athena 421 Hybrid with RGV suspenders

#294 Post by JonW » Wed Oct 28, 2015 1:47 am

Ok, As promised... A finished article!

That’s right.... No deliberation. No trying stuff and mocking up. No asking for input. No endless posts telling how I did it / what parts I used / how long it took / how much it cost etc etc . And... No making mistakes along the way... Well, not in plain sight of the public anyway! We can pretend didn’t happen for the sake of this post :D

So... They said it couldn’t be done. “916 style damper fitment and LCs don’t mix blah blah”.

I hate it when people say stuff like that.... So... Now they do :)

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Lock to lock...

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I might adjust the clamp and little, but otherwise Im very happy with this. My feeling is that a quality damper is never a bad thing on a bike with firm suspension, a bendy-by-design frame and this much horsepower....
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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Smoker
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Re: My RD LC Athena 421 Hybrid with RGV suspenders

#295 Post by Smoker » Wed Oct 28, 2015 4:16 am

Strong work on the steering damper.

Looks proper!

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South_Oz
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Re: My RD LC Athena 421 Hybrid with RGV suspenders

#296 Post by South_Oz » Wed Oct 28, 2015 5:59 am

Very nice Jon.

Can you tell us how you did it / what parts you used / how long it took / how much it cost etc etc ? :smt064

Thanx
Dave
RZ 250 85 (Waiting)
RZ 250 85 (Parts)
RGV VJ21 250, Australian Speed Record Holder, MPS/G 250, 140.5 MPH
BMW R1100S 99 (Its Red)
BMW R1200GS (Its BIG)


http://www.dlra.org.au/index.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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JonW
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Re: My RD LC Athena 421 Hybrid with RGV suspenders

#297 Post by JonW » Wed Oct 28, 2015 6:57 pm

Thanks for the kind words guys!

I should also say that the yellow on the Arrow logo matches the tank quite well, an important detail :)
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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two-stroke-brit
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Re: My RD LC Athena 421 Hybrid with RGV suspenders

#298 Post by two-stroke-brit » Thu Oct 29, 2015 7:56 am

very tidy Jon.
top work as always. :smt023
350LC,Athena 392 big bore,stock porting,swiss cheese air box,stock reeds,spec11 pipes.(now TSA big bore pipes)
She might not be pretty but she will always be a fun ride


1982 YAMA RD350LC
98KDX 220R
1967 TRIUMPH TIGER
2001 TRIUMPH TT600

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JonW
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Re: My RD LC Athena 421 Hybrid with RGV suspenders

#299 Post by JonW » Thu Oct 29, 2015 9:45 pm

Thanks for the kind words Mark. :)
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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JonW
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Re: My RD LC Athena 421 Hybrid with RGV suspenders

#300 Post by JonW » Tue Nov 24, 2015 12:00 am

You sort of know that you must be doing something right (and getting towards the end of the build perhaps?!) when you and your friends only pick up on small details that need fixing, tho you do wonder if they are just being kind and just keeping their thoughts about the scale of the work needed to fix the whole thing of course! Haha!

About 2 months back LB said one thing I really needed to fix was the rear indicators on this bike. I was like ‘meh....I like ‘em partially hidden by the cowl...’ cos, well, I did. I tried to look through his eyes a week later and understood what he meant as I could see that they did look too far in-board for the lines of the bike. 10 days after that another mate came round and said ‘I love everything about it, but those indicators are too close in for the law and the cos of that the look is wrong’. Sigh, looks like I was going to have to fix em. No one had mentioned them before (in many years of viewings!) but now it seemed these units needed work.

The turtle’s head out from his shell

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The downside was that fixing them wasn’t ever going to be a 5 min job. The indicators are bolted to a cut subframe that had the OEM indicator ‘arms’ cut off many years back by a PO. He had cut the rods off flush with the folded steel parts and then drilled the holes out... Looking at his work, I would say he was maybe 7yrs old and that he did it in a hurry, at night with a blunt saw, in the rain... He managed to inflict all manner of damage all over the rest of the part while doing his surgery, but it works so Im using it. When I moved to aftermarket indicators on this bike I was happy to reuse the old cut-down parts I had as they have the right ‘slimmer’ look and meant I could save original uncut parts for the resto build.

So, I’d been using the old DPO’s holes for the blinkers, but as the (cut) subframe is very inboard where the old arms attach, anything you bolt there won’t have enough length to fully clear the bodywork. I even looked online for new blinkers, but nothing was long enough... and I like the look of these Emgo units so wanted to keep them. That meant I needed to extend the arms of the indicators or weld some new mounts the subframe, which was nicely powdercoated, so extensions it was... Extending them would be achieved by making up spacers for the indicators to screw into, which then bolt to the bike.

This meant designing the new parts, sourcing the alloy bar and then borrowing a lathe to make them. The resulting spacers were a pretty complicated design for my skill level and total time invested was about 3-4 hours slow work on the lathe with various drills, cutters, parting tools, a tap and a die. The long time taken was due to these being only the 3rd and 4th things Ive ever made on a lathe, of course the first one took most of the time, the 2nd was much quicker as ever with doing any job. So, while they are perhaps not as beautiful as a pro could have done they are all my own work, from design to implementation... And naturally they are hidden to the world under the ducktail anyway! :)

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And fitted – looking much more like they were designed to be on this bike. :)

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And yes, while I have always appreciated the work my friends (Foz and Jason) put into making parts for me for my bikes, I now really admire their work even more. Thanks guys!
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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