My RD LC Athena 421 Hybrid with RGV suspenders

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

#301 Post by hondaror » Tue Nov 24, 2015 5:11 pm

Great job Jon! Oh, I'm a machinist.
Rory
2 1984 RZ350s
1985 RZ350
9 1986-1990 RZ350s
2000 ST2
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JonW
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Re: My RD LC Athena 421 Hybrid with RGV suspenders

#302 Post by JonW » Tue Nov 24, 2015 7:23 pm

Thanks Rory, its appreciated :)
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: My RD LC Athena 421 Hybrid with RGV suspenders

#303 Post by L.B » Sat Nov 28, 2015 10:39 am

Ahhh so there they are. Mate that is good work there,really glad you got to machine some parts up but feelin bit bad for bringing it up now lol.

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

#304 Post by JonW » Sat Nov 28, 2015 6:59 pm

haha, no its fine mate, you were right, the turtles heads needed pulling out :)
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

#305 Post by JonW » Fri Dec 18, 2015 3:28 am

For a more readable version of my progress on this build, click here to view it on the 2smoked.com website :

http://2smoked.com/Yamaha_RD350_LC_421c ... _Home.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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

#306 Post by JonW » Tue Feb 23, 2016 8:14 pm

Well ive been laid up for months with a trashed Achillies tendon and finally I’m allowing myself gentle sojourns back into the garage to remind myself what i’ve got to do bikewise, even if I cant really do very much. So, like a recalcitrant puppy the RGV forks on the 421 have been marking their territory again. This is a pisser (see what I did there?! sigh) really, these forks have been rebuilt with new seals, and yet here we are 2 few turns up and down the driveway and only a few years under their belts and its back to the drippity drip. Sigh... More work for when this bike is stripped and rebuilt...
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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TommyPettersen
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Re: My RD LC Athena 421 Hybrid with RGV suspenders

#307 Post by TommyPettersen » Tue Feb 23, 2016 8:47 pm

Just read thru this thread.. Lot of great info... I know what it is like when you can't really do anything..just look))) But on the bright side; Great plans can be made! Making the time more productive when you can move like before...
About seals; some times they will start to leak when the bike is not ridden.. I imported 11 bikes in to Norway last year, some of them had been sitting for long time and were leaking in one or both fork seals. At least two bikes completely stopped leaking after being ridden for some time just ignoring the leak.

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

#308 Post by JonW » Tue Feb 23, 2016 8:58 pm

Thats a good point Tommy, also dust can get under the seals so its worth a quick clean. I did that and now its not leaking, but its always a worry with forks of course.

Thanks for the kind words, Im glad you enjoyed reading it.

your post also reminded me about a friend of mine who was very pleased his car had stopped leaking oil from its engine, he rang to tell me. a day later he rang me to say the engine expired and he didnt know why LOL :smt017 :smt003
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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TommyPettersen
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Re: My RD LC Athena 421 Hybrid with RGV suspenders

#309 Post by TommyPettersen » Tue Feb 23, 2016 9:12 pm

haha, that was a good one... sometimes there are no in between..)) i remember back in tech school, the teacher told one student to "fill up" the engine with oil... The student did just that. You could see the oil level in the valve cover...))) I think he topped it up with about 20 liters..

Anyway, one more thing about the seals, a thing we did in the Ducati shop, typical on used bikes that were sitting, we took off the dust seal, and put some sponge in there..that way the sponge soaked up some oil and the seals seemed to be lubricated a little from it.. I don't know how the suzuki forks are built, but the ducati ones had some distance between the dust seal and the oil seal.. And this is not a fix for leaky seals but i just thought i'd mention it...

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

#310 Post by JonW » Tue Feb 23, 2016 9:18 pm

heehee great tales from the workshop, like the British bikes that would change their own oil as you rode along, just top them up when you get home :)

Interesting idea with the sponge, might well be worth a try while my projects sit quietly in the garage. Amusingly I had a leak from the RGV forks on my 31k build, turned out it was from the bolt underneath which had not been done up tight enough! crazy. Those forks have done duty holding up a few other projects and never leaked before, maybe i have a poltergeist 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

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

#311 Post by JonW » Mon Mar 21, 2016 4:08 am

Ok, I said a while back that this bike was about to come apart to give up its spine (frame) for my resto LC, but as is the way with life things have got in the way of that excitement.... I’m finally back on my feet, tho not totally back in the garage yet, but these were left on my door handle the other day and a small job like this is too good to resist, and the guy who left them there knew that – I think this was his way to telling me to get back on with my bike projects :)

Image

Australia is all about Mateship, in fact you cant become a citizen here unless you understand the concept, its in the test – seriously, tho sadly (IMHO) not demonstrable... just a worked example in the multiple choice. We had the mates concept back in the UK, but in Australia you truly find out what it means, if you don’t then that says more about you than about anyone else. Anyway, while some parts of the world think the term a bit ‘male friendly’, here its an important concept that’s deeply rooted (lets not even go there) in all walks of life.

So... while it may not always be the case, for now you can think that having good mates can sometimes be a bit like having a tooth fairy, you go to sleep and when you wake instead of money under the pillow you might be lucky and get things that money cannot really buy, ie. custom spacers! Other times its you leaving the spacers or helping out in other ways of course, but the main point is you get more done with mates than without. Amen to that.

So while this bike is scheduled for something close to demolition, giving it a little bit of love seemed like a nice thing to do and my mate offered to machine me up some spacers when he noticed that I was still using my ‘build washers’ (fitted only to get dimensions for spacers of course) on my bikes. These spacers are just like the ones I had done for my XT500, and are for this bike’s mirrors.

So today they got fitted, and again they look amazing compared to the washers I had used for spacing them out all that time ago. Its the little jobs that make all the difference :)

Before:

Image

After:

Image

So... Huge thanks again goes to my mate Jason!
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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South_Oz
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Re: My RD LC Athena 421 Hybrid with RGV suspenders

#312 Post by South_Oz » Mon Mar 21, 2016 5:54 am

Nice work and yep a good mate is worth his weight in 2 stroke oil.

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

#313 Post by L.B » Mon Mar 21, 2016 6:16 am

Fuck me Dave that'd be a shit load of oil lol.
Thanks Jon,you're welcome friend im just happy to help out where i can.

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

#314 Post by JonW » Thu May 12, 2016 12:42 am

One thing that has bothered me for quite a while with this bike was the ‘sticky out’ (technical term) tail light.

Image

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Ages back I found I had a ‘half height’ version in my spares. I should explain, it was one that instead of the 2+ inches of depth of the lens it was more like just under and inch. It was supercool and was just that look that I wanted. I would have fitted it but the lens was smashed. I searched high and low on the forums and ebay under all the bikes of the era that were fitted with similar Stanley lights to find that exact setup but I came up short. One day I idly removed the smashed lens to see if I could repair it and then all became clear, someone had gently sliced down a full sized lens and doctored the housing to accept it. I was distraught. I could have done the same, but it seemed like a bodge.

Next thing I looked for was one of those natty kits to recess the tail light. They are all over Yahoo.jp but are silly money. Back in the (closer to present) day a chap called Nick in Switzerland made some up but I missed getting one. Recently Nigel had some made for sensible money and I ensured I was one of the first on the list for one. The day it landed I fitted it.

Image

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Looks pretty good, but now I see it fitted I’m in two minds if it’s the ideal solution to give me what I wanted, so I may or may not keep it, I’ll have to see. One issue is that the Aussie numberplates are not the same as the UK type which bolt in the middle of a larger format plate, ours are small and bolt at the top. This means that the bar that holds the plate is much too low, so I need to make another of that part with the correct fixings for the local reg plates. A smaller issue is the fit isn't perfect with my bodywork, this may be down to my bike of course but the ducktail does rest/rub on the light lens which isn’t ideal as the LC doesn’t have any rubber edging in this area like the RZ does. The main issue is all my own doing, and that is that it’s a bit too recessed for what I actually wanted since I wanted more elements of the side reflectors showing. With that in mind I'm considering welding some tabs to the front edge so I can extend the rear light backwards out of the bodywork to get the exact look I desire, but really what I might just do is make up one that gives me the adjustment. More work but this is a custom bike after all, I don’t really want it to look like anyone else’s! haha!

Of course what I should probably do is think about what sort of light I really want to fit and make that work for me. The one that Yamaha fitted was an accountants cop out IMHO. The bodywork swoops down and curves round. This is at odds with the basically a rectangular light unit. My feeling is that OEM unit was obviously not the first choice by the designers or the bodywork would have not been so swoopy and would have reached out to meet the lens all the way round (think N2/F2) so you wouldnt see the black plastic etc.

While I consider my options I fitted an LED stop / tail to ensure people see my lights, these are bright as hell. :)

Image

The only thing im not 100% sure about is that these give a red glow and maybe I should have opted for a white set, hmm... The problem is that I now have a red glow over my plate, not white as intended. I wonder if that’s something that would get me pulled over, 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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South_Oz
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Re: My RD LC Athena 421 Hybrid with RGV suspenders

#315 Post by South_Oz » Thu May 12, 2016 4:36 am

Hey Jon, regarding your red number plate light. I was given one of the little bolt type LED lights and installed it not knowing it was red till i had fitted it. I thought I would get a white one to replace it but never got round to it. Been pulled over because of a non working tail light and nothing was said about the red LED. Its not legal but you would have to really piss of the cop to get booked for it in thinking.

Like this but red. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Chrome-12v-L ... SwQPlV~kqK" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And I fitted white LED's to my tail and brake lights and they are too bright and make the tail light lens look faded. Pissed me off enough to make me change the tail light one to red. I left the brake one in as it really stands out day or night.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2-x-Car-Truc ... Sw9r1V98lo" 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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