RD350LC Hybrid.....

[tacky1]

The little YSR is finished and I was looking through the pile of project bikes and pulled out the LC, Lets get it done.
Ex race bike, Previous owner bought it new in Canada and rode it home to Tennessee and stripped it, got it ported etc, big carbs and pipes and raced it, Thats its whole life, Race bike, Then it was lying up for 25 odd years and I got my hands on it,
I'm either fitting RGV front and rear suspension ot a set of TZR suspension, Something different, for me anyways :)
I have a nice set of microns I think Ill use, I also have a few other sets of pipes, Theres a nice GP style set of Brian Turfrey pipes I might fit, they could look good with the banana swingarm,,,

Stripped it down and put the suspension etc on another frame I had, At least its a roller, I have all brand new bodywork and painted a class KR Yellow and decals, that's what'll Ill use, I also have a new complete set of Japanese bodywork and seats either, Ill see what looks good at the time.
Got the engine on the bench and looking a bit dodge inside, Deffo needs a rebore, water damage on one cylinder, Other than that it looks good, Cylinders are ported, pretty safe, port height is 28mm, Ill leave it alone, Crank and seals are perfect, Itll get new seals either way,
Cases are a mess with the corroded water pipe, That'll be fun to get out!!!
Cases and a few other bits going out for Vapor blasting, Cylinders are also going out,

Thats it for now,

[tacky1]

The roller, Its for the chopping block, I dont have an engine etc for it

[JonW]

very cool project!

Interested to see how you go with this, I see you are keeping the LC engine not fitting an RZ with a big bore... or will that come later? lol

Great that you have so many bodywork choices as well.

[tacky1]

I’ll keep the LC engine Jon. I like the engine feel as they are. No big bores etc.

[RD4ME]

Great project - can't wait to see how it comes together. Your first post would be about 6 months of work for me!

I imagine it's a bit harder to rebuild one of these in the US. I know it's hard to find some parts in Canada - especially gas tanks! Hopefully yours is good.

I'll keep watching!

[tacky1]

Great project - can't wait to see how it comes together. Your first post would be about 6 months of work for me!

I imagine it's a bit harder to rebuild one of these in the US. I know it's hard to find some parts in Canada - especially gas tanks! Hopefully yours is good.

I'll keep watching!

Parts are the killer, Shipping is the problem, The tank is actually really good, I have 2 new ones also all painted and ready to go with matching panels for both color schemes...

[JonW]

LC tanks are easy to come by now as they are remade and done well so long as you dont buy an Indian one. It can be a bunch of other parts that will stop a full resto, not least the horn cover, but for a hybrid its no problem. I'd think RGV parts will be hard to find for this build in the USA, shipping on wheels and forks can be killer :/ I have a set of wheels for sale for I'd hate to think what they would cost to ship now, I sent Larry a wheel a good few years ago and it cost much the same to ship it as the wheel was worth :(

[tacky1]

I’m a bit of a hoarder Jon
I picked up a full set of rgv front and rear ends at a race meet a few years ago in excellent condition for peanuts. I also have a full FZR250 front and rear. I think I’m going to fit the FZR suspension and wheels and use the RGV running gear on an RZ350 I also have to rebuild.

[JonW]

Cool.

Haha, arent we all when it comes to parts for these bikes I reckon. I'd be hard to do what we do without snapping up stuff 'just in case' etc

[tacky1]

Little more work done, Made all new shock mounts and link mounts for the FZR250 swingarm to fit, Have to weld on a new side stand mount, Hopefully tomorrow, Ill get it up on wheels and fit the mount with a Ducati stand, Also drilled out the clutch case and ground it all down for a window,
Sure why not :)

[JonW]

Loving the progress.... fast and good! :)

[tacky1]

We have a temporary roller :) Wanna get the side stand on, Propped the wheels up on some wood as no tires on the wheels, Welded the Sidestand a little forward and using a Ducati sidestand, spring at the back of the stand, Welded on the lugs for holding the new rear master cylinder and cut and welded the brake pedal to work the master.. looks good, we are ready for powder coat...
Stripped out the forks, stripped the wheels and sanded off all the writing on the wheels, looks cleaner, Stripped all the suspension linkages so they can be powder coated, Rear sprocket carrier stripped and ready,
Boxed up the engine cases, fork lowers, carbs and engine cases and sent them out for vapor blasting, Cylinders are boxed up and sent out to Bill Wilson to get a fresh rebore and Wiseco pistons,
Thats it for now :)

[85RZwade]

Your fabrication and welding skills are better than Yamaha's were! Sure looks good to me.

[JonW]

Haha, not that hard tho Wade. Yamaha did some very slap dash work on the LC frame lol. I remember when I was strengthening my Lc frame and I was trying to make it look OEM it was hard to get the welds and fitments so bad lol.

[tacky1]

LOL, Yamaha's welding is pretty bad :P