Losh's 1976 Yamaha RD 400

[losh1971]

No new updates on the RD my licence expired so haven't taken it out for over a year. I'm thinking I may renew my licence this year but not sure. Not having a tow vehicle sort of means probably not a lot of point having a licence.
On another note I may have briefly mentioned my old DT 175 air cooled. Keep looking at it and trying to decide if I should sell it.... If I do I probably will never get another. However, on the other hand I have ridden it maybe 4 times in 7 years. I'd only get $500 for it so I'm a bit hesitant. If I keep it I need to do some work on it. I have a new set of fork springs sitting on the shed girt, which should help stiffen up the front end. I also have some stiffer clutch springs, which I need to fit. But I may need plates too and I imagine they are fairly expensive. I'm just not keen on pulling the side cover off while I don't have the fibre plates in case they are worn out. Not even sure if I can still buy them. The other risk is the gasket, unless it comes away clean I will have to try and source one. I actually don't even know if the clutch is even slipping but it makes a weird sound in lower gears while in the power band, which I think is slip, unless the back wheel is breaking traction. Trouble is diagnosis at a bike shop is probably more than a set of plates providing they can be bought.

 

[losh1971]

Went out to the DT turns out the springs I bought are the wrong length.
No idea what to do now? I was of the understanding they were gen DT 175 springs. I don't know if the PO has changed the forks or if I have bought the wrong ones. I now have to get spacers made or source a set to suit. Issue I have is the bike has been bastardised so it could well have early YZ forks?

 

[losh1971]

 

[losh1971]

Springs don't even look the same. The gen coils are far closer together at the top and bottom than the others. May not be any good even with longer spacers.

 

[afstruct]

Dam , not good.
Yeah my Suzuki RF 600 I didn't renew the rego last year . Hasn't been started in more than a year = battery was dead way back then .
Really should try and connect a battery and try and start= could already be too late and need new O ring seals in the carbys.
Also only worth about $250 to $500 = should just bite the bullet and sell it = just taking up space .
Also thanks to lock down Buell has run out of rego as well but still got a bit over 2 months to get pink slip and pay.

 

[losh1971]

Yeah, its pretty annoying. I really leaning towards just packing the springs about 12mm with washers and putting the front end back together. I have found generic fork springs on line for $200 about. But then I have to see if the bike shop has a way of matching them up by measuring but $200 spent on a bike worth $500 as goer I could probably still get that by dodging it up. It's probably not really worth fixing unless it was getting some decent use, because at least the leisure aspect would add some value. But for me it just sits there as I have no one to ride with.
Original plan was to take it out a fair bit on the forestry tracks, hence the original decision to start buying parts and fix it up.

 

[losh1971]

If this was the RD I wouldn't hesitate to spend the coin as I'm in over $10k on the RD build but that also gets used.

 

[afstruct]

Yeah ,understand.
I don't mind going for a tour trip by myself= ( that solitude of the trip but also the decisions) but certainly don't go for anywhere near the weekly blasts .=Compared to say approx 10 years ago when =( yeah lucky a 4 day working week then) a group of us = all work mates = so up early Friday ( although way later than the previous 4 days ) = meet up go for a blast and most of the time was Home and able to go for a decent pushy ride mid to late arvo .
Absolute fun times = I do miss!!!

 

[losh1971]

I miss having a bike to ride on the road. The RD was on the road 30 years ago and I did heaps of road riding when it was registered. Then it got defected so I used that as an opportunity to build the race bike. I swapped the engine into another frame and kept riding on the road for a few years but then I became poor and decided to travel the country using my thumb and the RD was parked up and eventually stripped for the engine and suspension and the race bike built, which happened to be built from the frame the coppers defected a few years earlier.
I'd love another roadbike but $7k is close to a third of a ute. I could get a cheap bike but I'd want a decent 900 or 1000cc in very good condition, not interested in old HOS.

 

[losh1971]

@harrop.senator here is my RD, nothing stock about it.