Project RD350 canyon racer. The first in a series by Rich Wheeler

THE MAKING OF AN RD.....(PILOT)

That's right, this is going to be another multi-stage project bike in which you get to read about the same bike and the various modifications over the next six trillion issues of the Expansion Chamber. The goal is to build a great looking, nice handling street bike. I hope to learn a little about RDs and maybe even a little about myself before this is over. But before we get to the bike, let me tell you a little about myself and how I got here.

Like all of you, I am a motorcycle enthusiast from day one. From the time I was about five years old my dad and all his friends were into motorcycles. They started with Honda CB350s and moved up to 450s and finally, there must have been at least half a dozen of them, all with the ultimate bike of that era...CB750s. They were into touring so they all came over to our house and hung out in the garage while they installed fairings and saddlebags. As Dad's motorcycling contacts grew, he soon discovered that the guy down the street with all the dirt bikes, Mr. Santana, owned a chroming shop. He was a great guy and before you know it, Dad had that CB750 stripped to a shell and everything was off to the chromer

Dad's friendship with Mr. Santana lead to an interest in dirt bikes and I got my first bike in 1972, when I was nine, in the form of a Honda SL70. We rode in the southern California desert for several years and had a great time. Then Dad took a good friend out to try dirt bikes. He crashed HARD and they called it a day. Later that night, his friend passed out and was rushed to the hospital. He had sustained massive internal injuries and had almost bled to death internally. This whole episode scared my dad so he sold the dirt bikes. That lead to another problem, every time he wanted to go for a ride on the 750, he had to chose between my mom and me because she loved to ride as much as we did. He solved that problem with another unpopular decision, he sold the 750.

Fast forward several years to 1978. I was fifteen and still a motorcycle enthusiast. Dad didn't talk about it very much but apparently he never lost his love of bikes either. He realized that I would soon have my license and that if he bought two bikes, I could ride one and he and Mom could ride the other. Problem solved. We started shopping for suitable steeds and the first bike I fell in love with was an RD400. As soon as I saw it I wanted it. I loved the angular shape of the tank and how the silver/gray paint contrasted with the sinister looking black motor. The only problem was, it was a 2-stroke and Dad and I were Honda guys. Neither one of us had ever ridden a 2-stroke let alone owned one. Hell, we didn't even KNOW anyone with a 2-stroke. I was willing to take the plunge but Dad talked me out of it and I ended up with a Suzuki GS550.

Over the years I have devoted a substantial amount of my time, money and life to motorcycles. From the day I got that Suzuki home I have always had at least one motorcycle in the garage and I currently have six. I have owned a total of seventeen, some were stock, most were not. My longest trip was a 33 day, 10,000 mile journey around the United States and into Canada. My shortest trip was 33 feet from my garage to the sidewalk where I stalled my Nighthawk 700S, fell over and broke the clutch lever. During all these years and all these miles, all of my bikes have been 4-strokes, except for two.

Last year I decided to get back into dirt bikes (for the third time) and a couple of my buddies convinced me to do so in the form of a Kawasaki KX 500. After about three rides, half a dozen suspension adjustments and one carb re-jetting I discovered that 2-strokes are BITCHIN! They are fast, light and fun and if they are tuned (jetted) correctly they are reliable and the power is very controllable (there's just a whole bunch of it).

About that same time I met Doug and found we had a lot in common. We really hit it off and over the months he convinced me that what I really needed to make my life complete was an old RD. (I guess he figured that a wife, two kids, a dog, a cat, and a house that needs a ton of work just didn't take up enough of my time or make my life complete). We started looking around for the right bike and when I asked my riding buddies, I discovered that a friend of a friend had an old RD that he was thinking about selling. I told them I was interested several times but got no response. Doug and I kept looking and about three months later, that friend of a friend called and wanted to know if I was still interested.

It turns out he had a 1974 RD 350 with 8800 original miles. The bike was all original and had never been crashed. That was the good news. The bad news was that while it had never been crashed, it had never really been taken care of either. There was a small dent on the tank (something about putting his foot on the tank when he was tying it down on the trailer) and years of being stored near the beach had taken its toll in the form of mild surface rust on various bits and pieces. The bike started easily enough and seemed to run pretty good. He said he originally wanted $400 for it but because he had just paid the registration he was now asking $450. Sold.

Once I got it home I cleaned the plugs, synchronized the carbs and pulled the air box cover off. With this mild tune up and modification the bike starts on the first kick and runs like new. I have played around on the local streets and in the local canyons (Turnbull) and found the bike to be everything I had hoped. It is fast, light and fun. With that in mind, the goal of this project is to make the bike faster, lighter, and funner.

I have never turned a wheel in anger on the race track and don't intend to, so this won't be a race bike. Also, many of the best roads here in Southern California are 30 to 50 miles away so it is important that the bike remain reliable and at least moderately comfortable. Additionally, I am hoping that those of you with more 2-stroke experience...OK, I guess that would be everybody in the club...anyway I am hoping you will call and/or write with tips and suggestions for my new toy.

After several rides it became obvious that the first modifications were going to have to center around the handlebars and controls. The stock bars were just too tall for aggressive riding, the grips were too fat, the front brake lever had an awkward upward bend, and every time I hit nine grand the rear view mirror would vibrate out of adjustment and give me a clear view of the ground. I bought a set a K&N Superbars with a one inch rise, new grips, levers and mirrors and took the old bars off.

Once I got to this stage I contracted a case of the "Might-as-wells." Since I was putting new bars on, I "might as well" clean and paint the switch pods. Since I had the handlebars off, I "might as well" take the top triple tree off and repaint it. Since I had the top tree off, I "might as well" remove the bottom tree and paint it. Before you know it, I had the entire front end of the bike torn apart.

I couldn't bring myself to put freshly painted and new parts together with old rusted and corroded hardware so the first thing I did was look for a place that could cadmium or zinc plate all the little nuts and bolts. After several phone calls and three trips to meet with people in person I decided that chrome nuts and bolts would look just fine. Believe it or not it was cheaper too. I got everything I wanted chromed for $30 and the best price I could get for zinc plating was $75.

With the hardware at the chromers, I started preparing the instrument housing, upper and lower triple trees and control switch pods for paint. A light sanding with 400 grit wet and dry paper was all that was needed in most cases. I used old fashion masking tape and a new razor blade to protect the factory "HI-LOW" and "ON-OFF" labels on the switch pods.

I had just re-built and re-painted engine on my SL100. I used high temperature paint and, as an experiment, I heated each part to about 400 degrees in the oven before I painted it. The results were fantastic so I decided to try the same technique on this bike. I used Rustoleum Satin Black because it looks close to factory when finished and I have had good luck with it in the past. It is not a high temperature paint though so, as per the recommendations on the can, I heated the parts to only 200 degrees before I painted them. Again the results were fantastic, the paint went on smooth and even with no drips or runs and dried quickly.

Often it's the minor details that really make a bike stand out from the crowd. On the stock 350 kill switch pod there are three small dots that the factory paints red, red, and red to indicate off, on, and off. Whether it's true or not, I like to think I am smarter than the average Japanese factory worker of 25 years ago so I painted the dots red, green, and red to indicate off, on, and off. (Hold your applause.) Anyway, for small detail work like this I use modeling paint and a book of paper matches. Tear a match off and cut the torn end to a crisp point with a pair of scissors. Put a small amount of paint in the paint cap then let the point of the match absorb some. The cut match makes a great disposable paint brush for tiny detail work and is especially useful when painting small indentations or ridges.

Satin black looks great on small parts and brackets but I find it very difficult to get a perfectly smooth finish from a spray can on larger surfaces. Also, I thought it would be nice to have a little contrast on the front of the bike so I sent the headlight shell and headlight ears out to be powder coated gloss black.

Once I got everything painted and/or back form the chromers and powder coaters I installed new tapered steering head bearings and put the front of the bike back together. Let me tell you, the chrome hardware holding all those freshly painted and powder coated black pieces together looks better than new money. The bars, grips and levers are very comfortable and put me in a slightly aggressive riding position and the new mirrors give me a clear view of the 4-strokes I just passed.
So far I am very pleased with my new toy. I will eventually go through this entire bike front to back and top to bottom, but my immediate plans call for improved front brakes and a completely rebuilt front suspension. Hopefully my finances and free time will allow me to give you a good progress report in the next issue.

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