Restored Yamaha RD500 1GE

[rd84]

Hi,

My recently completed RD500 1GE restoration with some modifications....

Bodywork, frame paint - Mark Cordwell

Powdercoat - Total Blast services, Coalville, J.C. Ward, Burton

Bead blasting Total Blast services, Coalville

Vapour blasting, Vapourworx, Newhall

Front Calipers - Pretech

Discs - Brembo

Wheels - Dymag

Rear shock - Nitron

Engine - Daz - RZRD500 Forum

Exhausts - Kenny - TSA

Stainless - Phil Denton

Final build - Martin at M.E. Motorcycles of Burton

This was my first full restoration - I did do quite a bit of work on it - wished I had the skills to do more - but most of the work was by the people above who I have to say a big thank you to for their incredibly high standards.

If I'd known how difficult it was to do a full restoration I probably wouldn't ever have started the project - so just as well I didn't know !!

Cheers

Paul

[Jethro5]

If it runs like it looks its a winner!!

[fozzy17]

that is one of the nicest rd500's around, looks minty mint, my mate has a restored rz500 that's mint

[rd84]

Thanks guys.

What surprised me the most was that the handling is very light but not at all unstable - the handling feels more like a 250 - the original feels very heavy in comparison.

[marky350]

One of the best looking motorcycles ever made (IMO) and that looks an absolute stunner. I hate to think how much the rebuild cost, but whatever it was well worth it.

[sbscnor]

your a very lucky man to own that, it looks FANTASTIC

[doohanno1]

Probably a fair bit a weight lost ( from wallet 😊 ) with the parts used which makes it a bit more nimble..
A credit to you...

[johna]

a beautiful looking machine you've got there mate.

[rd84]

Thanks for all the nice comments - the mods are quite subtle - I made the bike to ride rather than store away so every change is to try and make it more useable on modern roads - I can't believe its my bike really - pleased with it would be an understatement - its my first project so I wasn't sure how it would turn out - it took 12 years to restore by the way - just no time due to work, life etcetera.

I stopped adding up the cost long ago - fortunately I bought most of the stuff when you couldn't give it away - at todays prices I couldn't have done it - the total cost would have been crazy.

The handling is way more nimble than the original - I don't know why though - the tyres are Pirelli Supercorsa 120/70 and 180/60 - wheels are very light Dymag forged aluminium - the front discs are 300mm Brembo - the TSA exhausts are significantly lighter - I'm wondering if all this in combination is responsible ? - just think about turning and off it goes - equally you can ride hands free with no wobbles or instability.I thought the wide radial tyres might have made it very heavy steering combined with the old fashioned geometry - so a lovely surprise when it was the exact opposite.

I'm going to have some new fork internals since the brakes are too powerful for the standard setup - I used a MT09 front master cylinder which is very soft and progressive so I have lots of front brake feel which I thought would be important with much more powerful brakes and a low and relatively rearward CofG - the original bike tends to push the front wheel when braking rather than trying to stoppie. I'm hoping the change in weight and balance will tend to move the CofG forward and upwards - I'll get it weighed at some point to see what I've achieved.

I'm going to take it for a dyno check next week - mainly to see if the jetting is safe.

Hopefully I'll be at the CMC Clay Cross 2 Stroke meet this weekend if anyone is going ?

Cheers
Paul

[copper99]

Shes a beauty Paul, reminds me how far off mine is from that sort of condition!

Crank seals are gone on mine so its been sat in the garage for a couple of months now, ill get her sorted later in the year thou.

I hope you get to use it tomorrow after all that hard work and spend.

[rd84]

Jul 22, 2017 14:27:06 GMT 1 copper99 said:

Shes a beauty Paul, reminds me how far off mine is from that sort of condition!

Crank seals are gone on mine so its been sat in the garage for a couple of months now, ill get her sorted later in the year thou.

I hope you get to use it tomorrow after all that hard work and spend.

Thanks

This one was really bad when I bought it so I know how you feel - I can't believe it's the same bike when I look at the before and after photo's - It's a complex bike for a 2 stroke so just take it a bit at a time and don't set any deadlines - it took 12 years which is a bit daft really - got there eventually though.

The weather isn't looking good at the moment for CMC Clay Cross - just had the bike out to check around it - good job really - I spotted a small split in a fuel hose which was on the way to being much worse   - anyway I replaced it after a bit of a struggle - don't know why it split though since it was a new hose- this bike is just so compact and packed away behind bodywork, airboxes etcetera the simplest job seems to take forever - naturally it started to rain when I was half way through the job

Cheers

Paul

[begbie]

Jul 20, 2017 17:14:59 GMT 1 rd84 said:

Thanks guys.

What surprised me the most was that the handling is very light but not at all unstable - the handling feels more like a 250 - the original feels very heavy in comparison.

The RD500 is a heavy bike, a stock one is around 210kg fully fueled (I weighed one of mine) and with just 75 dyno pro hp at the wheel on a fresh engine, fast bikes they are not.  Guessing yours is still close to 200kg, and if TSA pipes are the only tuning mod you may have gained 7-10 HP, Not sure if they're the same design, but his first sets still only peaked at around 9-9.5k.
Nice looking bike, enjoy.

[rd84]

The bike is now with RTR Motorcycles of Bingham - they are going to dyno it and get the jetting right - so I'll know soon what the actual power is - I'm not really expecting more than high 70's though.

Cheers
Paul

[rd84]

Great service from RTR MOTORCYCLES of Bingham - a pleasure to do business with - very knowledgeable with 4 Strokes and 2 strokes....

m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10155752462558478&id=616683477&ref=bookmarks

[cbm]

Sweet

[markhoopy]

Jul 21, 2017 0:26:32 GMT 1 rd84 said:

The handling is way more nimble than the original - I don't know why though - the tyres are Pirelli Supercorsa 120/70 and 180/60 - wheels are very light Dymag forged aluminium

Lighter wheels make a huge difference to how a bike handles

[arrow]

Fantastic looking bike. Well done.

[copper99]

Aug 18, 2017 14:26:00 GMT 1 rd84 said:

Great service from RTR MOTORCYCLES of Bingham - a pleasure to do business with - very knowledgeable with 4 Strokes and 2 strokes....

m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10155752462558478&id=616683477&ref=bookmarks

What power did it end up making then mate?

[rd84]

Aug 19, 2017 22:23:45 GMT 1 copper99 said:

Aug 18, 2017 14:26:00 GMT 1 rd84 said:

Great service from RTR MOTORCYCLES of Bingham - a pleasure to do business with - very knowledgeable with 4 Strokes and 2 strokes....

m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10155752462558478&id=616683477&ref=bookmarks

What power did it end up making then mate?

Hi,

81 BHP - RTR thought the airbox was holding it back - I'm going to try it next without the airbox inlet baffles - I'll also try a programmable ignition and YPVS controller.

The engine isn't tuned - this time I was more interested in the jetting being safe than high power - the engine hangs onto its power well into the red. I'm told they make 75 to 78 bhp in good standard condition - I think the pipes have added a few BHP on the top end ?

TSA reports 90 BHP on the prototype pipes bike.

Cheers
Paul

[tsa]

The Prototype bike used had 28mm PWK carbs with ramair filters and a zeeltronic ign made 90bhp on a dynapro dyno. A good 500 on this dyno makes 72-74bhp. The main issue is the tight corners the air has to take when the std airbox is used. I have heard people give good reviews on having taken the airbox off and put filters on the tubes under the tank.
The 28pwk didnt make much difference in power but better pickup and the ignition let the pipes do their work.

[rd84]

Aug 20, 2017 11:55:21 GMT 1 tsa said:

The Prototype bike used had 28mm PWK carbs with ramair filters and a zeeltronic ign made 90bhp on a dynapro dyno. A good 500 on this dyno makes 72-74bhp. The main issue is the tight corners the air has to take when the std airbox is used. I have heard people give good reviews on having taken the airbox off and put filters on the tubes under the tank.
The 28pwk didnt make much difference in power but better pickup and the ignition let the pipes do their work.

Thanks for the info Kenny - looks like my bike did ok then ?

I'll report how I get on with the upgrades.

Cheers
Paul

[muttsnuts]

I've just set up a 500 on the dyno with a programmable igntion (ignitech) and some pipes on it, got it to 88bhp after some fiddling and rejetting (it started at 76bhp), the air box is a major bhp restrictor, just removing the snorkels helps a lot on them

[rd84]

Aug 29, 2017 18:29:29 GMT 1 muttsnuts said:

I've just set up a 500 on the dyno with a programmable igntion (ignitech) and some pipes on it, got it to 88bhp after some fiddling and rejetting (it started at 76bhp), the air box is a major bhp restrictor, just removing the snorkels helps a lot on them

Thanks for that - I'll target the things you suggest and give it another try - have you used a programmable YPVS Controller ? - I'm wondering if there is some mid-range power to gain?

Cheers
Paul

[muttsnuts]

Hi Paul, the ignitech controls the PV's as well, so set them up as well at the same time

[rd84]

Aug 30, 2017 8:33:36 GMT 1 muttsnuts said:

Hi Paul, the ignitech controls the PV's as well, so set them up as well at the same time

Thanks - do you have any info on Ignitech versus Zeeltronic ? Are the Ignitech plug & play or do you have to wire your own plugs on ?

Does your Ignitech program program via a laptop ? - I'll try and find some on-line info - did you buy direct from Ignitech ?

Cheers
Paul

[muttsnuts]

Hi Paul, I stock and supply the ignitechs

Not done a back to back comparison between the zeel and iggy, I prefer the iggy though, the software interface is much nicer and easier to work with, plus it does a boat load more stuff.

You have to wire the iggy in, but its very easy to do due to the 500's design with the ecu and cdi being together, makes life a whole lot easier from a wiring perspective.

I always fit and set them up on the dyno, as otherwise you're guessing on settings etc

HTH

[panzermatt]

oh my lord, that is unreal.

[Norbo]

Out standing bike

[rd84]

Thanks for the nice comments everyone.

The guy doing the tuning was Dan Hegarty who was sadly killed at the last Macau GP so progress on the bike stopped. I still feel sad about what happened to Dan who was a very nice man to work with - he'll be greatly missed by everyone who knew him.

I'm hoping to have some work done on a Ignitech controller purchased from Dave (Mutts Nutts) - I'll try without the airbox intake baffles and also without the airbox lid to see how power is affected. I'm looking forward to seeing how the Ignitech CDI / YPVS controller can affect the bikes power - I'm as interested in the mid-range as much as the top end since its meant for road use - In the meantime I felt the original suspension didn't support the front of the bike when the more powerful brakes were used so Martin at M.E. Motorcycles at Burton-on-Trent has fitted a set of Racetech fork emulators which were supplied by PDQ - ( PDQ are very helpful and nice to deal with btw ) the emulators and harder springs seem to support the front end a lot better now without making the forks harsh - only time and riding when the weather gets better will tell if the emulators are effective - I know more modern forks would give a much better result - I just want the bike to look as standard as possible so have done my best to work with as many original components as possible and to make any changes subtle. I've always been happy with the power of the original bike for road use but never liked the poor brakes and wanted better handling - so these parts got changed - the TSA exhaust was for looks and lightness rather than power.

Hopefully I'll report on the bikes dyno progress later this year.

Cheers
Paul

[rd84]

Here is the current dyno chart - I'll publish the next dyno charts so that other owners can assess how effective the mods are - the set up was TSA pipes, standard OEM CDI and YPVS controller, 180 front main jets, 190 rear main jets....