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Post by JonW on Dec 3, 2020 6:19:19 GMT 1
Before my website builder software died I'd started writing up a new project. It's one that had been on my mind for quite a while and yet at the same time its about 3 builds (or is it 4?) into my future. In the same way that youtubers create content weeks/months ahead of time to keep their flow, er 'flowing', I wanted to forward load content for my site especially as Ive been accused of working too slowly in the past. The new plan failed pretty much as soon as it was hatched along with the site software as I gave up on the site. World domination would have to wait until I had more time and money... or something. Anyway, I didnt want to lose the info and I think you guys like it when I write some stuff and post it up, even if its a sporadic build. So this was the start of the article, I hope its something you like: The story of building a hybrid 1986 Yamaha RZ250 in the JDM style
For years I’d been entranced by the JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) scene. From the subtly different Japan-only OEM RZ250 LCs that we rarely see outside of Japan, that provided the styling cues for my 251LC build, via those fully decked out crazy bikes enjoyed by Bōsōzoku bike gang sub-culture to the modern takes the Japanese have on how they like to modify these old bikes today. I’m unashamedly a fan of it all; these guys know how to party! This website doesn’t offer travel advice, but if you haven’t been to Japan you should go. I reckon one of the best things is that it’s not like home. It’s a beautiful place with a deeply rooted culture that’s probably very different to your own. Language you won’t understand, signs you can’t read and rules you don’t know. You can feel out of your depth quickly but will emerge all the better for the immersion. While globally connected the Japanese can remain quite insular as those without language skills rarely mix with foreigners even online. Because of that we rarely get insight into the JDM bike and car scenes and builders beaver away within their bubble, not being swayed or constrained by what the rest of us are doing. Recent vehicle trends have tended towards ‘focused for hard use’ and mods can appear edgy, even aggressive, yet there is always beauty present. Builders combining brand new cool parts made and sold only in Japan with repurposed OEM parts often from bikes we never received in our markets when new. These guys have enough inputs and ideas to not worry about other scenes round the world and certainly aren’t swayed by us or copying what we do. From what I’ve seen it is also obvious that Japanese bike builders take pride in their work and don’t build bikes just for show, they all tend to be built to be used. This is evident with many two stroke shops building their own one off creations to demonstrate the parts they sell. Today’s Japanese RZ customs are a far cry from the outlandish Bōsōzoku machines of the ‘80s, instead they are clean and sleek ‘fast road’ interpretations of these old bikes. After years of working on RZs I felt it was time to bring a little of the JDM modified RZ scene to Sydney and the latter style is what interests me, I figured I’d leave the crazy stuff for another time! TV chefs irk me (bear with me!) by offering their takes on a beautiful foreign regional dishes with substituted ingredients from their home country supermarket shelves, then further ruining what the locals have been eating simply and deliciously for hundreds of years by using their two days of on site experience in a 5* hotel and their own self importance to make ‘improvements’. I don’t want to be that guy. I am not trying to Jamie Oliver or Gordon Ramsey my take on the JDM RZ scene back to the Japanese. They would probably be too polite to tell me what they really think, just like the locals who taste the TV Chef’s re-imagined dishes. Suffice to say that I want to create something that could perhaps have actually originated in Japan in recent years. It will use Japanese parts and take inspiration from the photos I’ve found online and in Japanese books. If the builders of those bikes see their photos here then I’m sorry if i haven’t referenced you as I found many photos unreferenced on the internet. Please contact me and I will amend that, plus I would love to talk to you! So, let’s see if I can achieve what I set out to do. Starting from a simple bare frame that a friend found for me (Thanks Jase!), I hope to build something inspired by the bikes shown below. Regular readers will recall that I get goose bumps whenever I see the picture of sharp and clean lined Quality Works single piece solo tail which uses the early triangular rear light and bought one years ago and detailed the buy in the early part of my LC2 build but never got round to using it. I’ve also always been a huge fan of the French blue of the Sonauto/Gauloises race bikes and I’m really quite taken with the look of the twin light fairing panels, perhaps I do need a 350R in my life again?! The blue bike has an almost TDR look and since it’s unlikely I’ll be able to afford one of those this might be my one chance to get some way there!
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Post by pdxjim on Dec 3, 2020 6:31:37 GMT 1
Yes!
I too have been a big fan of JDM bikes and custom style for years.
Excited to see what you come up with Jon.
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Post by JonW on Dec 3, 2020 6:32:38 GMT 1
Of course if you regularly read this forum then you already know the R style top fairing idea is gone. I doubt now that it was ever really an option as Im not a huge fan of the look of the silly lights. A few months back a mate called Howard who you all know sent me a birdcage and a fairing needing repair and I modded them to fit my NOS TZR mirrors. Ive also with help from forumers found and snaffled some FZR600 mid panels so I hope to get the look I want for the 'half fairing'. Info on the top fairing work is here: rdlccrazy.proboards.com/thread/52906/350r-mirror-mount-close-dimensions?page=1&scrollTo=502750Here is the work when complete for the mirror mounts, integrating the FZR mids will come later, they are stuck in the uk at the mo. So, I was very content with where i was with that and then I was trawling round Xavier's site and found that the JDM blue bike that spawned my own rectangular light top fairing design with the short FZR mid panel parts had been pretty much done before! Yes, maddening I know! It was back in 1986 in Brazil! How did I not know about this? All those hours thinking about stuff and i could have just stumbled on it instead. Sigh.. Mine will have bigger mid panels if i use the FZR panels which will be fine and I do like the long look of them, but damn I'd love a set of those skinny little OEM Yamaha Brazil versions to use as they properly fit with the OEM top fairing and the mid panel mount. Sigh. Sadly we have no chance of talking to anyone in Brazil as those guys dont post or chat on here. Thats a shame. If by any chance anyone plugged into the scene in Brazil reads this and has a set they are not going to use, please do contact me.
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Post by JonW on Dec 3, 2020 6:37:52 GMT 1
Yes! I too have been a big fan of JDM bikes and custom style for years. Excited to see what you come up with Jon. Thanks mate! Yeah, me too lol
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Post by arrdy350 on Dec 3, 2020 7:56:20 GMT 1
That Gauloises RZ250R 😎🤤 🤤 Good luck with the build and a very interesting project 👍
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Post by midlifecrisisrd on Dec 3, 2020 9:57:13 GMT 1
Going to be a great build 👍
I quite like the one with the R fairing lol
Now the one piece tail and sides, that need remade 😎
Also see the paint job on it is better than a lot of the repros. When you buy that decal kit I think many have too thick a red section at the bottom of the tank and looks wrong to me
Steve
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Post by midlifecrisisrd on Dec 3, 2020 10:01:26 GMT 1
Oh and I knew about the short mid panel version 😬
At the beginning of my spoked hybrid build it was one of my thoughts
I had considered it when I bought the 3hm1. Was going to build the running gear onto the F1 frame I'd bought and fit a top fairing and cut down mid panels
Went off it with the thought of clip on bars but after I'd ridden the 3hm1 I found the higher bars on it were actually fine
Steve
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Post by lc350pete on Dec 3, 2020 12:21:55 GMT 1
Really interested in what you’re doing hope you can sort the short mid fairing it does look neat I’m also interested in Japanese culture especially in my case old films Have never been to Japan though
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Post by JonW on Dec 3, 2020 13:03:43 GMT 1
That Gauloises RZ250R 😎🤤 🤤 Good luck with the build and a very interesting project 👍 Thanks and Yes I agree. I put both those pics in as I would be very happy with both of those bikes. What I will build is something like a mash up of the pair but with the normal rectangular headlight.
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Post by JonW on Dec 3, 2020 13:08:39 GMT 1
Going to be a great build 👍 I quite like the one with the R fairing lol Now the one piece tail and sides, that need remade 😎 Also see the paint job on it is better than a lot of the repros. When you buy that decal kit I think many have too thick a red section at the bottom of the tank and looks wrong to me Steve Lol I looked for ages at NOS FZR400 parts including the top fairings and even checked out the 250 and 600s as well but I just dont really gel with the twin headlights I decided. I have the one-piece single tail from Japan already, in fact from the maker of that red/white bike, Ie Quality Works. Great guys. I will use it on this build. I'll use RGV suspension but while I have RGV wheels I may not use them, we'll see. I will probably paint on the decals... hmm... will see when i get there. I had good luck with doing that on my 'garage art 2' project. Ive also not decided on colours yet. I do love that blue and I really want to build a Gauloise bike (after all my mate had a logo'd up ex Euro Pro Am racer back in the day)... decisions decisions... I dont have a tank for this project yet tho. No tank = no project... Feel free to point me at decent 86-on tanks please!
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Post by JonW on Dec 3, 2020 13:11:06 GMT 1
Oh and I knew about the short mid panel version 😬 At the beginning of my spoked hybrid build it was one of my thoughts I had considered it when I bought the 3hm1. Was going to build the running gear onto the F1 frame I'd bought and fit a top fairing and cut down mid panels Went off it with the thought of clip on bars but after I'd ridden the 3hm1 I found the higher bars on it were actually fine Steve Haha, we do often think about some of the same things with these bikes Steve I do have mid panels that i can cut down, but the crazy length of the blue bikes panels has me, I just like the fact its so JDM to do something like that. It makes a statement. This bike needs to do that. This bike will have clip ons probably, we'll see on that too... long way to go, wont be done this week or anything lol Happy to hear ideas and try out some parts if people have stuff they feel is useful, do let me know.
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Post by JonW on Dec 3, 2020 13:15:28 GMT 1
Really interested in what you’re doing hope you can sort the short mid fairing it does look neat I’m also interested in Japanese culture especially in my case old films Have never been to Japan though Thanks Pete! I have 3 options for the short mids now in fact; cut down OEMs (but... sacrilege!), FZR400, FZR600... so getting there with options. Just love some of those OEM Brazilian ones to try as well. When we start to travel again I do urge people to try Japan as a destination. Its much more 'beginner' friendly than it was as more people speak English now and there are more English signs. 15 years ago it was much harder. Travel is easier too with the trains now that its more electronically ticketed.
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Post by tipfinchy on Dec 3, 2020 14:10:19 GMT 1
as said both of the bikes look cool , a good target to aim for thats for sure mart
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Post by headcoats on Dec 3, 2020 15:07:42 GMT 1
Liking the blue bike !
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Post by donkeychomp on Dec 3, 2020 23:03:43 GMT 1
Very interested in this Jon and keen to see what your feverish brow will concoct this time!
Alex
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cnkxu1
Thrash Merchant
Posts: 390
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Post by cnkxu1 on Dec 3, 2020 23:42:16 GMT 1
We spent two weeks in Japan in 2016 when the cherry blossoms were out and it was a fantastic experience travelling by shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo to Fuji to Osaka to Hiroshima and back. Loved the food and the history, how welcome we were made to feel everywhere despite language differences. Funny thing was I did not notice many bikes on the streets, lots of scooters and one Harley which we noticed because of the unusual noise. We did come across a group of modern day bosozoku bike riders coming down from Mt Fuji revving their engines as they came into town but they were not the extreme modded types. Their clothes were pretty strange as were lots of teenage school children at the theme parks. They love a dressup. Strangely most cars were Toyotas and Hyundai and not many Honda, Nissan or Subaru. Have to go back and immerse a bit more. Was a great non-stop flight from Melbourne to Tokyo with minimum security hassles. I am so impressed jonw that you can think so many projects ahead. Your brain must never stop. The Brazilian idea of the skinny mid panel must have been to continue the red motif from the tank showing a continuous band of red. I have always though that the design of a bike should follow the tyre sucking the colour from the tarmac or from the front wheel past the engine area and in a decreasing triangle up to the back of the bike with contrasting bands of colour above and below. Makes it look fast while standing still. If I was more artistic I would have a go at drawing it. The first red/white bike shows the idea as does the blue Gauloise.
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Post by JonW on Dec 4, 2020 0:19:18 GMT 1
as said both of the bikes look cool , a good target to aim for thats for sure mart Thanks Mart. I hope to produce something a bit different with this one. should be fun Only 'like' Martin? I love it! Very interested in this Jon and keen to see what your feverish brow will concoct this time! Alex Haha Thanks for the thumbs up Alex, its got my 'leetle grey cells' fired up!
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Post by JonW on Dec 4, 2020 0:44:10 GMT 1
We spent two weeks in Japan in 2016 when the cherry blossoms were out and it was a fantastic experience travelling by shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo to Fuji to Osaka to Hiroshima and back. Loved the food and the history, how welcome we were made to feel everywhere despite language differences. Funny thing was I did not notice many bikes on the streets, lots of scooters and one Harley which we noticed because of the unusual noise. We did come across a group of modern day bosozoku bike riders coming down from Mt Fuji revving their engines as they came into town but they were not the extreme modded types. Their clothes were pretty strange as were lots of teenage school children at the theme parks. They love a dressup. Strangely most cars were Toyotas and Hyundai and not many Honda, Nissan or Subaru. Have to go back and immerse a bit more. Was a great non-stop flight from Melbourne to Tokyo with minimum security hassles. Great insight and its true, you think from what you see on TV, forums and youtube that you'll see 80s and 90s JDM performance bikes and cars on every street corner, but sadly you rarely see them... I think most of them were exported lol. One thing you see a lot of is massive plastic bodied big engine 'scooters'. I havent (yet? no!) been tempted to build one of those... lol Ive tried to convince my uk family to meet up in Tokyo when we have a travel bubble (missing the point of said bubble perhaps?!) but maybe we should have a forum meet up? tempting.... I am so impressed jonw that you can think so many projects ahead. Your brain must never stop. Haha. Thanks for the kind words! My poor lil brain (and wallet) are defo taxed with all the projects ongoing (not all talked about on here, eg i have a 500 to build as well) and in the future lol. I like to only build the bikes when I have all the parts so I source and restore and rebuild sub assemblies and box them so that I can build up without long delays (order anything outside of Aus and it can take months, and that was pre-covid sigh). Doing this bike will take some trial and error and a dry build for the fairing so I need to start that as a sub-assy project before I get too far down the rabbit warren. Still need to find a tank really before spending more money :/ The Brazilian idea of the skinny mid panel must have been to continue the red motif from the tank showing a continuous band of red. I have always though that the design of a bike should follow the tyre sucking the colour from the tarmac or from the front wheel past the engine area and in a decreasing triangle up to the back of the bike with contrasting bands of colour above and below. Makes it look fast while standing still. If I was more artistic I would have a go at drawing it. The first red/white bike shows the idea as does the blue Gauloise. I think the small mid panel was really to provide a lower fixing for the top fairing or the ends would flap about. Without that mid panel bolt its only held by the birdcage by the headlight. I like your description of how the contrasting colour should 'flow' forwards to backwards, 'rushing' past the bike like its in motion. I cant draw that either, but I 'might' be able to lay it out and paint it on a bike lol. FWIW I did try to lay out speed blocks on the QW JDM tail to sort of ape the red/white bike in the pics and it wasnt easy to do that at all and get it to look right. The size and shape of those blocks isnt as simple as it initially looks. I later painted my own on the 2nd of my Garage Art projects (making shitty old GRP panels really only fit for the bin into stuff to hang in my garage) using the learning gained from playing about with tape on other panels and it came out ok I think. Here is a before n after of that project if youve not seen it:
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Post by JonW on Dec 4, 2020 2:40:24 GMT 1
Looking at the Brazil 1986 parts book I can see the part numbers but sadly parts in brazil for our bikes seem not to be available on the net.
(I also noticed that Yam offered a kit of the more usual mids and belly for those wanting the 'F look'. Maybe lots of buyers went for that?)
Seems impossible to buy Brazilian parts, Ive found a few online presence dealers but they dont list parts and searching nets nothing. Expect Brazil might be an untapped market for fairing panels of all sorts as they made the same items there and just had a diff part number, but unlikely as they have a 'scene' too. Anyway, not a discussion for in this thread, Id rather keep it to the bike Im building.
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Post by JonW on Dec 4, 2020 13:11:10 GMT 1
Busy week for me, noticed on ebay a dusty ypvs engine and idly looked through the as usual not-so-great pics taken in the dark corner of the sellers shed. Had a chat with him and got some extra pics. Met him the next day and did a deal and brought it home. So what did I buy? Have a little guess from these pics and see if you can spot the good points and why I thought it worth pursuing...
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Post by spanky1 on Dec 4, 2020 13:51:39 GMT 1
Love reading about all of your projects Jon - amazing work.
Here's my checklist on the motor:
1) Still running the pump when put away 2) Original and unstripped case screws 3) Uncut stator wires (maybe one wire) 4) Very complete - including thermo unit, intake clamps and both PV covers 5) Reasonable attempt at plugging-up before storage
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Post by midlifecrisisrd on Dec 4, 2020 14:17:28 GMT 1
I say it's a 51L 250 😁
Steve
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Post by ERic350 on Dec 4, 2020 14:41:42 GMT 1
Yep. Like the top half. Bit like 80ish superbike loop. I also collect interesting pictures of bikes and one of these pictures was first one in your post. Later found out quality works and some time ago found the seat advertised at buyee. Bought it. But it's not cheap with shiping from Japan ;-) Sprayed panels, seat and tank white but didn't like it. Looked a big, fat bike. Espacially the white tank. Left it for later. First finalized the 350N look in black. With original cover. LOve that look. Strong like pitbull. Now thinking about use of Japanese seat. And probably will do tophalf look for TZR250. Easier to do with standard parts and the 350N that has no place for birdcage. Anyway love the project ! Goodluck and keep us informed.
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Post by donkeychomp on Dec 4, 2020 22:39:35 GMT 1
I spotted it! It's that elusive 16 speed gearbox engine but with only 1hp.
Alex
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Post by JonW on Dec 4, 2020 23:26:32 GMT 1
Yep. Like the top half. Bit like 80ish superbike loop. I also collect interesting pictures of bikes and one of these pictures was first one in your post. Later found out quality works and some time ago found the seat advertised at buyee. Bought it. But it's not cheap with shiping from Japan ;-) Sprayed panels, seat and tank white but didn't like it. Looked a big, fat bike. Espacially the white tank. Left it for later. First finalized the 350N look in black. With original cover. LOve that look. Strong like pitbull. Now thinking about use of Japanese seat. And probably will do tophalf look for TZR250. Easier to do with standard parts and the 350N that has no place for birdcage. Anyway love the project ! Goodluck and keep us informed. Oh cool that you have the same tail as well! I know of another one here in Aus. And, yes I know what you mean it certainly was not cheap. I fitted it in white and liked the look so what you say about looking 'fat' is interesting. It does makes the tank look larger as there is no seat to take up half the back of the tank I think. Loving those TZRs!
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Post by JonW on Dec 4, 2020 23:29:36 GMT 1
Love reading about all of your projects Jon - amazing work. Here's my checklist on the motor: 1) Still running the pump when put away 2) Original and unstripped case screws 3) Uncut stator wires (maybe one wire) 4) Very complete - including thermo unit, intake clamps and both PV covers 5) Reasonable attempt at plugging-up before storage Wow, now thats some good detail spotting! You are someone I would defo take with me when engine shopping. You covered off a lot of the things I looked at as well. I'll post my list in a bit. But I think '10/10 for observation!' as they used to say! I say it's a 51L 250 😁 Steve Haha... Steve gets a bonus prize! I knew he'd spot that. I spotted it! It's that elusive 16 speed gearbox engine but with only 1hp. Alex Yeah, pretty much lol...
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Post by JonW on Dec 4, 2020 23:30:47 GMT 1
So yes... Its a JDM engine. Easily spotted by the combination of the fact the seller says its a 250 and it has the ‘bent’ balance pipe. Closer inspection shows its engine number is just the code. Very much something only needed in Japan where no one steals other peoples engines. Look even closer and adjust the photos and what does this look like? Yep... Seller confirmed with this pic:
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Post by JonW on Dec 4, 2020 23:32:42 GMT 1
You can only know so much with something like this when stood in front of the seller. At some point you need to take a gamble.
To mitigate the risk I checked the cases and looked up the exhausts, turned the flywheel and everything moved freely but with no kicker and gear lever anything else would be hard. The clutch was in there as it was firm on the lever and there was oil in it. Felt the tops of the pistons with finger (being sure not to spin the flywheel at the same time as we know from the other week) and didn’t feel any detonation. Tried to use my Aldi boroscope but couldn’t see a thing with it. Nothing new there really, the angle isnt ideal. Almost all the fixings look OEM and there is minimal damage to the clutch case, tho the oil pump cover is trashed. Someone left the throttle cable connected to the oil pump by cutting off the OEM 51L throttle cable. Very much a wrecker trick, why undo when you can cut etc. They had cut the oil pipes as well of course. No chain damage and nothing un-towards with the cases at all. The dipstick hadnt been ‘pliered’ which is a good, but rare, sign. The clutch cable holder had been removed but I guess the wrecker did that and didn’t bother to put it back when they pulled it out of the bike. All good info... You can learn a lot from that stuff.
Deal done and with it home I needed to strip it to see what I had got... The 'acid test'. More later!
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Post by midlifecrisisrd on Dec 4, 2020 23:33:14 GMT 1
It was the bent balance pipe that first caught my eye so knew it was a liked carb Jap jobby 😁
And yes I zoomed in on the cylinder 🙂
Steve
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Post by mak595 on Dec 5, 2020 6:45:37 GMT 1
The lad a bought my 350 barrels off for my RZ has a pair of mint JDM 250 middle fairing panels that dont have the lower holes to mount the belly pan, i did ask if he was selling them but he's hanging on to them....probably quite rare in the uk
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