amcq46
L plate rider.
Posts: 38
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Post by amcq46 on May 16, 2022 21:38:06 GMT 1
I have been tasked by the original owner to resurrect his RD400 drag bike project on the condition that I race it!.
now I don't have too much interest in 1/4 mile racing, but it is one of the few motorcycle sports that I haven't tried, and its an Air-cooled stroker like I grew up with, and its for a mate of my little brother . so I said yes!
It had been drag raced in its stock frame when SupeBike Mag used to do the ultimate street bike series in 89. he has a ticket that shows it did 12.04s and 119.4mph from then.
but then the original owner got radical and sent the engine to Harry Barlow who fitted bigger bore pistons (dt175?), ported and pipes to suit. so it is running 430c, 38mm flat slide mikuni carbs and 6 petal reeds and a threatened 70hp.
then he stretched and lowered the frame fitting an Aprillia RS125 front wheel and the swing arm off a Suzuki GSXR, added a lock up clutch and air shifter....... and put it back in the shed! for 20 yrs!
he says that he had the crank seals done 3 yrs ago in the hope to bring it back to life, but then it all stalled again when the roof blew of his shed in the storms back then and it all got wet.
I think I am going to need all the help I can get as most of the wiring is missing and there is no wiring diagram fro the Femsa ignition rotor or the Rex Caunt custom CDI boxes.
once I work out how to post pictures I will update!.
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amcq46
L plate rider.
Posts: 38
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Post by amcq46 on May 16, 2022 21:46:54 GMT 1
Looks good but is a dry build 25yrs ago. When I collected it we had to fight the wheels back on to get it in the van. So currently I am taking it apart to work out what needs finished. Then find out if there is a better ignition solution available now.
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Post by pedheadfred on May 16, 2022 21:49:32 GMT 1
Sounds a very interesting project what's the previous rider owner's name.
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amcq46
L plate rider.
Posts: 38
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Post by amcq46 on May 16, 2022 21:52:16 GMT 1
Sounds a very interesting project what's the previous rider owner's name. John Watson was the original owner / Builder. not sure if he was ever on here
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Post by pedheadfred on May 16, 2022 22:00:31 GMT 1
Ok Well as I live in Lincolnshire and 10 miles from East Kirkby Straight lines drag racing strip. I know a few people so will talk to them about it, Ron Phillips Fahron. Has a Sprint rd400 he did have 2 but sold 1 about 3 years ago. What area was John Watson from ?
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amcq46
L plate rider.
Posts: 38
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Post by amcq46 on May 16, 2022 22:09:08 GMT 1
Dumfries & Galloway in south west Scotland.
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Post by dusty350 on May 16, 2022 22:13:01 GMT 1
Hi Welcome to the forum. Nice to see something a bit different. Look forward to your progress Dusty
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Post by steeley on May 17, 2022 8:15:49 GMT 1
Nice project there, and welcome in. Plenty of knowledge and advice here.
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amcq46
L plate rider.
Posts: 38
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Post by amcq46 on May 17, 2022 10:14:06 GMT 1
first question for you RD experts. anybody got contact details for Harry Barlow? John gave me a number 0116 287 1285. but it is no longer available.
I would love to talk to Harry as the starting point to work out what Ignition system he would put on the bike now.
the current set up is a total loss system (no charging of the battery) with FEMSA pickups (wasted spark) and a Rex Caunt Racing CDI box with a custom curve and some after market coils that I have yet to identify.
I have been told that, even in their day, FEMSA ignitions were a pain in the arse so not sure how well they have survived sitting in a wet shed, and my searches for Rex Caunt show that he is retired now and his daughter is running the company and focusing on BSA bantams now.
what do you guys think is the best race ignition system for this project?
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Post by steeley on May 17, 2022 11:25:30 GMT 1
first question for you RD experts. anybody got contact details for Harry Barlow? John gave me a number 0116 287 1285. but it is no longer available. I would love to talk to Harry as the starting point to work out what Ignition system he would put on the bike now. the current set up is a total loss system (no charging of the battery) with FEMSA pickups (wasted spark) and a Rex Caunt Racing CDI box with a custom curve and some after market coils that I have yet to identify. I have been told that, even in their day, FEMSA ignitions were a pain in the arse so not sure how well they have survived sitting in a wet shed, and my searches for Rex Caunt show that he is retired now and his daughter is running the company and focusing on BSA bantams now. what do you guys think is the best race ignition system for this project? Hi ,i would get in touch with Mutts nuts on here he will put you right ignition wise . Found this number on the tippy tappy Pro Porting 0116871285
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amcq46
L plate rider.
Posts: 38
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Post by amcq46 on May 17, 2022 19:58:05 GMT 1
Frustrating afternoon on the RD, a few jobs need more parts, a few went ok. I got the clutch bled eventually and then to test it I tried to put it into gear…. It doesn’t ☹️ Took the air shifter off and it is not that. There is a reasonable movement on the shifter but there is no click of the selector drum Rotating into the indent. I have the clutch cover off and I assume I need to get the clutch basket off to see what is going on. Is there anything obvious on these bikes that I should look for?
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Post by dusty350 on May 17, 2022 21:29:17 GMT 1
I did an engine build thread on a standard Rd400e that may help if you are unfamiliar with these engines; rdlccrazy.proboards.com/thread/49716/rd400e-engine-rebuildThe clutch basket will have to come off to expose the gear change mechanism. The detent bolt/spring are underneath the engine, near the sump bolt. You could check the spring is intact. Pics in the build thread Dusty
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amcq46
L plate rider.
Posts: 38
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Post by amcq46 on May 18, 2022 8:40:35 GMT 1
I did an engine build thread on a standard Rd400e that may help if you are unfamiliar with these engines; rdlccrazy.proboards.com/thread/49716/rd400e-engine-rebuildThe clutch basket will have to come off to expose the gear change mechanism. The detent bolt/spring are underneath the engine, near the sump bolt. You could check the spring is intact. Pics in the build thread Dusty Thanks dusty, I had a look at those great pictures and it has helped me work out where things are👍
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amcq46
L plate rider.
Posts: 38
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Post by amcq46 on May 18, 2022 17:14:27 GMT 1
I had to get a new 30mm socket to get the clutch off, but after that it came off easy enough. I will need to work out where to source a new tab washer before I rebuild. but first thing I can see is the little roller is missing that should sit over the pin on the selected actuating arm. but unfortunately even if I put a bar in the gap, the selector drum is not rotating when the arm moves up or down. the hooks that should catch onto the selector drum are not grabbing onto the ridges in the drum. I can rotate the selector drum using the JIS screw on the end and it will select all the gears and I can feel the index spring holding the drum in the correct place. so its the arms / hooks that are not catching on anything that is the problem. everything here looks the same as your strip down dusty350 , so does anybody have any clues what is stopping the hook and rotate?
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Post by steeley on May 18, 2022 17:27:42 GMT 1
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amcq46
L plate rider.
Posts: 38
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Post by amcq46 on May 18, 2022 17:30:31 GMT 1
Hi , if i remember right there should be a top hat bush on the gear change fork piece and the shaft when pushed back through the case holds it in place . Its been 15years since i built the old 250e engine up . Pic 1 and 2 . yes looking at dusty350 pictures of his build I can see the top hat in this image. but that is not the only problem.. even if I fill that gap the hooks on the arm don't rotate the drum at all flic.kr/p/2itT54E
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amcq46
L plate rider.
Posts: 38
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Post by amcq46 on May 18, 2022 18:31:28 GMT 1
I can see that part number in Dustys build. the parts diagram you shared also showed that the washer (part 17) should have been fitted between the seal and the circlip, but it was on the kick-start side!
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amcq46
L plate rider.
Posts: 38
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Post by amcq46 on May 18, 2022 18:38:31 GMT 1
and the tab washer part number is also on that engine rebuild thread. this is saving me a lot of work. but I still have to work out why the hooks don't rotate the drums. I am going to take the spring off the selector arm and see if I can feels what going on
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Post by steeley on May 18, 2022 19:27:15 GMT 1
It is very odd . You can select the gears by turning the screw on the selector drum . Have you tried adjusting the screw on the selector pawl / the claw thing .Is it me or do the arms look wrong to the ones on dustys photo .
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amcq46
L plate rider.
Posts: 38
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Post by amcq46 on May 18, 2022 20:34:27 GMT 1
with the return spring off I could get it to select, it was just very sticky (still dry inside the selectors & drum) with the full travel of the selector arm. so I took the front assy off the drum (the part with the pins) and gave it a good wash and oiled it and it works a bit better now. so the problem is the missing top hat preventing the full travel of the arm to get it from neutral and start rotating the drum. where is the best place to source the top hat & the clutch tab washer?
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amcq46
L plate rider.
Posts: 38
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Post by amcq46 on May 18, 2022 20:35:31 GMT 1
It is very odd . You can select the gears by turning the screw on the selector drum . Have you tried adjusting the screw on the selector pawl / the claw thing .Is it me or do the arms look wrong to the ones on dustys photo . I checked against Dustys photos and the claw arms are the same as his, so hopefully that bit is OK
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Post by dusty350 on May 18, 2022 21:01:09 GMT 1
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amcq46
L plate rider.
Posts: 38
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Post by amcq46 on May 18, 2022 21:11:15 GMT 1
Thanks Dusty, you are a star. I had looked on fowlers already and saw that it is no longer available, but I have ordered the tab washer. I have found a roller on classicracing.nl, so if you don't find yours I still have a back up option.
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Post by dusty350 on May 18, 2022 21:21:47 GMT 1
No problem, I will have a look, hopefully tomorrow. Steeley makes a good point regards adjusting the pawl arms via the screw/lock nut to the right of the top hat roller. I would wait until you have the roller before pulling it all apart. Also, it can be hard selecting gears with the engine not running. If it's spinning fast it's easier to select all gears through the box. And if all parts are well oiled, that will make a big difference too. It's a pretty simple system, and you may not be far off having it working Dusty
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Post by lcmarky on May 19, 2022 9:13:57 GMT 1
Fantastic build & certainly different.
Be good to see this do a burnout soon!
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Post by steve63 on May 19, 2022 12:59:59 GMT 1
Love it Looking forward to it being finished and launched down the strip. I used to go to New York Drag Strip at Melbourne near York back in the mid 80's. It was so much to enter then 50p per run back then. I did it on a couple of different LC's and tried to do it on my GSXR11 but got knocked off it on the way there and lost a footpeg so I couldn't do it. I'm not sure I would have enjoyed doing 130mph or so though and having to stop in a limited space. They were good days out. It definitely improved my race starts. Fastest time on a 350LC with YPVS engine: 12.97. A 500LC on the same day, fastest time: 12.5.
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Post by dusty350 on May 19, 2022 18:30:38 GMT 1
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amcq46
L plate rider.
Posts: 38
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Post by amcq46 on May 20, 2022 0:17:27 GMT 1
PM sent. Very much appreciated, I like this forum😀
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Post by steeley on May 20, 2022 7:17:55 GMT 1
Dusty well done . How do you stop the shed fairies and pixies moving stuff you know will be useful one day . They do that to me all the time
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Post by dusty350 on May 20, 2022 7:25:50 GMT 1
Took ages to find it if I'm honest. Always the last box you look in !!
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