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A Bicentenial restoration/rescue - '76 RD400
- Thread starter jonesn7
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2015
- Messages
- 2,558
Great thread!
I used to race RD's at the local track way back when.
I had a 74 rd350 as my daily and race prepped 350/400's.
Would love to find another one to bring back the memories, but they're like hens teeth these days and if you do find one, they want the moon for it.
On second thought, maybe another one wouldn't be a good idea. Truth was; I was better at building them than racing them. I was always a middle pack type racer.
One spectacular get off ended my racing "career. Was going into a turn in the pack and someone washed out my front wheel when they lost their line. Suddenly, I was looking at sky, ground, sky, ground, sky, ground, sky (oh look there goes a piece of the bike), ground, sky, hey here comes my crotch again to hit me in the face) ground, sky, ground. I had stopped tumbling and every thing seemed to have stopped. Tried to plant my feet and nope, still sliding. Up and over I go and another face-plant in the grass.
Everyone watching thought I was dead. IN the end, I just got a bunch of bad bruises and strains/sprains. The bike? there was literally NOTHING salvageable on it. Frame destroyed, wheels racked, bodywork busted, trans case punched through, even the heads and barrels were broken.
that was really the end of racing for me......
I used to race RD's at the local track way back when.
I had a 74 rd350 as my daily and race prepped 350/400's.
Would love to find another one to bring back the memories, but they're like hens teeth these days and if you do find one, they want the moon for it.
On second thought, maybe another one wouldn't be a good idea. Truth was; I was better at building them than racing them. I was always a middle pack type racer.
One spectacular get off ended my racing "career. Was going into a turn in the pack and someone washed out my front wheel when they lost their line. Suddenly, I was looking at sky, ground, sky, ground, sky, ground, sky (oh look there goes a piece of the bike), ground, sky, hey here comes my crotch again to hit me in the face) ground, sky, ground. I had stopped tumbling and every thing seemed to have stopped. Tried to plant my feet and nope, still sliding. Up and over I go and another face-plant in the grass.
Everyone watching thought I was dead. IN the end, I just got a bunch of bad bruises and strains/sprains. The bike? there was literally NOTHING salvageable on it. Frame destroyed, wheels racked, bodywork busted, trans case punched through, even the heads and barrels were broken.
that was really the end of racing for me......
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2015
- Messages
- 2,558
My daily spent more time as a unicycle than a bicycle! That thing loved to loft the front wheel any chance it got.....I wasn't exactly an "unwilling" partner either.....
M current bikes are an 83 Yamaha Venture with a VMax engine and an 89 FJ1200. The RD's of my youth were fun, but these bikes are serious ground pounders. The Venture/Max will lof the front wheel on throttle alone and lay rubber form any speed up to highway velocity. Yank the throttle and you better be straight upright and pointed where you want to go because it's going to get there...RIGHT NOW! The FJ1200 is an absolute freight train everywhere. Yank the throttle on that bugger and you better be holding on or it will torque it's way right out from under you. Love them both!
The RD was great fun for a young hooligan, but you better keep it professional on my two current bikes or they will bite you. Neither suffers fools lightly....
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Man...That puts chills down my spine.I'm glad you were okay. Scary stuff.
I lost by best fiend on a bike. We were hopping bars together and I tried to tell him to let me give him a ride home. He got on his bike never made it home. Wiped out and slid into a pole. I felt guilty as heck for years. Bikes are fun. But I definitely need 4 wheels.
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2015
- Messages
- 2,558
17 and invincible.
Must be something about being young that lets you take impacts and not get damaged. Or at least, a better chance of taking significant knocks and have a high chance of walking away with little more than some bruising.
Had that happened at my current age, there's no doubt in my mind I'd at least have multiple broken bones, if not being straight up dead.....
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2011
- Messages
- 3,484
My sister recently broke her right humerus just under the shoulder ball. Took about 3 weeks longer than normal, unlike when she broke her femur at age 5. Those 50 plus years in between makes a huge difference in healing time!
Pierre
Pierre
Rode her to Twister's again last week. Ran sweet as usual, "chugging" on over-run went away on the way home after turning in on both air screws. But, realized that this was only the second time she had been taken in all year. That's not good. At 71, I can't realistically exoect that frequency to increase, so Geneva has reluctantly been listed for sale. $4340 US is presently J.D. Powers' GOOD price (rider in good mechanical condition, few cosmetic flaws), so that is what I'm asking.
Then I rode her to a show in Oak Ridge and coming home upon getting on our neighborhood road I could only select 1st. Pulled both side covers and discovered that the e-clip for the front shift fork shaft had come off allowing the shaft to migrate back and push the rubber blanking plug out the other side. This shaft also serves as pivot for the shift select ratchet - the reason I could no longer change up. Easy fix, and I believe the cause was re-use of the old e-clips. New clips and blanking plug should be here in a few days, and I'm gojng to get fresh transmission oil this morning. Happily, the drained oil (uses 10W30 MA2) was clean and debris-free).
Then I rode her to a show in Oak Ridge and coming home upon getting on our neighborhood road I could only select 1st. Pulled both side covers and discovered that the e-clip for the front shift fork shaft had come off allowing the shaft to migrate back and push the rubber blanking plug out the other side. This shaft also serves as pivot for the shift select ratchet - the reason I could no longer change up. Easy fix, and I believe the cause was re-use of the old e-clips. New clips and blanking plug should be here in a few days, and I'm gojng to get fresh transmission oil this morning. Happily, the drained oil (uses 10W30 MA2) was clean and debris-free).