1981 Yamaha RD350LC rebuild.

roughlad

roughlad

roughlad

Associate
Joined
14 Sep 2003
Posts
685
Location
Arbroath
First of all, a bit of background on the bike.
Back in the 80's when hair was long, my dad was 20 and really into cars and bikes.
He went to the local bike shop and bought a brand new shiny, white and blue rd350lc for a whopping £1100.
He loved the bike and used it until he met my mum, they fell in love and had me. At this time, the bike was off the road and dismantled for "maintenance". Fast forward 14 years and my dad had rebuilt it and rode it for a summer, until once again, it came off the road for "maintenance" ...... 16 years later, my dad passed away before he could have another bash at restoring the LC to all of its glory.
The job has fallen to me to rebuild it from the ground up as a tribute to my late dad and his love of bikes.

This is how the bike currently sits.

https://image.ibb.co/gK2QjJ/20180713_200252.jpg
https://image.ibb.co/izad4J/IMG_20180713_204346_681.jpg
https://image.ibb.co/ngZGry/20180715_203032.jpg
https://image.ibb.co/d4pSyd/20180716_211228.jpg
https://image.ibb.co/joty4J/20180719_203420.jpg
https://image.ibb.co/d64hWy/20180716_211240.jpg

I have started the strip down to see what I have to work with. After all these years I'm going to rebuild the engine and repaint/chrome and replace anything that's needed.

Hope you guys n gals enjoy this thread and I will keep it up to date with pictures ect as I go along.

P.s. If anyone has any tips they would be greatly appreciated.
 
unKle said:
Awesome project and personal too, really touching.

I've owned 5 LC's in various guises over the years. It's a bike I hold dear to my biking heart and cut my teeth on in my youth. If you have any questions or need advice I'd be glad to help.
Click to expand...

Thanks unKle. I'm sure I'm going to have lots of questions when it comes to the rebuild haha.
 
unKle said:
Swinging arm came apart easily enough? The main pin/shaft used to seize on those. I restored an RD250LC and had to buy a modified (non Yamaha) swinging arm shaft that had grease guides through it, why they never did that in the first place. I'm going back to 1990 when I did this mind!
Click to expand...
The shaft had a grease nipple at one end and was greased to the max so It just slid out.
Everything had come off pritty easily so far. Going to have a pop at the engine this week and get a new gasket kit ordered for it on payday.
 
Sorry for the lack of updates but this is going to be a slow project build.

Stripping the engine has proven to a challenge.
https://ibb.co/fYuANz
https://ibb.co/mzSmvK
https://ibb.co/hTBqNz
https://ibb.co/kTytaK
https://ibb.co/fKhKFK

As you can see the studs are horrible rusty shadows of themselves so I am trying to remove and replace them. ( 2 out of 8 so far removed)
My stator removal tool comes today so can get on with that and more this weekend.

Both wheels have been stripped and bearings removed for blasting recut/refurb.
 
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