The next project '78 YZ400, making progress!

wfoyz250
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wfoyz250 3/1/2017 4:42am
3/1/2017 4:42am
here's a better pic of the Honda reservoir.......

sandman768
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sandman768 3/1/2017 5:08am
3/1/2017 5:08am
Great job, chuckie108......
chuckie108
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chuckie108 3/1/2017 12:42pm
3/1/2017 12:42pm
BS261 wrote:
Really nice work! Love the new rims and the decals on the fender are a nice touch. Where you happy with the quality of the rear...
Really nice work! Love the new rims and the decals on the fender are a nice touch. Where you happy with the quality of the rear fender? Ebay has a lot of choices for fork boots.
Thanks! I'm happy with the fender. I don't think it is Injection molded, so it is quite thick and heavy for a fender, but it fits well and looks quite nice.

One thing I like about these vintage bikes is the lost art of sticker application. It was always tons of fun back in the day collecting decals and then arranging and putingt them on your bike. Modern bikes and graphics have done away with this, so I enjoy this part quite a lot!



I bit the bullet and upgraded my rims. Both the front and rear were cracked so I had to splerge, so it didn't make sense to me to reuse the spokes. I usually build my own wheels, but I had to let Dubya do it this time because they had to redrill the rim spoke holes to match the spoke angle for these old school drum hubs. They did and awesome job and they look mint. I completely rebuilt/repainted my hubs as well before I took them in.







Thanks for the input wfoyz. Your bike looks like it probably works awesome! I had contemplated taking the same route you did(I even bought an '86 CR250 shock for the resi), but ultimately decided to keep it how I got it. This is actually my uncle's bike, so i didn't want to change it too far away from how he had it. My suspension is already to together, but if it doesn't perform, I'll know which direction to head. Thanks again.
BS261
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BS261 3/1/2017 1:44pm
3/1/2017 1:44pm
Your attention to detail is amazing. So, the rims. I want to do the same at some point, replace the rims but keep the stock hubs. Does anyone make rims that can replace the old ones with no drilling?

The Shop

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wfoyz250
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wfoyz250 3/1/2017 8:13pm
3/1/2017 8:13pm
Hey Chuckie, what bars do have there. Looks like the rise is taller than the typical "vintage" style Renthal's.
chuckie108
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chuckie108 3/2/2017 12:14pm
3/2/2017 12:14pm
BS261 wrote:
Your attention to detail is amazing. So, the rims. I want to do the same at some point, replace the rims but keep the stock hubs...
Your attention to detail is amazing. So, the rims. I want to do the same at some point, replace the rims but keep the stock hubs. Does anyone make rims that can replace the old ones with no drilling?
Thank you for the compliment! My kids call it OCD. LOL

Not that I know of. It's pretty much DID, and Excel which are widely available(which would need to be slightly modified), or it's sun rims drilled by Buchanan's. Sun is there in house brand and I think they only come as blanks and Buchanan's has to drill them for your application. The other plus point of Suns is they are brushed finish like the originals instead of polished like all the newer offerings. Those are the only real options that I know of, but I'm sure there are other options out there.

wfoyz- I believe the bar bend is "RC High". I looked through all the dimensions on Renthal's site to find what I wanted. They have 3 different "vintage' bends of different heights, but they all had a lot of sweep. I like really straight bars, and these were in the middle as far as height compared to the vintage bends, but much straighter. I'll look tonight and post up the actual part number,
yahmee-haha
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yahmee-haha 3/13/2017 11:42pm
3/13/2017 11:42pm
Hey chuckie,

great bike build, looks awesome. I was looking at the desert tank in your before photo... I bought one that I think is the same for a desert race for my 77. How was that thing mounted before you took it off? Were there any special hangers/frame mounts? Mine doesn't look like it mounts very straightforward like the stocker. thanks

chuckie108
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chuckie108 3/14/2017 8:17am
3/14/2017 8:17am
yahmee-haha wrote:
Hey chuckie, great bike build, looks awesome. I was looking at the desert tank in your before photo... I bought one that I think is the...
Hey chuckie,

great bike build, looks awesome. I was looking at the desert tank in your before photo... I bought one that I think is the same for a desert race for my 77. How was that thing mounted before you took it off? Were there any special hangers/frame mounts? Mine doesn't look like it mounts very straightforward like the stocker. thanks

I believe the desert tank is a MS universal unit. It has a mounting hole in the front of it. My uncle just drilled a hole right through the frame and ran a long bolt/nut through it. 70's tech at its finest!!
yahmee-haha
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yahmee-haha 3/14/2017 11:38am
3/14/2017 11:38am
chuckie108 wrote:
I believe the desert tank is a MS universal unit. It has a mounting hole in the front of it. My uncle just drilled a hole...
I believe the desert tank is a MS universal unit. It has a mounting hole in the front of it. My uncle just drilled a hole right through the frame and ran a long bolt/nut through it. 70's tech at its finest!!
Thanks for the reply. Well, that's kinda what I was afraid of with this tank... instructions mentioned that "slight modifications may be required" Was hoping to avoid drilling/grinding on my fresh painted frame, but that's life I guess. After all it was built to be ridden.

P1050687 by Ian Jorgensen, on Flickr
P1050688 by Ian Jorgensen, on Flickr
77 frame, w/ 78 swingarm, 43mm forks, racetech springs/parts, ported cylinder, custom wheels/buchanan spokes, Euro plastics and a few others.

thumbnail_20170310_153631 by Ian Jorgensen, on Flickr
new tank
chuckie108
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chuckie108 3/15/2017 9:50am
3/15/2017 9:50am
yahmee-haha wrote:
Thanks for the reply. Well, that's kinda what I was afraid of with this tank... instructions mentioned that "slight modifications may be required" Was hoping to...
Thanks for the reply. Well, that's kinda what I was afraid of with this tank... instructions mentioned that "slight modifications may be required" Was hoping to avoid drilling/grinding on my fresh painted frame, but that's life I guess. After all it was built to be ridden.

P1050687 by Ian Jorgensen, on Flickr
P1050688 by Ian Jorgensen, on Flickr
77 frame, w/ 78 swingarm, 43mm forks, racetech springs/parts, ported cylinder, custom wheels/buchanan spokes, Euro plastics and a few others.

thumbnail_20170310_153631 by Ian Jorgensen, on Flickr
new tank
WOW!!!!!!!!! What an awesome build! That thing is perfect. Loved looking through all the photos. Couple of questions- 1)Which model footpegs did you use how much modding was needed to fit them? 2)What's the story with the chain buffer on the swingarm? Is that just off the F model?
yahmee-haha
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yahmee-haha 3/15/2017 10:06pm
3/15/2017 10:06pm
Thanks!

The pegs are from FLO motorsports, they're for a newer CRF250/450 and I think the return springs are for a KX500. I had to mod them a bit to fit the stock perches by shaving the sides evenly and cutting the stoppers down.
P1050098 by Ian Jorgensen, on Flickr
P1050105 by Ian Jorgensen, on Flickr

The chain buffer I added just because. Idk, seems like most other monos I've seen had them but it's probably not necessary. Someday I'm going to swap out the 77' chain rub blocks for the rollers like yours has.
wfoyz250
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wfoyz250 3/27/2017 8:17am
3/27/2017 8:17am
Anymore updates on this build???
chuckie108
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chuckie108 3/29/2017 9:19pm
3/29/2017 9:19pm
wfoyz250 wrote:
Anymore updates on this build???
Not too much currently. My cases and cylinder are at Pro-Form getting degreed/ported currently. As well as my crank which is getting rebuilt/balanced. currently scraping the cash together for that as well as a pipe and silencer.

I did get my cables and controls all sorted on theean time.




Plus I rebuilt my carb, prepped my electrics, and got my backgrounds done.



This week I'm going to sort my numbers and foot pegs, and then it's just waiting for motor parts.

Thanks for the interest!!
wfoyz250
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wfoyz250 3/30/2017 6:32am
3/30/2017 6:32am
Nice nice work!
where id you get the pink carb tubing and the backgrounds?
chuckie108
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chuckie108 4/1/2017 11:57am
4/1/2017 11:57am Edited Date/Time 4/1/2017 11:59am
wfoyz250 wrote:
Nice nice work!
where id you get the pink carb tubing and the backgrounds?
Backgrounds I got from ZLT. I think their site is zltmxid.com. Great guys there!

Pink vent tube you can get from your local Honda car dealer. They sell a bulk package of it. Part number is 95003-0500860M
captmoto
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captmoto 4/1/2017 11:02pm
4/1/2017 11:02pm
yahmee-haha wrote:
Thanks for the reply. Well, that's kinda what I was afraid of with this tank... instructions mentioned that "slight modifications may be required" Was hoping to...
Thanks for the reply. Well, that's kinda what I was afraid of with this tank... instructions mentioned that "slight modifications may be required" Was hoping to avoid drilling/grinding on my fresh painted frame, but that's life I guess. After all it was built to be ridden.

P1050687 by Ian Jorgensen, on Flickr
P1050688 by Ian Jorgensen, on Flickr
77 frame, w/ 78 swingarm, 43mm forks, racetech springs/parts, ported cylinder, custom wheels/buchanan spokes, Euro plastics and a few others.

thumbnail_20170310_153631 by Ian Jorgensen, on Flickr
new tank
The way those tanks were mounted was to take a piece of 1" × 1/8 × 6 inches or so piece of flatstock, drill a 1/4" or 8mm hole right in the middle. Use a proper length bolt to mount the tank. Then use 2 hose clamps to secure it to the frame. You should be able to use the stock rubber tank pads. Back in the day those mounts were sold premade and you cut the bolt to length.
OW38B
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OW38B 4/2/2017 4:24pm
4/2/2017 4:24pm Edited Date/Time 4/2/2017 4:25pm
Nice work on the Yamaha YZ. The fork guards look really good.

I have been trying to find a solution to my orginal white fork guards for my 1977 Suzuki RM250. Do you have any info on a source?









Pit Row

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chuckie108
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chuckie108 4/3/2017 1:26pm
4/3/2017 1:26pm
OW38B wrote:
Nice work on the Yamaha YZ. The fork guards look really good. I have been trying to find a solution to my orginal white fork guards...
Nice work on the Yamaha YZ. The fork guards look really good.

I have been trying to find a solution to my orginal white fork guards for my 1977 Suzuki RM250. Do you have any info on a source?









I bought the fork guards from DCVMX, and then just finish them up a bit before fitting them. Mine are actually the "translucent" version, but they do also offer a white set. Awesome looking RM250! My uncle had that bike and still talks about it to this day!
chuckie108
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chuckie108 11/12/2017 10:50pm
11/12/2017 10:50pm
Finally got this bike basically done(just waiting on my brake shoes which are getting re-lined). PFR ported cylinder, balanced crank, PFR pipe and silencer, full RT set-up on the suspension- should I’d be a nice running machine! Really looking forward to getting it dirty.















edgo897
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edgo897 11/13/2017 9:14am
11/13/2017 9:14am
project racer wrote:
Before you spend too much on the bling, split the cases to check the condition of the inserts in the main bearing area. Very common on...
Before you spend too much on the bling, split the cases to check the condition of the inserts in the main bearing area. Very common on 77-79 YZ's for them to be loose, cracked, etc.
X2. Take the stator cover off and wiggle the crank shaft to check for play. I don't think Extreme YZ makes 78 plastics, but I could be wrong. Parts are plentiful on eBay.

Ed

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