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Post subject: Say hello to Elsie
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TC  Sunday Rider Joined: 09 Nov 2007 Total posts: 27 |
I've got a 1982 RD350LC. Like all LC's, she's called Elsie.
When I met Elsie about 10 years ago she was a sorry sight. A bloke in Romford who fancied himself as a bit of a customiser and painter had made a right dog's dinner of trying to tart her up in aerosol red and yellow. I didn't mind too much as I was looking for a bike to restore.
Turns out I'd picked the wrong bike to restore. Elsie was a 250, bodged up as a 350, with a cracked (250) frame, crankcases (250) that had been levered apart with a big screwdriver, and just about every part of the engine was shagged. I was living in Derbyshire at the time, about 1/4 mile down the road from one of the country's biggest LC breakers, the sadly now late Jim Matthews. I reckon I must have kept him going singlehandedly for 6 months, picking out the best bits from the piles of broken bikes he had there, proudly emerging with a 350 frame and cases with matching numbers. I checked the little-known parts that differ between 250 and 350 and made sure all those were right too. I stripped every last nut and bolt, plated, powder coated and polished everything as good as new. I took all the bodywork to a painter in Aylesbury with pictures of the original black LC (the Mars bar colour scheme I always loved) and the cunt painted her white. After some quite ungentlemanly words from me he put right his cock-up but didn't rub down the paint, just sprayed over it. Not the right way but I was so fed up by then I took it anyway.
Elsie took gleaming to the road in 2000, having cost about double what she was worth to resell. I got used to getting envious looks from younger men than the ones who used to ogle my Norton, and got used to a powerband that was like your trousers exploding, handling sharper than a City Boy's suit and the smell of synthetic oil smoke. Lovely.
We had our first lover's tiff in Autumn 2000, coming back from work on a favourite twisty road as Elsie's engine briefly tightened then developed a nasty vibration. I coasted to a halt little realising it would be nealy 8 years before she would run again.
Jim Matthews supplied most of the spares I needed quite quickly. One big end had gone, possibly the result of a loose metering pin in the oil pump. I got a recon crank, changed all the oil seals, all the gearbox bearings (she'd been making some bearingy noises) and then winter came and I forgot about Elsie, languishing in the shed.
This year I decided it was time for Elsie to shake off the dust and get going again. I'd met up with BDK Race Engineering near Snetterton, who said they could get pistons to replace the ones that had got scored up in the blow-up. This was lucky as the bores were already 1.75mm oversize and the official Yamaha max oversize is 1mm! Stinkwheels supplied some odd parts and a shiny new set of black Allspeeds to replace the standard pipes, which were rather shabby, and we were set to build.
Late March Elsie finally crackled back into life, sounding incedibly horny from the stubby pipes and promising serious hot action on the back roads. Naturally there were teething troubles but thanks in no small parts to you lovely people here for advice, and gary-rd-robbo for hard-to-get parts (that he refused payment for, what a hero!), we got there.
She sailed though her MoT thanks to a sympathetic tester ("You had the standard pipes on when I saw it, right?" ) and I finally took Elsie out on the road again.
Anyone who's never ridden a peaky 2-stroke doesn't know theyve lived. From the menacing crackle as you ride through town, the way the exhausts chime in as the engine comes on load, going from 4-stroking to proper hungry 2-stroking, the hint of a powerband (as much as you dare running in new pistons) and light flickable unfaired handling. It's like a hot date in bed with an athlete .
But then, Elsie's female side showed again. I'd forgotten something that mattered to her and she decided to make me pay. A quick squirt past a slow van and coughcoughspluttergaspf#ckf#ckf#ck she's misfiring terribly. Doesn't seem to be vibrating or rattling but clearly not happy so I nurse her home. Once she's cooled, she doesn't want to restart and has hardly any compression.
My guess is the Allspeeds were less restrictive than the standard pipes and as soon as I gave it any she just ran so lean she instantly detonated the pistons away. So it's off to BDK tomorrow to check the damage and see what she needs to repair her. Those guys are pretty good with tuned strokers so they should be able to do what's needed and set her up with the new pipes. She'll need to be spot on because I've entered her in a classic race at the Salzburgring in July www.igfc.at - hell, it seemed like a good idea at the time
Elsie will be back.
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Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 7:58 pm
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TCSunday Rider Joined: 09 Nov 2007 Total posts: 27 |
Heeeeere's Elsie!
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z93/Edgarjessop/Elsie.jpg
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Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 8:04 pm
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gary-rd-robbo![[RD/RZ Blood Donor]](../img/pipsvip.jpg "RD/RZ Blood Donor")
RD/RZ Blood Donor Rear-wheel Steering! Joined: 07 Oct 2007 Total posts: 2533 |
 
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Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 10:04 pm
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seanrd Suburban Commuter Joined: 01 May 2007 Total posts: 98 |
Realy nice, you should be proud
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Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 10:32 pm
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Liamo Daily Burner Joined: 20 Oct 2006 Total posts: 210 Location: Dublin, Ireland |
I cane see pics coz photobuxket is blocked in work, but its a good tale very well told!!
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Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 10:15 am
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| p51bombay Joined: 23 Jan 2004 Total posts: 10152 |
What's going on with the lettering? 
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Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 3:27 pm
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mikejeff Mmm, Fully Synthetic! Joined: 11 Feb 2007 Total posts: 1321 Location: the glen of rothes. |
looks nice ,but you need to cut that mudguard and throw away those indicators 
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Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 9:46 pm
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3maDaily Burner Joined: 27 Mar 2004 Total posts: 146 Location: chad |
did,nt know about jim passing away , when was this and how , bit shocked thats all only went up a couple of years ago and bought some fork springs off him looked ok then
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Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2008 3:26 pm
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TCSunday Rider Joined: 09 Nov 2007 Total posts: 27 |
| mikejeff wrote: |
| looks nice ,but you need to cut that mudguard and throw away those indicators |
The idea was to keep her as close to standard as possible, paint included. Of course the zorsts aren't standard but it proved impossible to get a decent set of original pipes (plus the Allspeeds look better and are in the spirit of the era  )
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Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 9:44 am
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TCSunday Rider Joined: 09 Nov 2007 Total posts: 27 |
| 3ma wrote: |
| did,nt know about jim passing away , when was this and how , bit shocked thats all only went up a couple of years ago and bought some fork springs off him looked ok then |
Hope I haven't been speaking out of turn. I tried to get in touch with him at the shop when I needed bits this time round but there was no reply. Asking on here somebody told me he'd passed away. I had a lot of cups of tea and chats with Jim on my shopping trips, top bloke 
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Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 9:46 am
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Post subject: Elsie lives!
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TCSunday Rider Joined: 09 Nov 2007 Total posts: 27 |
A rebuild is never simple, is it? BDK renewed the centre pin and of course the two inner flywheels had worn as well, and the T/S main bearing was the wrong type with an offset anti-rotation pin. Ah, the joys of "reconditioned" cranks and the necessity of finding someone you can actually trust!
A couple of evenings skinned knuckles later the final bits were being bolted in place, kick it over to make sure it's OK and the kickstart just goes down without turning the engine. Lean the bike over to save draining the new gearbox oil and pop the cover off to have a look. You know what's next, don't you?
Lean bike further and spend 15 minutes with paper towels....
The friction clip on the kickstart pawl has broken (NLA from Yamaha of course). At least Stinkwheels have a used kickstart pawl assy I can have.
And joy of joys she's back, crackle crackle ring ding Off to annoy some motorists, oh joy we're 17 again bwahahaha. Bit rich on carburation, drop the needles back to the standard 3rd groove and resolve to get some more miles in to loosen her up before heading back to BDK in a few weeks for a dyno run and set up the carburation properly.
Watch for the blue smoke 
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Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 5:15 pm
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mikejeffMmm, Fully Synthetic! Joined: 11 Feb 2007 Total posts: 1321 Location: the glen of rothes. |
it's a good feeling eh
just got mine on the road ,fair brings back the memories
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Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 7:35 am
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