Is motorcycling allowed?

[Andymann]

The LC's are really difficult to restore now - most of the ones you find have had the crank rebuilt without the Yamaha main bearings which have a groove in them with a locating peg.  The bearings eventually start rotating in the cases and wear them out.  New engine cases are almost impossible to find.

[Andymann]

My first one looked like this.

 

http://www.rd350lc.net/4L082black.jpg

I had one like that too - bought it in Durban in '92 I think.  Proceeded to paint it Ferrari red with gold wheels.  Cool in the day, but I shudder to think now what I did!

[Wannabe]

Agree, will be difficult to rebuild an original one. Luckily there is still lots of Banshee motors around. Not ideal, but a workable solution.

 

Neil Smith of NS Two Stroke in Benoni has got good contacts in UK, he can lots of spares from there.

[Andymann]

Agree, will be difficult to rebuild an original one. Luckily there is still lots of Banshee motors around. Not ideal, but a workable solution.

 

Neil Smith of NS Two Stroke in Benoni has got good contacts in UK, he can lots of spares from there.

The thing I have found though, and I first noticed it with the YPVS, then on the 200 and now too on the 125 - they are all lovely bikes, but you cant deny technology has moved on, and they are great for reviving some memories, but essentially they really aren't as good as I remember when I was 18. Couple that to the fact that you can't ride them everyday because even a small little off will destroy impossible to find plastics, levers and mirrors, and you end up with a garage full of expensive memories.  I've ridden the 200R a grand total of 6 times since I rebuilt it - when I was at University, my 175 took me everywhere.  Now, I couldn't be bothered to find a backpack, put on long pants and closed shoes, and fight with electric gate remotes while wearing gloves, just to go and buy milk.

 

My BWizz with its electric start and storage under the seat is much more practical!

[Andymann]

I bet, that if you get some of these 50cc collectors alone, and ask them to be really honest, they will all admit that paying R30k for an RZ50 seemed like a good idea at the time but actually they are nowhere as good as we all remember them to be!

[Wannabe]

As you say, the nostalgia of it all.

If I had the money to burn, I'll look at getting an R3 and transplant a worked YPVS motor into it. Best of both worls. 

[Grebel]

The thing I have found though, and I first noticed it with the YPVS, then on the 200 and now too on the 125 - they are all lovely bikes, but you cant deny technology has moved on, and they are great for reviving some memories, but essentially they really aren't as good as I remember when I was 18. Couple that to the fact that you can't ride them everyday because even a small little off will destroy impossible to find plastics, levers and mirrors, and you end up with a garage full of expensive memories.  I've ridden the 200R a grand total of 6 times since I rebuilt it - when I was at University, my 175 took me everywhere.  Now, I couldn't be bothered to find a backpack, put on long pants and closed shoes, and fight with electric gate remotes while wearing gloves, just to go and buy milk.

 

My BWizz with its electric start and storage under the seat is much more practical!

 

What 200R is that Andy?

[Andymann]

As you say, the nostalgia of it all.

If I had the money to burn, I'll look at getting an R3 and transplant a worked YPVS motor into it. Best of both worls. 

And it would be a whole lot of fun to do, but after reading this, my guess is that you might still get a big scare from one of these!

 

"

That’s right – those meddling Eurocrats are indirectly responsible for probably the two most exciting sub-500cc naked bikes we’ve seen in decades.

I wrote once about the KTM RC390 that it was the closest thing we have today to two-strokes of the ‘80s and ‘90s, and some readers reacted like I’d defiled the memory of their first love.

I stand by it, and think the same is true of the 390 Duke, the orginal naked version of the RC390 using the same engine and chassis. Of course it’s very different – it’s a four-stroke single – but it makes 43.5hp and weighs 139kg dry, putting it near enough in RD350LC territory (47hp and 143kg according to RD350LC.net).

Basically, there’s nothing else on the market this small which goes this fast, with the possible exception of Yamaha's MT-03, the naked version of the R3.  "

[Andymann]

This, on the other hand, is going to be pretty special.....

 

http://www.morebikes.co.uk/honda-cbr250rr-mega-gallery-launch-colours-mv-type-special-revealed-video/

[Andymann]

And it would be a whole lot of fun to do, but after reading this, my guess is that you might still get a big scare from one of these!

 

"

That’s right – those meddling Eurocrats are indirectly responsible for probably the two most exciting sub-500cc naked bikes we’ve seen in decades.

I wrote once about the KTM RC390 that it was the closest thing we have today to two-strokes of the ‘80s and ‘90s, and some readers reacted like I’d defiled the memory of their first love.

I stand by it, and think the same is true of the 390 Duke, the orginal naked version of the RC390 using the same engine and chassis. Of course it’s very different – it’s a four-stroke single – but it makes 43.5hp and weighs 139kg dry, putting it near enough in RD350LC territory (47hp and 143kg according to RD350LC.net).

Basically, there’s nothing else on the market this small which goes this fast, with the possible exception of Yamaha's MT-03, the naked version of the R3.  "

http://www.visordown.com/road-tests/back-back-test-yamaha-mt-03-vs-ktm-duke-390-review

[Andymann]

What 200R is that Andy?

The DT200R I built a few months ago.

[Grebel]

The DT200R I built a few months ago.

 

Ah OK. Thought you might have been holding out on us with a Honda 200R....

[Andymann]

Ah OK. Thought you might have been holding out on us with a Honda 200R....

Something with valves?  Only toilets have valves :-)

[Grebel]

Something with valves?  Only toilets have valves :-)

 

 

My Honda 200R is stripped and gathering dust.... Need to make a move on it soon otherwise I am going to forget where all the parts go....

[Andymann]

 

My Honda 200R is stripped and gathering dust.... Need to make a move on it soon otherwise I am going to forget where all the parts go....

That's sadly what happens.  Life gets in the way.  My little 125 was also stripped, labelled and neatly packed away and the guy just never got around to putting it back together.  I eventually got it for a song.

 

In 1980 my Dad imported a bike from the UK - a 1957 BSA 500 Gold Star - he had one at university and he wanted another one.  In 1981 he stripped it for the big rebuild.  Sadly, it's still in pieces 36 years later.

[Grebel]

That's sadly what happens.  Life gets in the way.  My little 125 was also stripped, labelled and neatly packed away and the guy just never got around to putting it back together.  I eventually got it for a song.

 

In 1980 my Dad imported a bike from the UK - a 1957 BSA 500 Gold Star - he had one at university and he wanted another one.  In 1981 he stripped it for the big rebuild.  Sadly, it's still in pieces 36 years later.

 

That's what I am afraid of... I had have big plans..... 

 

Might actually just clean it, put it back together and go thrash it in the bush.... Forgo the restoration for now.....