| "Buzz" |
 |
|
|
| I bought Buzz two months after Darth for two main reasons. It will help me with the rebuild of the 76 bike and I have got something to ride this summer, when I pass my Canadian test. Darth has already donated some parts. I don't think the seat on Buzz was the original one, the mufflers had holes drilled in the back end, a few bolts were incorrect and I prefer an upright riding position, so I swapped the Handlebars over. |
| This is Buzz in January of '01 The latest project is to try and get the brakes working, a common problem. Both calipers are seized up and both master cylinders need attention. If I can get the parts at a reasonable rate, I will overhaul all the brake components on Darth aswell. |
| It's dark down here! |
| 1977 Yamaha RD400D |
| The bike in January 2001 |
| The decals have now arrived from PGM, so the next photo's will show them applied. As it is still around -20 at night, they will not be applied for another month or two. |
| Page updated - 10th September '03 |
| May '01 Update. This month I have just finished most of the jobs on the bike. What I thought would be the hardest job was the brakes and the most frustrating was applying the decals. A few night's ago I fitted the decals, a nightmare of a job. There must be some tricks of the trade to make it easier, being my first time it was no fun. I have managed to limit the number of bubbles and creases to a few but I know where they are! The decals look OK on the bike but I'm not 100% happy with the outcome. It has been a learning process rebuilding the brakes and now it's done I have the knowledge and confidence to tackle the job again. New calipers are not now available, so keep your old ones! I had problems getting them apart as I haven't yet got a vise. I bolted the caliper to it's mounting so I could put some leverage on the very tight bolts and I used a compressor to pump the pistons out. The seal kits are still available and are easy to fit. The master cylinders were cleaned up and the front one was given a fresh coat of paint. I want to rebuild them at some point with new seals. Everything was reassembled and the bleeding began. It didn't take long to get the front brake working but the back brake caused me problems. After 15 minutes of pumping the pedal, I still couldn't get any fluid through to my glass jar! I never thought to check the bleed nipple and this turned out to be my problem, it was blocked. I put in another one and the problem was solved. Various lights have been replaced, luckily some items are interchangable with other models, for example tail lights and turn signals. I have even got the correct rear rubber mounts for the tank, I found a set on a DT250. A new rear tyre was fitted and a replacement horn finished the job off. Now all that is left to do is get the bike insured & taxed, take my Canadian motorcycle test then lookout Edmonton! |
| I'm really pleased with the results of my hard work and am now looking forward to riding it. I'm sorry the scaned photo's don't do it justice, I'll keep working on that. My attention will now turn to Dusty and Darth. The DT needs some electrical work done and my other RD needs alot of parts! Who knows, another bike could join them! |
|
|
|
| July 5th 01 Update Now the bike is on the road I'm having to sort out minor problems. 1. It appears the new battery I bought had a couple of bad cells, so that has been replaced. 2. I'm having alot of trouble with the rear caliper. On my first few rides the rear brake would lock up after a about five miles. The second time it happened I was taking my bike test! For now I have adjusted it so it just comes on with the front brake doing most of the work. I have now tried two calipers with the same result so attention is turning to the master cylinder which seems to have a leak. |
| Bad News (10:08:01) Returning from work today, the engine on Buzz died. It has done this twice before but restarted. Only this time I couldn't even kick it over. The kick starter was jammed, the engine had seized. After a few hours and a couple of beers, I took the cylinder heads off to see a holed piston on the left side. I have alot of other bike projects going at the moment to pay off my latest purchases, so the RD will probably have to wait until the winter for a rebuild. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| June 16th 02: Buzz still remains untouched while I attend to my other Yamaha projects. The engine rebuild will probably be put back until this winter. This RD is still one of my favorites bike's. |
| 20th Feb '03: Buzz will shortly be taking a trip west to the surgery of Dr Froese, RD350 LC Drag racer. Where he will perform a postmortum on my piston. Once the cause of the failure is found, he will transplant the required parts to aid a full recovery. |
 |
 |