Category: Motorcycles

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TZ250E Project

I have a 1978 TZ250E

It is a Yamaha formula 2 racing motorcycle. It has been ridden hard over the years and it has somewhat of a racing pedigree from here in the northwest. Bruce Lind originally purchased it from Yamaha. I have the tuning notes for racing it at Daytona and other tracks of note. Bruce sold the bike to Mike Sullivan who raced it for a few years. Mike Sullivan sold it to Ray Doane who managed to break a few bones racing it for a few years. I purchased it from Ray Doane about 1987.

I never transferred title to it because I did not want to lose the title in Mike Sullivan’s name.

Here is my dilemma. The motorcycle has a racing heritage with a couple ow well known riders here in the northwest.

  • Do I keep it as a racebike?
  • Do I restore it as a racebike? 
  • Do I convert it for street use?

What would you do?

PCA_6896

 

A Little bit about Mike Sullivan is here:
http://www.wsmchof.com/mike-sullivan.html

A Little bit about Bruce Lind is here:
http://www.wsmchof.com/bruce-lind.html

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Electronic Ignition

I am looking for electronic ignition for my RD350

Here are some of the systems I have found:

The Dyna-S is the simplest, replacing only the points:

http://www.economycycle.com/servlet/the-889/Dyna-S-Ignition-for/Detail

I am not familiar with MZB, but It also looks to have a replacement charging system

http://www.economycycle.com/servlet/the-13/MZB-CDI-Electronic-Igntion/Detail

The Chinoy system, looks the most complete with a new charging system. The RD350 uses an old style relay based voltage regulator, and I have troubles with the brushes now and then.

http://www.economycycle.com/servlet/the-298/RDDreams-Chinoy-Digital-Ignition/Detail

I have the German PVL system on my TZ250E but it lacks a charging coil to run the lights, which are somewhat required on a street bike.

http://www.pentonracingproducts.com/pvl.htm

And this one I just found while looking for the PVL system

http://www.pentonracingproducts.com/powerdynamo.htm

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Operation RD350 has begun

I have finally started the project of resurrecting my RD350B.
I did start it today, it runs fine, but cosmetically, it needs cleaning and polishing.
The transmission shifts hard, and the tires need to be balanced. I should probably get new smaller dimension tires.
Nothing beats the smell of 110 octane with Yamalube R, well maybe Castrol R, but that is not the best to run in this bike.