This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Off topic- rd restoration

Joined Aug 2006
144 Posts | 0+
Pickerington OH home of the AMA
I am in the middle of restoring a 1977 rd400 2 stroke twin, I need some input on paint. I sandblasted the frame and decided to powder coat the frame instead of regular automotive paint and clear coat, as powder coating is more durable. rest of bike will be paint and clear coat. i chose the "bike black" color with the mirror finish. Now i know in 1977 they didn't make a mirror finish in coating, but as I found out powder coating has come a long way since then. i know it will be hard to see in the pics i took, but i was wondering if its not too much of a shine. like i said its almost like looking into a mirror with a black background. again hard to tell in the pics. rest of bike will be factory colors, in this case "chappy red" which will be done this week, will post pics when i get them. When I picked the frame up i found out they put 2 coats on, its nice and thick but now you cannot read the id # on the steering head, plus the sticker from the factory on the steering head didn't make it thru the baking process. stickers were used back then as opposed to the plates they use today. anyway look at the pics and let me know what you think. I will include some other pics as i started taking pics about half way thru the tear down.as for the motor here are my plans. cylinders were on the original bore, had some blow by on the old pistons so I bought some new wiesco's and sent them for boring. porting and polishing intake and exhaust ports, but not to the point of needing to run racing fuel, but will need to replace main jets. would love to find some bassani expansion chambers, but looks like i may have to settle for DG as they seem to be the only ones you can get new. the final mod will be to add boyesen power rad's. with all that i'm gonna start i figure I will need to go up at least 3 sizes on main, but won't know for sure till its done and I'm tuning it. If i am forgetting anything let me know or if you want to give additional suggestions it would be appreciated. oh and the yz 490 pic is there just in case anyone wants it. its going to have a for sale sign on her this spring. its really clean and still on the original bore, been ridden 3 seasons total. kicker spring is new but came off so that needs fixxed. hard starting now, but haven't looked into why, but once its going you better be hanging on........
 
I uploaded the pics to my gallery, for some reason i couldn't attach any pics to my message. maybe cuz my puter hasn't been restarted in about a month....LOL
 
You may want to invest in a good thread chasing set to clean out the powder coat from any weld on nuts, threads etc. Hopefully you installed some sacraficial bolts in any threaded areas to keep most of the powdercoat out of them.
 
unfortunately I didn't so i will be getting a metric tap and die set.might come in handy else where ya never know. although I haven't needed on in 46 years........but ya never know.... powdercoated the inside of the steering column too........gonna get new roller bearings couldn't imagine trying to get a set of jesus balls seated back
 
Fun little bikes,these RDs.Be careful to fully service the brake calipers as those old steel ones are always sticking.Spend your money on a solid engine,rear shocks and premium tires.
Remember the footpeg bracket goes under the pipes and if you ground out you will get chucked over the high side faster than you can blink. :D
 

Register CTA

Register on Husaberg Forum! This sidebar will go away, and you will see fewer ads.

Recent Discussions