Yamaha RD 350 F2 '88 - Part 7 - Front fork maintenance

One of my RD's front fork seals was leaking oil through. To fix it I went and ordered a new seal kit from eBay made by Tourmax (FSD-002), which included both front fork seals and dust covers. I also replaced two metal slides (51L-23125-00 and 10V-23135-00) on both shocks, which help keep air inside the shock. I used same fork oil, Valvoline 10, as I used with my T250J front fork. While I had triple trees off the bike I went and greased both upper and lower steering ball bearings with a multipurpose grease.

Front fork seals and dust covers made by Tourmax.

Right front shock disassembled.
Note that there is one piece missing from this picture.
Right where the dotted line is supposed to be an O-ring
(10V-23147-00), but which is actually a washer.

New fork seals and dust covers in place.

Yamaha RD 350 F2 '88 - Part 4 - Simple bolt-on mods

One thing that needed changing in my RD was the narrow handlebar it came with. The old handlebar I had on the bike was only 740 mm wide. Fortunately my local motorcycle parts store had a nice low and significantly wider tapered handlebar made by Emgo for sale with a discount. Emgo's are quite a bit cheaper than let's say handlebars made by Renthal or Magura but with a 50 percent discount this one was bargain not to miss.

I had a problem with fitting stock control switches on the new handlebar since they were too wide. Fatbar handlebars tend to have quite narrow control length since they are mostly used on motocross and enduro bikes. I had to buy a pair of slim bar ends and choose a narrow set of grips to make most of the narrow control length and widen it a bit. Fortunately it helped and everything fitted at the end. Luckily stock cables were also long enough and I didn't have to do any mods to them. You can find those slim bar ends from eBay if you have a similar problem. 

I also wanted to replace those old mirrors I had on the bike. Agila makes a nice looking and cheap pair of mirrors which fitted nicely without any adapters.

New fatbar made by Emgo (7075 CR low bend).

Pair of Slim Bar Ends made by Bike It.

Pair of Agila mirrors.

Left side mirror unboxed.

Pair of Domino grips.

New parts installed. Total width 860 mm with slim bar ends.

Closeup.

GoPro Hero with a handlebar mount?

Yamaha RD 350 F2 '88 - Part 1 - New daily driver for summer

It has been a while since my last post but last week I picked up a new bike for a daily driver as my other bikes are still in pieces. Rear frame of it was modified to fit a shorter person so I'm planning on  changing it back to the original look. I'll also try to make it look a bit better for my taste so stay tuned.

Some specifications of my new ride:

Make and model:     Yamaha RD 350 F2
Year:                            1988
Engine:                       Parallel twin cylinder, liquid cooled, 2-stroke
Capacity:                   347 cc
Bore x stroke:            64 mm x 54 mm
Compression ratio:   6,0 : 1
Max power:               56 hp at 9000 rpm
Max torque:               41,2 Nm at 8800 rpm
Transmission:            6 speed
Drive:                         Chain
Fuel system:              2 x 26 mm Mikuni carburetors
Fuel capacity:           18 litres
Front suspension:     Air assisted 35 mm telescopic forks with variable damping and 140 mm
                                     wheel travel
Rear suspension:      Rising-rate Monocross suspension with 5-way preload and 100 mm
                                     wheel travel
Front brakes:             2 x 260 mm brake disc with 2 piston calipers
Rear brake:                260 mm brake disc with 1 piston caliper
Front tire:                   90/90-18
Rear tire:                    110/90-18
Dry/wet weight:      142 kg / 156 kg

Some pictures I took today: