Two stroke memories

in my experience that adjustment has to be Right on the money.... make sure the throttle cable is routed properly so the casing of the cable has some slack in it before adjusting the cable.... and those split cables could alwayse mess up... the thick end of the cable could get above the plastic slider and give you trouble that way too.... if the cable seams too short that is probably the problem !
.....
I spent hundreds of hours porting and polishing 2 stroke bike engines, the ones that showed the biggest improvement were the old DT1 Yamaha 250cc bikes of old... they had a pressed in steel sleeve as the cylinder bore and it did not match the aluminum cylinder ports very well
but you could remove a bunch of metal and make that baby breath allot better ! , Suzuki 250's of the day were very well matched as were Kawasaki 250's but Yamaha's really sucked big time... which is surprising given how well they went ! , the bigger bore machines all matched fairly good I ported and polished my own A2 Kawasaki twin 350cc and cut the rotary disk valve and that puppy would give a RD a run for the money even though it weighed almost 100 lbs more ! .....
I miss messing with the old 2 stroke machines..... nothing like them for throttle response !
You'll know your RD is running right when you can grab a hand full of throttle and wheelie..... no dumping of the clutch needed on them.
heheheheheh
...I liked running the spark plugs ,all my 2 strokes "chocolate brown".... not tan... brown and they lasted a good long time for me! and the carbon buildup was no more than normal that I could tell....
and DO NOT use outboard motor 2 cycle oil in your bike ....ever.... it needs to be for AIR COOLED Engines not water cooled.
.... you'll knock out the big end of the rods using that outboard 2 stroke oil...... or seize it. ( 2 cycle oil for chainsaws works great!)
Bob......
 
I loved my RD250B (1975) although the smoke at 7-8000rpm was a bit embarrassing. It had the same decals as the XS650 shown above in jabcb's entry and the base color was maroon. I lusted for the RD250LC models when they hit the market as shown above by ken65 and I still believe they had the best styling of any bike. GT750s are still very highly rated by me and I would buy one if finances permitted, but for now its an XS650SH.
 
At last , my rd all registered and out riding.
Nice RD! What model year is it?

Also, one of the manufacturers figured out how to do direct fuel injection for low $$$ via the transfer ports. With a bit of luck they might come out with some new bikes for the old-guy two stroke crowd.
 
That would be nice, but I doubt that anyone could get a two stroke to pass the emissions tests.
 
That would be nice, but I doubt that anyone could get a two stroke to pass the emissions tests.

Hi Pete,
the EPA are like cops, they like easy targets.
The cops prefer to give 5mph+ speeding tickets to elderly ladies over getting into gunfights with gangsters
and while the EPA shies off ticketing the millions of soot-belching diesel-engine transport trucks on the US highways
for the rider of a 2-stroke motorcycle "It shall be as if a thousand of brick has fell on him"
 
Nice RD! What model year is it?

Also, one of the manufacturers figured out how to do direct fuel injection for low $$$ via the transfer ports. With a bit of luck they might come out with some new bikes for the old-guy two stroke crowd.
Howdy. It's January 81. The 80 model had problems with the header cracking at the inlet so they reinforced them and added engine bracing underneath for the 81 model.
 
KTM transfer port injection two stroke: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/motorcycles/a27046/ktm-two-stroke-transfer-port-injection-tpi/
gallery-1498162848-ktm-250-300-exc-tpi-my-2018-engine-01.jpg
 
My uncle, (turning 70 this year) is the original owner of a 1971 H1-500 Kawasaki Mach III which he bought new in 1971. He traded a 1967 Triumph 500 Tiger for it. I think the retail price in Canada for the Kawi in 1971 was either $1095 or $1195.

I rode it once or twice and it was pretty ordinary below about 4500 RPM, but above 5K - HOLY SH!T :yikes:

The noise from below the tank became alarming, the front wheel started skipping off the ground and everything behind me...simply...disappeared in a cloud of dense blue smoke.

It was truly, a wild, uncivilized machine that lived up to its reputation as:
  • a very peaky 60 HP engine;
  • in a 30 HP frame;
  • with 12 HP brakes.
Don't get me wrong, it's not that I didn't like the H1-500 - but I had traded my Uncle Dave a ride on my 1979 Suzuki GS850G shaftie (a big, heavy, smooth, powerful, torquey, cushy tourer with excellent triple disk hydraulic brakes) for his H1 - and it was quite a shocker.

Anyhow, he still has it, and he rides it a few miles every year - and it has never been wrecked, rebuilt or dropped.


G'day Pete,

When the Mach1 came out in OZ it was $999. Now if you want one you start at $10,000.

Absolute widow maker, but, man what a rush.

GW
 
My first experience with the H2 750 Kawasaki triple was after a tune up....and I took it for a spin.....
it almost pulled the handle bars out of my hands it pulled so hard ! I've always had a very strong grip but that beast was so strong all I had left in my hands was the top knuckles of each hand ! ..... not to mention the front wheel was in the air about 5 inches or so the entire time....
i have ridden fast bikes in my time but nothing as fast as that H2 750 ! I even rode turbocharged KZ 900 Kawasaki machines that were famous around Reno as being the fastest thing on the road, not even formula 1 Race cars could accelerate as fast as it could..... and it weren't but 3/4 of what that H2 could do ......anything that sounds like a Jet has gott'a be great Right ? HAHAHAHA!
I've ridden the H1 500 Kawasaki's even ones with the aftermarket tuned pipes ( what a difference they make !) but they couldn't hold a candle to its bigger brother the H2 750..... they absolutely hauled ass ! ...
i've wanted one every sense that ride and never got one..... probably a good thing , it would have killed me years ago ! HA !
......
Bob..........
 
in my experience that adjustment has to be Right on the money.... make sure the throttle cable is routed properly so the casing of the cable has some slack in it before adjusting the cable.... and those split cables could alwayse mess up... the thick end of the cable could get above the plastic slider and give you trouble that way too.... if the cable seams too short that is probably the problem !
.....
I spent hundreds of hours porting and polishing 2 stroke bike engines, the ones that showed the biggest improvement were the old DT1 Yamaha 250cc bikes of old... they had a pressed in steel sleeve as the cylinder bore and it did not match the aluminum cylinder ports very well
but you could remove a bunch of metal and make that baby breath allot better ! , Suzuki 250's of the day were very well matched as were Kawasaki 250's but Yamaha's really sucked big time... which is surprising given how well they went ! , the bigger bore machines all matched fairly good I ported and polished my own A2 Kawasaki twin 350cc and cut the rotary disk valve and that puppy would give a RD a run for the money even though it weighed almost 100 lbs more ! .....
I miss messing with the old 2 stroke machines..... nothing like them for throttle response !
You'll know your RD is running right when you can grab a hand full of throttle and wheelie..... no dumping of the clutch needed on them.
heheheheheh
...I liked running the spark plugs ,all my 2 strokes "chocolate brown".... not tan... brown and they lasted a good long time for me! and the carbon buildup was no more than normal that I could tell....
and DO NOT use outboard motor 2 cycle oil in your bike ....ever.... it needs to be for AIR COOLED Engines not water cooled.
.... you'll knock out the big end of the rods using that outboard 2 stroke oil...... or seize it. ( 2 cycle oil for chainsaws works great!)
Bob......
Well got the oil set just right, Hardly any smoke once warmed up a bit. Pulls much freer in the higher gears and revs higher aswell
which I'll have to keep an eye on. It was actually way over oiling. Result. Couldn't be happier.
 
GOOD DEAL ! it'll go like a Raped ape now ! be careful she don't go over backwards on you when your out farting around on it !
they can do that....unlike most street bikes the RD was an animal ! HAHAHAHAH!
....Bob.......
 
LOL everything done on the RD 350 is Quick ! HEHEHHE Great photo Ken !
with the baffles in the exhaust pipes will soak up the engine oil allot faster we always took the baffles out of our 2 strokes
the exhaust pipes in most 2 strokes the mufflers were wrapped in fiberglass matting inside and that gets permeated in time and too heavy and soaked to do it's job... when that happens it's time to drill out the pop rivets and take it all apart and re wrap the fiberglass matting with new stuff.... some however were designed not to come apart ... so kind'a depends on what ya got !
.....
Bob......
 
Hoping to make some new memories with this when its finished. I was working on it over the last few days and could not resist slapping it together to see what it looked like.
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2017_1211fireplace0003comp.jpg

Still a lot of work before it will be running but the day is getting closer.
 
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