had one of these it smoked like a chimney, constantly fouled plugs, anywhere near water the points would conk out. It was generally an all round horrible bike
In a sea of comments wondering why it smokes so much, me explaining why and complaining about the ignition system you are the only one who feels my pain, lol. I was starting to go crazy reading all the comments. The other day I had to take a time out and search google and sure enough found an advrider forum thread confirming the problems. I wouldn't say it's a horrible bike, but it made me want to own the newest generation of the motor in the form of a Banshee or RD to see what it was actually supposed to run like, properly.
@@mjodr your bike runs well and the smoke cleaned up when it got warm looked normal. If your really burning oil the level will get low and youll foul plugs with the oil on it. Is the ignition very different? I guess RDs once you set them up are fairly reliable, after replacing points and both seals i only foul plugs if i idle with choke on for too long. I also premix no oil pump but that shouldnt affect anything. Aircooledrd forum is best
@@RDEnduro This was 6 years ago, I don't own the bike anymore. The ignition is different from the RD probably. It's a very old and rudimentary points system. I never fouled any plugs riding it around, but also I don't let any of my 2-strokes just idle and load up. I rev the crap out of them, like what I see Honda and other two stroke engineers do with their factory 2-strokes. Since this was 6 years ago my memory is failing me on whether or not this was still factory oil pump or my 32:1 premix setup I had on it later, as you will see in the comments I couldn't remember either, lol. I preferred it premixed, as I prefer everything else premix. My latest two stroke I converted to premix is my 175 Evinrude outboard and it has never run better, and it doesn't smoke AT ALL (hard to believe? huh? 🤣)
Good grief, sounds like you gave up. The oiling is easily fixed by shimming the oil pump properly. I did a frame restoration on this very model. You missed out.
Bought one new in June 1972; was a very sexy looking motorcycle but early on gave me trouble with fouled plugs and found out that it was never setup correctly. Another dealer 30 miles away reworked it, added some special doodads to the Autolube pump setup which magically cured the fouling problems,synchronized the carburetors correctly, set the timing at factory specifications. Just required a little TLC and then the R5 ran like a dream for years after this! A truly superb 350cc motorcycle from Yammamatsu, Japan. ❤❤😂
Thanks for the Memories,I had one just like it (72).I put on a pair of J & R expansion chambers and dropped a tooth on the counter shaft sprocket.It was a good motorcycle.
Just bought its little brother a yds7 which i had as a 17 year old, exactly the same gold and black in good condition, 69 now but this bike takes me back to my youth, i just had to have it.👍
That sounds really fun! Yamaha made quite a bit of cool two-stroke bikes over the years, and nobody talks about them other than the RD350. I spent a few months making a spreadsheet with all the models and specs and I'm counting 157 different models!!!
I posted a comment here 3 weeks ago about my 1970 R5 fouling plugs, but since then, I remembered a customer I had on my paper route, a older man, and he was just getting into motorcycling. He wanted to go touring with his wife. So he purchased a new 1971 R5, yellow/white. Occasionally I would see him when I was delivering my papers and I would talk to him about the bike. After a few months I remember him saying he had it in the shop several times due to fouling, he wasn't very happy about it. A week later, as I went by his house, I noticed a brand new Honda CB500 Four in his driveway, and after talking with him in the months after that, he was very happy with the 500. And after all my years of cycling, I look back to that time and think that the 500 should have been his first choice for touring.
By the time the banshee rolled out I think they figured it out, but back in the day when it was new it would have been frustrating trying to mess with that vintage ignition system. I contemplated putting a modern CDI ignition system on it several times, but it was just too perfect of a full restoration and I sold it while still 100% original. Cheers.
I can't believe I've never seen this video till now. Beautiful & excellent showing! This was my first motorcycle that I got in 2001. I staged tuned it and really got it to rip and run excellent.. 100% reliable. First kick every time. With DG expansion Chambers and blueprinted cylinder porting, it would happily go 103mph flat out on a closed course. The biggest problem on that entire motorcycle was the clutch had trouble holding once you turned up the power. The best cure is to transplant an RD350 clutch into it which fits without issue. Not sure if you still have this machine but any questions, let me know. 🏁
I sold it still 100% bone stock because I didn't want to ruin the value doing all the mods I wanted to do making it modern and more reliable. I really didn't like the stock points ignition system. The person who restored the motor didn't do a very good job so when I pulled it apart I wanted to do it all over again, but I decided to just bolt it back up and move on. It was very fun riding it around as much as I did. I'm a die hard two stroke guy and this is right up my alley.
@@mjodr Cool, those bikes are indeed blasts. Mine was modified but it looked 100% stock except for the expansion Chambers which complimented the bike really well. I've had half a dozen Yamaha two-stroke twins and would not trade the points for anything, they just work too well when set up properly. As long as the point actuator cam is not rotted and pitted, the system works perfectly fine. Good luck👍
Likely burning transmission oil through a crank end seal, had that problem on my 1971 (in 1975)... I had a smokescreen wherever I went. Left a lot of Harleys and CB 750's in that smoke, tho...
Great looking bike! I had a 1972 DS7 250 as a teenager, don't remember it smoking that much but that was almost 50 tears ago now so who knows haha. Quck little bike and lotsa fun! 👍
Bought a 1970 r5. Previous owner had not had it running. Sat out in the weather for the last ten years. Brought it home, three hours had it running. Got stupid on the throttle, smacked me like a fly swatter and I put it away in the shed 10 years ago.
I've definitely ridden bikes with more power, but if you really aren't prepared for that 2-stroke pipe hit it can hit you off-guard. I bet it still runs.......
I owned this same R5B Yamaha. I bought it used for $500 in 1973. Painted it black which worked well. Switched to synthetic oil which made a HUGE difference. Used two automotive coils with upgraded spark plug boots that improved the ignition nicely. Then went to rear sets and slightly straightened, shortened handlebars that made it fit me perfectly. K&N rear replacement shocks. Dunlop TT100 tires. Put a lot of miles on it and had a blast. The one thing that I never quite liked was the ring-ding-ding-ding-ding throttle blip. That just sounded so lame.
Go through the process! Check timing, carburetors, fuel flow, etc. As I recall the R5 was a piston port motor ( no Reed valves) and not like the 250's or 350's and 400's.
worked at Yamaha dealership, pulled prank on coworker that had R5, swapped clutch cable and front brake cable, slipped an additional spring onto front brake cable and adjusted so felt close to normal clutch feel just slightly softer, then watched as he repeatedly put in gear and stalled, finally figured it out and lota swearing but us laughing just made him madder
Yeah, you are right. I had a habit from my YZ250 with an aftermarket expansion chamber that really did not like being cold at all. Also, I just do it for fun and it lets me get an idea if I am close on the carb tuning before taking off and having obvious flat spots that will make the ride horrible. But, I mean, it did feel significantly different from cold to fully warmed up. Just way easier to ride "cold" than other motors. The expansion chambers are more linear and work down low, instead of being a peaky monster. For the general public to just hop on and ride on the street, I assume.
Oil injection? (Stock setup.) Are you sucking oil from the crank seals? On second thought, certain oils tend to really smoke on cold engines, e.g. “Torco T2 injector”, which I ran years ago in the Kawasaki F7. The cloud upon taking off in the morning was awe-inspiring.
Like I think I said in some other comments, the stock oil pump from the restoration done by the PO was definitely pumping too much oil, but I can't remember if on this video I was running the stock oil injection pump or had already converted it all over to premix. On longer rides when I really got heat into the heads it would clean up a bit, but for sure was still more smokey than all the other 2 stroke motors I have owned and bugged the crap out of me. For example I have 2 stroke Evinrude 175 on my boat right now and once I got all the issues sorted out it doesn't smoke at all. At first I thought it was normal for these old 2 stroke outboards to smoke a bunch because lots of other outboards I see will do it, turns out they do it because they are way out of tune and essentially half broken, lol.
To all the trolls; Yes it smokes, its a 2 stroke. They all smoked. I had one in Law School. It was reliable, only occasionally fouling plugs (I also kept a spare set onboard), handled GREAT, and went like a bat out of hell for a 350. I wish I still had it.
I think maybe some of the commenters haven't owned a two stroke, lol. At least not an old one. To be fair, the 5 other two strokes I owned didn't smoke as much, but they were also more modern. I do the best I can tuning and maintaining everything I own. When this air cooled bike got really hot in summer it was almost smoke free, but I never took video of that. Anyways, thanks for addressing the trolls. P.S. my hair style and clothes were atrocious. I will take shots on that all day. I was going through a phase, lol. Bring it on trolls!
Got a 72 R5 a couple days ago, very good shape, will do a mechanical freshen up with new top end, tires, carb overhaul, brake freshen, battery, fuel system and overall clean up, doesn"t need any major stuff...little over 9k miles
Timing was a struggle with that thing. Simple mechanical system, but needed precise setup. If I own one again I would probably have to go digital ignition.
I had the 1970 R5 back in the day, the bike was always fouling plugs! I only had it for 5 months before it got stolen. But for years after I knew people that had R5's and early RD's, and they also had fouling issues. But it seemed that it was not the plugs, it was the coils! Replacing the coils fixed it for awhile. It seemed that Yamaha had very poor quality coils, and some of the owners I knew were putting on "car coils" to remedy the issue. Any of those owners out there, that were back in the day, find this also to be the case?
This bike is fully stock and restored and yes the ignition system was weak and wore out quick before points needed to be filed and readjusted again. Maybe the coil was weak, dunno. After working on it a few times I realized just how far we have come on modern ignition systems. Wow, like light years ahead of that design now. Now I know why when I was a kid all the old guys would chat about points ignition systems like this one.
I had the same bike when I was 15. I loved it. Mine also fouled plugs until I took it back to the dealer and they told me I wasn't running it hard enough, revving it high enough. They said it was more of a race engine than street. Once I started letting it Rev higher, I didn't have plug problems any more.
It wasn't until I bought my Suzuki T500 II that I realized how impractical the Yam R% was as a daily rider. The Suzook was miles better by any criteria. And most lasted twice as long as any Yam with its crude Autolube compared to Suzuki's superb PosiForce system.
I never rode the Suzuki, but I won't argue with the Yamaha being impractical for commuting. I never put more than a couple hundred miles on it trying to give it the benefit of the doubt. Even my XR650R was a better commuter, and that's a full dirt bike, lol.
My cousin had one and needed me to look into a carburator problem. Never seen such bad engineering! Obviously gave no thought into ease of maintenance access hardware. Plus? The exhaust system sounded like a tin-can crusher!
The engineering back then was very crude compared to what we (collectively) figured out later on. It was amazing to see how far we have come by riding and wrenching on this thing. Besides modern EFI boring stuff, we have engineered the ever loving crap out of stuff and come a long way! Still, I bet people were having fun back in the 70's.
Yet those "bad engineered" RD 350s/400s were known for keeping up with a lotta 750s. Read some magazine reviews from back in the day and they raved about 'em!
I mean, it's not slow! I can imagine converting it to semi-dirt mode because that is all I could think while I owned it! I mean, the motor was used in one of the greatest quads of all time...the Banshee. If it wasn't a great restoration I might have actually put a knobby on it because every bike before and since has turned into a "dual-sport"/"enduro". It's just such a cool way to ride.
My first bike (R5F) in 1972. Same look. The brakes were terrible. Sometimes you didn't get a connection to the last gear when accelerating. The engine setting was sensitive. Wrong spark plug and you had a hole in the piston. On hot days, the engine had no power and drank petrol without end. The usable rev range was pathetic. The rear swingarm was mounted in plastic bushings and wobbly after a short time. When installing needle bearings. Then you had peace. The chain was stretched after a short time - had no O-rings. - ... despite everything I loved her. Sold it after two years - I still miss it.
A lot of those things sound familiar, lol. Especially the brakes. They were terrible even in perfect condition and one hard stop was all they could do before they were heatsoaked to the max. I was dying to modify the front drum for more cooling and find pads/shoes that were more aggressive, but never got around to it. It was fun to mess around on for a little while, but I couldn't live with the bike every day.
Quick question just got one of these do you need to use the oil pump or can you just used mixed fuel and with the battery is it just for the lights and stuff or is it a key componet to this bike?
I eventually removed my oil pump and went premix. Unless you want to make sure the pump is working perfectly that's would I would recommend, because when I used the pump it never seemed to mix the right ratio of oil and it was very smokey. I'd recommend to remove the pump and use a block off plate so it doesn't eventually spin dry. I ran 32:1 for safety and possibly better ring sealing/power, but you could probably get away with 40:1 because it was still a smoke show when cold and I smelled like oil getting off it every time, but that's half the fun lol. Good question on the electricals. I'm not sure if it's like my other bike where a battery is almost optional. If you do remove the battery you should replace it with a capacitor to smooth out the pulses from the stator. That's a common mod on lots of non e-start bikes. They usually sell capacitor kits for that. It's not a bad idea and I always wanted to try it on my bikes. Tired of maintaining old batteries. There is a small chance that if you just flat out remove the batt you can still start and run the bike, but I'm not totally sure. It's been a while since I owned that bike, so I'm starting to forget! The hardest thing to maintain on this bike was actually the points. Even after I got nice points files and learned how to do them. My next mod was a CDI before I sold it.
currently have a r5 350 but cant get it run and when I did have it running it just kept running away did a bunch of work but cant get it to fire over would love some help if you're willing
Runaway is a vacuum leak and it could be anywhere. You really have to get a leak down tester to check where it's leaking. Not firing at all? Well the timing is hard to do on these things, so get the right tools and make sure it's correct. Determine if it's getting fuel and it should fire. If no fuel it's a carb issue, could be floats or dirty pilot jets. But if you have no compression it's a whole different story. That's pretty easy to test, though.
Haha, yeah. I never quite understood completely why this thing smoked so much. I've never had the same behavior from all my other two stroke engines. It didn't seem to be as simple as just too much oil or too rich on the tuning. Oh well, was fun to smoke out the whole town and smell like oil for 4 hours after getting off it, lol.
@@mjodr Late to the party here, but thanks for uploading this video. I have two RDs and a couple Suzuki GTs. Obviously you've sold this bike, but the reason for its heavy smoking could be a combination of things. Could be rings, an air leak through the crank seals or intake boot, certain 2T oils smoke more than others, or needs an ignition timing adjustment. Ask me how I know! Nonetheless, I hope you get another RD in your future. Hang on to it if you do! They are the most fun I've had with my clothes on, ha! BTW, I got tired of fooling with repeated points/timing adjustments on the RDs so I had the Vape CDI ignition installed on both of them. Wow, what a difference. A strong spark at the right time, every time across the entire RPM curve. No dwell, set it and forget it, more power and a lot less smoke. No regrets. I could care less about affecting their value. I got tired of relying on a 45+ year old ignition system to get me home. The Zukis still have their original ignitions. Strangely enough, they seem to be a lot easier/better for setting (and retaining) their timing adjustments.
@@bluoval3481 Yeah my next step was to upgrade it to CDI since I was tired of the points system. It probably never had a good strong properly timed spark. I stopped myself, though, because the restoration was too nice/correct. Didn't want to ruin it.
had one of these it smoked like a chimney, constantly fouled plugs, anywhere near water the points would conk out. It was generally an all round horrible bike
In a sea of comments wondering why it smokes so much, me explaining why and complaining about the ignition system you are the only one who feels my pain, lol. I was starting to go crazy reading all the comments. The other day I had to take a time out and search google and sure enough found an advrider forum thread confirming the problems.
I wouldn't say it's a horrible bike, but it made me want to own the newest generation of the motor in the form of a Banshee or RD to see what it was actually supposed to run like, properly.
@@mjodr your bike runs well and the smoke cleaned up when it got warm looked normal. If your really burning oil the level will get low and youll foul plugs with the oil on it. Is the ignition very different? I guess RDs once you set them up are fairly reliable, after replacing points and both seals i only foul plugs if i idle with choke on for too long. I also premix no oil pump but that shouldnt affect anything. Aircooledrd forum is best
@@RDEnduro This was 6 years ago, I don't own the bike anymore. The ignition is different from the RD probably. It's a very old and rudimentary points system. I never fouled any plugs riding it around, but also I don't let any of my 2-strokes just idle and load up. I rev the crap out of them, like what I see Honda and other two stroke engineers do with their factory 2-strokes. Since this was 6 years ago my memory is failing me on whether or not this was still factory oil pump or my 32:1 premix setup I had on it later, as you will see in the comments I couldn't remember either, lol.
I preferred it premixed, as I prefer everything else premix. My latest two stroke I converted to premix is my 175 Evinrude outboard and it has never run better, and it doesn't smoke AT ALL (hard to believe? huh? 🤣)
Good grief, sounds like you gave up. The oiling is easily fixed by shimming the oil pump properly. I did a frame restoration on this very model. You missed out.
I purchased this bike new in 1972, 820 dollars, when on to be a mc dealer in 1985, the love of mc will stay with you a life time
Bought one new in June 1972; was a very sexy looking motorcycle but early on gave me trouble with fouled plugs and found out that it was never setup correctly. Another dealer 30 miles away reworked it, added some special doodads to the Autolube pump setup
which magically cured the fouling problems,synchronized the carburetors correctly, set the timing at factory specifications. Just required a little TLC and then the R5 ran like a dream for years after this! A truly superb 350cc motorcycle from Yammamatsu, Japan. ❤❤😂
There were three RD 350's in my neighborhood back in the day. Two of them DG kitted. Always a blue cloud on school day mornings. What a time.
Thanks for the Memories,I had one just like it (72).I put on a pair of J & R expansion chambers and dropped a tooth on the counter shaft sprocket.It was a good motorcycle.
Just bought its little brother a yds7 which i had as a 17 year old, exactly the same gold and black in good condition, 69 now but this bike takes me back to my youth, i just had to have it.👍
That sounds really fun! Yamaha made quite a bit of cool two-stroke bikes over the years, and nobody talks about them other than the RD350. I spent a few months making a spreadsheet with all the models and specs and I'm counting 157 different models!!!
Good enough to show me what my '71 R5 can be like. It was loaded on a truck today and will be here in a few.
Eeeex-Cited !
I posted a comment here 3 weeks ago about my 1970 R5 fouling plugs, but since then, I remembered a customer I had on my paper route, a older man, and he was just getting into motorcycling. He wanted to go touring with his wife. So he purchased a new 1971 R5, yellow/white. Occasionally I would see him when I was delivering my papers and I would talk to him about the bike. After a few months I remember him saying he had it in the shop several times due to fouling, he wasn't very happy about it. A week later, as I went by his house, I noticed a brand new Honda CB500 Four in his driveway, and after talking with him in the months after that, he was very happy with the 500. And after all my years of cycling, I look back to that time and think that the 500 should have been his first choice for touring.
By the time the banshee rolled out I think they figured it out, but back in the day when it was new it would have been frustrating trying to mess with that vintage ignition system. I contemplated putting a modern CDI ignition system on it several times, but it was just too perfect of a full restoration and I sold it while still 100% original. Cheers.
I can't believe I've never seen this video till now.
Beautiful & excellent showing!
This was my first motorcycle that I got in 2001.
I staged tuned it and really got it to rip and run excellent.. 100% reliable. First kick every time.
With DG expansion Chambers and blueprinted cylinder porting, it would happily go 103mph flat out on a closed course.
The biggest problem on that entire motorcycle was the clutch had trouble holding once you turned up the power.
The best cure is to transplant an RD350 clutch into it which fits without issue.
Not sure if you still have this machine but any questions, let me know. 🏁
I sold it still 100% bone stock because I didn't want to ruin the value doing all the mods I wanted to do making it modern and more reliable. I really didn't like the stock points ignition system. The person who restored the motor didn't do a very good job so when I pulled it apart I wanted to do it all over again, but I decided to just bolt it back up and move on. It was very fun riding it around as much as I did. I'm a die hard two stroke guy and this is right up my alley.
@@mjodr
Cool, those bikes are indeed blasts. Mine was modified but it looked 100% stock except for the expansion Chambers which complimented the bike really well. I've had half a dozen Yamaha two-stroke twins and would not trade the points for anything, they just work too well when set up properly. As long as the point actuator cam is not rotted and pitted, the system works perfectly fine. Good luck👍
Sounds great! I had this same bike years ago in NYC. Kept it stock aside from the turn signals and seat. Good luck!
Thanks! Will do!
Gorgeous ! Love the 70's two strokes, happy days !
Many thanks!
Likely burning transmission oil through a crank end seal, had that problem on my 1971 (in 1975)... I had a smokescreen wherever I went. Left a lot of Harleys and CB 750's in that smoke, tho...
Awesome!!! This was my first bike, way back in the '70s :)
Great looking bike! I had a 1972 DS7 250 as a teenager, don't remember it smoking that much but that was almost 50 tears ago now so who knows haha. Quck little bike and lotsa fun! 👍
The 71-72 r5's were the best looking Yamaha 350 by far!
Bought a 1970 r5. Previous owner had not had it running. Sat out in the weather for the last ten years. Brought it home, three hours had it running. Got stupid on the throttle, smacked me like a fly swatter and I put it away in the shed 10 years ago.
I've definitely ridden bikes with more power, but if you really aren't prepared for that 2-stroke pipe hit it can hit you off-guard. I bet it still runs.......
I owned this same R5B Yamaha. I bought it used for $500 in 1973. Painted it black which worked well. Switched to synthetic oil which made a HUGE difference. Used two automotive coils with upgraded spark plug boots that improved the ignition nicely. Then went to rear sets and slightly straightened, shortened handlebars that made it fit me perfectly. K&N rear replacement shocks. Dunlop TT100 tires. Put a lot of miles on it and had a blast. The one thing that I never quite liked was the ring-ding-ding-ding-ding throttle blip. That just sounded so lame.
Two strokes sound awesome.
Painted mine black with chrome
Identical to the one I had as a teenager!
I had a purple one....best bike ever....though I always wished for an RD.
Go through the process! Check timing, carburetors, fuel flow, etc. As I recall the R5 was a piston port motor ( no Reed valves) and not like the 250's or 350's and 400's.
The later model tear drop shaped tank rd200 had reed valves too😉
worked at Yamaha dealership, pulled prank on coworker that had R5, swapped clutch cable and front brake cable, slipped an additional spring onto front brake cable and adjusted so felt close to normal clutch feel just slightly softer, then watched as he repeatedly put in gear and stalled, finally figured it out and lota swearing but us laughing just made him madder
That's pretty funny! Probably would have fooled me as well!
You really don't have to warm those up that much. I used to have several Yamaha in the early 70s. Little warm was needed.
Yeah, you are right. I had a habit from my YZ250 with an aftermarket expansion chamber that really did not like being cold at all. Also, I just do it for fun and it lets me get an idea if I am close on the carb tuning before taking off and having obvious flat spots that will make the ride horrible. But, I mean, it did feel significantly different from cold to fully warmed up. Just way easier to ride "cold" than other motors. The expansion chambers are more linear and work down low, instead of being a peaky monster. For the general public to just hop on and ride on the street, I assume.
I had a 1970 CS3C 200 and you are right they just ran so good, Miss those days.
Sweet!
Picked up a RD350, orange, 1975 yesterday.
Need some TLC before running.
Thank you for the upload 🤟
Make sure you give the points some love. They want to be clean and adjusted well. I bought a "points file" just for the job.
Oil injection? (Stock setup.)
Are you sucking oil from the crank seals?
On second thought, certain oils tend to really smoke on cold engines, e.g. “Torco T2 injector”, which I ran years ago in the Kawasaki F7. The cloud upon taking off in the morning was awe-inspiring.
Like I think I said in some other comments, the stock oil pump from the restoration done by the PO was definitely pumping too much oil, but I can't remember if on this video I was running the stock oil injection pump or had already converted it all over to premix. On longer rides when I really got heat into the heads it would clean up a bit, but for sure was still more smokey than all the other 2 stroke motors I have owned and bugged the crap out of me.
For example I have 2 stroke Evinrude 175 on my boat right now and once I got all the issues sorted out it doesn't smoke at all. At first I thought it was normal for these old 2 stroke outboards to smoke a bunch because lots of other outboards I see will do it, turns out they do it because they are way out of tune and essentially half broken, lol.
Just bought the same bike. Been sitting in a basement for 40 years. 9500 miles
Time to restore it!
To all the trolls; Yes it smokes, its a 2 stroke. They all smoked. I had one in Law School. It was reliable, only occasionally fouling plugs (I also kept a spare set onboard), handled GREAT, and went like a bat out of hell for a 350. I wish I still had it.
I think maybe some of the commenters haven't owned a two stroke, lol. At least not an old one. To be fair, the 5 other two strokes I owned didn't smoke as much, but they were also more modern. I do the best I can tuning and maintaining everything I own. When this air cooled bike got really hot in summer it was almost smoke free, but I never took video of that. Anyways, thanks for addressing the trolls.
P.S. my hair style and clothes were atrocious. I will take shots on that all day. I was going through a phase, lol. Bring it on trolls!
Got a 72 R5 a couple days ago, very good shape, will do a mechanical freshen up with new top end, tires, carb overhaul, brake freshen, battery, fuel system and overall clean up, doesn"t need any major stuff...little over 9k miles
Trickiest thing for me was cleaning and adjusting the points. Everything else was standard!
Keep an eye on the timing, when the points wear out the ignition timing advances...could turn the tops of the pistons into swiss cheese.
Timing was a struggle with that thing. Simple mechanical system, but needed precise setup. If I own one again I would probably have to go digital ignition.
@@mjodr Feel that for sure, we were lucky to have CDI for the 79 Daytona here in Canada...made things much simpler.
I had the 1970 R5 back in the day, the bike was always fouling plugs! I only had it for 5 months before it got stolen. But for years after I knew people that had R5's and early RD's, and they also had fouling issues. But it seemed that it was not the plugs, it was the coils! Replacing the coils fixed it for awhile. It seemed that Yamaha had very poor quality coils, and some of the owners I knew were putting on "car coils" to remedy the issue. Any of those owners out there, that were back in the day, find this also to be the case?
This bike is fully stock and restored and yes the ignition system was weak and wore out quick before points needed to be filed and readjusted again. Maybe the coil was weak, dunno. After working on it a few times I realized just how far we have come on modern ignition systems. Wow, like light years ahead of that design now. Now I know why when I was a kid all the old guys would chat about points ignition systems like this one.
I had the same bike when I was 15. I loved it. Mine also fouled plugs until I took it back to the dealer and they told me I wasn't running it hard enough, revving it high enough. They said it was more of a race engine than street. Once I started letting it Rev higher, I didn't have plug problems any more.
Love those 2 stroke twins
Algun Reajuste mais eh Loka Mru
...💥💥💥🤩
It wasn't until I bought my Suzuki T500 II that I realized how impractical the Yam R% was as a daily rider.
The Suzook was miles better by any criteria.
And most lasted twice as long as any Yam with its crude Autolube compared to Suzuki's superb PosiForce system.
I never rode the Suzuki, but I won't argue with the Yamaha being impractical for commuting. I never put more than a couple hundred miles on it trying to give it the benefit of the doubt. Even my XR650R was a better commuter, and that's a full dirt bike, lol.
Looks nice. Too much smoke though. Runnin rich.
Looks and sounds amazing
I bought a new 71. Wish I still had it
I regret every bike I ever sold. That's why I'm still sitting on an XR650R that doesn't even hold gas, lol.
Looks nice, sounds nice, rides nice, and stops I think you've gotta pretty nice bike man lol
My cousin had one and needed me to look into a carburator problem. Never seen such bad engineering! Obviously gave no thought into ease of maintenance access hardware. Plus? The exhaust system sounded like a tin-can crusher!
The engineering back then was very crude compared to what we (collectively) figured out later on. It was amazing to see how far we have come by riding and wrenching on this thing. Besides modern EFI boring stuff, we have engineered the ever loving crap out of stuff and come a long way! Still, I bet people were having fun back in the 70's.
Yet those "bad engineered" RD 350s/400s were known for keeping up with a lotta 750s. Read some magazine reviews from back in the day and they raved about 'em!
My father's first real motorcycle. He said it was really quick. He would Hill climb with it.😂Just add knobby.😜
I mean, it's not slow! I can imagine converting it to semi-dirt mode because that is all I could think while I owned it! I mean, the motor was used in one of the greatest quads of all time...the Banshee. If it wasn't a great restoration I might have actually put a knobby on it because every bike before and since has turned into a "dual-sport"/"enduro". It's just such a cool way to ride.
My first bike (R5F) in 1972. Same look. The brakes were terrible. Sometimes you didn't get a connection to the last gear when accelerating. The engine setting was sensitive. Wrong spark plug and you had a hole in the piston. On hot days, the engine had no power and drank petrol without end. The usable rev range was pathetic. The rear swingarm was mounted in plastic bushings and wobbly after a short time. When installing needle bearings. Then you had peace. The chain was stretched after a short time - had no O-rings. -
... despite everything I loved her. Sold it after two years -
I still miss it.
A lot of those things sound familiar, lol. Especially the brakes. They were terrible even in perfect condition and one hard stop was all they could do before they were heatsoaked to the max. I was dying to modify the front drum for more cooling and find pads/shoes that were more aggressive, but never got around to it. It was fun to mess around on for a little while, but I couldn't live with the bike every day.
Bought new, not sure what year. Enjoyed the bike until I crashed it. My fault.😊
Bummer
4:48 missed that gear LOL sweet bike
Sounds like 2nd didnt engage all the way and popped out.
I had an R5, nice bike
Thanks man! Missing it right now.
There is way to much smoke you long haired hipster😂😂😂😂
Did it have the same engine as the RD350?
I don’t remember that much smoking from the one I rode.
It's an older variant. It evolved into the RD. R5 is piston port, RD is reed valve. And the ignition system sucked, lol
Quick question just got one of these do you need to use the oil pump or can you just used mixed fuel and with the battery is it just for the lights and stuff or is it a key componet to this bike?
I eventually removed my oil pump and went premix. Unless you want to make sure the pump is working perfectly that's would I would recommend, because when I used the pump it never seemed to mix the right ratio of oil and it was very smokey. I'd recommend to remove the pump and use a block off plate so it doesn't eventually spin dry. I ran 32:1 for safety and possibly better ring sealing/power, but you could probably get away with 40:1 because it was still a smoke show when cold and I smelled like oil getting off it every time, but that's half the fun lol.
Good question on the electricals. I'm not sure if it's like my other bike where a battery is almost optional. If you do remove the battery you should replace it with a capacitor to smooth out the pulses from the stator. That's a common mod on lots of non e-start bikes. They usually sell capacitor kits for that. It's not a bad idea and I always wanted to try it on my bikes. Tired of maintaining old batteries. There is a small chance that if you just flat out remove the batt you can still start and run the bike, but I'm not totally sure. It's been a while since I owned that bike, so I'm starting to forget!
The hardest thing to maintain on this bike was actually the points. Even after I got nice points files and learned how to do them. My next mod was a CDI before I sold it.
currently have a r5 350 but cant get it run and when I did have it running it just kept running away did a bunch of work but cant get it to fire over would love some help if you're willing
Runaway is a vacuum leak and it could be anywhere. You really have to get a leak down tester to check where it's leaking. Not firing at all? Well the timing is hard to do on these things, so get the right tools and make sure it's correct. Determine if it's getting fuel and it should fire. If no fuel it's a carb issue, could be floats or dirty pilot jets. But if you have no compression it's a whole different story. That's pretty easy to test, though.
Had one as a kid, loved it. Wish I would have kept it. Is it for sale?
Sold it a couple weeks ago.
Damn!!!
Ah yes, the device Yamaha made to foul plugs. Very effective.🤣
Haha, yeah. I never quite understood completely why this thing smoked so much. I've never had the same behavior from all my other two stroke engines. It didn't seem to be as simple as just too much oil or too rich on the tuning. Oh well, was fun to smoke out the whole town and smell like oil for 4 hours after getting off it, lol.
@@mjodr Late to the party here, but thanks for uploading this video. I have two RDs and a couple Suzuki GTs. Obviously you've sold this bike, but the reason for its heavy smoking could be a combination of things. Could be rings, an air leak through the crank seals or intake boot, certain 2T oils smoke more than others, or needs an ignition timing adjustment. Ask me how I know! Nonetheless, I hope you get another RD in your future. Hang on to it if you do! They are the most fun I've had with my clothes on, ha! BTW, I got tired of fooling with repeated points/timing adjustments on the RDs so I had the Vape CDI ignition installed on both of them. Wow, what a difference. A strong spark at the right time, every time across the entire RPM curve. No dwell, set it and forget it, more power and a lot less smoke. No regrets. I could care less about affecting their value. I got tired of relying on a 45+ year old ignition system to get me home. The Zukis still have their original ignitions. Strangely enough, they seem to be a lot easier/better for setting (and retaining) their timing adjustments.
@@bluoval3481 Yeah my next step was to upgrade it to CDI since I was tired of the points system. It probably never had a good strong properly timed spark. I stopped myself, though, because the restoration was too nice/correct. Didn't want to ruin it.
A lot of smoke coming out of that exhaust, is this because it's a 2 stroke or because it is old ?
I just wanted to make Greta Thunberg mad.
my brand new one was doing in 1971 the dealer I bought off didn't want to know about it. good at taking your money though
😊
No gloves his hands will be road crayons someday.
Hey buddy, is this yamaha still with you ?
Nope, sold it a couple years ago.
What’s the mix, about 20:1?
I think I was running 32:1
Badass bike
Thanks man!
runnin a lil rich
Bah !
Way too rich or worn rings. Should not smoke like that.
The oil injection pump was injecting too much oil I think. I can't remember if this video is 32:1 premix or injection pump...
Revving a bike with too much oil in the mixture and desperately needing a haircut does not make for a good video.
Thank you for watching
WAY too much oil; obviously doesn't know 2-stroke tuning...
Too much oil is better than no oil bud
Way too rich or oil pump meds backing off maybe 🤔