1972 Yamaha AS3 restoration (exhaust & another harness)

[Foy(notFox)]

Have had this bike since 12/12/1986 and it is the one which has caused me most heartache. I was 16 at the time and heard that the local Scout hall had an old bike they'd bought to 'do up' but after a while it was destined for the dump, then I stepped in.....



My mates used to practice playing guitars/drums etc in the hall at night and that is when I first saw the machine. It was just a rolling frame with an engine but I thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen and thought it might be a 750cc as it said that near the oil filler hole on the RHS engine casing 



The centre stand had had one leg cut off and the side stand had snapped so it was just propped against the wall with its big 'cowhorn' bars and red & white chequered mudflap but I had to have it.



Anyway. I went round to collect it a week or so later and was told there was a case in the loft of the hall with more bits and there was  along with the fuel tank etc so I pushed it the 2 miles or so home with the case balanced on the frame. About half a mile into the journey the Police asked what we were up to and wished me luck with the rebuild. I don't think anyone could envisage at that time that 24 years later it wouldn't be complete.....



circa 1989 after 'rebuild' which involved finding missing parts and taking apart/re-assembling engine




same day as pic above. the bike had 212 bars fitted at one time in my quest to find a full set of cables to match bars other than the STD ones. these bars are almost definitely 'wrong' for an AS3 but are listed in the parts book




12/4/1987. bike spent first 3 months of ownership hidden in pieces in my parents' loft. this was day I re-assembled it loosely to 'as found' condition




12/4/1987 again. non standard cowhorn bars and 'Mod' mudflap had been added by previous owner(s)




view from my bedroom window where I used to stare at the wonderful AS3. by this time, June 1987, I had located a rear light lens, tacho, brake lever, clocks bracket and throttle cable/carbs slides/springs etc




the case from loft of Scouts hall containing the original damaged side and centre stands and an exhaust bracket plus some other pieces



A lot has happened between then and now which I'll go into along the way but the only major thing missing completely from the bike was the seat and I found one thru the VJMC after searching for a couple of years and I think that is as good a place to start as any with the refurbishment.




typical used seat. not bad but not good. not easy to come by either. bought in 1988 for £18 I think and attempt made at repairing split in cover




underside rusty but solid. big find in those bygone pre-Ebay days was pair of NOS hinges 




foam in not bad condition



unusual 'sculpted' King&Queen? design on original foam





component parts




seat base de-rusted




new seatcover from PitReplica on RHS. one on left is RD250C

[Foy(notFox)]

Have made a little progress on the seat. Its amazing the psychological effect a bit of paint can have. The part looks good enough for another 20 years now and its not even top-coated yet!



I wont go into to much detail about the rust dissolving liquid as that has been covered in my RD125 thread this week already <a href="http://www.aircooledrdclub.org.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=23381" target="_blank">http://www.aircooledrdclub.org.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=23381[/url]



I am doing 2 seats just now. One for the AS3 and another for my RD250C.



When the original plastic covers split and let in water the seat foams acted like a sponge and were the perfect tool for rusting away the seat bases so most seat pans will need some repairs to the metal.



My RD250 one definitely does but the AS3 seat is a good bit better and I"m going to bypass the welding stage and re-fit the foam and new cover and see how it goes as it is. Its not laziness, more that but I am having big problems with my welder just now and can't see it being resolved soon but am desperate to press on with the rebuilds.



As a primer undercoat on the bases I am using Eastwoods Rust Encapsulator Paint <a href="http://www.eastwood.com/rust-encapsulator.html" target="_blank">http://www.eastwood.com/rust-encapsulator.html[/url]. It is very thick in the tin and on Saturday afternoon whilst I watched the cup final I worked on the seats on my balcony and had no thinners to hand but thought a thick messy coat was better than leaving the bare metal exposed.




project seats after rinsing off B&Q metal cleaner with water, drying then leaving indoors for a week. not looking good




quick wire brushing removes 'residue' of previous operations exposing very clean surface




underneath a bit more fiddly to do with wire brush but still good




quick brush coat of the Eastwoods paint. patchy as paint so thick and no thinners at hand




from USA - Eastwoods Rust Encapsulating paint is too thick to use sometimes. Tin advises can be thinned with lacquer thinners which in UK means cellulose thinners



<img src="http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww318/foy9999/bikes/Yamaha%20RD250/DSCF2774.jpg" border="0" />

other seat now done too but paint thinned slightly gave better results



So, all in all, a success for little outlay and not much work. I have done sandblasting at my garage before and it has it uses but the chemical stripping has so many more advantages: cheap, quiet, no labour, no mess, no mask/hood/breathing filter etc required, no need to wait on compressor pumping up every 10 minutes etc and it gets rust out of places you can't always reach with a blaster. Basically, you are only limited by the size of the container you have to dip the parts in.



Next step will be some black enamel then the new cover etc.



One thing I would advise if you are stripping a seat down is <strong>don't try to remove any of the bolts going into the seat pan</strong> as the wet foam will have corroded the exposed thread on the other side beyond recognition and the head will just snap of when you try to unscrew them. You can"t remove the old cover without removing the seat strap so, as new covers come with new straps, it is better just to cut the old strap off.



After you have blasted or dissolved the rust from the pan the aforementioned threads will be clean and come out much easier plus you can get some penetrating fluid onto them.



If a bolt head does shear off I find the best way to get the remains out is by welding a blob onto the foam end of the thread the grip it with mole grips and turn it out. This worked fine on the AS3 seat where I had sheared of the bolts years ago. At all costs try to avoid damaging the captive nuts on the seat pan as welding a new nut onto the metal never works as the heat distorts the thread and hardens it so that it can't be re-tapped.



   

[Foy(notFox)]

Not been doing much on this bike recently as am busy with 3 others but finished spraying my spare fuel tank and quite happy with the results altho I dropped and dented it after the final polishing    and I also came across a used fuel tap assy for ?2 or so which means I won"t need to swap the one over from my original tank. Expect some updates on this bike soon





coloured areas sprayed with Metalflake Tangerine Candy Apple acrylic lacquer. looks good match for Yamaha"s Mandarin Orange (71) and much cheaper than buying from RS Paints at ?100 per litre







bargain find on Ebay 137 model no. petcock correct for 307 model no. tanks















 

[RD JOCK]

yet another thoroughly interesting thread



i just love the detail you go into



and of course the finished results

[Foy(notFox)]

Thanks man. Really appreciate that  



I am gonna enjoy finishing this bike as it is the one that caused me to have all the others.....





Long story but here goes....







As mentioned before, when I got the bike in 1986 I didn"t even know what it was and there was no Ebay so used to trawl the small ads in things like Used Bike Guide and the occasional part would come up. Also used to place ads in magazines and one day came home from school and my Mum said "A man phoned about your advert, from Maidstone, and says he has a whole bike the same which he can drop off to you as he works near here"





I was amazed but a bit confused and phoned him to make arrangements and he said "yeah, I work in Grantham and can drop it off to you" and I said "but I live in East Kilbride in Scotland" and he said "no, your advert says phone Grantham 01355 34318" and I said "no, it says phone Graham 01355 34318"       



Anyway I was still keen to get the bike (I think he wanted ?60) and I was working in a kebab shop, earning ?0.70per hour at the time (owner was Scottish by the way) and had saved about that amount of money up so I told him I"d come and get it on the bus.



I planned the trip with military precision and a friend and I went down on the Glasgow to London bus with a trunk borrowed from my girlfriend"s Mum planning to put the bike in it and bring it home on the bus.



When I got there it was a totally different bike to my AS3. Was actually the "plain RD125" in my other thread and basically we stripped it in the seller(Robbie)"s back yard, stuck as much as we could in the trunk and took it back home via the tube train and bus.



My friend said it was the most horrendous thing he"d ever experienced and if I hadn"t had the tickets home in my pocket he would"ve just legged it and left me in London with it.



I couldn"t fit the frame and wheels in the trunk so Robbie - whose favourite phrase was "you gotta use your common Graham" made the helpful suggestion that we stick the wheels on top of the trunk and I sling the frame over my shoulder. Thing is - I agreed        



After nearly collapsing after reaching the front gate we decided to leave the wheels and frame to be posted later.



I remember when the night bus pulled up outside Victoria station we tried to nonchalantly wheel it up to the load hatch on a trolley from the train station and it tipped over the kerb and the trunk cracked and oil started coming out. The driver went mad but luckily still let us on and the conductor said we"d need to pay extra at the other end.  



After more shifts in the kebab shop I sent him ?25, I think, to post them up and weeks passed with no reply so I phoned him and he said he hadn"t opened my letter thinking it was just penpal stuff and warned me never to send money in the post "you gotta use your common Graham"



Anyway he posted the parts and I went into Glasgow Central train station on the day they were due in to pick them up and the guys in the depot know nothing about it   so I feared they were lost until one guy said "there"s an old bike frame round the back but its not a motorbike" and I said "let me see, that will be it" and it was actually the RD125 frame  



It had no address or anything on it, just a big yellow card with a red star on it (I think the service he used was called Royal Mail Red Star or something) and the wheels were nearby.



I got on the train from Glasgow to EK with the parts then carried them home from the train station to my house. It was only about 2 miles but took about 2 hours and I remember having to wrap a bit of my jacket round the wheels rims to stop them cutting into my hand.



I remember getting home and my Mum started crying and nagging at me . Her explanation was that she didn"t want me riding a dangerous motorbike and now that I had all the bits it would be on the road and that"s why she was upset - women"s logic, weird. She was the one that gave me the happy news that the guy was dropping it off.



Anyway that was 24 years age so her worries were a bit premature  



   

[RD JOCK]

what a peach of a story GRANTHAM  



can you imagine any teenagers of today going to those extremes to pick up a bike .



by the way are you still friendly wi your mate that was gonna leg it?

[Foy(notFox)]

Yeah, still close to him even tho we don"t particularly like each other, sign of a true friendship  



He always hated my hobby because it stopped me going out drinking etc as I was always buying postal orders to send for parts



He"s now very rich and lives in Khazakstan but actually called me Grantham since that day  



I could fill in the story further but they were the key points and I actually have pictures of the trip which I am swithering as to whether I should add to this thread.



I"ve also still got a big bit of paper entitled "Glasgow to Londinium and back" that was stuck to the trunk and signed by all our mates for good luck as we set off on the journey.



I remember Robbie reading it in Kent and being horrified that there were references to cannabis and magic mushrooms on it. This lead to some fatherly advice and possibly another "you gotta use your common Graham"  



Yeah, teenagers today. Ipods, bank accounts, supportive parents etc. They never experience charcter building things like that

- unless they join a outdoor club or somethin

[Motty]

Great story Graham, it is a pity it is hidden in the Restoration section. Could you write it up with a picture or two for Del, I am sure he would be delighted to put it in the magazine  

[RD JOCK]

 

Great story Graham, it is a pity it is hidden in the Restoration section. Could you write it up with a picture or two for Del, I am sure he would be delighted to put it in the magazine  

thats a great idea    and with the pics you have of the trip !! go for it Grantham

[Foy(notFox)]

haha. Thing is, I"ve promised Del an article about zinc plating and kinda busy with the 4 resto threads but have got some time of coming soon so maybe sit down one day and tell the whole story as there are another 3 bikes involved so could be a long story.

[davecumbria]

The seat is interesting, the one on my LS2 has the same sculpted foam and I think if you look carefully on the side towards the back of the foam, you will see "bridgestone" in a signature on it.



The base looks pretty much like the LS2 one as well

[Foy(notFox)]

Dave. There are late replies and there are late replies    but better late than never, as they say......  



I"ve not looked at the foam but will be doing so this week, probably, as have done a bit work on the seat pan. I"ve been away from the bike projects for nearly a year as have been busy on my car(s) but I do see the bikes daily and have been buying little bits and pieces to finish all the rebuilds.



One of the last tasks with the AS3 is to gather the various badges I need for my Mandarin Orange (71) "sunday best" tinware. The original Brilliant Red (63) stuff has not been touched and will probably be the last paint job I do but hopefully the best, as this bike means a lot to me and it will be fitting to give it a great paint job on its original tinware.



Gathering the badges has been expensive and a little tricky. You basically need: two tank badges which are "handed". left & right; two sidepanel/oil tank chrome trims which are also handed; and two "125" badges for under the chrome trims.  



I"ve kinda lost track of what the situation with the tank badges is as I want two sets plus I have my 1974 RD125 which has very similar badges and I have two sets of tinware for that so we"re looking at 8 badges in total and they"re about ?50 each sometimes   .



I think I have 5 so far. The right hand side ones seem to be impossible to find but a guy in France constantly sells the 337 left hand ones (which fit the more bulbous RD125 tank).



The sidepanel situation is less confusing as the parts there are different to the RD model but the price is still a problem. the orignal chrome trims are plastic and they used to come up on Ebay now and again but a guy in Australia sells very well made metal replicas. I bit the bullet and ordered two of the "125" badges and one chrome flash (as I had one NOS plastic one already). I think it was over ?100 for these 3 bits from down under. I"ll check the receipt.



As ever there is a problem. The 125 badges have metal studs on them where the originals didn"t so they would need to be removed. Not a huge problem really. You could on the sidepanel make holes in the actual panel to accomodate them but not the oil tank as it would then leak.



The chrome flashes however is a bit more tricky. The originals being plastic flex a bit to follow the slight curve of the panel but the metal ones are way out here and there is no glue that would hold them in place under the tension that would occur if you bend them to suit. Not sure how this can be overcome.





lacy edges at areas where chrome seat-trim pins go through base







similar weakness here. new metal or leave as is?







worst bit on RHS rear cutout and new patch tacked in







another bit done on LHS mid area. new holes drilled for pins













?200-?300 worth of AS3 trim   







NOS Mandarin Orange (71) sidepanel from South Africa has picked up a few chips over the years







reverse view. pips on back of new cast metal 125 badge where original had none. bottom flash is cast metal one. top right is worn out original. top left is NOS chromed plastic one







tank badges. L-R ....307 RHS, 307 LHS, 337 LHS x 2







difference between 307 & 337 badges is supposed to be curvature to suit different type tanks. this is a left & right 307 pair facing each other







this is a 307 right facing a 337 left. not much difference really







new expensive sidepanel flash looks good offered up to panel....







.....until you see this problem

[RD17]

Interesting project, great bike Keep it posted ! Btw where did you get your tank badges from ??

[Foy(notFox)]

The two 337 (L) badges were from a guy in France who has them on Ebay from time to time and they seem to go for about ?23 usually but they are listed under RD125 emblemes cos of the french spelling. I"ve not looked for them for a while but he mb still lists them. Don"t know how he has so many and why they are all left hand ones!



The 307 ones were from Ebay again, but USA. The AS3 was never sold in the USA but their CS5 had the smaller 307 tank, same as UK AS3, so they come up listed for CS5 from time to time.



If you look close at the pics you will see the 337 ones have that embossed on the back of the badge. The 307 ones are blank in that respect. They all have either L or R on them tho.

[Foy(notFox)]

Did another little bit of work on the seat base tonight. I don"t see any point in cutting more of the original metal away. The worst bits are done and it is solid enough to be fit for some paint.



On all these seat pans the little triangular spikes that hold the cover on are usually very rusted and snap off so I have made up little strips with spikes to weld on in their place. I am repairing another seat (for my RD250C) which was in much worse condition and made up strips to go right round it but for the AS3 seat their are only a few that have snapped off (or disappeared when I did the repairs to the skirt) so I only had a few to do on this one. I"m sure it will work well when it comes to fitting the cover







last repair to seat pan skirt







next job is to weld on new "spike strips"







gratuitous moody tank shot just for the sake of it