1979 Rd 200,

[crashoften]

Hi everyone,
I'm new to the club/site.
I have recently bought an rd 200 with the sole purpose of rurnong it into a classic air colled race/track bike,
Will probably end up looking a bit like a tz,

I want to do away with the points armature to loose some mass from the crank,
I have a few questions,
Has anyone fitted an electronic ignition system?
Are there any upgrades to rear shocks?
Can the forks be bettered with oil heights, springs or packers to springs?
Lastly I have taken off all road going kit so all is available,
Full wiring harness, speedo, showing 3500 miles,
Full armarure, points all were working fine when removed,
Hopefully they can help someone out,

Anyone else developed one into a racer?
I have a great engine man to tune and sort engine,

Lastly thanks for letting me in to the site, I'm sure I will gain much needed knowledge and maybe pass a bit on as well.

[Astute Greaser]

Hi Crashoften
Welcome to the club.
For replacing the starter/generator have a read of this thread for starters 
https://www.aircooledrdclub.com/smf/index.php?topic=61224.0
There are more options such as mapping and others will pipe up. There are some very experienced members who are into racing/tuning and the bits to change such as carbs and exhausts.
The "For sale" section is the best place to sell your leftovers. You need however to be a paid up Club member to access and under the rules you must also list price for same. This will also give access to the "Wanted" and "Swap" sections.
-Mike

[crashoften]

Many thanks,
Will get paid up and list the parts.
Hopefully some of the other members making race bikes will get in touch,
Thanks again.

[Alistair64]

Welcome to the forum!
Interested to hear that you're building a race RD200.
I never had the balls to do it, but I am putting together a tuned road bike, so may be able to help to an extent.
I love going fast, but was never very good at it on a bike if that makes sense - probably a recipe for disaster if I were ever to race!

Firstly, have you got your pipes sorted?
If not, without question there's nothing 'off the shelf' for this bike which offers anything like the performance gain you will need. I have just had some one-offs fabricated, but had to supply my bike as a template. There's no point in me telling you who it was because he has already said that he wouldn't want to make any more sets for this bike (it was a bit of a pain apparently). Having said that, there are 2-stroke expansion chamber developers out there who I'm sure would help - as long as you could donate the bike and who knows how long it would take (mine took 6 months). Performance Fabrications or MB Designs might be able to help.

Carburetors... you will need at least 26mm carbs I would think. I use 250LC carbs with 240 mains and the carburation is good with no other changes needed. Tony2stroke is the man who first suggested them on here, so I take no credit for it. I have seen an RD200 racer with 30mm Dellortos, but he had special inlet manifolds made to fit. The beauty of using LC carbs is that you can also use LC rubbers and bend the balance pipe slightly to fit. No mods are needed.

Ignition... read the thread that Mike has linked previously. I have the road version of the Powerdynamo electronic ignition fitted, but they also do a total-loss kit which does away with the battery. This would be a better option for you.

That's covered the essential basics for the engine. I can't comment on chassis upgrades as they are few and far between. I certainly don't remember reading anything on this forum from members who have attempted any. At the end of the day, the RD200 is not a fashionable bike to uprate, which is what attracted me to attempting it in the first place - the vast majority get restored to completely standard as that's where the money is I guess.

[tony2stroke]

If you do go down the bigger carb way, you can't use the standard airbox, you will need pod filters instead.

[crashoften]

thanks Alistair and Tonytwo stroke,
im very fortunate that i am very close to taymar racing who specialises in lc,s and is a great engine tuner,i will be hoping for good advice from martin to develop the engine,carbs etc,
pipes i guess will be dependent on the engine tune,
i can weld so may attempt making the pipes myself if i can get a clear enough design for the engine tune,
i need a new set of fork as the legs on mine are quite pitted,i will check what upgrades are eligible for crmc air cooled class before diving in though,
luckily the bike has Astralite wheels which is a bonus,just need a good clean up and the rivetts checked,
its going to an ongoing development of the bike,i doubt it will ever be a rocket ship but 55-60mph round paddock hill bend will be more than suffice for me i think,
probably going to put hagon rear shocks on to help with handling,a set of avon am22 soft back and front seem to be the tyres of choice for the lighter weight racers,
not throw2ing massive amounts of money at the project,just want to do as much as i can ref prep work to chassis and mess about with gearing and carburation to get it running cleanly for each track,
thanks for your help and i look forward to updating as the project continues,
first track day is penciled in for mid April,lots to do.

[Captain Scarlet]

Keep us posted.
I dont need much excuse to ride out to brands for a look round the pits and Martin Taylor is a top 2 stroke bloke.

[crashoften]

i have started a video diary of the build,might be of interest,
so far main issues have been stripped threads or cross threads,all either helicoiled or redressed now,
getting the armature off the crank was a mission but a bolt welded onto my slide hammer did the job in the end.
engine is now ready to go off for rebuild and race tune,
going to order the vape power ignition system for it,
just got to delug the frame,build some rear sets,rebuild the forks,brakes and get the astralite wheels cleaned up,get some decent rear shocks and ill be done.first track day is planned for april.
a few weeks in the garage😉

 

[Alistair64]

Looking forward to seeing the progress of this...
Regarding the Vape/Powerdynamo system, make sure you order the correct one as there are two for this bike.
78 33 799 00 is the standard road bike system which will power lighting; 78 33 599 00 is the total-loss, ultra-lightweight system designed specifically for racing bikes.

[davecumbria]

i would use the earlier cradle frame version of the 200 rather than the later RD200DX where the engine is a a structural part

I remember throwing my 76 200DX round long corners and feeling the frame "flexing" from the box section where the swingarm is fixed

[Astute Greaser]

i would use the earlier cradle frame version of the 200 rather than the later RD200DX where the engine is a a structural part

I remember throwing my 76 200DX round long corners and feeling the frame "flexing" from the box section where the swingarm is fixed

Sorry Dave bit confused. Which 200 are you talking about, that have I presume a double cradle frame like the 250
I thought the CS3, CS5, RD200A/B, RD200 1E8 and RD200 2R7. All had the single down tube frame (single cradle or diamond frame). The engine being part of the structure. A way of making a cheaper budget bike.

[crashoften]

 I'm taking all the unwanted lugs, seat lock, etc etc off the frames to lighten it as much as possible, I am looking at adding some extra strengthening to the frame and possibly the swinging arm as well, the thickness of the tubes on frame and swinging arm is very thin, the pressed box section at the rear of the engine doesn't look to strong either.
Will update as it goes along,
A little more work on the frame and it's off for sand blasting and painting. 👍

[crashoften]

well ,the project progresses,the frame is of to be shot blasted and coated,

engines coming along nicely with lc 250 reed blocks and carbs to go on,quite a lot of fetling to get the larger reed blocks into the barrels but can now run much better reeds with the larger carbs,

im rebuilding the lc 250 forks but very few options to improve them it seems so will just play about with oils and oil heights and different packers on the springs to try and get them working on the much lighter bike,i have read that pro action gold valves from a kx 80 mx bike help to give the forks a better feel,ill see how it goes,

i have not yet weighed the parts that will not go back onto the bike,armature,foot rests all the road going bits and pieces but im guessing approx 60lbs of weight saved from standard,might be more but waiting till finished then will do a full weigh up parts,frame lugs etc,

i did quite a lot of welding on the frame,all the places Yamaha didn't completely weld plus the mounting brackets for front fairing bracket,im hoping the paint will do a good job of tidying up my welding,to be fair it isn't that bad but always looks rough i think till painted,

rear sets were a mission,none available so out with the welder again,ended up quite simple,welded a tube across the frame just above the pressed metal section to allow to bolt plates on and with a longer swinging arm spindle to hold it in place mounting the foot rest brackets is easy,ive made them adjustable to make me as comfortable as possible when riding,

getting a tz 125 tank is proving difficult,a guy in France makes them but hes shut at the moment or cant get materials,if anyone knows of one knocking about,metal or glass fiber i would be interested in it,

im going to keep standard rear shocks to start with or though i did buy a set of Chinese piggy back ones to give a try but cant use them when classic racing,

got the astralite wheels to finish,going to be a pain masking all the rivets but worth it in the long run i guess,bought some 10mm drinking straws to put over them to mask them,see how well that works,

i think all the hard work is done,start to rebuild it as soon as the frames back,ive taken loads of vids and pics during the work that i will sort and post up when i get time,

ride safe everyone,




 

[tony2stroke]

  you have been busy, looking forward to the pics and vids