[rakesh_r]

Originally Posted by ku69rd

Hi Guys,

Dec 25th, 2018 was another milestone day in my ownership experience with the RD. Completed twenty years of my association with the RD. It has had its share of its ups and down but the zeal to retain has been ever stronger.

First and foremost hearty congratulations for completing 20 years, 5 more years to achieve silver Jubilee . That's one of the most cleanest RDs I have ever seen. Congrats once again.
I am looking forward to pick an RD myself. I have ridden my brother's HT only once, couple of years back and that was enough to fall in love. Commitments and finances had pulled me back. The golden question- how do you manage with the spare availability?

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by gururajrv

But it’s lovely to see one of the masterpiece of retro age still grabbing eyesights when it rises down the road. Please ride safe and enjoy the music!

Thank you very much Gururaj; Still enjoy the ride with her.
Its actually Portuguese Orange which i chose instead of the red. The Red was quite common when I was restoring and wanted a color that could stand out.

Hence that was the color chosen

PS: Have read your ownership on Vitara, You are putting her to good use.

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

The golden question- how do you manage with the spare availability?

Yes 5 More years Rakesh for the 25 year mark.
On the spares front, I have stocked quite a few doubles and triples based on their life. For Ex: Clutch Plates just one pair since I know they last a good 45K Kms if ridden well without abusing.

Bodyline Stuff is what I would prefer to store since the mechanicals can be made out. Spend a few hours in the lathe and you can make one better than the Company.(Clutch Cams, Timing Cams).

So as such spares is not a challenge but you would need a good technician who can do a quality job unless and until you would want to do it yourself.

[ianuoui]

Congratulations on the 20th year of ownership! Remember seeing it at Ramesh's garage .. you've got a lovely looking bike!!

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by ianuoui

Congratulations on the 20th year of ownership! Remember seeing it at Ramesh's garage .. you've got a lovely looking bike!!

Yes had been there to get the timing and tuning stuff done up. You got a 350 yourself?

Thank you for your compliments

[gururajrv]

Originally Posted by ku69rd

Thank you very much Gururaj; Still enjoy the ride with her.
Its actually Portuguese Orange which i chose instead of the red. The Red was quite common when I was restoring and wanted a color that could stand out.

Hence that was the color chosen

PS: Have read your ownership on Vitara, You are putting her to good use.

Many thanks ku69rd - oh, your handle has RD in it. Quite an enthusiast I must say you’re living upto it in fact. It’s so nice to see your bike in the orange shade (sorry typed it as red)

And ya, been using Brezza extensively due to recent addition in my family thanks for your kind words.

[MonsterPatrol]

Originally Posted by ku69rd

Hi Guys,

Dec 25th, 2018 was another milestone day in my ownership experience with the RD. Completed twenty years of my association with the RD.

Many congratulations. Every RD deserves a special owner. And you are one. Twenty years of RD ownership is incredible. Wish you many more two stroke miles on it in the future.

PS: she's a beauty!

[ianuoui]

Originally Posted by ku69rd

Yes had been there to get the timing and tuning stuff done up. You got a 350 yourself?

Thank you for your compliments

Yes, I do - an1987 LT.

I had dropped by to get a few things dialed in as well when I saw your bike.

Hopefully I'll get to meet you in person the next time you come in.

PS: All the complements are well deserved!!

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by ianuoui

Yes, I do - an1987 LT.


Hopefully I'll get to meet you in person

Lovely, do share some pictures of your ride, will be eager to watch it.

For sure, let's plan to catch up. Should be leaving the bike there for service possibly after my first weekend ride. Need to get the fork overhauled as well.

Guess you are yet to complete the 15 messages before PM works for you.

Do not forget to post your pictures... feel free to use this thread else start a new thread detailing your experiences.

[ianuoui]

Originally Posted by ku69rd

Lovely, do share some pictures of your ride, will be eager to watch it.

For sure, let's plan to catch up. Should be leaving the bike there for service possibly after my first weekend ride. Need to get the fork overhauled as well.

Guess you are yet to complete the 15 messages before PM works for you.

Do not forget to post your pictures... feel free to use this thread else start a new thread detailing your experiences.

While i have been on the sidelines visiting and reading the forum for years, i've finally jumped in to join the conversation. I am yet to get over the 15 messages limit before PM works, so will ping you when i get there.

Mine is due for a restoration! Given that i have some time now, 2019 might just be the year. I will certainly start a thread when i kick off the restoration.

Will keep you posted!

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by ianuoui

Mine is due for a restoration! Given that i have some time now, 2019 might just be the year. I will certainly start a thread when i kick off the restoration.

Cheers, wish you all the best for your restoration work. Do keep us posted, while am working on a few things myself to spruce up the bike now.

Been kinda boring since i know there are a few things that I can genuinely work on keep my interests on her high.

[NeilNauti]

Hi Mahesh, I've read through you detailed account and found it really inspiring especially since I'm currently building a US spec RD on an Indian frame similar to yours, I have run into a few issues on which I need your inputs - i'm a new member and cannot PM so awaiting you response:

1. My mech has asked me to change the US bend pipes to Indian as he says they are too short for my Indian chassis. He says the actual US exhaust will work then.
2. I've had to change the US lower tee to Indian for the same reason.
3. Changed the rear brake linkage as the spring attachment knob is on the opposite direction for our chassis.

We are also trying to keep the US spec front disc brake assembly (caliper and disc) since they fit the US shocks but I'd like to change the brake hose to a universal one, is that possible? The US spec has multiple attachments for hoses from the brake caliper to the reservoir on the handle - can they all be replaced with a single brake hose (aftermarket).

Thanks in advance for your response and happy riding, cheers

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by NeilNauti

Thanks in advance for your response and happy riding, cheers

Hi Neil,
Good luck with you restoration and do post in a few pictures of yours getting restored.

In the meantime do find my response to your queries.

1) US Bend Pipes: The US bend pipes will fit into the Indian Chassis. There is no difference between the chassis dimensions except that the US Specs had the foot rest like the RX type. My bike runs on US Bend Pipes and i had no challenges fitting them in.

2) US Steering Stem: The US Steering Stem comes with roller bearings instead of the cup cone setup. Hence he has retained the Indian Steering Stem. No issues with that. If you are keen to put in the US Steering Stem with Roller Bearing, then the neck needs slight work which is a bit risky. Metal has had its age and no point in trying considering that you don't get a brand new chassis

3) Rear Brake Lineage: I retained the IND specs since I did not not find the US Rear Drum to be good for it. It has a small hole to guage the pad thickness and in Indian Conditions not a big fan of it.

4) Brake Line: Yes, the US Spec Brake Line comes with two pipes where they are held in union by a joint which also activates your brake lighting. You can go in for steel braided brake lines which will give you more bite than the rubber brake line as there will minimal flex.

Do share your WIP Pictures and I can chime in if needed.

[NeilNauti]

Originally Posted by ku69rd

Hi Neil,
Good luck with you restoration and do post in a few pictures of yours getting restored.

In the meantime do find my response to your queries.

1) US Bend Pipes: The US bend pipes will fit into the Indian Chassis. There is no difference between the chassis dimensions except that the US Specs had the foot rest like the RX type. My bike runs on US Bend Pipes and i had no challenges fitting them in.

2) US Steering Stem: The US Steering Stem comes with roller bearings instead of the cup cone setup. Hence he has retained the Indian Steering Stem. No issues with that. If you are keen to put in the US Steering Stem with Roller Bearing, then the neck needs slight work which is a bit risky. Metal has had its age and no point in trying considering that you don't get a brand new chassis

3) Rear Brake Lineage: I retained the IND specs since I did not not find the US Rear Drum to be good for it. It has a small hole to guage the pad thickness and in Indian Conditions not a big fan of it.

4) Brake Line: Yes, the US Spec Brake Line comes with two pipes where they are held in union by a joint which also activates your brake lighting. You can go in for steel braided brake lines which will give you more bite than the rubber brake line as there will minimal flex.

Do share your WIP Pictures and I can chime in if needed.

Hey, thank you so much. sure feels good to have someone talk the same language of RDs and issues I'm facing Normally the folks at my place think I'm nuts cos I've been collecting parts for nearly three years in breaks. Unlike your prior experience with RDs I did not have one earlier or even a donor RD, I just bought a bare chassis and imported everything else.

Build wise so far we are done with some welding that was needed and painting the chassis so the assembly is underway, I'll add a couple of pics where it stands right now. Most individual parts are ready including the wheels, cylinders (buffing work etc.), body paint will go on by the end of this week and I'm going with blue, not exactly the factory peacock blue but a shade known as Blue Silk offered by VW in India. The color is popular on the VW Ameo. Having worked on parts separately they all need to be mounted now so hopefully the next 10-15 days should be quite productive. I will also post more pics of the individual parts I was referring to from my garage, like the bend pipes and the brake linkage regarding which I have doubts.

Spec-wise I will be running standard US barrels on standard art pistons I have a couple of oversize pistons (0.25 / 0.5 - ART) and rings in storage for the time being. I'm also retaining the original Mitsubishi points assembly for now and have one spare almost brand new one as well. I want to experience riding on points for a while and decide on an electronic ignition after riding stock for a while.

Once again thank you Mahesh for sharing your valuable experience and I will continue to bother you for a few more days as I progress with the assembly. Happy riding!

[NeilNauti]

Hey Ku69rd, happy to report we have hit the road. I had to wait a long time to get this project complete but it has finally reached a stage where we have a complete running bike. While I continue the work to get the bike running right and I'm learning so many things, I feel it will be a long time before I can say we achieved what I set out to achieve. For now however, my folks at home are happy to see what we have. Few points on the current state

1. Looks wise, I think we are 95% there with assembly and I have stuck to the factory spec right down to the toolkit (though incomplete) which came with the American bike. Few items which need upgrade are the seat assembly, i have a fiber seat and looking for an original which may take some time. I also need the original clutch lever as I have an Rx100 one right now. I also don't have a handle lock and using a cable lock which is a concern, but hopefully gets resolved soon.

2. Performance - The bike has trouble with fuel issues, I had the carbs rebuilt with a keyster rebuild kit. I added fuel filters which also seem to starve the engine for fuel so will probably remove these. I had a hard time locating a new air filter and got a paper filter (not factory) in the bike. I'm looking for a K&N but the prices in India are forbiddingly high. The oil pump 2T mix level was really high and I was also adding some synthetic Motul race oil which was making the bike smoke like a steam engine so I've reduced the mix a bit and also not adding Motul directly anymore in the tank. The points seem to work fine for now. Please let me know if you think of anything I can do to make the bike run well.

I'm adding few pictures of the completed project, hope you like them.

[NeilNauti]

here are some pics of the build and as it stands now