[pramodkumar]

Originally Posted by ku69rd

Ah that's an interesting upgrade that I had in mind. Good thing.

I will share you my thought process on this.

First Option: Go overseas (Google) and look out to buy the TZ rear setup which includes all the setup. They come in spokes and are a direct fit to the RD. Off course you will have to factor in the work for getting the clamps/stays welded into the chassis for the brake resorvoir, Cylinder kit.

The cons of this...First of all the setup will cost you a hell lot of money but the looks are authentic. Secondly the spares will be a challenge and are again expensive. The only good thing is it works absolutely fine and looks wise its fantastic.

Second Option: Look for new age bikes that comes with Rear Disc, predominantly RE line of products. You have the continental GT, Thunderbird & Himalayan. The TB 500 will be the best bet but the only issue is, it comes with 40 spokes instead of regular 36 that might be a bit of eye-sore from a purist thought. But its the best solution in town as of today with not much of downsides.
If you are a bit adventurous, you can cut down the number of holes on either side and make it 36 but needs a lot of engineering in terms of weight distribution to make it look good.

All the best and do keep me posted on the progress.
You will beat me to the tape for sure on this

PS: Himalayan will be too radical design considering its flat design instead of conventional design the RE TB has. New to the market and will be an issue procuring it. Again I think its 40 spokes

All these ideas ran through the head multiple times, and I laid them to rest, nothing from the RE stable

My current plan is to buy all the brake stuff(master, reservoir and calliper from the duke)

Look for a suitable rotor, Modify the present hub to take the rotor. Engineer it to glory

My idea it to avoid the reinvention of the wheel if its already done successfully before.

Pramod

[pramodkumar]

Awesome weekend,

I went in search of a pair of rims(also brake parts) at a neighbourhood junkyard, and we found not one but two front forks(complete set) .



Now what was the icing on the cake was the price at which I got each set.

The pulsar 220 forks makes the bike sit very tall, I am 6 FT but still it has a very tall stance, so my idea is to get back to the old setup and weld a stay to take disk brakes. Couple of ideas, I am also planning to go for a single 320mm Disk rotor











Presently this how she looks like



On our trip enroute Anjengo Fort

Pramod

[SnS_12]

Hey Pramod, amazing thread and respect your commitment and dedication to get the bike back to life and that too all by yourself.

Not sure how I missed out this thread as I normally follow all two stroke threads and especially the RD threads. It was an amazing journey from finding and getting the bike all the way from Delhi. It was like, it was waiting for you to come and pick her up all those years it was lying idle in that industrial compound. It reminded me of the days and months I spent on my 200 acquisition.

So how is the bike doing now? Electricals and carbs issues are sorted? With regards to the pulsar fork setup have you tried lowering it down on the T bracket? Would recommend trying it out before going back to the original setup as pulsar parts are cheaper and easier to source, which I am sure you know by now.

[pramodkumar]

Originally Posted by SnS_12

Hey Pramod, amazing thread and respect your commitment and dedication to get the bike back to life and that too all by yourself.

Thanks a lot for your kind words, my level documentation is inspired a lot by your threads.

Originally Posted by SnS_12

Not sure how I missed out this thread as I normally follow all two stroke threads and especially the RD threads. It was an amazing journey from finding and getting the bike all the way from Delhi. It was like, it was waiting for you to come and pick her up all those years it was lying idle in that industrial compound. It reminded me of the days and months I spent on my 200 acquisition.

This is the very same bike Yusha used to scare the living daylights out of me once when he bought this to office, never thought it will be mine one day.

Originally Posted by SnS_12

So how is the bike doing now? Electricals and carbs issues are sorted? .

The electricals were sought out very early, I chose to start assisting an electrician on my weekends, this helped me a great deal to understand the wiring better, after that I have wired all my bikes myself, including using connectors for every connections

The carbs are one part that goes wrong in these bikes very easily. most carbs have a lot of wear and tear and that usually go very wrong when RDs riding experience is concerned. Presently the carbs are in one of its best tune, I had a flat spot at 3k RPM, which I was able to fix with adjusting the needle height. But to get the full biking experience from this I am planning to upgrade to Mikuni TM 28s or Kehins. Lets see how finances help me in getting this dream fulfilled.

Originally Posted by SnS_12

With regards to the pulsar fork setup have you tried lowering it down on the T bracket? Would recommend trying it out before going back to the original setup as pulsar parts are cheaper and easier to source, which I am sure you know by now.

I have tried lowering it, It improved the ride height as well as handling a lot but the overall stance of the bike is not right, plus I have found some really great disk installs which made me think why not go that direction. Pulsar parts are actually quite cheaper, but I feel like every RD owner, the bike needs to look close to factory finish. and that cannot be achieved with the P220 front end, I cannot fit the RD mudguard as well. This decision is an outcome of a lot of thought.

I have ordered some goodies from the good old US of A, a complete generator side cover a CBR clutch slave, a new chain guard an NOS main stand. Hoping to get it in the first week of Sep.

I will keep the thread posted.

Pramod

[MindSpeeDs]

Originally Posted by pramodkumar

looking to convert the rear brake to disk brakes, the quality of drum brakes is the main reason I am planning a switch. I have a 5 speed rx 135, which is almost fully restored, I will start a new thread for that. The plan is to first convert that into disk and see how that goes then replicate it on the RD. If anyone has done this before on spoked wheels please share the details.

Pramod

You can also look for RD400 rear wheel disc hub for the spoke wheel. It was sold mostly in Europe. Original Yamaha rotors, callipers and cylinder and their rebuild is going to cost a lot and it might be a better idea to just make some alterations and use it with the brake related stuff that we get here easily.
There is an even cheaper alternative. Someone in Bangalore gets custom made hubs or of whichever bike elsewhere (didn't reveal). One of the bikes with such a setup did brake well. Another friend got it done about a week ago but is not happy as yet. Should get better with a bit of use.

[pramodkumar]

Originally Posted by MindSpeeDs

You can also look for RD400 rear wheel disc hub for the spoke wheel. It was sold mostly in Europe. Original Yamaha rotors, callipers and cylinder and their rebuild is going to cost a lot and it might be a better idea to just make some alterations and use it with the brake related stuff that we get here easily.
There is an even cheaper alternative. Someone in Bangalore gets custom made hubs or of whichever bike elsewhere (didn't reveal). One of the bikes with such a setup did brake well. Another friend got it done about a week ago but is not happy as yet. Should get better with a bit of use.

Thanks a ton, some solid stuff, I would like to know the cost first of all. If it's less prohibitive I might go for one. If that's not the case I got pritty much the idea of how to do it, just some questions, can you help?

Pramod

[pramodkumar]

There is some quick update, some ingenious engineering yesterday, saved the day. The bike now stops without any drama, rear brakes is not a problem anymore.

I will update the thread once the front end swap is done.

Pramod

[r_nairtvm]

Originally Posted by pramodkumar

so my idea is to get back to the old setup

Very good idea Pramod. The current height was a surprise to me and the handling variation was palpable, especially when on Roy's bike immediately after yours.

Some nice bikes there. Their respective owners deserve a round of applause for their dedicated efforts.

Best Regards & Ride Safe

Ram

[Mad4bhp]

Originally Posted by pramodkumar

The plan is to first convert that into disk and see how that goes then replicate it on the RD. If anyone has done this before on spoked wheels please share the details. Pramod

.

Hi. PK. Thought this thread must be dead by now. Good that you have still kept it alive . Between, you can use the existing rear drum and still have a disk setup. That is what I have come to know of recently. They use something called an adaptor plate which allows you to attach the disks to the drums. I will check and let you know. Between this is Raghu.

[pramodkumar]

Originally Posted by Mad4bhp

.

Hi. PK. Thought this thread must be dead by now. Good that you have still kept it alive . Between, you can use the existing rear drum and still have a disk setup. That is what I have come to know of recently. They use something called an adaptor plate which allows you to attach the disks to the drums. I will check and let you know. Between this is Raghu.

Thanks for the update Raghu, The drum is presently working and hence I have deferred the rear disk conversion. I wanted to try such a conversion on a RX first(Thread coming soon) see how effective it is and move on from there. I am aware of the catcher plate mod.

Thanks for sharing the info.

Latest Update, We finally procured Mahindra Mojo Rotor, awaiting a few more spares, Some precious cargo fro US or A has arrived, will go for the complete hydraulic conversion once the master cylinder is also here, expected in a week.

Pramod

[Mallik.Raihan]

Hello BHPians,

I’m working on rebuilding a RD 350 HT (84 model blue color) which I bought a month ago. I have ripped the bike and I’m having the painting work (black parts initially) done from of my friend who is a professional painter cum coating/detailing expert. I have asked him to prioritise black parts so that I can start assembling parts and later on get the tank & shields.

I’m in need of the following items in order to succeed.

1. Set of Indicators
2. Gear Shaft
3. Gear lever
4. Accelerator cable
5. RPM Cable
6. Levers and yorks
7. Packing kit
8. Centre stand with pin

This is a “as of now” list and I’m sure there would be more I would need once I start assembling the engine.

Also I would need all my fellow BHPians to help me decide a best color for my dream bike.

I’m also looking for a decent chroming expert if you guys know someone who does a good job.

This is a very special and maybe the first and last rebuild.

Any suggestions from you all will be considered as very valuable. Please feel free to connect.

Thanks & Regards,

Mallik
Ph: +91-9743691989

[VW2010]

Mallik,

Each one has a favorite color and theme. I would suggest stick to stock color while modernize as many parts as possible including wheels with disc, may be throw in an alloy, better shocks and anything that is not the engine department.

These days wraps are far cheaper than painting. So after getting the base paint work done if you want to change colors, simply wrap it.

Ebay for parts across the globe. This is one bike that demands your attention and maintenance. Its still a deadly bike and i am sure you are going to enjoy this journey of putting it together.

[pramodkumar]

For the last one and a half year I have not ridden the RD much, it might have done less than 100kms. There was a huge impact on me after my dad passed away, I cannot start the bike once without thinking about him.

This time was not kind to the bike, both the rims have developed surface rust and the clutch plates were stuck. Last week I fixed the clutch and took the bike on a short spin, it still brings a huge smile on my face. After a lot of thought I have decided to let it go. I have deleted and re typed this post a dozen of times, but this was to be done. I am yet to post it on olx and facebook.


Pramod

[pramodkumar]

Thanks to all who reached out to me, I was thinking of my RD350 journey from start to finish. I had made a small video on how i got the bike(everything is mentioned here).

https://youtu.be/Ya_11067DTI

Thanks for watching.

Pramod

[pramodkumar]

Making videos is really fun, Decided to make a montage, here is a teaser.

https://youtu.be/V-RBl-hD1Oo

Pramod