Dust to Glory 360

It all starts by pulling two bikes out of the barn to attempt at restoring first one, then eventually the second back to their former glory.

The other day I had this genius idea of getting an enduro bike to ride around town and into the hills and was considering what my husband and I should invest in. I was then informed of what was hiding out in the barn. My husband acquired a 1971 & 1972 yamaha RT1-360s back in 2004, where they unfortunately ended up being rolled into the barn and stored there ever since. According to my husband, one was top end seized and the other... he wasn't sure about.

I accepted the challenge of restoring one of the bikes for my personal use and eventually the second bike. My husband and I pulled up to the barn and loaded the two bikes and a couple boxes of miscellaneous parts into the truck to take into the shop in town where I can work on them.

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A little about myself: I'm a 26 year old registered nurse and the first time I sat on a motorcycle was when I was 20. I was taught how to ride dirtbikes starting out on a little XR 100, then a 1982 XR 200 and currently using a CRF230. My husband and his family all have ridden on/off road motorcycles their whole lives. I plan by this summer to complete my motorcycle endorsement so I can utilize the RT1 360. Now you may be thinking, what's this lady thinking restoring a two stroke when everything she's previously listed are four strokes. But I have ridden (and raced) vintage Hodaka's that my father-in-law owns. Now I will admit I'm the most knowledgeable or savy when it comes to motorcycles, but I do know my limits and I won't let that hold me back. So I'm going to be doing all of the gurnt work, aka the wrenching. My teammates, aka the brains, will be my husband, known on ADVrider as forrest_fire1 and my father-in-law, who both have an extensive history in motorcycle riding and repair.

So I present to you ADVriders, my trials and tribulations of restoring my first two-stroke motorcycle the Yamaha RT1 360. It is my hope to have this project completed by the beginning of summer and at the latest the end of summer. I would love all feedback and encouragement as I document my progress...... and the pitfalls and share them with the world.

And so it begins......

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Layout all current parts available for use.

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Lots of stuff is available to work with..... that's a plus. There's even a third engine, condition..... unknown.

Step 2:
I was trying to decide which bike I wanted to use as the primary bike. The black RT1 was seized and the blue RT1 had it's top end already off to be honed and bored with a brand new piston sitting ready to go in one of the boxes. Yippy, yay, how lucky are we..... Until we discovered the piston was undersized and fell straight through the cyclinder head. So we came to the conclusion that the piston must go with the black seized bike.
So i figured it would be best to just by another piston and go with the blue bike. Now don't judge me as taking the "easy route", I liked the blue color better anyways. So i go researching a piston .75 over due to the previous be .50 over (also per my husbands recommendation). In my researching I'm learning about pistons. Turns out the blue RT1 has a reed setup with the carburetor and I need a ported piston.
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It's not so easy finding vintage ported pistons. So alas, i took a break from the engine and investigated the conditions of the two bikes.

So I began stripping down the bikes and getting an idea of what the condition of parts are in.
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One of the air filter elements came out in pieces, the exhaust was bailing wire on in multiple spots, drive chains rusted out, battery completely cracked out and one of the seats is torn up. So I began making a list of supplies I would need to get eventually get.

I'm very fortunate that my husband and his father co-own a small engine repair shop, where I'm able to 1- have a wonderful work space for my project with all the right tools, 2- very knowledgeable people around and 3- being able to utilize the businesses contact's to find/order parts.

So my very first order....... I need a repair manual for the bikes.

After I get the manual I will be able to continue on with my new adventure.

Stay tuned.... more to come.

Sounds interesting... I anxiously await your next post

Damn good first post! Would like to see how this turns out.

Nice!

Have you signed up on www.yamahaenduro.com yet? They will be able to answer any and all questions.

More more more!

I owned a Yami 360 back in 1982. Didn't have much for suspension back than, but it went like a raped ape.(figuratively speaking ) Rode it for a couple of years, than found a nice can-am so the yamaha sat. Now it brings someone else much joy as it was built up for ice racing.
Good Luck

Go Jen, Go

Can't wait to see your restored yamaha

Hope to see you and ff soon!!!!

I will be subscribed to this thread

Subscribed ! My first street/dirt bike was a 1975(?) DT100. Looking forward to this one.

I am onboard.I despise two stroke engines but they are still cool little bikes.

I'm in. Way cool.

When you are done with this, a complete success, black and blue from the kick backs, etc..etc..will you consider starting a class for spouses?

I begin by grabbing a cup of coffee, cause frankly I don't think very clearly without caffine. I then, with coffee in hand, meander to the back room of the shop where I'm working and stare at the bikes. I'm considering what I should do in regards to the reeded top end, cause I still haven't found a ported piston. I decide to check out the black bike and check out the condition of the top-end.

I had no clue on how to get the top end off a seized piston. So i had to go ask "the brains" what I need to do. I was handed this can of magical goo busting, grime be gone spray and told to apply some around the piston and wait. Keep in mind this bike has been sitting 8 years seized, without being touched. I had a feeling this was going to take a while.

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My attention then returns to the blue bike. Gosh... it's awfully dirtly. How do I go about getting 8 years of oil, grime and barn dirt off of it.

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I confiscated the shops stash of bad gas and a good bristled brush and began to work. Ok I'll admit, I was told to use the bad gas. Who knew, it works like a charm. In moments I was finding a bike underneath all that filth.

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Gas as it turns out doesn't harm the paint on the fenders either, so I was able to begin cleaning those up too.

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During the coarse of cleaning, I was applying coats of the magical goo buster to the piston on the black bike. It had been awhile, so I chose to make an attempt at freeing the piston on the black bike. I gave the block of wood I was using as a spacer a few good "taps" and low and be hold it moved 1/8th of an inch.

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Progress!!! I added another coat of goo buster and went back to work on the blue bike. Now that I could see the lower end, I decided to check out the oil pump.

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I got the cover off and I looked at it, looked some more at it, and decided it looked fine to me. I'm no expert, so I go grab my father-in-law to have a look. I then receive a lecture on the mechanics and function of the oil pump, then I was told it looked good and should work fine. All the information was great, I understood it, but don't ask me to repeat it because I can guarantee that I'll mess up the information.

Now with this next step that I'm about to do, I've now learned a very valuable lesson from my experiance. I proceed to disconnect the oil hose from the pump that leads to the oil tank so I change it out, but suddenly I have oil being poured on myself. I quickly reconnect the hose and change my tactics. I decide it would be best to remove the oil tank first, then disconnect the hose. After 8 years of sitting around, I didn't think to check to see it the oil tank had anything in it, and it turns out it was completely full of two-stroke oil. Kind of funny, after the fact. So I get everything dumped out, then I clean the tank inside and out, then change the oil lines. To add some extra shine to the paint, I rubbed on some Dot 5 brake fluid.

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Not bad looking for a 1972 paint job.

I then head up to the front of the shop to discuss my concerns with the ported piston and the seized piston on the bike. My husband and father-in-law, as it turns out, have ported two stroke pistons for the Hodaka's and since we do have the old ported piston, they feel they could replicate the porting. So I ordered up a new piston. I also came across a full gasket set for $13 on ebay. WHAT A DEAL!!!! Of course shipping for both of those items is via snail mail, so I'm back to waiting.

My husband and I wonder back wander to the back room and check the progress of the black bike. My husband provides a few "gentle taps" to the piston and I'm lifting up on the top end. I can feel it giving way. Turns out, an extra set of hands does wonders. We finally get the cylinder off, with some difficulty, as it turns out the cylinder and piston are in excellant condition. The bike wasn't top end seized as it was thought to be, but instead it is low end seized. GREAT (eye roll).

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I'll leave the low end for another day.
I went back to cleaning up the blue bike some until I heard word that my repair manual had arrived. I settle down and begin to flip through the book and read up about the bike. Lots of helpful information is in the book. I can tell I'll utilize that book well. I didn't make it through much of the book when it was time to close shop. Day 2 was my last day off, back to work I go. I'm actually writing this at work during some "down" time that I have. I'm lucky tonight, because I usually don't get much down time at work. So I'm passing time. As tonight is my last night of work (and that's why it took me so long to post Day 2), I'm hope that I'll be able to pick up working on the bike in the next day or two. Maybe some parts will come in that I have ordered.

Stay tuned...

.

My father-in-law teaches a small engine community class for Central Oregon Community College. It covers engine principles including ignition, carberation, and 4 stroke vs 2 stroke. The class ratio is 50/50 between males and females. Its very informative.

Hey SFS, we need to get together when they are done and go for a ride and I guess we can bring Mr FF1 with us.

Great thread. Had my own 1974 360 years ago. Couldnt kill it with a stick. It once sat on its side in red clay mud for 18months and was stop seized when we got it up. Took the head off poured some engine oil around the top of the piston and gave it a few taps with a piece of wood and hammer and she came free. Gave the barrel a touch up with some 1500grade wet and dry, put the head back on and it fired 3rd kick.
Got my own rebuild to start in the coming weeks. A 1976 DT250C flat-tracker.
cheers
Craig

Hey very nice, if you need some odd ball parts,I know some places to get NOS stuff

Care to share that info