RD350 returning to the road!

I got the frame today! Paint is not as good as I had hoped for. It's quite thin in some areas, but it will have to do. I wasn't planning on a showbike anyway. It's not a restoration per say, just a refurb of some stuff. I will be using the old nuts and bolts where it makes sence etc.

Good times , All what I have done to mine, I would not change a thing and mine was/is in good shape

Today I took delivery of some parts, and did some work :)









The frame is going to be repainted by a friends father, so that it can be done good, instead of this poop. Suits me OK, as I found a glassfiber tank, that I'm going with.

For the electrics, I need to do the negatives and wrap up the wires, that's about it!

I think I will be going with this seat as it fits my inspirational pictures, also its prepared for rearlight and numberplate!




This is the tank:

Before you use the tank, check to see if its compatible with the fuel you will be using. Some of todays pump fuels react with fiberglass, just a heads up warning.

Unless that tank has a written guarantee against Efuel damage, I would suggest either trying to get your money back, or listing it on Ebay. It will fail almost certainly if you dont have a guarantee and are unable to find a source of fuel without ethanol.

I'm in Europe, we don't use E85 :)

Also, I will get it lined. Haven't bought the tank yet, but I will.

E5 or E10 will result in failure............it will take longer than E85 but it will fail in time all the same. Tank sealer will reduce the chances of failure, but thin film brittle sealer products will crack in time, so your only real options long term are a properly made GRP tank, or getting an alloy one. Seems astonishing that no one is selling GRP tanks proof against Efuel, as they have been using GRP underground fuel storage tanks for many years, so the methods of making them must be well known?

There aren't really any problems with fibertanks over here, only due to vibration.

There might be some marine coating I can use. Epoxy can get thick too, it that even matters.

Lots of fun ...

my last glass tank had to be bladdered as I just couldn't keep it from weeping ( not an RD tank but a custom rocket I had )

My current 350

There is I think a French made marine epoxy which has been designed to work with Efuels, and this might work better as a sealer than the very thin products such as Caswells which seem to have been diluted 50-60% over the base epoxy resin used simply to increase profits.

Way to seal a tank is to start with a relatively thick epoxy and thin this down using heat, and apply to inside of your tank while its still thin enough to cover properly. If you do 2 applications this way then you will have a much better hope of avoiding the problems which would result by using something like Caswell.

I will find details of the French resin and post them later. Also worth checking if the super unleaded fuel you can get in Denmark is ethanol free (some of that sold here in the UK has no ethanol).

There is a british product called sureseal, that claims to be able to withstand ethanol.

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The "Sureseal" stuff is along the same lines as Caswell..............far too thin to provide much likelihood of long term success, and like Caswell doesnt come with proper application instructions of any kind.

You need to be looking at a high viscosity novalac epoxy resin, which you will need to thin using heat to apply, and ideally post cure at elevated temperature for a few hours to ensure 100% cure.

Discounting the silly micky mouse tank sealers on the market currently these are the type of products which would be likely to work as tank sealers: http://www.coatingandlining.co.uk/products

I see.... Thinking of bailing out and going stock seat/tank, still with clipons, rearsets etc.

Could look awesome and I would still have the capacity to carry panniers.

There are a few sources of ethanol proof GRP tanks in the US, but you might be better sticking with stock as I dont think even the US tanks come with any sort of guarantee.

You can use Kreem the original one from Germany, works too. Is resistand at least to our E5 and E10 fuel.

http://www.tanksiegel.de/

(Don't use the "Kreem Complete Petrol/Gas Fuel Sealer Kit" which comes from the US, this is a plagiarism product witch has a lousy quality and is a lot cheaper too.)

And you will use the cleaner first which is very agressive and will "dissolve" the surface of the resin so the surface got rough, as rougher the surface as better the sealant will connect with the resin of the fiberglas. People that are complaining of chipping paint often haven't roughen the surface enough, a real task with gas tanks made of fiberglas. Used it for my glasfiber tank too, no problem so far ... (pic possible if desired, (warning a real gleamy item))

Thats interesting............is that product based on a novalac epoxy resin? One of the main reasons for sealer failure, is lack of adhesion due to rather silly micky mouse application instructions from producers such as Caswell, which will mean the inside of a tank will following prep still be too slick for the sealer to adhere properly.

If that German product has something which eats into the surface of the GRP, then I would guess chances of it working long term are maybe increased 100% over the US made sealers, where I would guess any prep materials which actually work are probably going to be banned, probably on greenwash grounds.

I just used a product named RED KOTE on my Suz tank and so far so good.

It has been a long time since I made an update, as I can only work on the bike in the weekends. Yesterday I got myself some larger diameter heat shrink, which I will use as a hose for the main loom up the frame, in combination with the spiral band I have. Got a new phone, so I'll be testing the camera too.

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My wallet fell to progress!

Split the cases, great first experience.

Crank is dead, so is the clutch bushing/spacer.

Ordered an overhauled crank via eBay at next to nothing, seals, bearings etc. is also on the way. With great luck most of the parts will be here friday :)