1966/67 Yamaha YDS3 250cc Catalina resto project

The bike with the engine out, before cleaning


The frame after a little elbow grease was added.


Gauge faces


Needless to say, the motor was in rough shape.


Errr.... they're supposed to look like that, right?


Oh yeah, those look better


So sleek and sexy!


Engine back in.


If it had a headlight, it'd look like a bike!


"Pleeeeease take me for a drive?"

http://www.king-nerd.com/dood/image...thing is running and working, 11-19-06&page=1

Well, I spent a little more time on it this evening, getting the point gap right. I had replaced the points earlier, but just threw them on and didn't bother checking the gap. Haha... won't do that again.

The left cylinder was at least opening and closing, but it wasn't opening enough, so I set that (point gap of .30mm). The right cylinder wasn't closing, at all! It was open slightly, and not even touching the rocker when it came around... the spark was just arcing the gap. No wonder that cylinder would only fire every 3rd or 4th rotation at idle!!!

Got that all straightened out and now it runs GREAT. At idle, both cylinders are firing dead on. It sounds so much happier now. I had to turn the idle way down since both cylinders were synched up. It was dark out, or I would've taken it for a spin. Tomorrow I definitely will, though.

Also, I need to get my shifter figured out. I need to rig something up, because the splines on both the shaft and the pedal are stripped. I'm thinking two quick tack welds on the outside ought to hold it in place... then I can grind them off, too, if I need to. Any other suggestions are most welcome. You can see in the above pictures that I'm using vise grips to shift at the moment.... I'm limited to first and neutral!

Okay... worked on the bike for quite a while today. I ended up being very pleased with what I got done.

Firstly, I finally checked the head bolt torque with a proper torque wrench. Most of them read around 100 in/lbs to start.... torqued them all to the spec'ed 400 in/lbs. Needless to say, it runs much, much better now!

Moving on to other things, I called on the assistance of my neighbor. I wanted to fix the shifter problem, but had not been able to by conventional means. He suggested drilling and tapping a hole in the lever, so as to make a spot for a set screw. So we did this, and I got the shifter on there and took it for a ride.... all I have to say is... WOW!!! It feels so good to be able to shift this bike!

However, this brought up a new set of issues. Upon returning to the garage, I found that I couldn't keep the bike running... it was only running on one cylinder. Upon checking things out, I realised that something was preventing the right cylinder from getting fuel. So, I drained the fuel tank, pulled all the lines off, and started checking things over. Found two fittings that were completely blocked with junk (I'm glad I have fuel filters before the carbs!). Cleaned everything up, but decided not to put it back together yet, because I wanted to work on the next thing...

... which is, TURN SIGNALS!!! I've been on a hunt for some 6v turn signals, and I finally found some. Not on the internet, either! My local old-bike shop had a set, 4 lights, wiring, flasher, and switch, for $50. I went out and nabbed them the next day. The two for the front were easy. The headlight shell on this bike is held on by two bolts, one on each side. Take stock bolts out, drill the holes out just a smidge, and the new lights go right in! Looks perfectly factory.

The rear lights were going to take a little more modification, but they weren't too bad. Drilled two holes (getting them as close as possible in location) in the fender, popped the lights in, and away we go! Now, I just need to do the permanent wiring, which will hopefully happen tomorrow.

I'm HOPING to get the wiring done, the fuel system back together, and get it back out for a few test runs, all tomorrow. We'll see how the day goes, though, and what time I get into it tomorrow morning!

Here's some shots of the new lights:



and