RD 350 and How To Be Frustrated

[atomsplitter]

As most of you are aware I have an RD 350 I'm trying to sell. I finally got a buyer lined up but told him I would not require any payment until he can start the bike. When I parked it last it only took one kick and it would fire up (it had what I assumed was an air leak because it would start but in a few seconds would then climb in RPMs and then it would die). He kicked the crap out of it and it just 'chuffed.' So now I'm doing a search and destroy mission with the buyer trying to find out why it won't fire, First thing, we test the battery and oops, it's dead. Problem solved! Nope, new battery and it won't start. Crappy Doodles. OK pull a spark plug and give it a kick. Bright blue spark! OK it has ignition. Pull the outlet line from the petcock and turn it to ON. Nada. Must be low in the tank. Turn it to RES. Nada. Crap and double crap!!! Drain the gas out of the tank and pull the petcock. Intake tubes are blocked. Well that's not good. Clean and blow the lines clear. Awesome, put it back together, reinstall on tank, add gas and it leaks like a sieve from the selector faceplate. Well that convinces me that there is something about me that just chaps God's ass. Take a bath in gasoline getting the petcock apart again and everything I tried ended in the same leaks. Finally pulled the crinkle washer/spring out (having reshaped it twice) and fitted an O-ring in place of the spring retainer. That sealed it up, but fuel selector is kinda tight now. Finally got it all back together and gave it a kick, and a kick, and a kick, and a kick, and a kick, and a kick, and a kick, and a kick, and a kick, and a kick and viola I'm exhausted. Let it sit for a bit while I let my leg recover and then tried again and VROOOOOM it fires first kick. The idle was a bit high and I expected it to do what it did when I parked it, i.e. start to rev high and then die, but no, it just sat there idling a little fast and making terrific volumes of smoke. Pretty soon my gagrage is filled to capacity with a blueish haze and I'm having difficulty swallowing air. I shut the bike off and my garage fan blew the smoke out in a couple minutes. Well how about that, mystery of my air leak was solved, it had nothing to do with air leaking, it was starving for gas from the tank.

 

[stingray]

Sounds like the price just went up.

 

[MIG]

Soooo now you're gonna keep her???
-MIG

 

[Jagster]

...ah...hang on....let me get my rose tinted spectacles and put them on while I remember my spacerocketbabepullersexgod 1980 RD250LC, back in the day......white with two tone red swoosh decals on the tank.
I remember one time going like the wind along the back roads being chased by my my mate on his CB250 SuperDream....
(...yeah, poor fella...he never stood a chance on that lump of 4-stroke lard )

...anyways...it was on a summers evening when the damp was rising up from the fields as the sun went down and there were patches of light fog beginning to grow all around.
I decided to keep the speed up and just take a swift but smooth line into the next right hander........but wait!!.....the bend has now appearing to be a bit tighter than anticipated, so quickly shut the throttle down (plan was to not brake, just ease her round and avoid running wide due to the deep drainage ditches on each side of the road.
I reckon my LC decided to have some fun at my expense because when I slammed the throttle off, the slider in the carb decided to stick and not shut the thing down, so I lunged for the clutch lever and then the brakes while I tried to pray for a way to get around the corner without ending the day in a ditch......the engine now screaming up to the redline due to the sticking slide......
I made it round ok but needed to change my underwear as soon as I got home !

Two strokes......legend

 

[atomsplitter]

UPDATE: Sold the bike to a nice guy that had a hankering for some street cred back home (my guess New Delhi). Delivered it to him and he was all smiles. While I love the simplicity of the 2-strokes they can be fickle in ways a 4-stroke never will be.