Sweet RD in Deus' Boundless Enthusiasm Bike Build Off

Really nice 1972 Yamaha RD200 entrant by American Eric Christie in Deus Ex Machina's Boundless Enthusiasm Bike Build Off. Took 14th place - should have been higher, IMHO. Here's the writeup:

My bike in words; This little smile factory started out as an impulse craigslist score (I'm sure none of you can relate to that statement ;) sometime around July. The very first day I had it I took all the junk off of it and took about 5 inches out of the rear loop. At that point I sat back and conjured up a plan for a cool little bike, something fun and simple that looked pretty stock but not. A mild custom if you will. My style is to build things that are clean and flowing. I feel that a great custom is something that leaves you wondering just what was modified. After a quick day dream I decided screw it I'm just going to part it out. It was then that I got a call from my brother and he said hell no that little baby is mine and I want you to build it how you see it. "Cool!" The meager budget was set and then I hurt my back. Full of enthusiasm and no ability to stand and walk I dreamed some more. Fast forward to early September and the bike was still Sitting doing nothing I stumbled upon an Instagram post while amongst the throne of all good thoughts and a light bulb kinda sizzled a bit. Could I really pull this off. After a few hell yeahs and what are you waiting for's from my Wife, brother, Dad and friends and it was on registration had happened and there was no turning back. Since this bike will be built for my brother as his daily ride up in S.F. A short trip north of here in Santa Cruz, and armed with a pocket full of "let's do this" I was off to build a clean little street ripper capable of tearing the sidewalk off the San Francisco streets and looking dapper at the same time. I started by taking off anything that wasn't a cool yamaha rd200 and added back only what was completely necessary yet with a vision of cleanliness and style. The vintage bates headlight was sucked in and dropped down by a custom handmade set of ears with just the right proportions. A tail section handmade from flat steel the frame was smoothed out semi moulded and cleaned up for a handsome look. The stock gas tank was removed of years of abuse and gave it a nice skin tightening before being blocked out and straightened to an acceptable state. A vintage electrovoice microphone volunteered as a perfectly proportionate taillight. A lot of time cleaning polishing reconditioning painting and elbow grease using and we were getting close. A new set of spokes went well with the cleaned and polished original wheels and hubs. The paint? Well it had to be gold and white. Just had to be. So I read and studied every thing I could about painting and with the help of a great pal we came up with my first real paint job and although I learned a lot the hard way I am pretty happy with it. During the whirlwind of coating this bike in a candy like finish my great pal with slight help from me attempted his first tuck and roll job. Came out pretty good and it topped off that tail section just right. Down to the mad dash of a finish and my Dad stopped over to lend a hand with the wiring and clean it up to his liking. It was Friday afternoon before the event, a push of the starter button and it lit off and screamed like every good two stroke should. I quickly loaded up the trailer and set off for a weekend I won't soon forget. I want to thank first of all my family, friends and amazing Wife for keeping my head up for this whole build. I really couldn't have done it without them. Second the team at Deus and all the great people we met at this event. I feel like part of the family and made new friends I hope to stay in touch with. So here is my 1972 Yamaha rd200. Enjoy!

Fitzotis' R5

Reader Fitzotis sent in these pics of his R5. Thanks for sharing!

Ring A Ding Ding at Deus

This weekend marked a special gathering of 2-strokes of all sorts at Deus Ex Machina in Venice, California:

The parking lot at The Emporium of Postmodern Activities is, for the most part, a civilized place; an evolved tarmac where mannerly citizens maneuver their EPA compliant vehicles in an orderly, adult fashion. It’s a peaceful strip of asphalt. Sometimes, though, shit gets out of hand. Well, sort of. Not really. What we’re talking about here is Ring A Ding Ding, the two stroke love-in we threw last weekend that transformed our otherwise genteel back lot into an oil and gas breathing attack on the senses. Over fifty motorcycles were on display, each displaying their unique bits of personality when their owners started them up. The resulting choir of smoke and sound that filled the air was all too fitting for the Fourth of July weekend. Firing up a two-stroke motorcycle is like lighting fireworks. The crackle of the engine sounds like fireworks, the smoke pouring out of the exhaust looks like fireworks. The whole thing just feels like you’re breaking a bunch of rules, like it can blow up in your face at any moment. It’s that uneasiness you feel when you’re not quite sure if your neighbors are going to call the cops. It’s awesome.

More photos from the event here.

Kevin writes in

Kevin wrote in to share some interesting information about bikes from his collection:

Hello Lawrence, I am just getting into these bikes, the first ones were the 2 68 AS1s, one is very rare, because it is factory white, which I found was a rare option. I was told by the guy I bought my first 68 YR2C that there were about 150,000 AS1s made, most were blue or red, and less than 1000 were white. The first YR2C I got turns out to be a rare dealer bike, and has parts chromed on it that my other YR2C does not, and the VIN are only 260 off. The dealer bike came from Arkansas, and the other one I got in Michigan, but it came from Utah, still had the dealer sticker on it. The dealer bike was being turned into a café racer, so I bought the other bike so I could restore the dealer bike, and make the other one into a café racer. They are both very low numbered bikes. Now, after getting my first 68 YR2C, it was in the back of my truck, and a guy that I grew up next to stopped by to see if I was selling the bike, I told him no, and he asked if I wanted an old 250 Yamaha for $250. I told him yes, and he just dropped it off. That is when I found out it was an R5, and after telling him it was, he swore it was a 250. Then I found the second YR2C around Christmas, and he was close to my cousins, so they picked the bike up for me. The, in Feb, I found the 72 R5, which was turned into a GP bike, but not finished, so I have gotten RD cylinders. This bike, and the non dealer YR2C are the only bikes that will not be stock. Here are the pictures of the 2 YR2Cs, with my customers Ferrari. Thanks, Kevin

Minimally Custom 72 R5

Love the look of this pared down R5. Everything unnecessary has been removed, and what's left is a beautifully minimal machine. Kudos.

Via Pipeburn.

Side stand mount dimensions?

Mike writes in with this request for help:

The side stand mount on my bike was broken of at the welds when i bought it. I got a stand from a fellow parting his bike out. Unfortunately I still have nowhere to mount it. I have plenty of steel stock laying around and access to enough welding and machining tools to make it happen, but I could really use the dimensions of the side stand mount. If anyone took the time, I'd be very grateful! (enough to lend a hand and fab one up for anyone else needing one!)

If anyone can help out, comment below. Thanks.

6 Over Teaser Trailer

Beautifully shot teaser trailer for 6 Over from Wild Honey Productions. Enjoy.

R5 for sale in Colorado

Coleman sent in his R5, which is currently for sale in Colorado:

For sale is a 1970 Yamaha R5 350. This bike runs awesome! It starts on the first kick. The whole bike has been went through, the motor and transmission were rebuilt by the previous owner. I have recently done timing and synched the carbs. The seat was redone using the original pan, and I installed a new (old style) tail light. It has DG pipes and a K&N air filter (no air box). I've put on new (stock) gauges (the milage on them isn't accurate) with working lights and bright background color. Recently changed the oil (Redline) and installed new tires. This bike isn't a show bike, but it runs really good. It is a dream to carve up a canyon and really nice to blow some steam off cruising to work and back... $2500, local pickup only. more pictures available upon request...

Contact info: MeVsRobots (at) gmail (dot) com
Location: Ft. Collins, Co.

Followup: Edson's R5

Following up on the A Question of Time post from a few weeks back, here are some images of Edson's R5. Enjoy!

Reader Electrical Gremlins

Mike writes in with an electrical question:

I recently purchased a not-quite-running Yamaha R5B, and first off I'd like to thank you for compounding all the information you have! your site has been a major help while I'm working on the bike, and for just learning all I can about it since it is my first motorcycle. I have two questions for you, the first is that the bike didn't come with front turn signals installed, but luckily I was able to get ahold of the correct pair from my uncle. Unfortunately my wiring knowledge is limited to replacing wires where the old ones were, but with your site's help I was able to hook up the brown and green wire clusters to their respective bulbs, but I am not sure where/how to ground them. Both have the eye terminal wires coming off of the bolts on the signals, but I am unsure of where exactly to plug them into. The second is that the bike has a short somewhere and keeps blowing the main fuse off the positive battery terminal. All lights/signals/horn work as they should it seems (except the ones I haven't grounded/hooked up). The bike starts, will run for a minute or so before either dying of a spent battery or the main fuse going. I started checking for continuity, and sure enough there was continuity between the positive and negative battery hook-ups with the key on, started following it back and it lead me to the red wire entering the rectifier. I'm not sure where to go/what to do from there, or even if there is supposed to be continuity through there! Do you have any insight/ideas for tracing the fault? Thanks again for the site, and any thoughts you may have!

Any feedback or suggestions greatly appreciated.