Topic: 1967 YR1 350 Grand Prix

[4g3tful]

Just picked up a 1967 yr1 a couple of weeks ago. I broke her down to get all the rust and everything cleaned up. She is just sitting in my garage right now just waiting for new parts so  can put her back together after i get some time to work on her. I just got back from a 3 week vacation and I miss getting dirty haha. The bike was sitting in a garage since 1978 and picked up a few new tenants....

[4g3tful]

at the house

[4g3tful]

old tenants and being torn down

[MrGardman]

Looks like a nice project. I loved those old two strokes. They are simple to work on and usually run very well when done. Good luck and keep us informed.

[Dimitri13]

Nice! Can't wait to see how it turns out. I almost scored one of those for under a grand in great condition on feebay, but I was at work and on the forklift the exact minute the auction was ending.

[4g3tful]

Thats sucks! Im excited to get back on this project. Only thing i have found missing is the badges on the side. Of course the bike has a bit of rust and a rats nest but still... Not everyday you come across a rare one. I only ended up paying 250 for this gem. Had to drive 2 hours but totally worth it. Already have her stripped down, engine cleaned up and repainted. Gonna be repainting the frame here in a few days after i strip the surface rust off. I keep trying to find folks that have worked on this bike so i can get some hints/tricks and see how the ride was. Im excited!! Just wish i could snap my fingers and get this puppy the way i want it.

[Terry in Australia]

Very nice mate, those old Yams were surprisingly fast. By coincidence, there's an article in the latest "Australian Motorcycle Trader" on a just completed resto on one of those old Yamaha's, but I think it's a YDS1?.

I bought one like yours back in the early 1970's for 5 bucks, but it didn't go so I swapped it for an old BSA Bantam, those were the days! Cheers, Terry.

http://www.mctrader.com.au/news-and-reviews/article/articleid/80792.aspx

[4g3tful]

Sorry guys, its been a while. Plus, I have never really been good about keeping progress with my projects online. I always seem to get side tracked by my family...stupid family...haha. But i do have some progess. I have stripped and repainted the shocks (front and rear) and the tank. I have cleaned up some of the chrome bits. The chrome still looks like pretty rough up close. The bike sat in the same spot for close to 34 years so the chrome, and the whole bike, have taken a beating. I took the motor apart to make sure it looks legit inside and it did. I replaced all the motor seals and mounted the engine and some other parts back up. It is sitting right now just mocked up just so that i can get the "almost finished" butterflies in my stomach. Soooo.... on with the pictures i guess. The wheel is a before and after pic.

[4g3tful]

painted

[Terry in Australia]

Nice work mate, good to see that you haven't gone mad and "over restored it", and by not re-chroming every part of it, it's still mostly "original". Cheers, Terry.

[4g3tful]

pull one side off to get to the crank seal....pain in the ass!!!! especially if you dont have a seal puller. had to break the old seal in half. I believe the seal was bad cus the old nasty ass oil that was in there started to leak out. I had planned on flushing it anyway, but i think this will make it easier to do. I have never actually pulled a motor apart like this before so i may have some more questions in the near future. I just have to work on the left side now. hopefully it wont be as painful. Heres some pics.

[Terry in Australia]

Yep, worn crank seals on two strokes are the most common cause of smoking, as the engine sucks all the transmission oil into the combustion chambers. Once you get them replaced though, it'll run sweet! Cheers, Terry.

[simon#42]

cant remember exactly but i thought you had to split the cases to fit crank seals on early Yamaha's . you certainly have to on the 70's twins .

[hoodellyhoo]

Thanks for sharing your project. You just don't see enough of the 60's japanese two-stroke road bikes. Most people only seem to work on the triples and RD's from the 70's. It's a minor dream of mine to someday own an old two stroke (preferably large enough to cruise the highways).

[Retro Rocket]

Thanks for sharing your project. You just don't see enough of the 60's japanese two-stroke road bikes. Most people only seem to work on the triples and RD's from the 70's. It's a minor dream of mine to someday own an old two stroke (preferably large enough to cruise the highways).

+1, i love the old GT550's, very cool old stroker....

[Bankerdanny]

My dad and I had a YR2 in the 80's. He picked it up from a local Yamaha dealer that had it sitting outside in a side lot next to their building. I have no idea what he paid for it, a couple hundred dollars I would imagine.

It was fun to ride, but we never quite got the carbs dialed in. Not much power off the line, but at about 3k rpms it was like an afterburner had kicked in.