02-03-2018, 03:09 AM
I owned a 1971 Yamaha 350 R5. The first winter I had it I took the motor apart to have a look at it. It was so much easier to disassemble and reassemble than a British motor.
The only thing that fooled me on the R5 was the clutch assembly. It did not want to fit back on the crankshaft. After some deep thinking, I spread some oil on the shaft. The clutch assembly slid slowly up the shaft pushing oil as it went. Now that is a tight tolerance.
It was also such an easy motorcycle to maintain. I could clean the heads and piston tops, replace the spark plugs, change the oil and lube the chain in a couple of hours.
It had 10,000 miles on it when I sold it. It looked showroom clean and still would do 103 MPH.
The only thing that fooled me on the R5 was the clutch assembly. It did not want to fit back on the crankshaft. After some deep thinking, I spread some oil on the shaft. The clutch assembly slid slowly up the shaft pushing oil as it went. Now that is a tight tolerance.
It was also such an easy motorcycle to maintain. I could clean the heads and piston tops, replace the spark plugs, change the oil and lube the chain in a couple of hours.
It had 10,000 miles on it when I sold it. It looked showroom clean and still would do 103 MPH.