This is the RD YPVS 350R (RZ350 in the states) that I purchased for my specials project. Fast becoming a classic Japanese two stroke, well maybe in another 15 years! She is a 10,000 mile, almost immaculate YPVS 1992 Brazilian model. I have all of the MOTs and all of the service history. Almost seems a shame to pull her to bits, but that's what I bought her for, so that is what is going to happen.  Just a few days after this photograph was taken the bike was totally stripped down. Even worse than that I had cut off the rear sub frame and the top and bottom rear suspension mounting points. The end of the YPVS Yamaha!

The frame was almost unrecognisable. Will she ever be back on the road again? I was asked Of course she will, I replied with a little trepidation in my voice. Within the year I said. I had given myself a year as my wife and I had just had a new baby and I knew a lot of my time was going to be taken up helping with Emma, but still.......a year........no problem! Even with all the tuning that I wanted!

I wish I had taken more photographs of the destruction and construction than I did. But I will try and take you through each part as best I can with what I have. Let me know what you think of the finished product when you get to the end.

LETS GET STARTED!

The two pictures that you see here are of the lower shock pivot point. This is the most important pivot to position. If you get this one wrong then you have very little chance of creating a bike that is going to handle. And lets face it, going round corners as fast you you personally can is why many people ride bikes. Before I got to this stage I had to make two bushes for the swing arm. I had to use the original YPVS swing arm spindle, but it is a smaller diameter than the one from the RGV250 which is where the swing arm came from. So the bushes fit inside the swing arm and allow the smaller spindle to be used. They were made from phosphor bronze and machined very accurately to the sizes Nigel Kimber at NK Racing told me. Nigel was of great help during the building of my special. He always had the answers to my questions and nothing was too much trouble for him. We will be returning to Nigel later when he is yet again involved. Having mounted the awing arm, which required .5mm grinding off the inside surfaces of the YPVS frame and then filing flat again, I set about making the brackets that would form the bottom pivot for the shock. There is a drawing of the exact positions on the next page, and it has to be exact other wise your suspension will not work as designed and it will leave you with all kinds of problems. When the correct position was achieved and with all the linkages in place welding commenced!

The brackets are welded to the brace that sits under the motor and to what is left of the centre stand mounting brackets. The remainder of these brackets were cut off so that there would be no clearance problems with the GP style, exit on one side, expansion pipes that I wanted on my bike. Mild steel welded construction with carbon silencers mmmmmmmm.

This is the top mount for the shock. The position of this one is important but not as critical as the bottom pivot point. The height is determined by positioning the swing arm, with all the linkages connected, at the angle from its pivot point with no weight on the bike. I measured the angle of the swing arm, from vertical to the wheel spindle in relation to the swing arm pivot on an RGV250, and then used this angle on my bike. This gives you the height of the top of the shock. The mounting points then have to be fabricated so that this height remains the same and clearance from the linkage and swing arm can be maintained throughout its travel. I added an extra tubular mounting brace to the existing YPVS frame that is then welded to the front of the newly fabricated brackets. The brackets are made from 5mm BDMS so they will be plenty strong enough. Once the welding is finished and the frame is powder coated both top and bottom mounting points will look neat tidy and original.