I was working at a Yamaha shop in 1975 and the 1976 Yamaha RD400 was released. Yamaha had an abundance of leftover 1975 RD350's and I bought one in the crate for $740.00. I had great times on that bike, it was quick and reliable and never fouled a plug. Thanks for your video and the memories.
As a South African I have a vivid memory about the RD350. I joined a small bike club after buying myself a Yamaha Europa 1100cc shaft drive. So proud of it! Our club leader had a RD350. One Sunday we decided on a run to another town via a beautiful highway. I can remember our club leader saying "right....lets go!" A puff or two of smoke...a wailing revving sound....and he "vanished!" It took us "muscle monsters" quiet awhile to catch up!!! 😆
Wow cool I did the exact same thing to my 74 RD and this vid made me remember the labor of Love.. ...still ride it all the time...66 yr old me Excellent Fun ...Thanks Stan
Great restoration. I had a '74 350 back in the day. Loads of fun to ride. In '79 when I bought it, RD's were on the way out, but still fast. Flash forward, I sold the RD long ago, but I still have an RZ I bought new in '85. The RZ has more zip and comfort than the old RD, but the RD had more snarl and personality than the RZ. Both are fun to ride. Happy Motoring.😊
I have been crying with joy..as seeing that bike better than brand new...friend of mine had a 74 version . And I had a 250 dx blue with the coffin tank. But the old 350 was I thought more pleasing to the eye
That was my first motorcycle. Later in life I bought another one. Restored it, it didn't take much it was pristine when I got it. It had been setting for a long time. Lots of memories. Very nice work.
This brings back memories. My very first motorcycle was a Yamaha RD350, just like this one in the video. For its size, it was very quick and could wheelie easily in first. I wish that I could find one to restore. (Yours is beautiful.)
excellent work. Those bikes are amazing. the front end comes up in the first four gears. My brother had an orange one with Bassani expansion chambers. I believe that was the 75.
Im not doing a restoration on this level, but my rd400 has been taken completely apart & is ready to reassemble. This video is a great help for me to know what order to reassemble. Thank you. .
Stan, what an Amazing job you've done on your bike...........Unreal .........I used to have one exactly the same in 79 as a teen. Except yours is way cleaner that mine ever was.. I was never a guy who cleaned my bikes, at least not often. But I did enjoy putting mine one the back wheel as I passed the police in there little mini's. They never did catch me. ;). Well done Stan :)
My older brother had this exact bike, right down to the color. That was absolutely the quickest bike l ever rode. First gear, get going, easy on the throttle, lay up on the handlebars and open up in 2nd gear, hang on cause it's gonna leave from under you. Hit 3rd, look down, 80mph.
Good job,m a n t a b..👍🏼👍🏼saya punya rd 350 '74 piston bolong,tidur dalam gudang 23 thn.5 hari yang lalu baru saya coba untuk memperbaikinya total,semoga berhasil dan bisa jalan lagi,saya juga punya suzuki gt 250 tidur dalam gudang 23 tahun juga sekalian saya restor juga,terima kasih pak..video anda membuat saya bangun dan bergairah untuk memperbaikinya,Malang indonesia
Cool to see this pop up as I’m taking a break in the shop from doing the same thing to a 75’ RD350 that will be done soon! Although I’m on a bit of a budget with mine so it’s not as thorough as it could’ve been. Very nice build though!
I bought my 1974 RD350A in early 1974, while it was still in the crate. I have to say it probably never looked as good as this bike. This bike was the first new vehicle we had ever bought in out married life. It came to a little over $1,000, plus the fairing and saddle bags. One problem it had from day one was that it would foul a spark plug in 250 miles. Eventually I discovered the carbs came set from the factor one notch too rich. Wish I still had it today.
One of the finest restoration I have seen. RD350 have cult following in india, it's the original performance machine released by yamaha in 80's. Thx for the wonderful visual treat. Love from India...
Had two of those in the early 70's and recall taking them apart and reassembling them a few times - mainly after crashes. A big step up from dad's immaculate BSA Bantam (which I also crashed but without noticeable damage). Very simple to work on and mine were very reliable although they had a fondness for plugs and points. The foot peg bracket would ground though and caused at least one of my road crashes and a very near miss on a track day. I didn't like the rain delayed disc brake response (which caused my first ever crash) and found the seat to be pretty uncomfortable. The good old days.
I had one of these back in the day. It was a 75 250 with 3k on it, when it bought it. At 18k I bought a box of parts with a 350 top end in it. After buying gaskets and jets for the carbs, it was off to the races. That bike spent as much time on the back wheel as it did on two. I had it mildly ported, fiberglass reeds, chambers, gold anodized heads and K&N filters. At one point I was running wheelie bars on it. Cops would pull me over just to look at it. It was wickedly fast. My brother wrecked it at 33k. Bent the crank in it. Never ran right again. If you want one of these to be really quick off the line, use a 250 crank gear and clutch basket. Smaller crank gear. You also need to change the oil pump gear as well. Be sure to set the pump to pump more oil, as engine will be consuming more fuel. I had more fun on this bike than any of my others.
@@ZSharkPH Spec 2 in california (Call Gary 818-837-1313), Jim Lomas ( www.fastfromthepast.com/jl-exhaust/yamaha-r5-rd350-rd400-street ) or Millennium pipe/Moto Carrera ( www.2strokeworld.net/forum/index.php?topic=1191.0 )
I worked at a Yamaha Dealership from 72 to 78 and had the pleasure of working on many of those. Best part was ALL parts were Immediately available in the Parts Department.
C'est MA moto ! Première série de RD 350 importée en France en 1973. La mienne est moins rutilante parce qu'elle a roulé sans discontinuer de 1973 à 2000, plus rarement ensuite. J'allais travailler avec, par tous les temps, en toutes saisons, et pour mes déplacements dans Paris / banlieue elle était parfaite. Son plus grand voyage ce fut la Corse l'été 1998 mais elle avait fait le plus gros du parcours sur la remorque, de Paris à Cannes. Idem au retour. Cette moto était parfaite sur les trajets courts mais épuisante sur les "longues" distances par l'autoroute. Le plus loin que j'allais, toujours à deux, c'était les falaises de Bourgogne pour grimper, et les environs du Mans pour visiter la famille... et aller voir le GP et le Bol d'Or au Bugatti. La Corse à deux, avec le matériel de camping et de randonnée, ce fut assez formidable, la moto est parfaite en Corse et ma 350 avait une excellente aptitude en côte et en tout-terrain (par exemple le camping de Corte, pour ceux qui connaissent). Elle savait aussi monter et descendre des escaliers. En plus de 50ans, j'ai eu deux accidents, causés par des automobilistes imbéciles et irresponsables, et une grosse frayeur sur l'A86 en allant travailler, il y avait une palette au sol et j'avais dû la sauter, mais cela se passa bien. Aucune casse et une seule panne, causée par un défaut d'usinage des carters ou un mauvais choix de douille à aiguilles d'arbre primaire, bref la douille prit du jeu latéral et cela déconnecta la transmission primaire. Retour sur la remorque, démontage du moteur, mesure du jeu, fabrication d'une bague au tour et remontage. - Ma moto peut rouler du jour au lendemain, il lui faut juste une batterie et un peu d'essence, mais elle cassera. Après un long repos, il faut lui faire une petite restauration et lui mettre des pneus neufs. Cette moto est un vrai "tracteur", puissante et rapide, increvable et d'une maniabilité fantastique sur les petites routes. C'est une longue histoire d'amour. Telle que d'origine, il y avait des défauts criants, notamment le réglage de la pompe à huile et l'étanchéité des puits de carburateurs, j'y ai vite mis bon ordre. Pour celui qui me l'achètera, je fournirai avec la Revue Technique. Salut et fraternité*
RD 350 was my first bike. It still has my affektion. Also I took it all apart, had it painted and reassembled. A wonderful simplicity. And in 1983 it was a really fast bike when talking about acceleration. 👍👍👍
It’s really rare to find an RD in that good of shape. Most were owned by young people and parked outside in the elements and the paint was faded and chrome rusted. The pipes were always rusted and the baffles stuck in the pipes,covered in carbon. A real bitch to remove if you could get them out at all. This one was very nice,a prime candidate to restore without replacing half the parts,and a lot of the parts aren’t available at all anymore. Beautiful job!👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
I had 3 of them one identical to yours that I restored. The only thing I saw was you're missing the Yahama badge on the timing cover. Still looks sweet!
That was the second thing removed as soon as you got home.Only newbs left them on.The first thing was scratching the key number off of the ignition on the dash. Clever thieves who owned RD's would case the college parking lots for fresh RD's to steal.They would write down the 4 digit key code from off of the ignition, present their registration, proving that they did indeed own that model, and the Yamaha shop would grind them a new key. I lost a shiny new orange one that way.
Wow, I mistakenly thought the Yamaha RD350 was out of production. Yet here you are creating a new one in 18 minutes!!!! Where/how did you learn all the skills to be able to do this so expertly? Are you a motorcycle mechanic by trade?
I was a top motorcycle mechanic for 30 years, now a mechanical engineer working on new motorcycle frames. Keep watching RUclips, I learned my skills the hard way.....
This bike was introduced in India in Late 80s .. you can still find a lot many in decent condition very powerful for chaotic Indian traffic ... RD 350 Stands for Racing Death I presume
Looks fabulous & they were lovely machines.... A little known fact is the UK ones had a blanked off 6th gear for some bizarre reason & although I don't remember how I did it, I did manage to remove the block & that 6th gear made a heck of a difference to the bike.
The title of this video should be, "How a motorcycle is born."
Immense respect for your valuable time and effort.
I was working at a Yamaha shop in 1975 and the 1976 Yamaha RD400 was released. Yamaha had an abundance of leftover 1975 RD350's and I bought one in the crate for $740.00. I had great times on that bike, it was quick and reliable and never fouled a plug. Thanks for your video and the memories.
As a South African I have a vivid memory about the RD350. I joined a small bike club after buying myself a Yamaha Europa 1100cc shaft drive. So proud of it! Our club leader had a RD350. One Sunday we decided on a run to another town via a beautiful highway. I can remember our club leader saying "right....lets go!" A puff or two of smoke...a wailing revving sound....and he "vanished!" It took us "muscle monsters" quiet awhile to catch up!!! 😆
Wow cool I did the exact same thing to my 74 RD and this vid made me remember the labor of Love.. ...still ride it all the time...66 yr old me Excellent Fun ...Thanks Stan
Going to be restoring and building a RD250/350 cafe racer and this video is absolute gold! thank you
Thanks, I like to share things that I know.
Well done Sir. Happy to have this pop up. I'm about to attempt the same with a 76 RD400
Check out my RD400 engine build, full build from crank up.
Great restoration. I had a '74 350 back in the day. Loads of fun to ride. In '79 when I bought it, RD's were on the way out, but still fast.
Flash forward, I sold the RD long ago, but I still have an RZ I bought new in '85. The RZ has more zip and comfort than the old RD, but the RD had more snarl and personality
than the RZ. Both are fun to ride. Happy Motoring.😊
I have been crying with joy..as seeing that bike better than brand new...friend of mine had a 74 version . And I had a 250 dx blue with the coffin tank. But the old 350 was I thought more pleasing to the eye
That was my first motorcycle.
Later in life I bought another one.
Restored it, it didn't take much it was pristine when I got it. It had been setting for a long time.
Lots of memories.
Very nice work.
Yes, great motorcycle!
He don't say much, but he does a bloody good job!
Much thanks! Sometimes showing is better than speaking.
Very nicely done.
Thank you for the upload 😊 👍
This brings back memories. My very first motorcycle was a Yamaha RD350, just like this one in the video. For its size, it was very quick and could wheelie easily in first. I wish that I could find one to restore. (Yours is beautiful.)
Amazing work it's so much fun to watch I have 1973 all original 5400 km driven
If it is all original, the engine will need fresh crank seals.
excellent work. Those bikes are amazing. the front end comes up in the first four gears. My brother had an orange one with Bassani expansion chambers. I believe that was the 75.
my favorite two stroke bikes love it thanks I have a 79 daytona
Had the 400 and raced it for four years. Loved it to bits!!!
Me too!
Im not doing a restoration on this level, but my rd400 has been taken completely apart & is ready to reassemble. This video is a great help for me to know what order to reassemble. Thank you. .
Great job sir.. I m glad to see this bike brand new restored and pray to god to bring this bike again in market for us, not everyone
Stan, what an Amazing job you've done on your bike...........Unreal .........I used to have one exactly the same in 79 as a teen. Except yours is way cleaner that mine ever was.. I was never a guy who cleaned my bikes, at least not often. But I did enjoy putting mine one the back wheel as I passed the police in there little mini's. They never did catch me. ;). Well done Stan :)
Thanks!!
My older brother had this exact bike, right down to the color. That was absolutely the quickest bike l ever rode. First gear, get going, easy on the throttle, lay up on the handlebars and open up in 2nd gear, hang on cause it's gonna leave from under you. Hit 3rd, look down, 80mph.
You Got Awesome Passion . First Time I See How RD Would Have Been In Early Days . Great Video
I had one like that too. It had very nice handling characteristics and fun to ride. Still miss it.
A huge piece of gold you have there sir. I would love to own one as fine as
Great job Sr
I had that same year of bike...i miss it so much
That is a great restore, I have an original '72 R5 350 and a '73 RD 350, both are in great condition. Love those old Yamaha's.
This is a museum quality restoration. What was also impressive was there was no stopping to refer to a shop or assembly manual. Well done Sir!
Thanks, Jim. RD Yamahas are one of my favorites!
@@stanlipert8513 my favourite too sir and I want to buy one
@@stelsonmajhong7226 AND NO cursing ON cameras with air box TO y- PIPE install. pro!
@@davestrain9529 I did not think about that.
Good job,m a n t a b..👍🏼👍🏼saya punya rd 350 '74 piston bolong,tidur dalam gudang 23 thn.5 hari yang lalu baru saya coba untuk memperbaikinya total,semoga berhasil dan bisa jalan lagi,saya juga punya suzuki gt 250 tidur dalam gudang 23 tahun juga sekalian saya restor juga,terima kasih pak..video anda membuat saya bangun dan bergairah untuk memperbaikinya,Malang indonesia
I love Indonesia, I have been to Jakarta. Be sure to replace the outside crank seals before running. Good luck!
That was my first bike a 1973 I purchased in 1975. I did not understand what I was buying. I loved that bike because it was so much fun.
A legendary bike restored. An engine exhaust note would have soothed our souls.
Unfortunately, I did the opposite back in the late 70s. Thanks for giving this one new life. Great job. Rear sprocket looks different as I recall.
That bike is absolutely gorgeous.Great to watch someone working with so much skill.Well done.
wow superb skill and lot of patience, he is one man army...
Hats off Stan for the amazing work !! Wish could hear it roar too !!
Beautiful work. I can tell that you were there back in the day.
Riding RD Yamahas since the mid 80's.
Thank you again...true craftsmanship!!
In 70's this bike a amazing riding after that i have also change many bike but this ride is dreaming
Beautiful
Beautiful job, great bike to ride! I had a 1975 RD 350 and loved it!
IeeuNya akuqw
Me too. I was given a rusted wreck; saved it and resto modded it. looks standard-ish. Chambers and around 59hp now.
That brought back happy memories of working on my 350b back in the day
good skills and a lot of work to produce a real gem
I would love to have a workshop like that, oh and the skill and now how I suppose would help
Very good work I like to joined with your team
Thanks for watching!
just beautiful, love these old bikes
I love this bike Yamaha RD 350👌
Nice job! Brings back memories. I had that bike brand new in 1974. It was a real rocket back then. I still think it was the best color they ever made.
I had the paint shop match the large metal flake to original.
I loved the '73 color, just beautiful.
Amazing Job.. its like brand new.. the legendary bike i had a chance to ride once , the torque is insane
What a beauty wow
I had wonderful memories from the seventies whatching your video. Cheers!
Got to be one of their all time greats. A real giant killer.
Cool to see this pop up as I’m taking a break in the shop from doing the same thing to a 75’ RD350 that will be done soon! Although I’m on a bit of a budget with mine so it’s not as thorough as it could’ve been. Very nice build though!
Thanks for watching!
Great work. Really love it.
I bought my 1974 RD350A in early 1974, while it was still in the crate. I have to say it probably never looked as good as this bike. This bike was the first new vehicle we had ever bought in out married life. It came to a little over $1,000, plus the fairing and saddle bags. One problem it had from day one was that it would foul a spark plug in 250 miles. Eventually I discovered the carbs came set from the factor one notch too rich. Wish I still had it today.
One of the finest restoration I have seen.
RD350 have cult following in india, it's the original performance machine released by yamaha in 80's.
Thx for the wonderful visual treat.
Love from India...
Superb efforts making this bike.
Hats off to you and your work. The bike was looking like on assembly line, virgin pure, surgeon like precision .
Nice! Back in the day I knew a guy who had the RD400 and it was a very wicked bike.
Had two of those in the early 70's and recall taking them apart and reassembling them a few times - mainly after crashes. A big step up from dad's immaculate BSA Bantam (which I also crashed but without noticeable damage). Very simple to work on and mine were very reliable although they had a fondness for plugs and points. The foot peg bracket would ground though and caused at least one of my road crashes and a very near miss on a track day. I didn't like the rain delayed disc brake response (which caused my first ever crash) and found the seat to be pretty uncomfortable. The good old days.
RD 350 Was a Great Bike then , love that bike.
We used it for RACING... 💥Wonderful Job 💥
Not riding now..., already 60 yrs old 😊🙏
Beautiful restoration, a fun handful of a bike to ride.
Beautiful work of art. As a child inus d to run out the door when I heard the sound of a RD 359 go by.
Beautiful work......well done!!!
I had one of these back in the day. It was a 75 250 with 3k on it, when it bought it. At 18k I bought a box of parts with a 350 top end in it. After buying gaskets and jets for the carbs, it was off to the races. That bike spent as much time on the back wheel as it did on two. I had it mildly ported, fiberglass reeds, chambers, gold anodized heads and K&N filters.
At one point I was running wheelie bars on it. Cops would pull me over just to look at it. It was wickedly fast.
My brother wrecked it at 33k. Bent the crank in it. Never ran right again.
If you want one of these to be really quick off the line, use a 250 crank gear and clutch basket. Smaller crank gear. You also need to change the oil pump gear as well. Be sure to set the pump to pump more oil, as engine will be consuming more fuel.
I had more fun on this bike than any of my others.
Sounds like you know these machines well.. i just picked one up.. what chambers do you recommend?
@@ZSharkPH Spec 2 in california (Call Gary 818-837-1313), Jim Lomas ( www.fastfromthepast.com/jl-exhaust/yamaha-r5-rd350-rd400-street ) or Millennium pipe/Moto Carrera ( www.2strokeworld.net/forum/index.php?topic=1191.0 )
@@nkreigline01 Thank you
I worked at a Yamaha Dealership from 72 to 78 and had the pleasure of working on many of those.
Best part was ALL parts were Immediately available in the Parts Department.
Exactly like my first bike. 👍🇺🇸
Excelente trabalho de restauração 🙏🏻🙏🏻👍👍🆗
Excellent job and really appreciate the effort 👌
C'est MA moto ! Première série de RD 350 importée en France en 1973. La mienne est moins rutilante parce qu'elle a roulé sans discontinuer de 1973 à 2000, plus rarement ensuite. J'allais travailler avec, par tous les temps, en toutes saisons, et pour mes déplacements dans Paris / banlieue elle était parfaite.
Son plus grand voyage ce fut la Corse l'été 1998 mais elle avait fait le plus gros du parcours sur la remorque, de Paris à Cannes.
Idem au retour.
Cette moto était parfaite sur les trajets courts mais épuisante sur les "longues" distances par l'autoroute. Le plus loin que j'allais, toujours à deux, c'était les falaises de Bourgogne pour grimper, et les environs du Mans pour visiter la famille... et aller voir le GP et le Bol d'Or au Bugatti.
La Corse à deux, avec le matériel de camping et de randonnée, ce fut assez formidable, la moto est parfaite en Corse et ma 350 avait une excellente aptitude en côte et en tout-terrain (par exemple le camping de Corte, pour ceux qui connaissent).
Elle savait aussi monter et descendre des escaliers.
En plus de 50ans, j'ai eu deux accidents, causés par des automobilistes imbéciles et irresponsables, et une grosse frayeur sur l'A86 en allant travailler, il y avait une palette au sol et j'avais dû la sauter, mais cela se passa bien. Aucune casse et une seule panne, causée par un défaut d'usinage des carters ou un mauvais choix de douille à aiguilles d'arbre primaire, bref la douille prit du jeu latéral et cela déconnecta la transmission primaire. Retour sur la remorque, démontage du moteur, mesure du jeu, fabrication d'une bague au tour et remontage.
-
Ma moto peut rouler du jour au lendemain, il lui faut juste une batterie et un peu d'essence, mais elle cassera. Après un long repos, il faut lui faire une petite restauration et lui mettre des pneus neufs.
Cette moto est un vrai "tracteur", puissante et rapide, increvable et d'une maniabilité fantastique sur les petites routes. C'est une longue histoire d'amour.
Telle que d'origine, il y avait des défauts criants, notamment le réglage de la pompe à huile et l'étanchéité des puits de carburateurs, j'y ai vite mis bon ordre.
Pour celui qui me l'achètera, je fournirai avec la Revue Technique.
Salut et fraternité*
Loved watching it till the end. But, we've been deprived of the exhaust note 😒
It kind of made the project seem incomplete
Yep awesome job but wanted to hear it !!!
If want here Rd 350 exhaust note
Search in youtube
Bluesmoke custom RUclips channel ..
ruclips.net/video/_pvNBRc9ZqE/видео.html
I was hoping for a smoky note
RD 350 was my first bike. It still has my affektion. Also I took it all apart, had it painted and reassembled. A wonderful simplicity. And in 1983 it was a really fast bike when talking about acceleration. 👍👍👍
Really impressive restoration! Had a 1973 in the mid 80s, but in bad shape. Dangerously fast as it revs up!
Absolute beaut.Nothing better.
great build, love the color! always wanted a RZ or and RD. Swinedog
It’s really rare to find an RD in that good of shape. Most were owned by young people and parked outside in the elements and the paint was faded and chrome rusted. The pipes were always rusted and the baffles stuck in the pipes,covered in carbon. A real bitch to remove if you could get them out at all. This one was very nice,a prime candidate to restore without replacing half the parts,and a lot of the parts aren’t available at all anymore. Beautiful job!👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Awesome job.....lots of knowledge there......a masterpeice
Dear Sir
Good work.
Appreciated your work
Excellent job mate thanks for sharing .
Outstanding work!! I got a 79Daytona RD400f not as nice as your RD350 but it's a blast to ride .
Such a quality stuff
Great work congratulations
I had 3 of them one identical to yours that I restored. The only thing I saw was you're missing the Yahama badge on the timing cover. Still looks sweet!
That was the second thing removed as soon as you got home.Only newbs left them on.The first thing was scratching the key number off of the ignition on the dash. Clever thieves who owned RD's would case the college parking lots for fresh RD's to steal.They would write down the 4 digit key code from off of the ignition, present their registration, proving that they did indeed own that model, and the Yamaha shop would grind them a new key. I lost a shiny new orange one that way.
Wow really loved your compassion n hardwork you put in to that. I subscribed
Parabéns!
Possuí uma motocicleta igual e foi muito bom rever os detalhes. Obrigado!
Beutiful machine , Love to watch it .
Thanks for uploading this rebuild video ..
Beautiful bike!
Wonderful and awesome work 👌🤞 my favourite bike 🥰💜😇👍
Good morning, Where can we find the disc you use to shine the fork sliders?
It is called Convolute wheel, from McMaster -Carr in the USA.
Wow its Amazing job I love it 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Most important part is the crank seals.
Nice work! You make it look pretty easy ;-)
Labour of love. Yamaha should gring back this iconic bike as a 4stroke.
good work here
Lovely Bike - Great work!
What a heart warming bike ...!!!
I love this bike very much...
Wow, I mistakenly thought the Yamaha RD350 was out of production. Yet here you are creating a new one in 18 minutes!!!! Where/how did you learn all the skills to be able to do this so expertly? Are you a motorcycle mechanic by trade?
I was a top motorcycle mechanic for 30 years, now a mechanical engineer working on new motorcycle frames. Keep watching RUclips, I learned my skills the hard way.....
Nice to see the full assembly. I have a 73 RD350 that I want to breakdown and do a full restore on and this video process will help.
This bike was introduced in India in Late 80s .. you can still find a lot many in decent condition very powerful for chaotic Indian traffic ... RD 350 Stands for Racing Death I presume
good job Yamaha RD 350 cc
Incredible work 🤔👍
Looks fabulous & they were lovely machines.... A little known fact is the UK ones had a blanked off 6th gear for some bizarre reason & although I don't remember how I did it, I did manage to remove the block & that 6th gear made a heck of a difference to the bike.