Things have been fairly busy lately so progress is slow on the RD. As you can see from the pics it's a bit rough around the edges, but I know that it's mechanically sound. I'm only tidying things up so it can pass a license inspection and get it back on the road. I'll decide on whether I should give it a full strip and rebuild later, maybe next winter.

Probably the most crucial job, as with any two stroke that's been laid up for a while, was to remove both carbs and give them a thorough clean and soda blast. I've destroyed pistons of other bikes in the past from lean fuel mixtures caused by dirt in the float bowls. When I first put the RD on the lift both carb slides were stuck with a gooey mess that looked like treacle. I sprayed them with carb cleaner and left them while I work on the rear wheel. By the time I got to them they were free enough to get the tops off and after some gentle persuasion they came off fairly easy. The rubbers on the reed blocks look ok but I may need to replace the 'Y' boot that joins them to the airbox. Once out they revealed just how grotty the engine is. I'm going to soda blast the top and bottom crankcase,and the head and barrels to make it look more presentable. This will have to wait until the wheels are sorted and back in the frame so it can be rolled out of the shed so as not to cover everything in dust. As you can see the rear wheel is back in the swing arm with a shiny rim and new tyre, so I have made some progress. Next job is clean up the front wheel and fit a new tyre, I think it still has it's original tyre fitted, and blast the carbs while I'm at it. Until then...