1979 Yamaha DT175mx.

[Tinkicker]

This will likely be a long thread, based on one from another forum that ran into over 100 pages.  I still have the pics I took of the rebuild and they comprise a good part of my provenance folder.

 

Like the VFR750 already detailed, I had a brand new DT175mx back in the day, as part of my stable of off road bikes.  I loved that little Yam as it got me to work and back during the day, and was suitable for a little light offroading on an evening or weekend when I couldn't be arsed to organise my car driving mate, get my much more capable offroaders onto a trailer and go to the venue.  The Dt was light, nimble and was pretty good on and off road.

My older mates at the bike club slowly turned towards weekend camping trips and bike rallies and bought on road bikes.  My DT was just two months old when I traded it in for, of all things, a Honda CB250N Superdream.  It was better for camping trips and far more comfortable, but insipid to ride.  It did teach me to corner well though.  When you were trying to keep up with 650s and 750s, you did not have the luxury of slowing down for a bend.  It was the only time I could make up a little ground.  I did put a deposit down on a Honda CB400/4 but the insurance broker almost broke a rib laughing when I enquired about insuring it.  Not just turned 18 sonny boy.

 

Anyway, I really missed that DT and vowed that one day I would get another.  As usual, life got in the way, mortgages, breadsnappers ect.  In 2019, I righted my biggest mistake and reaquainted myself with the VFR750.  That restored, I decided to get a DT.

 

I came across an ad for a "fully restored" DT175mx, restored by a college motor vehicle lecturer, and thought that for once I would not have to get my hands dirty.  It looked the biz and had provenance proving its origins, life story and its very low original mileage.  Being an ex Yamaha techie, I knew some parts would not be up to standard and was prepared to be replacing incorrect bolts and fastenings for the correct ones, but I was not bargaining on a full rebuild.  The thing turned out to be an absolute death trap....

 

Only pic I have from the original ad.  It looked the business, even if I did spot one or two "mistakes".  I ignored the warning bells....

 

 

 

Edited December 18, 2022 by Tinkicker

[veracocha]

Yesterday I found some photo's of me riding my first bike. DT175MX in white, 1979. You brought back so many fond memories for me just reading your post. 

[Tinkicker]

So, some background from his letter of provenance. 

We have a college motor vehicle lecturer, keen car restorer and fairly newly retired.  His latest project completed, he was looking for another project to keep him occupied.

He bumped into an old student and they got talking.  Turned out the student's mum was moving house and wanted rid of his Dads old bike from the back of the shed.   She was going to take it for scrap.

His Dad came from Hong Kong originally, met his Mum and they got married.  He bought the DT brand new to go to work on.  All well and good until winter and Dad found it a toil commuting in freezing conditions.  He fell off it on a patch of ice and decided to park it up until spring.

Time passed, the wife got pregnant and the marriage failed.  Dad went back to Hong Kong, leaving the DT parked and forgotten at the back of a shed under an old tarp and his wife holding the baby.

 

40 years later, the college lecturer took a look at the bike.  Weeds were growing up through the frame and wheels, but it looked complete.  The speedo had 1931 miles on the clock.  He deemed it worthy of restoring and brought it home, stripped it and "restored" it.

 

The numberplate was missing, presumably torn off when it was dropped and the logbook had long vanished, so no reg number.  However the engine and frame numbers were intact.  DVLA were contacted, but were unable to help, the registration was inactive so long that the records were destroyed in a fire in the 80s and there had been no tax ot MOT activity to keep them updated.  However, they did confirm that it was not on the stolen vehicle database.

 

The Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club were contacted to assess the bike for registration and official Yamaha records indicated that the DT was assembled at the Iwata plant in Japan during August 1978, intended for the UK 1979 model year.  It was number 358 in the production run.

The pictures supplied of the bike pre restoration indicated that the paint colour, country specific parts and styling was correct for that UK model year.

DVLA was contacted with the provenance and an age related number was issued.

 

The bike was put up for sale and a clown who should have known better bought it at a premium price because he ignored all his own rules.  He was an experienced motorcycle techie and confident he could sort out any issues.  After all, how bad could it be if it was restored by a motor vehicle lecturer?

 

 

Hmm.

Edited December 18, 2022 by Tinkicker

[Ronnie]

Those who can do it, do it.   Those who can't, teach !

[Tinkicker]

So.  It was noted that the indicators as shown on the advert were not correct, presumably wiped out in the spill.  After arranging for delivery, I ordered a set of reproduction ones, to replace the el cheapo modern LED ones that the seller had fitted.

 

Bike duly arrived and led indicators were removed and the repro ones installed.  Odd thing, the led ones were flashing very fast, but the orange turn warning lamp on the tacho would only light up when switched to the left.

Fitted new indicators and they were flashing at a more reasonable pace, but the warning lamp persisted.  I came across a missive among the paperwork showing that he knew about it and was unable to fix it.  It read that because the indicators could be seen from the riding position, the warning lamp was not a legal requirement.  Hmm.  Something about any lighting system fitted is required to be functioning in its entirety in the MOT testers handbook.  So waffle.

 

Anyway.  Time for a test run.  Fuel on, kick it up and take it for a little trip around the village.  Got it up into third gear and bwaaaar, bwaaar bluuuurrg.  Its cutting out, snicked down into second and it would not go down the box.  Stuck in third.

Clutch in, I coasted to a stop.  A lot if messing finally got it into neutral.  Now why did it cut out?  Much consternation ensued, then the penny dropped... Reserve!

I have not had a bike with a fuel tap for many the year and had got out of the habit of reaching down and turning the tap to reserve when the engine suddenly cut.

Reserve selected and the bike fired up.  Finished my ride round the village, got up to fourth and could not change down again.  Just as I was pulling in the drive, the thing cut again.  No fuel.  Tank was completely empty.  Must have been less than a pint in there.  Old skinflint must have siphoned it and left just enough to start it.

Had a think about the gear selection problem.  In my yamaha techie days it was quite common and the cause was usually a small selector spring on the shift lever.  Not a big or expensive deal.  Spring ordered.

Strange though, he stated he had stripped and rebuilt the engine as part of the restoration, so why had he not noticed the selection problem?

 

The bike did seem a bit down on power from what I can remember, so I decided to take a look at the top end if the engine and this is where the quality of the "full restoration" became apparent.

 

Removed tank, seat and exhaust and head.  I was also confronted with a rear damper in name only.  It was toast.  Dammit, looks like I am going to get my hands dirty after all....

Not what one expected after buying a fully restored bike from a "motor industry professional".

 

 

 

Head off, the barrel was also toast.  It had been stood for 40 years and corrosion had set in around the ring area.  The cylinder, although unworn, was too badly pitted to hone out.  It would be past its service limit.  On a happier note, the lack of wear did confirm the mileage was genuine.

 

 

Corrosion pitting where the piston rings stopped 40 years ago.  Otherwise unworn.  What a shame.  Again, not what one would expect on a "rebuilt" engine.  My faith in the seller was starting to slip and I resolved to dig deeper..

 

 

Edited December 22, 2022 by Tinkicker

[Tinkicker]

Looks tidy doesn't it?  It certainly fooled me.  They say you cannot polish a turd, but the previous owner managed it.  It is a death trap.

There is not one single system on that bike that did not require a lot of effort to get it in a roadworthy condition.

 

New indicators fitted, but the rest of the bike is going backwards progress wise.

 

Time to pull off the barrel to send it away for a rebore.  A quick measure proved it was standard size, so a first oversize piston was ordered, along with the required gaskets.  Optimism is still high.

So assembled the tools I would need and looked at the cylinder base nuts to find the correct size socket.  I need not have bothered, the base nuts were alloy and one of them had been so badly chewed that it was completely rounded.

Thinking cap on.  How would I get the nut off? I could hammer a smaller socket on and hope it would grip enough to loosen it, but my 1\4 drive, 11mm hex socket was in my toolbox at work.  I needed another solution.

I removed one of the better nuts and assessed how high the inner stud went in the nut.  I drilled a hole in the offending nut above the level of the stud and used a crosshead screwdriver as a tommy bar to loosen the nut.  Job done.

New cylinder base nuts added to my growing list of parts.  They were not cheap, but at least they were available.

 

So barrel off and as I suspected, the piston was toast. What I cannot understand is if the engine had been stripped and rebuilt as the seller stated, and those nuts had to come off to do so, why would he refit them in that state?

 

 

 

 

[Tinkicker]

I contacted the suspension firm that hard chromed and reground the front fork tubes on my VFR to see if the DT rear damper was rebuildable.  Much sucking of teeth over the phone and the answer was that anything was rebuildable, it was just a matter of difficulty,  effort and cost.  Was the chrome good on the damper rod?  Nope, peeled off.  He said forget it, it was going to cost an absolute fortune.  Better to look for a good secondhand one.

 

Eventually found a good secondhand shock at a bike breakers in sunny California.  It looked to be corrosion free and was supposed to have less than 5000 miles on it.  I snapped it up before he changed his mind about shipping it to the UK.

 

Meanwhile, cylinder barrel removed, I gingerly looked for excessive free play in the big end bearing.  I was expecting it to have rusted.  It looked and felt ok.  Then I gave the motor a spin to test the mains.  Growling and grumbling like a pissed off dog.  Absolutely shot.  So I was going to have to split and rebuild the "rebuilt engine" completely.

 

Mains absolutely shot.  At least the autolube oil pump working now.  When the bike arrived it had premix in the tank as the seller could not get the oil pump to work.  This was one of the issues he had owned up to in the ad.  In this case it turned out to be just a stuck outlet check valve.  You can see oil dripping out of the carb after I spun the engine to check the mains.

 

His ad said he had replaced all the cables with new.  Does that oil pump cable look new?

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 23, 2022 by Tinkicker

[skyrider]

he wants ringing up and telling about his not so great bike and what are his thoughts

[Tinkicker]

3 hours ago, skyrider said:

he wants ringing up and telling about his not so great bike and what are his thoughts

All in good time.  I have not even got started yet....

 

 

[Davidtav]

It is always buyer beware with private sales

[Tinkicker]

The pile of bits is growing and we come across our first potential killer.

In order to get the rear shock out, the swingarm has to be removed.  When I got to the lower shock mount I found that the bushing pin did not have any means securing it.  The "restorer" had trouble getting the split pin out and knocked the bushing pin out with a hammer and punch, shearing the split pin. 

Well and good, I would have done the same.

However, he neglected to knock the remnents of the old split pin out of the hole.  He built the rear end up and either forgot or could not fit a new split pin because the hole was blocked by the remains of the old one.

 

Upshot is that the pin would have worked its way out and the rear suspension would have collapsed suddenly.  This stuff gets people killed.

 

Pile of bits growing as every level removed revealed more feckwittery beneath it.

 

 

Bushing pin with remnents of old split pin still in the hole.  Not a bit of grease used in the reassembly.  Also he deemed those age brittled, cracked swingarm bushes with broken thrust flanges as suitable for putting back into service.  They had in fact seized on the inner bearing pin and the entire slip plane of the assembly was actually between the outer of the bush and the swingarm itself.  Again, this could have killed someone.

 

 

 

Edited December 24, 2022 by Tinkicker

[skyrider]

not a person to do business with again i say 

[Tinkicker]

On 24/12/2022 at 12:18, skyrider said:

not a person to do business with again i say 

 

Definitely not.  He said he was a motor vehicle lecturer.  Of course one takes it as read that he teaches mechanicals, however I now think he was teaching car body repair and spraying.  The bike looked great cosmetically.

God help the poor passengers of the cars he "restores".  I would not ride in one.

 

 

 

Replacement rear damper unit arrived from the US.  A big improvement.  It looks almost new.   I had a lot of luck sourcing parts long out of production with this resto.

 

 

Back end rebuilt with new brake shoes, new wheelbearings, all new bushes, seals, and bits n bobs for the swingarm assembly, plus all new brightwork.  The big zinc plated wheel spacer appeared on ebay as new old stock and the one on the bike was painted silver and was very badly corroded.  Competition was fierce.  Yamaha listed the retail price at the last update before it became unavailable at £4.50.  Probably back in the late 1980s.

Bidding was stiff and I needed it badly.  I put in an automatic bid at £40 and hoped for the best.  If it went above £40 it would be cheaper to have one made and plated.

Despite the big flurry of bids in the last minute, I finally got it for a mind blowing £25 iirc.

It is an expensive business restoring an old favourite to showroom condition.  It is the final 10% of the detailing that cost 50% of the total cost of a build.

I spent well over £700 just in genuine Yamaha nuts, bolts and insignificant parts alone.  The seller had replaced everything with generic, ebay hardware section allen screws.

It has to be a labour of love at this level because it is unlikely you will see a return on your investment for quite a few years.  

 

 

That brake pull rod ruffles my feathers.  It should be bright zinc plated and is listed as unavailable (at the time the pic was taken). The previous owner just had it powder coated black.  I put it on my search list.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 30, 2022 by Tinkicker
Wheel spacer cost was incorrect.

[Tinkicker]

Pulled out the engine and stripped it down.  Gave everything a good coat of looking at.  The mains, as I suspected were badly corrosion pitted and tgere was some surface rust on the crank flywheels, but overall, everything looked ok.  I can verify that the recorded mileage is correct just by looking at the wear patterns on certain parts such as the clutch basket and drum.

 

Absolutely no wear on the clutch basket fingers, indicating that the bike had indeed done very few hours of running and the recorded mileage was almost certainly correct.

 

 

 

Same with with the driven clutch drum.  It is in as new condition.

 

 

The gear selector forks have not seen very many gearchanges in their 43 years of life.

 

 

 

The transmission gears and shafts have seen very little action.  There is absolutely no wear on the output axle splines where the front sprocket sits. This area tends to wear quite quickly as it is a very heavily loaded area, subjected to shock loading and grit inside the sprocket chamber.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tinkicker]

Engine reassembled with new mains, but despite fitting the new spring on the shift lever, it still would not change down.  Nothing inside the crankcases to indicate problems, so it had to still be a problem with the selection mechanism.

I had realigned and adjusted the shift shaft as per the factory specs, but still had an iffy gearchange.

I tried to adjust it out by getting away from the factory settings and got it changing both up and down, but I would not call it a crisp change.

 

It is now obvious that my previous estimate of just changing the spring for about £7 was not to be.  I assessed that the problem was actually a bent shift shaft assembly, managed to find a new old stock one in the Netherlands and ordered it, along with the shift stopper alignment peg.

 

I think this probably explains why the bike was parked up for so long without being disturbed.  The original owner fell off it on the left side, the gearlever dug into something and the force bent the shift shaft assembly internally.  Knowing it to have a probably expensive gearbox fault, it was parked up and left when the owner went back to Hong Kong.

The family knew it had the gearbox fault and never bothered trying to sell it or get it running.

 

Engine reassembled and back in frame.  Clutch just loosely assembled so as not to lose any parts.  It was going to have to come off again as the shift lever fits behind it.  The £7 spring is just to the front of the clutch basket.

 

Left side completely reassembled and chain fitted.  Unbeknown to me at the time, it would have to come apart again as I uncovered another series of very nasty surprises.

 

 

Edited December 26, 2022 by Tinkicker

[Tinkicker]

With cylinder and piston away for rebore and waiting for the new shifter parts to arrive, I stripped the oil pump, cleaned it out and fitted new seals.  Also got the clutch cover paint stripped and repainted it.

 

 

Weeks of research looking at Yamaha parts drawings finally gleaned a rear brake rod that looked to have the correct ends and about the right length, although it had a slight dogleg where mine did not.  I thought maybe I could just take out the dogleg and make it fit.

No need to worry, it fitted like a glove and the dogleg was in the right place to avoid fouling the frame.  It looked like it should have been fitted from new.

It is from an Asian market 2020 Yamaha DT125. 

What often happens is that Yamaha and most motor manufacturers will modify a part from model year to model year, and when that model goes out of production, they will often reuse the part on a newer model of bike to save retooling costs.

When this happens, they will change the part number to suit the new model and the old part number becomes obsolete.  When stocks run out of the parts packaged with the original number, it shows up as unavailable on the system.

 

This rod is a 40 plus year old design fitted on a newer model of bike.  It may have been modified a few times in its life.  When the part number changed, it became design number one for that part number as denoted by the 00 at the end of the number.  Subsequent modifications such as change of finish or ends would end in 01 and 02 ect.

[Tinkicker]

Barrel returned and fitted and the shift lever parts arrived at almost the same time. 

My rule in restorations is to complete one task per day in order to progress the job and avoid burnout.  Some people try to do too much at once and get fed up.  The bike sits in bits for a while, then get sold on as an incomplete project.

Other people let the job run on for years.  I like a resto to last 6 months or so and one job a day tallies nicely with lead periods of parts and services.

 

However, cylinder, piston and shift parts made me a little giddy and in a rare burst of energy, I fitted the barrel and piston, went on to complete the transmission side, and finish off the motor.

 

It looks like loose steel filings around the top of the cylinder, but isnt.  Everything was cleaned thoroughly in the industrial cleaners at work before fitting.  It is just the reflected light of the LED torch I was using as a lighting source.

 

Shift assembly arrived and fitted.

 

Engine completed.  Out of curiosity, I looked in the toolkit holder (triangular shaped container with lid removed by the battery box) to see if the original tools were still inside.  They were not.  What was stuffed in there after further investigation, was a very nasty surprise indeed.

 

 

 

 

 

[Tinkicker]

Pushing on.  Want to try finish the thread before I go back to work in the new year.

 

So I looked in the tool holder and found an electrical unit of some type.  What on earth could it be.  Was it a tracking device of some sort?

I know that the seller had a bee in his bonnet about doing a 12v conversion for better lighting and one could buy a plug and play kit that just plugged into the wiring, was it one of these?  Expensive mod if it was.  

I pulled the battery... Yup 12v battery... and a cheapo, non automotive rated one.  Still, the plug and play 12v conversion was a nice thing to have.  Maybe if I eventually decided on putting everything back to the original standard 6v, I could sell it on.

 

I pulled the unit and all the wiring connector blocks fell out.  They were not compatible with the unit and were only held in because they were all jammed into the toolholder together.

 

I looked at the unit and a sick feeling started in my belly.  Or God, please do not let this be the wrong CDI unit for a 12v system and the wiring harness he butchered to make it fit. 

Of course, it was the wrong CDI unit and a totally and utterly butchered original wiring harness.  Merde and double merde!

 

At this point I wanted to do some physical damage to the seller.  Stupid man obviously did not realise that the ignition system was completely independent of the charging and lighting systems.

 

To make matters worse, did he fit the expensive plug and play 12v conversion kit? 

Oh no, he went the cheap route and butchered yet more harness to make a generic 12v regulator rectifier fit.  Now I was understanding how the bike came to have so many electrical problems.

 

This was going to be expensive in time and money to put right.  Soddin idiot.

 

Starter course.. Non standard CDI of unknown provenence.  Gawd alone knows what timing advance curve it had.

Main course...non automotive rated battery with crimp on connections, held on by gaffer tape.

Dessert course.. Cheapo, generic chinese reg rec.

 

Butchered wiring harness with wiring to his own mad design.  None of the wiring matched what Yamaha designed in either colours, sizes or connections.  All nicely twisted together and wrapped in insulating tape.

What a headache to put right.

 

 

 

 

[Tinkicker]

Once my head stopped spinning, I looked for the original components.  The CDI, the rectifier and the regulator.  Nothing, all three were missing.  I looked at a wiring diagram to see what colour wires went to them and the type of connection to track down where they were located.  I found various wires of the right colour that had been butchered and different wires attached.  Finally I ordered an official Yamaha factory workshop manual so I knew exactly where and how they fitted.  

The official manuals actually give you all the original cable routings, which is incredibly useful.  The wiring diagram in the Haynes manual supplied with the bike differed from the factory one.

 

I had more stuff to add to my shopping list.  CDI, Rectifier and 6v regulator and a good secondhand wiring harness if availabe.  If one had not turned up by the time all the other work had been done, I was going to have to make up my own harness from scratch.

You have to run through your shopping list every evening, scouring the internet for parts becoming available and I got lucky; a secondhand harness became available on ebay from a bike breakers in the US within a week.  I just hoped it was the same.

 

The CDI was unavailable officially, prohibitably expensive,and those on ebay were all 1980 onwards types.  The 80s CDI had six wires, whereas the 78 and 79 models had seven wires.  To double check the wiring, I looked for the multi pin connector from the source and trigger coils that connected the generator stator to the harness.

OMG.  This had been butchered too.  I put my multimeter on the wires to check the coils. Only two readings available.  The rest were dead.  I took off the insulation covering the stator harness and was stunned. Most of the wires had been cut.  Why on earth?

 

 

Wires cut and more general feckwittery involving insulation tape.  It was obvious I was going to have to strip out the flywheel, remove the stator, test the pulse coil, the high and low speed source coils and the lighting coil.  If they were good, great.  If not it was going to get even more expensive.  Of course I was going to have to make up a new stator harness from scratch.

 

The previous "restorers" wiring expertese revealed in all its glory.  And he being a college lecturer. 

 

By this point I was seriously considering taking him to court for gross misrepresentation in his advert. He, as an automotive industry professional, as am I, are held to far higher standards in law than a layman would be where matters like this are concerned.  I was seriously pissed off at him.

Anyway, wires of the correct size and colours and other harness building materials ordered.  

The coils all checked out ok.  For some reason known only to himself, he had rewired all the wiring to run off the charging coil only.  Don't ask.  I can't get my head around it.

 

 

New stator harness made up, correctly connected to the stator coils and getting some sensible readings from all the wires.  I cannot put terminations on until the main harness arrives from the US.  I have no idea of the connector types nor how long the wires need to be.

His butchered main harness dangling down on the left.  I dare not even look in the headlamp shell.  I am saving that for when I feel brave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 27, 2022 by Tinkicker

[fredc]

Those who can do

those who can't teach

[Tinkicker]

Replacement main harness arrived from the US and in the meantime I found a new old stock CDI also in the US.  It was the correct part number but the box looked well battered, being in storage over 40 years. 

The risk is that 40 years ago, someone ordered one to replace a failed one under warranty, the failed one got put back in the box and somehow a mix up saw it put back on the shelf.

I could see no reason why a bike shop would keep such a part in stock all this time.

I took a punt and hoped it was £80 well spent.  The last official price Yamaha posted before it became unavailable was £400.

 

Main harness fitted, the stator harness was trimmed to length and the correct terminations fitted.

 

 

New old stock CDI arrived.  For some reason the mounting bracket was missing, so made a new one and plugged the unit in.  Fingers crossed its a good un.

 

 

Feeling a bit better at the progress being made, I removed the headlamp to view the wiring inside the headlamp bucket.  OMG.  Why do all this to a bike with less than 2000 miles on the clock.  I am betting that in his fixation on a 12v system, he got some wires crossed, blew the CDI and had some burned wires.

 

Complete and utter madness.  Crimp on lucar terminals and twisted together wires wrapped in electrical tape everywhere.  None of the new additions were of the right colour.  In addition he had fitted a new ignition switch (clean bunch of red and yellow wires).  There are two types of ignition switch.  Pre 1980 and post 1980.  He fitted the wrong one, so also butchered both handlebar switch gear harnesses to try make it work.  He failed. 

 

Edited December 27, 2022 by Tinkicker

[Tinkicker]

We move our attention to the headlamp assemby.  Glass, reflector and bulb holder. Nothing to go wrong there right?

 

Wrong.  The twit in his grandiose ideas about having a 12v searchlight at the front, had fitted a 12v led headlamp bulb.  The trouble was that the headlamp bulb did not fit the headlamp.  So he took a dremel to the reflector to make the hole bigger, plonked in the bulb and secured it with gaffer tape.

Of course a randomly sourced bulb that does not fit its holder will not be at the focal point of the reflector when fitted.  The lens will then take this unfocused light and scatter it further...

One has to wonder what he is teaching to his stundents.

 

New headlamp unit and bulb added to the shopping list.

 

 

State of play at the moment.  I am viewing removing the front end with some trepidation.  I am betting it is going to be an expensive proposition.

Despite my grinding of teeth, I have to admit he did a good job of the paintwork.  It does look pretty.

 

 

New 6v regulator arrived, made up a new harness for it and plugged it into the main harness.  This one was originally made for some kind of Italjet.

 

 

So electrical system completely replaced from the rear of the bike to the headstock, it is time to turn our attention to the front end.  As I had the front apart, I would be replacing the what should have been a new throttle cable according to his advert but in fact was not.  I took the opportunity to remove and look inside his rebuilt carb.

Carb was reasonably clean inside and as stated in his ad, was fitted with a new float needle and seat and a new mainjet.

Trouble is that the main jet was a #120 and the factory manual stated that the 1979 UK DT175mx shouod have a #130.  So he had jetted it lean.  Not great for a two stroke.  The #120 jet was in fact for the DT125.

Cleaned a bit more crud out of the float bowl, set the float height and rebuilt it.  Job done.  Or so I thought.

 

The hammer is my tool of choice for adjusting carb float heights.  It gets the job done very quickly...

 

Kidding.  It is there just to weight the cloth down as it would not be the first time I caught something on my sleeve as I turned around and brushed the lot straight off the bench.

 

 

Edited December 28, 2022 by Tinkicker

[Tinkicker]

Oh Lord, let me understand....

 

Started stripping the front end.  Pulled the instrumentation.  The tacho just plugs into the wiring harness via a multiplug.  Easy right?  Just unplug the plug and put the tacho safely to one side.

Oh no, for some reason only known to the seller, he cut all the wires and "rewired" it.  God alone knows why.  He also managed to mix up all the bulb holders, and used his own stock of wire, so the wiring colours were completely wrong.  Starting to think the seller has been having some sort of mental issue.  I have no other explaination.

 

"Rewired" Tach head.

 

 

Yet another harness made up.  Good job I now had a source of wire of the correct colours and sizes from the old wiring loom.  It is pain sourcing the correct wire and the job is held up waiting for it to arrive.

 

 

Got the front end off the ground and tested the front end.  About three inches of slop in the steering head bearings.  Another potential killer and dangerous category mot failure.

Pulled the front wheel and pulled the forks out of the yokes.  The upper yoke immediately flopped to the side because he had not fully tightened the steering stem pinch bolt... I am passed being surprised.

Started removing the handlebar mounted equipment and another surprise other than the butchered switchgear wiring and the incorrect ignition switch.  On removal and closer inspection of the front brake lever perch, it was found that the he had attempted to repair the stripped left hand threaded mirror mount with epoxy resin and the brake light switch was held in with sticky tape.

 

Sticky tape holding in brake light switch.  He must have broken the securing lug off trying to remove it.  A brand new one only costs a fiver fer gawds sake.

 

So now, having removed everything, we come to removing the lower yoke and stem..

 

A daunting prospect.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2022 by Tinkicker

[Tinkicker]

Oh dear.  As suspected, the seller deemed totally shot steering head bearings to be serviceable.  If he did this at a professional level he would have been fired on the spot for gross negligence.  I try to give the benefit of the doubt, but this un is sorely trying my patience.  If he continues to "restore" old vehicles, he is going to get someone killed.  Nothing more than an incompetent buffoon at best, or a knowingly dangerous shyster with no regard to other peoples safety at the worst.  When I spoke to him he did seem to be genuinely pleased with the bike.

Take your pick.

 

One has to imagine what would have happened if one of the new riders on here had bought it?  It needs neither tax or MOT.  Best scenario is an expensive, broken down mistake and worst is a pine box, gas mark 10 and a quick trip up a furnace flue.

It explains the free play in them.  I reckon if adjusted correctly, they would have felt horrible with a tendency to jam. The front end would have been all over the place.  The balls themselves were rusty, pitted blobs in the general.shape of a sphere.

 

These bearings are dangerously unserviceable in every universe, parralel or otherwise.

 

Forks pulled apart.  When draining them I got an eggcup full of 1970s vintage brown sludge from each of them.  This is not looking good.  He has not even changed the oil.

The fork legs were badly pitted right on the oil seal wiping area.  Had to send them away for grinding and hardchroming as new replacements were not available.  Of course, one of them was slightly bent and had to be trued up, adding another £100 to the bill.  Must have been quite a spill the original owner had in the winter of 1979.

 

Looking at a £380 bill.  Tenners have been flying out of my pocket in every direction like confetti on a windy day.  Then there are the seals, consumables and other hardware required in rebuilding them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2022 by Tinkicker

[Tinkicker]

With access to the industrial cleaning machinery at work (these days I overhaul engines, transmissions and axles for heavy plant and equipment) it makes doing restos a doddle.  One lunchtime saw the lower yoke blasted, polished and three coats of paint on it with time to spare for a sandwich.

I had the new bearings in stock ready.

 

 

Bearing cups fitted in frame and lower cone and seal fitted on lower yoke.  Ready to put back in. I nicked the cone fitting it, luckily not where the balls run.

 

Everything built back up.