1979 Yamaha DT175mx.

[Tinkicker]

About a month passes by.  I ordered various bits of hardware, new handlebars as the old ones were pitted externally and who knows how rotten internally and I had a choice to make.  The switchgear felt horrible, was rusted inside and the wiring butchered.  I started keeping an eye out for new old stock switchgear and prepared as a last resort, to make up new wiring harnesses for them.

Inexplicably, the left handlebar pod with the lighting switches did not match the picture in my official parts book. 

 

Pre 1980 and it had both the on and off light switch, indicator switch and the main beam on the same pod.

 

1980 onwards it had the main beam switçh and indicator switch only.  The lights were switched on by different positions on the ignition key.

 

The new ignition switch the seller had fitted was a 1980 onwards type... Confusing.  We have the wrong ignition switch but the handlebar switch matches it.  The yamaha parts book says that both are wrong.

 

Knowing the bikes history, I can only surmise that the left pod was broken in the crash, the seller bought the wrong one secondhand and had to buy a new ignition switch to match it in order to try get the lights partially working.  He then tried to marry these offending parts to the earlier wiring loom, butchering it in the process.

He was digging himself into a deep hole and did not know when to put down the spade.

 

I knew reproduction parts were sometimes available, but everywhere was out of stock and I knew where a genuine yamaha new, old stock L/H switch assembly was at an eyewatering price. 

I bided my time and a repro appeared.  I snapped it up along with the correct type ignition switch.

 

Started putting everything together.  Had to do a little work on the US loom as certain things were slightly different, mainly in the charging circuit.  For some reason the european spec bikes had a two stage charging system with a voltage regulator.  Normal with lights off and beast mode with lights on.  The US spec just had beast mode.  A small crossover loom to the voltage regulator sorted it.  I think I mentioned making this harness up on the voltage regulator page.

 

Battery fitted, checked all bulbs were 6v.  Yes, he had not thought to change the instrument bulbs to 12v!  Ignition on and it is showing the first signs of life. This is always a big deal in any restoration.

 

It lives!  Still waiting for the correct handlebar riser bolts to arrive from the Netherlands.

 

A week later everything had arrived, fitted and everything working.  The headlight and instrument lights run directly from the lighting coil, so with engine not yet ready to be started, I made a shunt lead to the battery tontest everything.

Fork tubes still needed to be sent off for chroming.  This was December 2021.

 

Instrument lighting ok.

 

Headlamp lit but looks like it is out of shot. 

 Edit. Correction, the new reflector had not arrived yet.  Memory fails me.  I just knew I had 6v at the connections at this point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2022 by Tinkicker

[Tinkicker]

Headlamp arrived and fitted.  Filled the two stroke oil tank up, bled the oil pump and oil injection line to the carb.

Filled the transmission with oil.

Filled the carb up with fuel using a fork oil syringe, choke on and kick.  Nothing.  No fire.

Check spark.  No spark.  Clutches hair.  What have I done wrong? Is thst CDI I bought from the US a wrong un?

 

Looked at the original tin covered plug cap.  Must be dozens of brand new ones in sheds around the country.  They were rubbish in damp conditions and often removed at the first opportunity.  I wonder?

 

I nicked the plug cap off the house standby gennie and fitted that.

 

Kick.  We have spark! My gamble with the CDI paid off.

 

Plug back in.  Second kick and off she went.

 

Filled carb with fuel again and was able to check the lighting coil and wiring were working before it stunk the house out.

 

Running nice as ninepence.  Lighting circuit checks out.  New years eve 2021.

 

And we have all instrument lights and warning lamps operational at last.  When the bike arrived, virtually nothing worked.  He said it had one or two electrical issues to sort out, but I was not anticipating to have to completely rebuild the entire electrical system from scratch.

 

Light at the end of the tunnel?  Oh no.  The old scr#te has left quite a few more ticking time bombs for me to come across.

Edited December 28, 2022 by Tinkicker

[Tinkicker]

Fork tubes away getting trued up and hard chromed, I turned my attention to setting the carb up.  For this I needed a better supply of fuel as I had to get the engine to running temperature.

Time for the fuel tank to go on and the fuel system finished off.  Although non standard, as a nod to 40 year old fuel tanks, I thought it better to fit a wix inline fuel filter just in case there were any nasties loose in the fuel tank.

The seller did a great job on the paint, really smart looking and he said he had lined the fuel tank, so great.  Starting to look like a motorcycle again.

Cock a hoop, I put 5 litres of Shell premium in and went to fuel myself with a ground arabica bean beverage to give my tired old frame a jolt.

 

Came back to the bike and a stong smell of petrol.  

 

 

Yup.  The feckin fuel tank was leaking.  You recall when I first got the bike, there was barely enough fuel in it to start it?  I put it down to the seller being miserly with the fuel, but no, I underestimated the seller.  It was just enough for me to start it, but not enough to go higher than the leak point.  It was obvious he knew about the leak at the time.

 

You can see the drips just forward of the wing nut on the oil tank.  Right over the engine.

 

So even the stuff I grudgingly admired him for getting right was in fact unserviceable and downright dangerous.  If I had filled the tank before my test ride and it was dripping on the hot engine with vapours swirling around my legs I would have been riding a ticking time bomb.

I ordered a kit for lining the tank again but knew in my heart of hearts it was going to be a very expensive problem to get it roadworthy.

 

So near, yet so far...

 

 

[Tinkicker]

Jumping forward about three weeks.  The seller was not lying, he had lined the tank but the lining had failed.

 

The tank lining kit arrived with its various potions.  I cleaned and rinsed out the tank internally with potion number one, mixed up the resin and hardener and poured it into the tank, tipping the tank this way and that to form a complete skin across the entire inside of the tank.  Left it to cure for a couple of weeks and filled the tank.

 

No leaks.  Yippee.

 

While I was waiting for the forks to arrive, I looked at the cheapo seat cover fitted to the bike.  It fitted, just and that is the only resemblence to the original it had.

Ordered a more faithful reproduction and fitted that.

 

Cheap seat cover that came on the bike. No yamaha logo.

 

Got a phone call from my suspension gurus saying they were shipping my fork tubes, so I looked at the lower legs.  The seller had polished them.  This is incorrect, the original finish is brushed alloy with a coat of clearcoat.

So set about the legs with maroon scotchbrite and gave them four coats of clearcoat.  Some more heavy corrosion near the tops would not come out, but not a problem as they are covered by the fork gaiters there.  Refinished legs plonked in the above pic.

 

 

Faithful 1978/79 reproduction cover with yamaha logo printed at the rear.  1980 onwards covers had yamaha printed in large letters on the sides where the pillion sits. 

 

Fork tubes arrived and fitted into the yokes and rebuilding them with all new seals and hardware started.  The suspension guys did a very good job.

 

Edited December 29, 2022 by Tinkicker

[Tinkicker]

A week later.  Had ordered some tyres of the correct tread pattern as original.  They had a trials pattern, not the cheap semi road pattern that the seller had fitted. 

Also found and ordered a brand new chrome headlamp guard.  This was originally an optional accessory, but I never ever saw a new bike in the showroom at the time without one fitted.

 

The bike should have side reflectors fitted at the headlamp, but the seller had replaced the long standoff nuts that secured the headlight bucket and were drilled and tapped for the reflectors to screw into, with bog standard allen screws.

Despite months of searching, I only ever saw a single one for sale, in Canada.  It was $15 canadian with $60 shipping.  I passed on that one.

 

Ended up buying some stainless, 8mm stud connecting nuts, fitting 8mm threaded bar inside leaving one end of the correct length as a bolt to accept a nut and hold the headlamp on, the other end was cut flush to the nut, drilled and tapped 5mm to accept the reflector back stud.

 

Armed with these, the next saturday morning,  I opened the patio doors and encountered a strong smell of petrol.  Dammit, the tank was leaking again and had dumped a few litres of Shell premium on the conservatory floor.

My lining had adhered to the old lining and I assume it to have shrunk as it cured.  It pulled the old lining away from the sides of the tank.  Large pieces of it in the bottom of the tank.

 

Two choices left.  1. Solder the holes up and try to remove as much of the breaking up tank lining as I can.  Not a good prospect for a long term cure.

                                 2.  Find a better tank and pay a fortune for it painting.

 

Number two was the only real alternative.  I was furious and contacted the seller with a link to a previous thread that this thread is based on.  I got a message from his son (allegedly) saying his father had been taken seriously ill a few months previously and was really upset that the bike had so many problems, he really did think it was in great condition. He was offering £500 towards the tank putting right.

 

I am not convinced that it was his son messaging me, or that the seller had been taken ill.  It may be that he viewed the thread, had seen my posts in the previous thread moving towards court action and was trying to head me off at the pass.

However, I am not a vindictive man and accepted his offer gracefully.  I knew I was going to be out of pocket, but the £500 is a healthy contribution and if he really was seriously ill, I did not want to add to his problems.

 

I found another tank in Germany that looked rust free internally, bought that and prepared to get it painted.

 

Chrome guard and reflectors fitted and the fuel tank getting drained yet again.

 

Tank arrived from Germany and was in good condition despite appearances.  I stripped much of the thick paint under the tank and found it virtually rust free.  If it had not been painted often,  probably by kids who ran it as a field bike, it would have been in far worse condition.  It was also pristine inside, probably because the oil pump had been disconnected and the bike run on premix.  Very common with kids field bikes and prevents internal rust.

 

Tank looks like a dog, yet very pleased with it.

 

 

Very clean under the paint, light surface rust only.  Rare to find 40 year old tanks like this.  I was unlucky buying the bike, but karma was trying to make amends.  I have been incredibky lucky with my "finds".

 

 

 

Edited December 29, 2022 by Tinkicker

[Tinkicker]

Took the tank, sidepanels and fenders over to Barry at Image Refinishing.  I used to use Barry when I was in the trade, he only paints motorcycles.  He always does a first rate job.  Real show winning paint.  He said since he remembered me from back in the day that he would do the job at trade price.  £880 .  The full price would have been over £1200.  Glad I had that £500 contribution.  Barry is in a precarious position, his overheads and costs have nearly doubled and he is in a very price sensitive industry.  He fears that owners will start having a go themselves with rattlecans because they cannot afford the prices he is having to charge to make a profit.

 

Turned my attention to the front wheel.  I had already changed the front tyre and wheelbearings, but quite by chance I came across a new, old stock front wheel rim at a knockdown price.  The chrome was not great on my original close up, so I snagged it quick.  A new innertube was also ordered.

For some reason the seller had the wheels rebuilt with new spokes, but old rims.  How odd.  Still it meant I did not need to buy a spoke set. A  thick end of £100 saving.

 

New front rim, inner tube and rim tape arrived.

 

New vs Old.  To be honest, the old were not too bad, they are not rusty, it is just dried up grease, but in my view 40 odd year old wheelbearings should be replaced as a matter of course.

 

Seller had fitted new tyres.  Vee Rubber is the make, I remember those from old.  I hated mounting and dismounting them, real finger trappers the beads were so tight and six plies instead of the usual four, so very little give in them.  Horrible.  A lot of sweating and cursing involved to get them off  Of course I had to remove the front tyre again to change the rim.

 

New tyres with the correct style trials type tread pattern and most certainly not Vee Rubber.

 

front end built, but had to come apart again for the wheel rebuild.

 

I have not built a wheel in nearly twenty years.  Now I can recall why I hated doing it.  The DT is particularly challenging with a complex spoke pattern and three spoke types.  Had to take a lie down with cold flannel on my forehead  and have a little cry before resuming.  Still, all done now.

 

New vs Old Rim.  The original chrome looked ok from a few feet away, but close it it was not great.

 

Fro

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 29, 2022 by Tinkicker

[Tinkicker]

I got the tank and panels back from paint.  Barry had done a fantastic job as usual.  Instead of 40 hours labour getting the tank pressure tested, soda blasted, pickled inside to remove any debris or rust, prepping, filling and painting all the panels, fitting and clearcoating in the decals ect, he ended up with almost 60 hours in it.

But hey, a quote is a quote.  He ended up prepping and repainting the blue basecoat twice because a slight ding was apparent at a certain angle.  As I said, Barry is a perfectionist.

It looks as good underneath as it does on top.

It is also the correct Yamaha blue as it left the showroom. The old paint was a shade lighter, probably because it was matched to faded original paint.  Thats why everything needed repainting.

 

Tank fitted and a few finishing touches like the new old stock handlebar pad.

 

Are we there yet?  Unfortunately no.  The seller is better at setting booby traps than a KGB agent.  Anyone want to take a guess where the next one is going to blow up in my face?

 

I could not put fuel in the tank for a week to allow the paint to cure properly.  Barry was concerned that any splashes I did not see would leave small milky spots in the clearcoat.  After that it would be impervious.

 

While I was waiting, I made up the provenance folder with all the documentation and receipts.  I also printed out and included the full restoration thread and included that.  I figured that thd next owner, after I have been in my pine box and taken a ride up a chimney would find it very interesting.

The original thread spanned six months and over 100 pages long with a lot more pics and a lot more minor ups and downs and gnashing of teeth reported as they happened.

  A very popular thread that one, a lot of people hanging on for the next installment from all over the world.  I was amazed by the interest.

The forum site owner unfortunately passed away in July and the forum mods had to start another forum in his memory from scratch, so unfortunately that thread is lost somewhere in the bowels of the internet, or I would have included a link for the interested or maybe this thread would have been a simple copy paste job.

This is the cut down and condensed version without going from the thread to the needle.

 

Provenance file.

 

Finally able to take it for a spin and do a plug chop to dial in the carburation.  Not too bad in the midrange.  Just needed the needle dropping a notch. Needs to be bedded in a bit better before I can test wide open throttle.

 

The wide open throttle test was "interesting".

 

 

 

 

Edited December 30, 2022 by Tinkicker

[Tinkicker]

About 150 fairly gentle miles on the clock since the rebuild and maybe 10 hot/cold cycles on it.  I judged it enough to do the wide open throttle run.

 

Rode it to a 1 mile straight near tbe house, swapped the plug for a new one and of I went, wide open throttle.  Going fine until it suddeny got louder and started losing power.  It felt like it had gone lean.  Stopped at the end of the road and there was a large hole in the bottom of the exhaust downpipe.

 

Aaaaargh he did it to me again!

 

Got home and removed the exhaust, got a screwdriver and scraped away.

He had very cleverly plugged several holes in the bottom of the downpipe with exhaust putty.  He had shaped it like you do with body filler.  The heat, pressure and vibration at wide open throttle had blown it out.  

The bottom of the pipe was like lace underneath.  Probably because 40 years of condensation had collected there and rotted it through.

 

I was going to have to fit a Fresco Big One pipe as the original was not worth restoring.  It was pitted all over and was in fact included on my shopping list if a better one came along, although fat chance of that, all the ones I had come across were rusty, dented, overpriced tat. 

I kept it over buying a new fresco because it was original and originality is key to any serious restoration, a theme you will have noted throughout the thread.

 

I looked on the internet for a Fresco pipe.  £150, not too bad and for a laugh I put in the part number of the original exhaust.

Note that my shopping list items are checked every evening for availabilty, including a better exhaust..

 

I got a hit for an exhaust in excellent condition for $300.  It was the same breaker in California that supplied the rear shock.

I sent an email enquiring about its condition and he got back saying it came as part of a job lot of spares with a bike fitted with an aftermarket pipe.  It looked like it had hardly been used.

He was firm on price as it was newly advertised, but knocked me $20 off shipping since I was a return customer.  It came with the rear muffler, also in excellent condition, but this was of no use to me as the UK spec muffler is a sealed labyrinth type like a car silencer and the US spec had conventional baffles.  Completely different shape and size.

 

The pipe arrived and it was as good as he said, but to be sure, I took it to work to subject it to various cleaning processes before painting it with fresh heatproof paint.

 

old exhaust, badly pitted and bits of putty dropping out.  Now the paint has been subjected to heat and faded, and the putty has  fully cured and shrunk, his repairs are obvious, but not so before this.

 

New exhaust after being subjected to various industrial cleaning processes.  It really is excellent.

 

New exhaust fitted to the bike.

 

The finished article.  But there is still an unforseable twist in the tale yet to come..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 30, 2022 by Tinkicker

[veracocha]

Fantastic result . By any chance the other forum wouldn't be AGF?

[Tinkicker]

5 minutes ago, veracocha said:

Fantastic result . By any chance the other forum wouldn't be AGF?

Indeed it would.. So you already know the twist in the tale...

Edited December 30, 2022 by Tinkicker

[veracocha]

I have to admit that I never saw the thread and having been a member there (and the new one) for 12 years I'm shocked that I missed it (milek)

[Tinkicker]

1 hour ago, veracocha said:

I have to admit that I never saw the thread and having been a member there (and the new one) for 12 years I'm shocked that I missed it (milek)

 

Yes.  Odd as it was a very long running thread.  It was called The Trials of the Vintage Motorcycle Restorer.

 

The DT and the VFR are still mentioned on the new forum.  Maybe this will jog your memory:

 

https://airgunforums.co.uk/threads/the-airgunforums-motorcycle-pages.608/page-2

[veracocha]

I remember that thread, I even posted on it. I just wished I had seen the restoration thread on the old place. Nevertheless, this one's holding my interest completely.

[Tinkicker]

At long last the job was as done as it could be.  Nothing on a resto is ever quite finished completely, there is always something that could be done better.  Still on my shopping list is a decently priced new rear wheel rim.

 

But it is time to get it appraised by a professional for insurance purposes.

 

Contacted a guy called John Glynn, ex glass's guide - motor trade valuation guide editor who branched out on his own and specialises in valuations for the classic vehicle market and is also engaged by the auction houses to set the guide prices on the lots.

 

He read the entire original thread first ( he was highly entertained by it) and looked at about 30 close up pics of various bits of the bike and came up with a guide price that rocked me back on my heels a bit.

£7.5k guide price, £6750 reserve price and if a couple of the right collectors were in the auction room, maybe just over £1k more than that.

 

Shocked.  It seems that for the first time, I actually have a bike that is worth slightly more than the money spent on it.  Of course my time is not factored in.

 

His conclusion was that it was the best he had seen in a lot of years, could be regarded as concours, of museum quality and with the provenance provided; with the almost certainly proven mileage, it was probably unique.

 

Yey.

 

The twist in the tale..

 

But I could not ride it apart from a couple of miles around the village two three times a year to warm it up and keep everything exercised, or it would lose its uniqueness if I banged significant mileage on it.  

 

Boo.  I built it because just like my VFR, I wanted to replicate that new bike experience I had on them in the past, not sit and look at it.

 

That is it.  I wanted to complete this story before the year was out.  Hope you enjoyed it.

Edited February 26, 2023 by Tinkicker

[Shepherd]

Not knowing one end of a spanner from t'other, I don't normally read resto threads ... but this had me hooked from the very beginning. 

Great thread, congratulations on the end product, it looks great.

 

Shep

[billy sugger]

It was more of a "fix some idiots balls up" thread than a resto thread  though. I thought the 125 I bought was bad, but at least that was just the engine

[Tinkicker]

11 hours ago, billy sugger said:

It was more of a "fix some idiots balls up" thread than a resto thread  though. I thought the 125 I bought was bad, but at least that was just the engine

 

 

Indeed it was a balls up.  However I would like you to define what a restoration is.

 

As a restorer of over 20 bikes, both professionally and as an amatuer doing it as a pastime,  I would argue with you that this too was a very challenging restoration and not putting right a "balls up" 

He had done the easy work and not even got that right. The only part of that bike that did not need to be redone from scratch was the powder coating on the frame and he paid someone else to do that.

My job was to make every clapped out part of the bike to as new a condition as possible  The very essence of the word "restore". 

It does not matter if a complete buffoon had made a mess of it prior, or if it was just the passage of time causing the problem.  The problem has to be put right just the same.

To be sure, if I found the bike before he did, it would have been a far easier proposition.

For a start, I would not have deemed it a suitable candidate for a full nut and bolt to as new condition restoration.  I would have probably put the mechanicals right with seconhand parts, stuck a lump of petseal over the leaking tank,  prettied it up a bit and built it to use as a green laner that could be bounced over rocks and dropped without tears.

It was the fact that it did look very tidy that suckered me into putting right the things that I could immediately see were wrong.  By the time I had a good idea of its overall condition, I was in too deep to back out.

 

However, a valuable lesson.  How many bikes are there on ebay advertised as fully restored or completely overhauled? 100s, if not 1000s and if one sees such a restoration advertised, one immedately assumes that the restorer in question has sufficient skill and knowledge to carry out such a task.  Very often not the case.  A lot put lipstick on a pig and call it a restoration, some do it right and restore the bike to as close a condition as it was in the showroom and some are downright dangerous.

 

Goes to show that one man's  full restoration is another mans deathtrap and there are a lot of blaggers out there.

 

The moral of this sad tale is that some people out there who pretend to be knowledgeable, actually have the technical acumen of a slice of limp toast.  You have no idea of some of the dangerous bodges I have seen while "in the trade".  Not just on motorcycles, but 40 tonne trucks, cars, buses and 500 ton cranes.

I recall one where the customer complained that his brakes were shit.   He could not stop fast enough at a junction and went through a garden wall in his ford granada.

He had heard that if the pads were squealing loudly when coming to a stop, you had to apply grease to the back of the brake pad to cure it.  Yes, you guessed it. If you took a pad out in the correct orientation, the side facing you was the front....and not the back.

The guy argued that black was white pretty much, and I as a lowly 2nd year apprentice was wrong.  He had sold seven new kitchens that month, so he was sure he could understand an article in practical motorist magazine.  First time I ever turned my back on a customer and walked away.  These days I am not so forgiving.

 

Back to the thread.

 

I have no idea if this particular seller was in fact a college lecturer at all.  I strongly suspect he was telling the truth.  He could well have been a compulsive liar but because a lot of ducks lined up just at the right moment and I ignored all my own rules, I fell for it.  It was the easiest bike to buy that I had encountered.  Send the cash and the bike magically appeared on my doorstep just like buying a new set of batteries from amazon.

 

When I bought the VFR I did a 300 mile round trip to a motorcycle shop to view it before buying.  I did a full and very stringent mot check on it as well as giving it a good general look over.  Yes I did find a fault, both fork seals were starting to weep because the tubes were slightly pitted.  I got a £250 discount bcause of that.

The DT would have been a 500 mile trip, just far enough away to force me to put faith in the lifetime of experience, motor industry professional selling it.  What sealed it was it was about £500 cheaper than the others advertised because it still had a few ongoing electrical issues needing sorting and he needed the money and space for another project.

 

Perhaps fate was trying to prevent a huge wrong and put the bike in my path and prevent it going to someone else and if I chose to pass on it, someone else was going to buy it and be seriously injured or killed.  Who knows.  It made it too hard to view and too easy to buy.  The deed was done.

 

Caveat Emptor.

Edited December 31, 2022 by Tinkicker

[Banshee]

Great read.

I am a complete novice on mechanics but decided that now with time on my hands it's about time that I should get my hands dirty. I bought a bike to get back on the road (it had been standing for about 5+ years), hoping that I won't need to be having to get too involved for my first attempt, but finding one thing leads to another. God I hope that I don't have to delve as deep as you have as I am a complete novice who has entered into this as a part of a learning curve.

By the way, your bike looks great, and as others have said you just don't always know what you are getting !

[wiliam]

Hey all,

Since I've acquired it, my 1979 DT175MX has been operating well (about 4 months now).

Recently, when I was returning to my car after riding some green lanes, it abruptly cut off. Since then, I have been unable to start it, and I have no idea what it might be.

Anyway, if anyone has any recommendations, please let me know.

Thanks

[Tinkicker]

Has  it got a spark?  Has it got fuel?

[Scrudge]

WOW! Compulsive reading it surely was I really enjoy reading resto write ups

[Tinkicker]

So it is August Bank Holiday 2023 and I have been playing with the jetting to get the top end right.  It was over rich at wide open throttle.

 

I looked at the 130 main jet.  The 130 is the standard jet as supplied with the bike from new in the UK. 

However this jet is not genuine Mikuni. It is aftermarket.  The bike came with an aftermarket 120 main.

 

The experts on the yam enduro forum reckon that these old bikes rarely run right on aftermarket jets, like for like.  Something to do with how different makers use different methods of calibration and numbering.  

Hmm so this could be why it is rich at the top..  So if I try the 120 that came with the bike.

 

Fitted it, kicked it up and took it for a test ride.  My word, I reckon on a 25% power increase.  Front end lifting in first off the throttle and generally a lot more zing.

 

It felt very much happier.  Time for a full on top speed test.  Wide open.  60 mph.  Yippee.  Then Bwarrrrrruurgh.

 

Pulled over and tried the kickstart.  It was like treading on a rotten tomato.  Dammit, I know exactly what that is......

 

Did the long walk of shame home pushing the bike contemplating my idiocy for dropping from a 130 to a 120.

 

It has to join the queue.  I will finish the 100 before I get around to sorting this.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 6 by Tinkicker

[Tinkicker]

Holy thread ressurection Batman.

DT100 finally put to one side, time to pull the head and check the bore for damage before ordering a piston.

Thankfully the bore has escaped with no apparent damage, certainly above the exhaust port.  I will pull the jug tomorrow.  I only stay in the conservatory for a half hour at a time in the winter.  With it being cold in there, I do not want my breath causing a problem with humidity/ condensation.  

I can now order a new OEM std piston.  I have been watching one for a few weeks.  Since the rings are new and are just bedded into the bore, I will reuse those.

Parts already arrived:
Genuine mikuni main jet #130 as fitted as std.
New mains.  I could clean the old ones out, I doubt they are damaged, but while I have the motor apart... For the sake of a tenner for new ones.
Gasket set.
175 wide small end bearing.
Piston circlips.

I will not bother disturbing the crank seals, just make sure they are squeaky clean.

Holy piston.  Thanks for the five mile / 3 hour push home.

Undamaged bore.  Thank goodness.

 

[Hairsy]

Fascinating read - thank you.

 

Out of interest, have you followed the valuer's advice and only put occasional miles on the bike? Or have you decided to enjoy it?

[Tinkicker]

I try to keep it down to around 30 miles a year, just to keep it "exercised".  Just a quick ride out once a month in the summertime.

 

Now I have run out of space for my projects, I am thinking of sorting the motor out again, getting it running great and selling it on.  It really needs to go to someone interested in showing it at bike shows.  I built it to ride, not to look at and I need space for another project.