88DT200

I'd go with the dual purpose route - but I'm biased. The YZ line is great, but remember it's a race bike so it will go like hell, but with power comes rebuilds. I've seen my fair share of blown up engines and most are catastrophic. Newer style cylinders need to be replated and aren't as cheap and simple as boring out the cylinder and replacing a piston. Since it's purely an off-road machine, you'll need to look into getting a trailer unless you live on a large stretch of trails.

Thanks for all the help folks. It's very much appreciated and at most times, entertaining to say the least. So here's the issue that I'm dealing with now: The bike is still sputtering and then dying - but it will run perfectly at intermittently. Precicely the same time it dies, a 2 inch (5cm) spark fires between the bends in the expansion pipe right where it exits from the cylinder. The only thing that I can think could produce that kind of spark is the coil. I added a ground strap from the engine to the frame - didn't do anything. Checked virtually every connection and wire, no cracks and everything that's supposed to be grounded is grounded. I also repositioned the plug wire so it's no where near the frame and isn't close to any wires. I've checked the stator, coil and pickup resistances and they're well within spec. Brand new coil, plug cap and spark plug (gap checked and re-checked) none of which have any visible signs of cracks, wear or nicks. What am I missing here? Could a current be passing from the plug wire to the frame? Is there a way to add insulation to the plug wire? It's a good thing it's not arcing inside the gas tank! As always thanks for the comments folks.

Hey Guys, Sounds like an interesting (marginally heated) conversation going on here. Thanks Jim and Cynic for your contributions. Your input is very much appreciated. As an update, I'm confident it's not carb related. My friend put the carb on his YZ250 and it ran perfectly all week (even went as far as installing the DT's slider, throttle cable and reed cage just to be sure...surprisingly everything fit). So that eliminates the carb issue. Fuel also flows freely from the tank so we're not looking at a fuel issue. Just to clarify, is the pulse coil the same as the pick up coil? I'm assuming the pulse coil's not one of the 2 coils attached to the stator behind the flywheel. I found the resistance specs for the source, lighting and pick up coil - just want to make sure I'm testing the right component. I'm not sure if the bike's the same as a DT125 with a bigger bore. With the exception of the cylinder/head it's exactly the same as a Blaster 4-wheeler....not sure if that helps or hinders. I think the DT230 is the closest counterpart. Well looks like I have a date with an ohm meter and a pulse coil this weekend....not exactly the threesome I was hoping for but there's not much else to do here in Toronto than shovel snow. Thanks again for your contributions, it's guys like yourselves that keep this forum interesting and helpful!! 'till the next update! Jack

Thanks Jim! Great reply. I'll look into the pulse coil first and work my way around. Flywheel's coming off this weekend - provided I find the flywheel puller....probably next to the spanners I've been throwing. Thanks again for the response!

The Bike: 1989 DT200 (2 stroke dual sport). Liquid cooled, kick start, basically a liquid cooled Blaster 200 engine with a powervlave. The Issue: Doesn’t run, just sputters, backfires and dies. History: Was running mint. Non-starting issue was an intermittent problem, but it hasn’t been running for about 2 months now, so I think the problem’s here to stay. It will start up first kick, sputter for an exciting 5 seconds, backfire and die. Engine is non-responsive while it's doing it's 5 second sputtering routine. What I’ve Checked/Done: Compression: Running about 200psi. Spark: Plenty of spark at the plug when I kick it over. Spark will jump a 7mm gap. Nice blue spark. New Spark plug. Fuel: Rebuilt carb with stock jetting. New 94 octane gas. New Reeds. Air: Cleaned air filter. No air leaks, no exhaust restrictions in pipe. Power Value: clean powervalve and servo works perfectly. Electrical: New and fully charged battery. Neutral and Side stand switches working. Other: Thrown numerous wrenches across the floor. Surprisingly didn't fix the problem. Praying hasn't helped either. Theories: 1. Bad CDI. Is there any way to check this? 2. Bad Coil/Stator: Maybe providing spark during starting, but nothing once running. Is there a way to check this? 3. The bike hates me. My guess is electrical but I’ve cleaned, and tested more switches and connectors that I would like to admit to. Are there any other places I can look to diagnose? What would experts like yourselves try next? Thanks for reading!!