GSXR988

Thanks Phil and OG. The panels look great. My side panels have deep scratches though so should i just sand them down? Also, where is the best place to find the original blue paint? Phil I have changed my gearbox oil to see if that makes a difference to the kickstart.

Surely if you paint the plastics the paint will just chip off or am I talking rubbish? They are injection moulded the right colour rather than being painted no?

Yes, I just missed one on ebay the other day

Hi OG, My front guard is in awful condition and is some aftermarket bodge put on by the previous owner, same with the rear mudguard. The rear mudguard means I can't mount the original tail-light. The side panels are in lousy scratched condition too. N

Hi, Does anyone have or know of blue bodywork available for a 1979 DT175MX? I am looking for side panels, tank but mostly mudguards. Cheers Nick

Ok, Managed to find out from Yamaha uk that it is an MX. Also pulled the carb apart and replaced the float needle, set float height at 21mm, cleaned all jets and nozzles and airways - found the pilot jet to be blocked. I also bent the reed tangs back to their correct positions after finding the specs on-line. After refitting carb the bike felt tons better but then started running poorly again. Stripped carb and found pilot jet blocked again. Cleaned and then fitted in-line fuel filter. Ran really well and felt like it should do. After a heavy rain storm bike wouldn't start. Checked plug and it was covered in water! I drained the carb and the bike started and was ok again. I couldnt see any water in the fuel filter though. Can it get through the filter paper? This problem happened again after another rain storm. How is the water gaining entry? The fuel cap seems a mighty good fit. The kick start problem has come back and I have noticed that the kickstart lever stays down when it is used to kickstart the engine when it is hot but always springs back with a cold engine!! Any ideas? I am having big problems trying to find original blue front and rear mudguards - can anyone help? They don't need to be immaculate but in reasonable condition. My side panels are a bit messy too so if anyone has any knocking around it might be worth a shout. I got a quote to shot blast and powder coat the frame/swingarm - £120 - sound ok? Finally, anyone know where I can get a reasonable tank respray done for a reasonable sum?

Thanks Cynic, but to my recollection the float needle spring should hold the weight of the float when inverted and checking height. The new float needle does anyway and the old one didn't. I will see if it makes a difference when properly put back together. Anyone any ideas regarding the tangs being at different angles on the reed block?

Oh, one other thing; I replaced the metal reed valves with fibre ones. Good idea or bad? I noticed on both the fibre and the metal ones (before I took them off) that they didn't sit flush with the block at one end i.e. the narrow end of the 'V' (or the bottom of the V if you like). Is this normal? I am trying to recall my 1980 RD200 and seem to think this is wrong. Also, the curved bits of metal which hold the reeds in place seemed to be bent to different degrees especially on one side - this also doesn't seem right. Can anyone confirm these things? Thanks in advance Nick

Thanks Cynic, the small-end rattle seems to be in neutral and as the engine starts to slow after blipping the throttle - if you know what I mean? Thanks Joe, my main problem is from very low revs to 5000 rpm. From 5000 rpm it goes fine. It really is rough from 2000 - 5000 rpm. I took the carb apart and measured the float height. This came out at 16mm. The stupid haynes manual doesn't even mention float height so found it on a link supplied by DDT. That suggested it should be 21mm. I adjusted accordingly but whilst inspecting the float needle it seemed like the sprung-loaded part had lost most of its spring so it wouldn't support the float. I put the carb back on and was not surprised to see petrol coming out of the overflow. I have ordered a new float needle and hope that should fix the float height/overflow problem. Whilst doing this I drained some fuel from the tank and noticed droplets of water in it. I drained a litre of the fuel out until no more water was present. I had a full tank so didn't want to waste it all. I will fit a fuel filter and keep my eye on it. While the carb is out next time I will check the o-ring situation as you mentioned. Cheers Nick

Oh, 2 more things......any recommendations with regard to 2-stroke oil? I believe it is running on Silkolene Super 2 injector synthetic. Secondly, regarding the poor running....it feels almost like piston slap before it gets into the power band. That can't be so surely as it had a rebore and piston/rings/small end not 200 miles ago......

Many thanks for the welcome and the advice. Thanks DDT for the links. The kickstart is working correctly so that is a bit of a mystery! Bike was running hideously today so will pull the carb apart and check needle setting, float height, float needle for wear and jet sizes etc. Will also check spark plug for colour/gap/type/spark etc. The bike has had a top-end rebuild but unless I am just being paranoid it sounds like it has a small-end rattle or the beginning of one.......which leads me to an article in the Haynes (yuk, don't like Haynes) manual that says if the oil pump is not bled correctly it will give symptoms in performance like I am getting....is it worth bleeding or would it have blown-up by now? Thanks again. p.s. In restoration (I am new to this area of biking - I normally wear them out!) is it acceptable to use new bits i.e. nuts bolts etc or should you use genuine old ones albeit cleaned up? I know some people get really anal about these things! Cheers Nick

Hello to everyone, My name is Nick and live in West London. I have been riding bikes of all types since 1978 and have just purchased a DT175 for a trip down 'memory lane'. Because of this purchase I figured I would join this forum for some like-minded people and some helpful advice. The little Yam was registered in 1979 and has a tubular monoshock swingarm not the box-section item - does that make it an 'E' or an MX? The previous owner did some restoration/overhaul work; rebore, new headlamp, some new wiring, taper head bearings/wheel bearings, spark plug, engine oil, fork oil, clutch cable, new inner tubes etc. I will put a picture of it on here soon. I intend to strip it down and shot blast/powder coat the frame and swingarm, find original blue mudguards, tail light and get the tank resprayed. The bike presented me with 2 problems on the ride home to its new residence; 1) Performance was not good between 1/4 to 3/4 throttle opening - this manifested itself in rough and hesitant power delivery. Pottering along very slowly it is ok and when I gave it full acceleration it is also fine, anything in between is not very pleasant. Anybody any ideas? 2) On arriving home I kick-started the bike and the kick start will not return to its normal resting place unless i pull it back by hand or foot. I suspect the return spring has broken - anyone know any better? (update - kickstart has started to behave normally now!). Any help is most welcome and hopefully I will be able to assist other members on here in the future. Cheers Nick

Hello to everyone, My name is Nick and live in West London. I have been riding bikes of all types since 1978 and have just purchased a DT175 for a trip down 'memory lane'. Because of this purchase I figured I would join this forum for some like-minded people and some helpful advice. The little Yam was registered in 1979 and has a tubular monoshock swingarm not the box-section item - does that make it an 'E' or an MX? The previous owner did some restoration/overhaul work; rebore, new headlamp, some new wiring, taper head bearings/wheel bearings, spark plug, engine oil, fork oil, clutch cable, new inner tubes etc. I will put a picture of it on here soon. I intend to strip it down and shot blast/powder coat the frame and swingarm, find original blue mudguards, tail light and get the tank resprayed. The bike presented me with 2 problems on the ride home to its new residence; 1) Performance was not good between 1/4 to 3/4 throttle opening - this manifested itself in rough and hesitant power delivery. Pottering along very slowly it was lovely and when I gave it full acceleration it was also fine, anything in between is not very pleasant. Anybody any ideas? 2) On arriving home I kick-started the bike and the kick start will not return to its normal resting place unless i pull it back by hand or foot. I suspect the return spring has broken - anyone know any better? Any help is most welcome and hopefully I will be able to assist other members on here in the future. Cheers Nick