1980 Yamaha Enduro DT175

[Hobbes]

Hey all,

I am new to the site, so i guess first a hello to all.

I am also fairly green when it comes to riding dirt bikes. have not been on one in a long time.

Anyway, i bought a dirt bike recently, as the topic title says a 1980 Yamaha Enduro DT 175.

only paid a couple hundred for it (Canadian). The guy i got it from had put on a additional

universal fuel filter. Which was causing the engine to be fuel starved, producing a sore foot

when trying to start it.

have not done a huge amount of work on it yet. but i have done some of the standard maintenance.

- cleaned the carb.

- flushed the gas tank and fuel lines, replacing with fresh 92 octane.

- fresh batch of 2 stroke oil.

- a wash from stem to stern.

Next thing i am gonna do is to flush the engine oil, replace the plug, and giver a paint job,

as well as replacing the missing light assemblies, and fix up some of the electrical wiring.

Oh and i have to replace my clutch and brake lever's as well, since my brother in-law broke the

clutch level in half when he bailed the bike.

Here is a few pics i took of it this morning after a wash and a quick ride down the way and back.

Consider these before pictures, and as you can see below, there is a good amount of work to do.

However, the engine runs good for a bike that is 30 years old.

[Airhead]

Welcome in Hobbes. I look forward to seeing the progress you make with the old DT.

...Paul

[kishan]

nice bike mate deffo needs to tlc work doin to the paint work.

[Hobbes]

Yeah the paint job on it is a bit of an eye sore. Going to pickup some primer and pain next week.

I also have a few bolts to replace, and a couple to tap out (rear fender) as they are broken off.

while i was out there i also took pictures of the gas tank and side plastics as well as measurements,

gonna try and design my own decals.

I am gonna replace the rear light, but am gonna skip the turn signal lights as i am not really at all interested

in making it road worthy again. Just gonna use it for off road/trail riding. I wanna replace the rear fender with

an after market one, saw a picture of a '80 dt175 that has a really awesome looking rear fender that has the rear light

blended really nicely into the fender design. Assuming I can find one.

so on that note off to photoshop

[Hobbes]

so i started on a proper cleaning of the bike. Starting with the rear fender brace. It is covered in a nice thick'ish layer of surface rust.

I read somewhere (i think it was a topic on this forum) that someone used Lysol toilet bowl cleaner to clean rust off of his bike and it worked a charm, so i picked up a bottle of it in and wow, never would have thought in a million years it would have such a dramatic effect and so immediate. While i am not having the pour on, wipe off and done as what i read (rust i would imagine is built up from a few years of neglect it is working supper. best 2.97 i ever spent.

i also picked up some high temp paint for the exhaust pipe and other various areas that are in need of it, and some gloss blue Krylon paint as well to try and make the bike at least look better than it does.

if there is anyone here that has some suggestions on where to find some decals that are at least easily modified to fit on this bike (the tank specifically) What i am looking for is either a highly detailed tiger engulfed in flames or something similar in a tribal design please feel free to post a link or two

I talked with the local Yammy dealers today and got some things i was kinda worried about dispelled, so overall i think most of the issues with this bike are gonna be eye candy and tweaks here and there. There was a aftermarket additional fuel filter on it, but now that i have removed that and put a straight fuel hose on it, it starts normally on either the second or third kick. It won't idle easily, i realize that now, after a bit of a time trying to tame it. but after reading tons of info here, and from what the local yammy guys have told me i am happy (sorta) with how it runs on that end.

I checked the air filter, and spark plug, all seems to bee well in those departments. i picked up some chain grease and a fresh batch of stroke oil with the intention of giving her a oil change pretty quick here and lube the chain.

so to end the post, i will promise that once i get the plastics painted i will post some pics of the bike. It is fast drying paint (10 minutes approx.) so once i go to paint i better ensure i am prepped and ready to do it.

cheers all

[Hobbes]

as you can tell i am using this topic to post my progress as I restore this bike.

one things i have changed my mind on is the idea of making it a trail/off road only bike.

I think i will continue on and make it road worthy. With 73km+ milage i can justify the

cost to fix it up in the savings in gas over time (i live on an acreage about 20 minutes

outside of town), and this bike, while not being huge in power when it comes to street,

offers a good balance in fuel consumption once i get her up to snuff.

I will have to remember to ensure i have a fanny pack with important stuff in it ready

to go for trips into town, would hate to run out of 2t oil part way to town. it would

make one feel like a complete GIT (yeah british term i know, but can't help it, my wife

is british )

i have read some info in the forums here about oil residue in the exhaust pipe.

I have noticed now that i am getting deeper into fixing this thing that it does

show an oily residue on the exhaust. cleaned carb, checked air filter, spark plug,

put in fresh 2t oil in res. fresh 92 octane gas, cleaning, greased chain and everything

seems ok, when she runs, she runs great ( except i think she can use some more TLC on

the carb, and adjustments). I have not taken the engine down yet, i am hoping to avoid that

but if oil in the exhaust indicates a problem???????? i will strip it down and rebuild, but

only if i have too.

what problems would cause oil to build up in the exhaust pipe? is this normal for a bike that

is 30 years old? and in need of a full tune up?

What is the best way to clean the oil from the exhaust pipe?

thanks for reading and sharing your knowledge with a rookie. any help you could provide is welcome.

Cheers, and hope to have some new pics of the bike in a few days up to maybe a week.

I am pulling the broken clutch lever off tomorrow and heading into the local yammy dealer to hopfully

come home with a replacement set of levers for it. was hoping for that today, but since i forgot to

bring in my broken lever, the parts guy did not want me to go away with the wrong set, so in a roundabout

way refused to sell me a set of levers until i brought in my broken one, unless of course, i wanted a

stock set from Yamaha, which would turn out to be 4-5 times more costly, not that i would not pay it, but

it is that i can't afford to pay neary 3 times as much per lever, and if i can get a full set for 1/3 the price ...

even if they are not stock design (really, this is preffered, especially if i am going for 'mostly' off road/trail riding.

one thing i am not looking forward too is once it is ready for the road, going to DMV 1) applying for my class 6 (motorcycle

license class in canada) and 2) applying for a new bike title. both are things i have never done before.

well as they say, no pain, no gain.

any way, i got the rear fender brace scrubbed,cleaned, and repainted. it si suppose to be a gloss black, but looks more like

a flat black, but that is ok, it does not matter if this peice is flat or glossy, will not be seen by normal eyes anyway. I also got

the first coat onto the rear fender plastic as well, but just the top side (visible side). got to dark to continue painting today,

so will carry on and finish this piece tomorrow before i head in and pick up my new levers.

cheers again all, till next time.

[Cynic]

what problems would cause oil to build up in the exhaust pipe? is this normal for a bike that

is 30 years old? and in need of a full tune up?

What is the best way to clean the oil from the exhaust pipe?

Normall use for 30years without any cleaning as its a horrible job. 2 strokes like to work hard so when they plod through traffic they oil up as the quantity of oil is a little more than it needs at plodding speeds hense oil in the pipe.

Have you seen the oven cleaners where you put all the stuff in a special bag, add the goo and shake it up every 20 mins or so for a couple of hours. Get a couple (they are peanuts) plug one wnd of the pipe securely and stick the goo in the other end. Cover that end up securely then leave for a good while shaking it up every couple of hours. I did mine in the afternoon then rinsed it out the following afternoon. Be carefull as its incredibly strong but the pipe comes up a treat.

[Hobbes]

Normall use for 30years without any cleaning as its a horrible job. 2 strokes like to work hard so when they plod through traffic they oil up as the quantity of oil is a little more than it needs at plodding speeds hense oil in the pipe.

Have you seen the oven cleaners where you put all the stuff in a special bag, add the goo and shake it up every 20 mins or so for a couple of hours. Get a couple (they are peanuts) plug one wnd of the pipe securely and stick the goo in the other end. Cover that end up securely then leave for a good while shaking it up every couple of hours. I did mine in the afternoon then rinsed it out the following afternoon. Be carefull as its incredibly strong but the pipe comes up a treat.

oven cleaner? never would have thunk it well if lysol can remove rust in a jiffy then oven cleaner should work a treat. Thanks for the tip, i will try that either today or 2morrow. got myself into a mode to paint the plastics today between our household spring cleaning.

cheers.

[Hobbes]

so painting stage 1 is done almost. Still have to give the tank a light sanding and another coat of paint. and after taking it out for a short spin today, do some touch ups on the side panels.

here is a picture of it after a short ride about.

the next step of the painting will be to paint on the tribal designs i have.

here is a pic of the designs:

Sides of gas tank:

Top of gas tank:

side panels:

have to tidy them up, and create the stencils out of them yet.

but it is getting there.

[drewpy]

nice artwork, did you do that yourself?

[Hobbes]

Well to some degree yes, the idea and concepts for them are not mine. most of the shapes themselves came from a vector shapes pack i have for Adobe Illustrator CS5 and also with some reworking as well.

ok so i decided that i did not like the side panel and tank top designs so i re did them. Also i vectorized the tank side decal.

here are the new/revamped designs.

Tank Side:

Tank Top:

Side Panels: