Vancouver Garage

[Alex DT 175 1974]

Hi guys

I have been running my "new" 1975 dt175 and it runs pretty good.

Hard to start it at time but overall pretty good.

Since I am no mechanic I want to take it for a checkup. Does anyone in the forum know of a mechanic in Vancouver I can take it to?

Somebody that understands these bikes.

I called a local garage they they were quick to tell me it was expensive to fix old bikes, but I am thinking for somebody with experience these bikes are pretty simple.

Any ideas welcome

Cheers

Alex

[slice]

Hi Alex, the best mechanic you have is right between your ears mate, you know what you can afford and you know what needs fixing so why give it to someone else to work on? Buy the manual - read the manual - then follow manual instructions. You need to ask are you doing it right? Well mate we are right here and will to tell you if your making a complete tit of yourself and generally laugh at you and then tell you HOW TO and be interested in the results whereas your usual mechanic is ONLY concerned that he gets paid and you make room for the next customer.

PS as an aside I asked my local dealer what it would cost to service my XJ, he said (with a straight face) £200 !!! WTF, the oil is £38 a gallon oil filter £4 air filter £8 that's £50 and it takes me an hour.

[DirtyDT]

I am not sure what the classic bike scene is like over there but in the UK there are lots of small engineering places that will fix or manufacture things for you. You are best learning about the bike basics for a 2 stroke and get onto ebay. The DT's are so simple you would be far better getting a manual and asking here - with some pictures - than getting a modern bike "Technician" to look at the DT. All they do nowadays is swap one new part for another and that is not the way for a classic. You won't find many new parts.

[Alex DT 175 1974]

That was my feeling about the new technicians, swap and go.

I'm going to give it a go, so far the bike runs most of the time.

I have a feeling the carburetor needs to be cleaned up so I am researching how to do that. I just got an original service manual for bikes 68 to 74, mine is a 75 but I am guessing not a lot changed in one year. What do you think?

[DirtyDT]

Pictures are the key. Registration only tells us what year the bike was legally allowed to be ridden on a road. The model may be the year before (or earlier). Carb settings are one one of the key factors in making a 2 stroke reliable and fun to ride. They generally need to be cleaned if not ridden for a while and jetting and float height are key. Don't be temped to buy a jet kit (Keyster for example) unless you really have to.

[blackhat250]

Yeh cosmetic changes till 1978 , then the Mono shock appeared,,, get stuck in , if you need advise , post up here ,,,

[nayruf]

Hi

I too have similar, it’s a DT 175C 1g1 model, It is really easy to service, the gearbox on mine I use every day motorcycle gearbox oil, the cables require adjusting and perhaps a bit of lube depending on the cable type, the swing arm has a grease nipple so if there is no play in the swing arm bushes, I just pump some grease through it till clean grease oozes out, the spark plug is a straight fwd swap to a new one the gap only needs setting, the air filter can be cleaned re-oiled and reused, the wheel & steering bearings can all be checked for excessive free play, they can generally be changed at home with fairly basic tools, a small crate under the bash plate will lift the wheels of the ground, I even turn the passenger foot pegs upside down and use car axle stands for the back wheel,

The points are a bit fiddly to adjust but again with a set of feeler gauges and a bit of patience they can be adjusted in a few minutes, in fact the only tool that you really need to buy over and above a standard basic mechanics kit is a magneto puller that screws into the left hand thread on hub of the magneto and has a central bolt that screws onto the end of the crank, this puller is an essential piece of kit it does not cost much and will save you loads of strife and save you damaging things,

Once the magneto is off the points can be removed the faces can be cleaned and smoothed or replaced, also the points cam and advance mechanism can be lubricated. to change out the condenser a small soldering iron will be needed, I have found that its often worth while to change the points and condenser, so that I can have confidence in their condition, once I have fitted a new or known to be good items I keep dressing and adjusting the points every 300 miles or so,

All in all when I service my DT it takes around 1 to 2 hrs to do depending on how thorough the service needs to be.

As others have said a manual in PDF form can be purchased from ‘fleabay’ quite cheaply,

[Alex DT 175 1974]

Nice bike, you're lucky yours came with that front fender

[Alex DT 175 1974]

OK I had my first hand experience with the carb and it went great I think

After cleaning, replacing seal, main jet and o-ring the bike starts with one kick

the RPMs are really high though

I will try to tune the carb next, I read you have to close the air intake then open it one turn then adjust the idle screw

We'll see how it goes