Can u spot the new piston?

So engine back in.

What a pig getting this cover on..something hung up and with all my fiddling, the kickstart spring jumped off. Swore a bit getting things back in place again. (hate fiddling with this cover)

Got carb back on. (not much fun either getting it back in a space half its size)

Other side cover on.

Chain on.

Exhaust..

Nice to see a neutral light.

Whoops..mistake with clutch cover..here the pic.

Just need new plug and fuel filter and will probably go for a start tmorow.

whats the washer and clip off?

Still have to prime the pump for first start. Clip will go in afterwards.

No end to painting and polishing.

Nothing but the best for this bike.

Tank and sidecovers polished and on.

Not happy with this oil feed pipe. Gonna put sumtin better there.

Kickstart painted and polished and back on.

Drained tank and put sum new fuel.

Sum new gearbox oil. (difficult to see level with new oil on this metal dipstick)

Seat leather treated and on.

Still going to upload a utube of first start.

What is with this gasket?? Just cant get it in properly..are they meant to be trimmed to size?

looking sweet Mc, some pattern gaskets are usually a bit over size but if your using genuine ones then it might be that they are a bit dry and you need to shrink them with some warm water, happened on the Triumph all the time back in the 60s & 70s, wet them let them dry and usually they fit fine. Mind you that gasket looks a bit big even for an overcut.

This is a Yambits gasket kit. All the other gaskets fitted ok.

Video of very first start. Excuse my bareback as its pretty hot in Cape Town lately. I get a little excited as its the most interesting part of the build. Shot this with a new HD camera so might be little slow.

Fantastic what a geat job Sam? I can almost smell it, I keep seeing curious differences on that german bike, Brake pedal, sproket cover extension, headlight rim, indicator mounts and petrol cap...how does the tank vent?

I was waiting for a contrived supposely first start and was surprised to see we got the real deal

Thanks Paul..real labour of love. Yep that was her very first start..didn't get it running then go for a video.

Nice to have a DT that idles.

Was gonna ask you guys how the tank breather works..my 1980 DT also has a cap like this..seems to run fine like that. My 79 has the breather pipe on it.

Just got electrical issue. After bike has stood and I switch on, lights are ok..but quickly start to dim..and now that bike running they going brighter with the revs. There`s a new battery in there so something shorting somewhere? (remember my issue with brake light not working..maybe something there)

Really nice to see you have it up and running Mc, what a nice job you've done with it, bravo mate

And the work goes on.

This sidestand causing me some grief..cut off the shaft sticking out from mounting bolt as bracket was hanging up on it causing stand to spring back up. Was better but then it didn`t have enough torsion so stand kinda flopping around. So decided to drill another hole in the bracket to move spring up for more tension. Jeez..what is this bracket made out of..Kryptonite??..none of my bits can get thru it..bought new high tensile bit which also cant do it. Damn stand holding me up now till I can get this hole drilled.

Decided to polish up footpegs so long.

Gear lever and pegs mounted.

Was bit of a toss leaving clutch cable so late..now cant get it in this slot, so seat and tank coming off again.

Still havnt got new clutch lever yet..so stuck broken one back on so long. Need to get this bike on the road.

Also noticed quite a puddle of new engine oil under the bike while fiddling (there was nothing this morning). So stuck some cardboard under there to monitor it..now there`s nothing..weird..but she`s leaking sumwhere...(that infernal clutch cover)

She started first kick this morning..without choke.

Aye she"s bonnie Mac " ,,hell its -5 degrees here, And heres you stripped to the waist,,,bah humbug,,,

You kicking it over with flip flops too, I tried that with my DT 250, kicked back & bruised the sole of me foot .

Un plug the offending switch , and see if battery & lights stop dimming, 6 volt batterys are easy drained,

Use flip flops on all the bikes no problem..just careful with the XT500..always get think sole shoes on for that one.

Took it for 8km run..clutch a bit noisy which I suppose is to be expected after a rebuild..but seems to be quietening down. Chain also bit noisy..didn`t replace chain and sprockets so think I have put chain back opposite to what it was. Otherwise runs great..no oil or fuel leaks so far (dunno where that oil came from yesterday..this morning also nothing on the cardboard). Clocks really work great for their age. Just need to sort out electrics..clutch lever..LH mirror and sidestand.

Had enough of that damn sidestand bracket so made new one. Doesn`t look as good so painted it black. Does the job ok.

Some more close-ups of the bike.

Wow! That's clean... and gorgeous! nice one!