Cynic

I used to use bennets a long while ago, first year fine on the second when the renewal came through i did my usual and rang pretending to be Me No2, to see if there was any difference. Bloody right there was, getting on for 80 quids worth. The thing that finished it was when i rang up they said in a roundabout way, if people are lazy enough to accept the renewal as is tough, but they would be happy to honour the new price for me. I told em to stick it up their arse. I have tried the same trick several times over the years with CIA and it is always the same.

CIA does mine, have done for years.

Crikey where do you start? First off if the battery is missing and the ignition has been stripped down then the powervalve will do precisely cock all unless the looms has been modified with care and it doesent sound like it. Secondly bored to 250cc, i doubt it. More like its been taken out to 224cc like the european DT230 Laval (i think thats what its called). As to your manual, i'm surprised it doesent mention the powervalve. I would have thought it should be in there somewhere as the kit was easily available from yamaha at the time to de-restrict the bike. In any event the bike is basically a DT125 with a bigbore motor in it. So the manual should cover most of your needs.

You forgot the Z400, oh hang on so has everybody else....

You can't beat the heaviest spanner in the box

I'm in the same boat as OG here, i also hung on to my DT although it has lived a far harder life. And i have gone to a bike i always wanted when they came out, the TDR, not all that old but one of those 'one day' moments that i managed to achive.

May you all stew in your favorite falling down juice, and enjoy a happy and healthy new year. Jason.

It may be the dash bulb, they are wired in such a way as the relay feeds the switch so if they are flashing properly the relay is fine. The bar switch selects one side or the other and the dash lamp is the only common connection between the two sides.

Well from experience make sure you eat plenty of carrots if you are going out at night. The lights are naff.

Thats it, couldn't have drawn it better myself. I'll measure it properly tommorow, it was a quicky with a tape measure earlier. As to powder coating an exhaust, only in America. Although how many bikes have been lost to the monsters that never use them except to put on a trailer for a show. I'll admit i dont take the TDR out at this time of year but if the DT was running it would be up and about. I've been wet and cold often enough to know how stupid it is to walk past a perfectly good car when the floor is so slick you can hardly stand though. Seeing as i've started waffling i'll continue, i have orderd all the components i need to build a new loom FROM SCRATCH for £26. Can't go wrong really. When i stripped mine out it had 2 broken wires and some of the internal loom conections were loose. Pluss a lot of the wire especially over the engine has gone hard.

Oh no master, mine be Gianelli, the once pipe of choice for the disscerning 80's headcase.

Bet he never owned a aircooled DT though . They are like fruit pastles, you just got to chew em up.

Just been out and had a look at my pipe, 46mm outside diameter, 42mm inside which actually matches up to the exhaust port quite nicely. Thing is mine also has the pipe in a pipe thing going on. Its about 2inches long, must have something to do with the dynamics of the pipe.

Check your gearbox oil, this doesent sound like the pump seal. The cooling system pressure will dump the coolant into the gearbox. But not the other way round. Are you sure its oil and not just scale that gives the appearance of oil in the neck. There is more to this, i think you have caught the problem early before any REAL symptoms have shown up, does the bike run hot, no funny rattles, milage. Does it start easy. If there is oil in the rad, (doubtfull as it would become what locally to me was called monkey spunk. A delightfull mix of oil and water that only parafin, patience and spanner time would fix.) then you could be looking at a head gasket. Thing is that wouldn't 'PoP'. Interesting............

Ah Ha, you see Watson the crime is revealed...... So its an import and i'm carefully assuming that 1988 was the year it was imported, what is the year of manufacture. Got a chassis, engine number although i can't see it being anything other than 6V. Probably one of those hideous globe things. Candle anybody.

TBH for a field bike you may as well stay as you are, you would need the flywheel, stator plate, coils, pick up, sub loom and cdi unit. All this needs to come from a 78 on dt 250/400. I don't know if the flywheels are interchangable either. They are on the 175 if you swap out points for cdi but i don't know on the 250. Neither of these bikes (DT250 or DT400) are all that common and price wise i think you would be looking at £50 plus for the generator assy, stick a chunk more on for the cdi, plus wiring and you have a bike no faster than the one you have that you can't fix in the field, so to speak.

I've had my DT for 22 years and the bike before the TDR i had for over a decade, i only got rid of that due to back problems. I love the older stuff, well not even that old. The 80's ftuff for me is when the manufacturers had the balance of performance, technical innovation and a very obvious character that has been lost since. In the 80's you could pick out a particular bike by the exhaust note or even the colour, yam was mainly 2 stroke, (cos lets be honest) it took them a long while to make a 4stroke that was really good. Just as Honda just couldn't screw a 2stroke together if their saki depended on it. Kwaks were just psychotic rockets or crap (Z250 anybody) And Suzuki had the RGV and the GSX-R, people dont remember anything else. Hmm don't know where that came from.... Don't blame you buying a job lot of filters though. And i'll aim my profiteering comment directly at 60dollar man

In that case, 76 250 forks are pretty much what you have in a 76 175. The main difference is the yolks. Check out the fork bottoms where the wheels fit you SHOULD be able to swap the fork legs straight across using bits from both to make it all work. I understand the legs are the same length too.

An unfair generalisation. Possibly Before e-bay you could ring a breaker and buy a front end, rear end as lumps. They strip it all down to the last nut bolt and washer now. If the units are in such short supply i would be looking into modifying the bike ready for when they run out. How long is this chap going to have the filters.

Depends on WHAT 250 and when. A 76 250 shares its forks pretty much with the 175, but not the front wheel or yolks, due to a wider wheel the bushings and spindle are different too, as in larger, so they can handle a bit more pain. If you look at later bikes then the fork thickness increaces etc etc etc. It depends what part of the front end needs replacing, DT250 parts in good condition are rarer than 175 stuff and in truth no real improvement can you not sell one for the proper bits for yours. In real terms the swap will cost you a set of steering head bearings most likely, need to check the parts list to be sure, it might be a straight nut and bolt swap if you are lucky.

Hmmmmm so no funky motor noises when you switch on the ig. I take it you HAVE checked the fuses as my old RD and the TDR i have now, both have fuses specifically for the YPVS (powervalve) system. There are testing methods for the servo and the potentiometer in the system but the only info i have is for the old RD and my TDR250 (yes i do keep manuals)which have basically the same system but the testing is different. I don't know what the changes have been for the newer stuff and i don't want you to damage electrical components on the basis of bad advice. The link you posted for the manual just makes my PC sulk, so i can't see what the changes are.

So what exactly is it doing then, is it completely inopperative or is is doing something, but not actually what you think it should be.

The caliper is on the point of terminally siezing solid, you are getting the bike to move by wearing just a little bit of pad off and the tiny amount of movement left means it works after a fashion as the heat causes the aluminium caliper to expand more than the cromium piston. When you park it up and it all cools down the piston doesent shrink as much as the aluminium body and so locks it back up. You need to strip and service the caliper ASAP or you will be looking for a replacement.

Welcome........ Could be many things from a badly adjusted cable through bad connections to blown control electronics. Best option is get your head in a manual that will give you a few test procedures to run through.