Cynic

Here are 2 options, Central Wheel components are part of Bikers World which may be easier for you if there is a branch your side of the water. I may be using them myself if i can squirrel some cash from the missus to re-do my TDR wheels. Central Wheel Hagon Wheel building

Its already balanced, DT50 bottom ends are normally rock solid. I'd be surprised if its gone unless you have done ALOT of miles or run the oil out often. Even big bores don't kill em as the MX bottom end is the same as the m and in europe that was a 60cc 6 or so odd hp monster LOL.

Ah man after my own heart. One tip though. Heat on the sw arm is a waste of time. The spindle will have rusted and this rust fills the space in the bush jamming it solid. Best bet is cutting it out to save the frame abuse and then replace the bushes etc. If you strip out the bike sufficient to get a good old fasioned hacksaw in, then cut through the top hats and the spindle. Then when the arms on the bench/vice beat the crap out the spindle/bush assy and it will reluctantly come out as one. Thats my exp anyway. no offence if your fully aware of this. Looks like you know what your doing.

Woah, Jim where have you been lurking....... Are you back or just passing.

It isn't going to make much of a street fighter, 550 ? Seriously depends what your into. Ripping apart a tidy old stager like that 550 to have a go at fightering would be a waste IMHO but if all your mates run round on fighters and you live for the show in, ? Sheffield, and your happy to rebuild it every winter so its not out of date. Then fighter it. As a classic on the other hand, plods leave you alone. Parts are easy to get. Neighbours are happy and you have nothing and nobody to worry about blating down old A roads except where your stopping for a pee/fag/coffee, (any or all three as req). Safe in the knowledge that even with a bit of stick you are really not going to get more than a 'your old enough to know better' from the plods. I have specifically downsized to a smaller older bike (the TDR) as riding that at 8/10ths is massively more fun than frustrated hyperspeed jumps between traffic on the old 600 i had. Classic for me mate, no brainer.

I don't buy it, in 24 years of running a DT175 and any number of other air cooled 2 strokes when the heads on, the heads on. If the head and barrel faces are true with a new gasket that head would seal. Don't missunderstand me, happy to be proved wrong......but

Oh, youve spoilt it now. It will just be another 'full resto'. All its history, the genuine patina that comes from being cared for properly for 30years that is unique to that motorcycle is ripped away for that just finished look. Its your bike to do just as you feel i'm not having a go. It just greives me when genuine tidy bikes that have lasted this long get the restored treatment. I feel like something's lost. My TDR could be made concourse easily but it would ruin what it is, the decals have crazed slightly with age etc, i dunno, its got something, call it soul if you want. But there is an extra something to the original the resto's loose.

on THIS forum nah no chance, welcome to the madhouse........

Common theme here. I have had the noise mentioned before by the fellows that do mine but its too old for the rules to matter. It is totally at the discretion of the tester. If he had a barney with the kids before he left the house, bad traffic your busted. Its why everybody 'should'hang on to their stock pipes for the man....

HMM nice, don't see many of them. Original condition, transfers the lot. She may be a little down on oomph but they haven't a staggering amount to start with and looking at your stable the starter motor on the XJR probably has more power Welcome to the farm, at this rate we'll need a 175 section soon. Tin of BBQ paint wuldn't hurt though....

Famous last words, you have only had a fiddle with the carb. And speaking from experience if thats a new barrel and piston with new gaskets then it will run fine with a itty bitty leak. Matey tightend the nuts then said they need torquing. Stinks sorry. You do these up once on assembally and thats it. If tightening the heads fixes it buy a lottery ticket for the weekend.

Does a lot of talking, electrical gremlins, could be PV controller or cdi, neither easy to get. Exhaust is an easy fix but will cost for a pattern replacement as e-bay for f'kd is 'a little thin'. KM clock originally so some sort of import which may have sneaky consequences depending where it was from so a thourough check of the paperwork is needed. DT200 shock and sw arm, who cares. No MOT is also something that makes me stop and think as for a few quid he would get an extra 2-300 on the sale with a good MOT. Without it says to me he knows whats wrong and wants to save himself the cost of fixing it, makes you wonder if its too dear to fix? Maybe why he trotted out the "want an enthusiast who will strip it right back". They wont be MOT ing it any time soon either eh? My money is on this fellow thinking he's going to get upwards of a grand for a 'classic'. I would have to see it in the flesh to say for sure, as the pictures aren't really much use as the stuff you want to know is how it runs, is the sus free etc. It may be good but that ad says buyer beware to me. But then people do call me Cynical so?

Erm, going to point you in a completely different direction here. Does the carb leak only when the bike is on the stand firstly. This is a VERY common occurance due to the floats sliding slightly in the float bowl and jamming on the side of the carb. Happens when the jack up kit is fitted even more. With a DTMX it is very worthwhile learning to turn off the fuel every time you stop. Second, gradually dieing and its been rebuilt. How far did the rebuild go?, as bad starting with the odd puff and pop could be just a bad plug (Far more common than you might imagine)or possibly timing being out. Its one of the few things these engines require to be absoloutly spot on.

Bad luck mate. Hope you get better soon. Bright side is your not fixing your bike too eh........

Very dangerous ground is exhaust noise, you are refering to council regulations. The MOT stuff is different and if you have a pet dealer i'd keep that info very quiet as they may get some stick from the mot man. Here is some MAG specific info

I'm going to need shares in high temperature paint at this rate, but i'm just about keeping it licked. It looks a lot worse than it is because the worst of it is just mud thats baked onto the paint and LOOKS like rust. Its the u bend and where the pipe meets the cyl that really suffers.

Hmmm, w-e-l-l after taking me to work since she was sorted the DT is not quite in the condition yours is, the exhaust rusted in record time with all the corrosive shit in the minus fucking lots session we had. Added to the new road they are building to replace the pokey country lane that means a couple of miles of the trip are coverd in mud too. It also means my jacket, lid, gloves, boots etc are also coverd in crap. Still nice to ride to work though. I have to admit to using the rangy the last 2 days though as full on snotty, sneezy man flu is far more bearable in heated seats than a motorcycle at 4am.

Sounds like an electrical issue to me.....

B'77'cks to project paul i can see some stonking spares there. Upgraded forks, newer wheels, new rear shock. Engine transplant could be fun. Or just use the knoblies i have at the back of the garage and spank it over the quarry

Again with the bad infomation, if you were changing down to turn round then you were riding the bike?? Thats hardly ticking over now is it. You have also now told us it died while rolling the throttle in a turn (albeit crypticly). That tells me you have an issue with the carb, maybe a loose jet or more likely some floaters, maybe even a drop or two of water in there. Have you checked the carb, checked the filters, vez or OG will know better but there are a couple of filters in there, i believe there is even a diddy one in the fuel feed of the carb.

+1 to clarke, idling for long periods when cold is not good for any engine, plugs especially can foul and the extra fuel from the choke can wash the bores. I just take it gentle for a while, like a mile or two. Also if i spent 5 minutes warming a 30 year old 2 stroke with a sports pipe at 4am in the morning there would be an old school linching i recon

Economy of text is being taken to the bloody extreem here, what kind of discription is 'just died'. Cut out, died out to nothing, cut out with throtle applied. We are a lot of things but psychic aint one of em and we need full and complete discriptions. I've just been helping someone who wrote a whole page just chatting about some idea's. Not even real problems. Please explain things properly.... Oh i've got to ask, bella?

Sounds like what you ment was not moding in the sense we normally get on here. I'm afraid i may have been guilty of an assumption that you wanted a billion horspower etc etc, not actually making it better for your specific use of the bike which is entirely reasonable. First off, and you will be pleased about this, the engine electrics are superbly reliable and entirely self contained, it could be a separate loom. The battery has nothing to do with it. You will find a black wire with a white tracer coming from the CDI, if you earth that engine stops. Put the switch or lanyard wherever you like just link it to the black and white. If you are on dirt a lot then another suggestion would be to keep an eye on the exhaust studs every once in a while crack em on and off so they don't corrode into place and snap they also take a lot of stick from vibration and when the exhaust hits the floor/ trunks/ rocks etc so being able to change them easy will be a bonus. The IT175 has bigger studs for this very reason. Also keep the rear suspention greased especially the sw arm spindle bush or it WILL sieze, same with the top bush on the sw arm. As far as performance there isn't much, you have the pipe, carb should be ok as is. Maybe go up 10 points on the main if you are wide open a lot as they do get hot at high rpm. Tyres, anything will fit the front, limited by size and mud clearance on the rear. There are some all surface knobblies that fit and work ok but i found a knobbly on the front and an open block road tyre (mitchelin used to do a good one) on the rear was better off road as you can handle the rear sliding around and the bike seems to run better on the dirt with the rear spinning up. Other than that keep the engine electrics drenched in WD or similar and if you havent already fit an early airbox and filter. With that it will nick a tiny bit of power from the top end but you can run in water up to around 3ft (1m) deep, or up to your knees when on the pegs if you prefer a more accurate measure (still cold though as that was over my boots ). I have had a lot of fun on mine off road, used to ride with a couple of big Kwaks and a Honda all with knobblies etc, aside from needing fuel more often than they did i was always with them, may have had to work a little harder sometimes and took a few knocks for my trouble but i still think i had the most fun. Plus the little DT is a bloody site easier to pick up that a 600 thumper .

and possibly some tact?

Oh that hurts, I had a REAL landy a series 2(1961), chopped it about a little... ....... P38's are ok, you need to know a bit about them to run them without running up debts like a Labour government but there are plenty of sensibly priced spares out there, and i don't care who you are that 4.6V8 rumbling through a full twin stainless system will melt the heart of any petrol head .