Cynic

You can run Vez....... Anyway i've been peeking and i recon the PV motor will go in an MX. Just where to put the rad? Whad you recon paul a 175PV MX

Try getting a quote for a bike OVER 25 years old. A vintage (yes the mx's qualify) could see off a big chunk of that 300 insurance as much as maybe 100 quid if you opt for some token restrictions, like limited mileage (s/h spedo apparently helps here though i wouldnt know obviously) or a reduced value. Food for thought.

If you like the classic era/look why not knock it back another stage and go for an MX version (i'm biased i know). Not as big a performance difference as you might imagine, they are a little slower but not by much if worked on. And that is the important bit they are a lot easier to work on and you can pick one up thats half tidy for 500quid, less if you search about. Be carefull though as there are shockers too. And don't get suckerd by the "completely restored wont find better" as it generally isn't, and you can. 175's are more common but there are 125 top ends out there, there is one in my garage .

Sorry to dissapoint but 125 insurance will be a killer no mater how old it is. And if you want my opinion i would be looking at an 88 on model as i think they got the Powervalve motor (vez will know), which has enough go to ease the pain of the insurance, and they deffinately had better suspention. As to the brakes being better hmmm used both and there is not enough in it to choose bar the disk needs no maintanance compared to the older drum.

Tyres are your primary point of contact with the road, failure could have fatal consequences for you or others. I would not even consider second hand tyres period. The very fact you posted surely means your thinking the same. They could be old, have sat flat for a while or just as bad been static under load in one spot for 2-3 years. No too many bad options for me to think of second hand rubber.

The important word in that statement OG is SOME. I'll agree some of them are ok. But i found if you didn't want to do a billion miles an hour and can grind your sliders it was a bit flat.

I'm thinking the Suzuki Owners Club may have been a better place to ask? Nowhere near as nice as here i might add, power rangers rule over there.

Doesent actually solve the problem though. Short pain in the arse vertion of what i've been told re tank rust. The refineries are adding ethanol. Makes the engine burn cleaner and hotter and they are selling less spirit ( like a dealer loading his cut with sugar ), down side. Its hydroscopic, to the point it will allow corrotion even when there is fuel in the tank,the water separates far more readily and ends up at the bottom of the tank, it also ends up loaded with oxygen FROM the ethanol hence corrotion. Ethanol can also creep far easier as it is even less dense than petrol. The more ethanol the worse it gets. Apparently we are currently at around 5% but that can/will increace by maybe 5 even 10 points in the next few years as more cars can handle the fuel. It may be hype, dunno. I am in possesion of a tank from a much cosseted motorcycle with serious corrotion and intend on sealing it for the long term. If the fellow on the phone was blowing his own trumpet fair enough i've been sucker'd. But with that in mind i cannot argue with the thinking. Compare the cost of sealing it (around £50) to replacement tanks. There is also no gaurantee the tanks you get will be great. Granted the XV has the advantage of far greater numbers which helps (only 2000 TDR250's have come to the UK in 20 odd years) but it is something to consider. Especially as the lower tank on those bikes is such a pig to get at.

Why not throw a small intro up in the noobs section, let us all know who you are.....

2k4 a works chassis number i wish. If it is even remoteley resembling one of the eighties works bikes it will look more likeTHIS An IT 175, Broadly similar to the YZ but with a nod towards some road legality. Big engine differences inside, if you look the chain runs on the opposite side etc. Although funnily enough the barrel and piston will go straight on a regular 175, best of luck getting it to run ok though. The DT175 was used as a privateer entry (I know that cos mine was)as it was a good bike, blew everything away in 78-80. Its why the bigger sw arm appeared to replicate the winning racers, (and the round one would crack if the bike was worked hard).

Well timed post, i have to seal my tank due to the dreaded tin worm, what looked mint was as far as it goes riddled with rust holes. I have bought a kit from Tank Care Products and i'm going to give it a go once i've plugged the leaks. And to finish, no your tank doesent have an enamel coating on the inside sorry.

Damn, tricky one. I take it the bike is all done ready to test ride then. Chain, sprockets etc etc.

Hmm, looks like you have a lot of it coverd. I take it there are no ridges on the basket or the hub that might snag the plates? I know you said there isn't any oil in the box. How long did you leave the friction plates to soak. They generally want an hour or so in some clean engine oil, my old man would leave them overnight which i think is seriously excessive.

Could you be more specific Merv, that statement was a little vague.......

No sweat, its just the forum, well this forum anyway really is a very open place with a lot of very real friends here. It seems to be something that has grown from the club due to a lot of (no dispespect intended) "Oive go a yam 125 an i wont go,ow do i make it do a million mph" There are some very experienced 125 owners on here who have lives, wives and kids and it just rankles a bit. And like myself when you have owned a bike over 20 years and know its vital parts better than the wife's (some may say thats no difficult for a bloke) being patronised by someone asking for help just aint nice. The very fact you have written the above intro removes you entirely from that group of people. Enterprising people with an interest in all things bikes we need, motorcycling is getting smaller as a pastime. Your the future not the oik who can;t spell. Hmm don't know where all that came from, Back to bussiness. You say you have adjusted it as per the manual. Did you set the pushrod too, or just the cable, i.m a little confused by the disk description. I take it you mean plain and friction plates. Have you replaced the springs or at least checked their free length?

Can do Kev, havent had a chance to fill the holes yet. Not too sure how they will come out but i'll have a go.

First off , 'name's mike' is a bit lame as an intro. 1/10 Why not throw a proper intro up in the noobs section. Forum etiquette done. Important question first, why have you changed the clutch? and do you actually know how to adjust one properly?

Your not mechanically minded and ride a 350 powervalve Havent got the numbers for Saturday have you........ The mid week ones will do i'm not greedy....

Not ethanol resistant, there is a newer version out that is apparently up to the job as manufacturers are adding more and more ethanol to their fuel don't really know why. You do not want to be buying the ebay stuff as it will fail with the latest fuels.There is a specific remover available to get the stuff out.

Nice job, do you know if that filler is resistant to ethanol? The fibreglass resin isn't and neither is the waxoil. So your trusting to that filler to keep the fuel in. I can bore people to death with the stuff i have read about fuel and tank sealing over the weekend. And that filler is your only seal.

Much the same for me, my old man has always had a bike of some form, as soon as he could walk he could ride according to my nan. Bonnies, a rocket gold star and he would love another one of those but ker ching busted that plan. He finally took a proper test to get his licence in the early eighties and my first bike memories are trips into town on a Honda cb100n. Had a variety of 'off road bikes' the most notable a plastic chicken that took me most of the way through a hedge and a TS175 that decided it wanted full throttle at an inoppotune time and we went our separate airborne ways. Funny how we wonder why we have aches and pains . Anyway thats it, got my first proper bike at 15 and had one in some form or other running or not ever since.

I have got all the rust on the outside removed, tiny amount i know and will get some epoxy plastic metal (er?) so i can fill the holes. Then its the full treatment when i get the kit. Once you have cleaned it all properly, rust proofed etc it takes 6 days for the (ceramic based?) coating to cure. I'll have to post the results cos this TDR tank is a bastart to work with. Its 2 halves joined top and with a balance pipe about an inch up from the bottom, all the middle is oil tank. Would you believ that without turning it every which way to get it out the tank will hold well over a litre of fuel upside down . And i'm taliking about having the cap OPEN.

Damn you win, what did you seal it up with, or is that a new one.

Tell you what mike well have a race to find a very good condition replacement....... The last tank i know of for sale was in france, and probably no better than mine. Common fault, 'they all do that sir'. At least i found it early and will only have a tiny bit of visible paintwork to repair. The worst of it is under the tank or behind covers.

I am stunned, proper gob smacked. I seriously reccomend you check your tanks, i am serious anybody that has an older bike. I have just been all over the TDR tank and you will not believe this its like a sieve. 8 holes at or near 2mm across a couple of 1mm jobies and a fking great one that is about a mm wide and 10mm long. I found all these by going over the bottom of the tank carefully and picking at any blemishes. I'm not talking massive blisters etc just tiny imperfections i mean tiny, the bottom of the tank is as clean as the top . I've spent the best part of 2 hours doing it. TDR tanks are rare, crikey the bikes are rare enough. If i hadn't checked this over that tank although looking fine would have been scrap. It was litterally rust holding the fuel in. The tiny marks where where the fuel had begun to migrate through the rust. I would never have believed that the tank could be that bad, there isn't any rust you can see from the filler but when i drained it i had to filter all the crunchy bits from the fuel. Thankfully there is a rust stabiliser in the kit that should stop any more problems. Just in time is the phrase i think.