DTGordo

A battery place should be able to check it for you as well. They should be able to tell if it will hold its charge or is stuffed. If you think its dodgy, you'll need to get a new one either way. Hope you get it sorted soon.... Gordo

Yep as long as the voltage is the same hooking it up that way should be ok to check like you say. They both run off 12V? It would be easier though to run a volt meter across it. They are really cheap but do the job.

Sorry, didn't see the post a couple of days ago but it sounds like you checked the wiring including the switches. Looking back through the posts have you check the battery for charge? I don't know the XS but I would expect the signals and brake light to run off the battery. If the battery has required volts then the problem is with wiring to the lights/switches. If bad volts it's either a bad battery or bad charging system. It sounds that way if the brake light is also not working now. My flasher won't work if not enough volts. When you say it you checked the power, you have power at the swtiches but not the lights? Not sure if helpful but I tried three flasher units before I got it to work. The first one from a wrecker that looked the same and should be from a DT, 2nd was a two pronged jobby because they didn't have a three pronged and the guy said that it would work and lastly a three pronged which worked great. Gordo

Hi Mate, If all the lights are good I'd be checking the voltage on the battery and that all the connectors are clean/good. Then I'd be thinking faulty switch. Hopefully just a loose wire and you're good to go...... Gordo

number starting with 450 definately 250a 1974

Hey thanks guys, I squirted some fuel into the 2nd sparkplug hole (so it does have use after all!), blocked it up again and it started fine for a second so I'm sure it's isolated to the carby. I'll be pulling that off again and cleaning and checking. Nice thing is there's not much to them so it doesn't take long. I'm waiting for a new o-ring to arrive which I'm hoping is also some of the story. Anyways thanks again and have good weekend. Hopefully good news next week.

Hey all, Please help: Replaced the points and condenser and set the timing (ta for previous advice on that) and was running pretty sweet. I also got hold of a bigger plastic tank and had to repair a couple of holes. Was running great up to the servo to fill up then crapped itself 50m after that. Just stopped. Would start but then stop with any throttle. Then nothing. Luckily that's not far from home. It has spark. I pulled off the carby as I was thinking that some water maybe got in there (I was checking for leaks in the tank before I put it on but thought I dried it out ok) and also thinking that maybe the inlet valve might not be stopping the fuel coming into the carb b/c of the extra 5 litres worth of pressure in the tank (which happened to another bike I had ages ago). In the carby the O-ring looked pretty stuffed but have to wait until Monday for a replacement but apart from that everything looked about the same as before. I had a quick look at the reed valves and they looked ok as well. Plenty of fuel in the cylinder through to the exhaust so I'm thinking back to the carby sending too much in? Any advice/thoughts mucho appreciated. Almost there.....

Ouch. That looks like you would have needed to sit down for a bit. They should have steel caps and protective soles for crocs, probably ankle support as well. Then they might be sensible footwear. Yeah I've got a pair too.

Hi all, I've got the bike running reasonably well although it sounds as though the timing is out a little. It has a slight tinny rattle at high revs that and doesn't quite want to rev out like a 2 stroke should. I set the points using a dial guage and a thin piece of paper and I know I'm close. Runs really well up to 70km/hr. My question is can I use anything else that will give me a better reading on the points? Is it a bit hit and miss and just keep trying? The manual refers to points testers but I haven't met anyone in a bike shop that knows what that is and apparently a multi-meter or light bulb won't work. Appreciate any advice....

Hi Steve, For the blinkers I went for the smallest ones I could get and attached them to the bars with hose clamps. I tried cable ties but that didn't get a good enough earth. OK that's dodgy but I went for small so I had less chance of busting them and I'm not too fussed about the detail. Like you I just wanted to get out there. I'll keep looking for originals that hang off the bars but they don't seem to come up too often. I guess it depends on what's available near you and make it fit. The ones on my bike when I got it were attached to the ear things that hold the headlight on to the forks. They had to drill a big hole to fit them. From that, I'd just say don't drill any holes that detract from the originality of the the thing. For the brake light, it must be earthed if the tail works so I'd be checking the fuse and battery and check and clean all the connectors of the wires between the battery, brake light, brake levers and brake light switches. If that doesn't work I'd get a multimeter and test the wires. If that doesn't work I'd probably have a beer and have a look at service manual for any other clues. Hopefully that helps. Oh and I had fun riding up and down the drive too before registration. That was with the kids on and the wife rolling her eyes while she was watching out the kitchen window. Let the neighbours enjoy the experience I say

My question is what happens if you put 12v globes in the 6v system? Does it work ok? It didn't seemed to make any difference with the indicators that I had. Sorry, I wasn't very clear there.

Oooo, Nice one! But sorry, can't resist: pistol, g - man, yellow bike. All I can think of is Mr Yellow in Reservoir Dogs.

I've seen some quote 20:1 and use that myself although she's a bit smokey. At the top end revs it will need that but it overdoes it at low/med revs. Autolube's supposed to solve that but if it's not working and you don't know = buggered piston/barrel. Pre-mixing can be a pain but I'm not 100% confident about an old pump so I go with it. Some electrics like indicators/stop run of the battery so if they don't work that's the first place I'd be looking with checking the bulbs as well.

Hey all. When fitting new indicators, I checked the bulbs in the old ones and found one was 12v instead of 6v like it should be. They were working fine so how does that all work? DTGordo

Hey, I came across a couple of bulletins from Yamaha relating to blowing headlights and voltage regulators for pre-76 magneto bikes:

Hi Emu, Two main places that have been good for me: EBay and a motorbike wrecker. I've probably done better through the wrecker and am really lucky that they are close by. The prices have been reasonable although I worry when they know me on a first name basis. Through checking regularly on the net I got hold of workshop manuals (one is great and one is pretty average) and also got hold of an owners manual (only $5!). I'm not in a hurry and figure that sooner or later things come up. Gordo

Braking in corners? You never know what's around the next corner and it sounds like are pretty hard slap down if you loose the front. I've always been afraid of over commitment.

Not me but witnessed/assisted in probably the most unfortunate incident for a tattoed, "maturish" female rider on a whoppin great roadie (it's no-one you know ).... I was at a sport event driving a busload of juniors back to our accommodation after dinner. Off in the distance at a red light I could see someone wobbling around on their bike, looking like they are fully pissed, eventually falling over along with the bike. We pulled up behind, hazard lights on ready to assist, and could see that the rider was female and couldn't get the bike up and had no chance of doing so. That was about when I noticed the tat on her back - a nice job of swirly things that goes to a point left and right and then another dissapearing errr south. Nothing wrong with that, just painting the picture so to speak. Pretty much blocking the two lanes, my assistant sprung out to help and that was when she turned around and we saw that she had her face covered with one of those bandana things that was basically a skull. "Waaaah" went all the juniors . I have to admit that I also drew breath and had to remind myself it was just a bandana. It was dark ya know. By this stage horns are honking but "Andrew" had got her bike up and helping her to wheel it off the intersection. I could just make out that she had smashed a few bits on the left side and couldn't get it started. Not to leave a damsel in distress, "Andrew" then pushed her up the road, giving her a quick lesson in roll starts as they went. It took more than a few goes and "Andrew" didn't have much left but she got it going and left in a roar with a "thanks luv". "Andrew" returned to the bus a hero and off we went. The kids will be talking about that one for a while I think. Me too.

Yeah don't get started on the weather. 40+ in summer and minus 5ish in winter. Victoria on fire and floods up north. Take your pick.....

I don't mind the reserve listing on Fleabay. That way if you don't get what you want, you don't need to sell it. Advertise it in as many different ways/places you can that don't cost much. Forums, Ebay, maybe posting a few photos around Uni's where people might be interested. If you're not in a rush to sell, keep checking similar sales so you get a feel for what the market's like. Don't give it away. No idea what others think but I get a bit funny about letting people that I don't know come around and look at home or where the bike is kept. But I also get suss on someone trying to sell cars an stuff from somewhere where they don't live. Not everyone's as nice as us......

Oooo, nice one fellas. Can almost taste the dirt. Kind of like cannoning for bikes eh? I like it.

Hi all, Thanks for a great forum. Here's a few pictures of the DT I got last year: It was advertised like this: I was able to go out and have a look as it wasn't far from home. It wouldn't start or go in gear but I figured at $250 I could strip it for parts anyway: Turns out apart from a buggered piston it was pretty good really. Spent a bit of time cleaning bits like the clutch which was rusted together and getting the water out of the transmission. It's registered now so clocking up the km's where I can. Once it's settled I'll venture a little further up into the hills I'm heading towards an MX looking type of thing unless I change my mind!......

Hi Little Dave, Yeah I don't understand the workings of it but in my book it says if AC voltage still high after the lighting circuit checks out ok, the fault might be with the DC charging circuit b/c they share the same source coil. The way it reads to me is if the voltage is low due to a faulty battery, rectifier or connection, in the charging circuit, the voltage will then be too high in the lighting circuit. That's for the 250 which I'm assuming is the same for the 175. There's no mention of a regulator only the rectifier. Anyways, after all this talk of lights and stuff I checked mine and errrrrr, she no look good. I've only had my bike on the road for a couple of months and don't ride much and then only during the day. Maybe I'm being punished by God or something. I think I'll just make myself a cup of tea, go back through the posts, then sneak out to the shed.....