Consmos

Well hasn't this been a reply long time coming Thanks for the help everybody, it was a success in the end! I bought a pile of tools, sanded, primed and painted a number of parts (e.g. see photo of previously rusted, newly sprayed radiator mount), made friends with mechanics across the water who helped me out with the jets and paint samples (cheers to Wemoto, allens mikuni, and Bike Colours of Lancaster!), and generally made a nuisance of myself by hammering at all hours of the night. In the end, she looked pretty good ... That includes help from the mystery guy at Hurst Yamaha Belfast who supplied me with the plastics and stickers for prices that made me wonder if I should have gone into the sticker business. She lives and rides on, many thanks to everyone on the forum for helping a complete newbie through a top end rebuild. And here she is on top of a mountain in County Donegal, with my latest ride... a nice little XT660R So apologies for the late update but I was a bit carried away with the new bike. My dad is currently sporting a nice little Suzuki DRZ 400 E, I'm, thinking of trading the DT125 in for a 2010 RM450Z now that I've gathered a bit more experience offroading at at Paddy Dakar and Dave Thorpe's joint in Wales. So thanks again for the help, anyone interested in some light Enduro in Northern Ireland, drop a line!

Cheers again Nev. Having a nightmare trying to get my hands on the right paint for the tank. Have the frame painted, and know the Yamaha ref code for the paint, but every paint shop I go to has no listing for it - even companies with chromatic scanners that automatically match the colour. Nowhere has it! Anyone know a generic paint code match?

She lives! wooo turns out i hadn't tightened the cylinder head bolts enough haha. Now I can get to sorting the power jets cheers Nev I managed to get spray for the frame - and for anyone from Northern Ireland looking to spruce up a bike, Givran autoparts on the boucher road in Belfast are brilliant people - after months of unsuccessfully searching for paint I dropped into them and five min later had a can of exactly what I needed! Turns out the tank is a different colour though so back to Givran tomorrow seat is wrecked though so be aftet xmas before I can get a new one...

I should have been more specific there - I was looking at your dt125 pages when I posted that!

Where did you get the fork covers Nev? I'm in the midst of a total amateur job on my dt and trying to spruce it up a little while i'm at it, might as well while it's in pieces! I can't believe what a pro job you've done on that wee ride, pure awesome

So here's the score: I've flushed out the crankcase (and you should have seen the crap that came out, never mind the pile of aluminium that came out of the expansion pipe!) and have the bike together again but I cannot get it to start! I've tried the bigger power jets but it can't be that anyway, he engine isn't even starting. I've checked the spark and it's fine, sparking away merrily. The float bowl is filling with petrol so it's not a feed problem, I'm thinking maybe low compression or a problem with the primary stage jets? Any ideas how to check? I don't have any equipment to check the compression, will have to take it to a mech for that, but before I go there can you guys think of anything I could try regards the carb?

I tried halfords, they're not the most educated bunch so far and could only promise a 'close enough' job, I'd prefer exact match if I can find one... Colorrite don't seem to ship to the UK, and B&Q don't mix up aresols, just buckets. Found a couple of local folk who mix paint but again, not in spray cans. I spent ages searching for the correct colour code for the deep purplish blue then tried to buy some from Yamaha... Not only did they not sell it but they were able to tell me instantly that the colour code I had was wrong and that I shoulf have just asked them in the first place haha

Well quick update so far - I'm having a hard time getting hold of a couple of things, mainly paint and a new seat cover. I checked with Yamaha and the closest match to original I can find is from bikecolours.com in England. They have stock of what they believed was the official match to the deep purplish blue but arent selling at the minute due to a disputw with a customer who argued that it wasn't a good match. Bikecolours are sending me a sample free of charge to test out and report back to them! Ordered a seat cover from portugal and sadly the quality is that of a poor rip-off Anyone know where to get one? One industries and factory effex do some pure awesome covers but not for dt125's, seems that nobody sells them for this bike, not even Yamaha! Haven't managed to flush out the crankcase yet as the bottom engine bolt is totally seized. On the upside, new jets have arrived and when I get a chance I'll stick up photos of what a bit of halfords radiator paint, clear laquer and elbow grease can do for severely rusted radiator mountings

I'll buy a handful, they cost almost nothing compared to another rebuild so i don't mind wasting a handful of coins if it means treating the engine well! My intention is to have it fully derestricted although noone seems 100% about how many restrictions there are, I read a lot of apeculation. No intention of carving up the manifold as the benefit seems negligable, I'd just buy a new carb if it came to that. My power valve appears to be fully open and functioning, i can't see where it's supposed to be pinned? And it's definitely orientated correctly. The CDI has been grounded and the new exhaust system was going to be the final effort to get some pep out of it... Hell maybe it did work, I didn't have time to find out!

Got the jet out! Turns out its a 4/042 hexagonal size 210. So if 210 incinerated he piston, is 250 a big enough gap or you reckon I should go higher?

Right guys here's where we're at so far: I've managed to rip the carb out after having a hell of a time trying and failing in getting the airbox off - it simply didnt leave room to manouvre the carb out, had to use more force than i was happy with. There's simply no way it's going backnjn unless I get the airbox assembly out of the frame - does anyone know how?? I removed five bolts attaching it to the frame and two bolts holding the rear mudguard on, which also join the airbox to the battery housing,but i cannot for the life of me get the damn thing out! It went in at some stage so I know it comes out, and the haynes manual says it comes away from the frame but doesn't elaborate. I also cannot seem to get the float bowl screws out without chewing them off and wrecking them, they're pretty soft and they're in there tight!! But on he upside this is the most technical i've ever been so far with a bike, thanks to the forum and the Haynes!

That looks great andy. Where did you get the spray paints for the frame and the engine casings? And what do you recommend using to strip rust and old paint off first? In the midst of restoring mine and I am completely new to it all!

Cool. How do i know what's already in there? Having a hard time googling it. Does the number on the jet indicate the size? And do you think I need to change the air jet / pilot jet etc as well or should they be kept as they are?

In trying to derestrict my 04 i earthed the CDI cable (which did very little??). Then i tried turning the power valve round 180 degrees - my bike went fron 74mph top speed to 55mph flat out. So turns out mine wasn't restricted at the power valve, but if you're getting 55 out of it tops then i'd recommend turning your valve - worst that can happen is nothing happens, and it's not a hard job, even a novice like me can do and undo it.

Thanks, I'll have a proper nosey at the crank tomorrow and try to clean it out properly. As for the jet size.... This is where I fall down, I have absolutely no idea. I know that the two most complex systems are the carb and the gearbox, so I haven't touched either! The jets should be completely standard for an '04 dt 125, whatever that is! How will I know what size they are, are there markings? What is required to change the jet? Is there anything in particular to beware of or can I just amateur it apart and back together like the rest of the bike (with great care of course)? The engineer honing my cylinder almost slapped me when I suggested a plug chop, and he justified himself well - he claimed it was best to buy a pile of different jets and start with the very biggest I could find, graduating down slowly until the bike was just running, as a plug chop could mean that by the time I inspected the plug for damage I could have already destroyed my newly-repaired cylinder and another piston. Any thoughts? I need a proper education regards changing jets, I'm sure I could figure it out mechanically but I realise that misjudging it could send me back to square one!