Airhead

oh balls luke, yeah that could have been the problem with the shite gasket leaking. as others have said it will need the barrel off to fix that! you will need access to a pillar (bench) drill to fix that ....the helicoil needs to be totally perpendicular to the gasket face and you cannot guarantee that with drilling by hand. I am feeling your pain fella

yeah course you can, you dont even have to have a yamaha

y'know Jimmy...I'll miss all this nonsense when you've gone

do the head steady bolts last, luke...s'pose it's done now anyway

To take something positive from this episode luke, at least you know how to go about that job now eh

Greetings Rob and welcome to the YOC forums,

they're probably just as good as each other but for £12 i'd go for the yamaha one, get a straighedge on the head and see if you can detect any warping, while you're on the phone take the opportunity to let them know that you've had a bad outcome with the budget ones!

the athena looks exactly like the genuine yamaha one, it's black rubber coated...have a look on pjme site you'll see them all

I would go along with this, check your float height

just tighten it gently until it shows resistance, then apply the front brake and rock the bike back and forth, place a finger against the bearing cover and steering head tube and there should be no movement between the two, I bet shop manuals from various bikes will give some insight

Thats right Ken, a bit at a time in a criss cross pattern, should do it in about 3 sequences

no need for the cylinder off no. just check that both the mating surfaces of the clinder and the head have no bits stuck to them

If you've heard the budget ones are crap before, then why didnt you specify a good gasket?? PJME sell genuine yamaha gaskets for only £12...see the website the first thing to do is order a decent gasket either an athena rubber coated one or a genuine yamaha one. next you'll have to drain the coolant and take off the head, if you find a painted steel gasket that may well be your only problem you can make sure the gasket sealing surface is clean and no bits stuck on there, if you want you can place it on a pane of glass...does it 'rock' on high points...hope not!...when it's on the glass can you slide a thin feeler gauge under it at any point?...hope not dont worry too much about the torque wrench, you'll find thet one of the nuts is nigh imposiible to get a socket on anyhow and has to be nipped up with a spanner I suggest you get a manual, there is a tightening sequence to follow when nipping up the head nuts...dont murder them just nip them up but really the feel of 'that'll be enough' comes with experience can you borrow a torque wrench and do the ones that are accessible...then do the others with a spanner? re-fill with coolant when its done of course

they sell both, athena are rubber coated just like yamaha ones so they are good, budget are just plain steel with paint on them...crap, I know...I tried one once myself...ever heard the phrase 'not fit for purpose' ? http://www.pjme.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2epjme%2eco%2euk%2facatalog%2fYamaha_DT125R_Fuel_And_Carbs_%2ehtml&WD=gasket%20dt125r&SHOP=%20&PN=Yamaha_DT125R_Engine_Parts_Top_End%2ehtml%23a405#a405

budget gasket set isnt worth a wank, thats the problem here...why didnt he fit an athena one, PJME sell Genuine = Good, Athena=Good, budget=Crap!

get the head off again and check to see if it's warped on a pane of glass, your problem is as you say...compressed gasses blowing past the head gasket. you didnt fit one of these shite metal head gaskets did you? tell me you fitted one of the rubber coated ones

you havent unclipped the return spring before trying to lift out the operating arm?

Phew, good news so she'll be ready for duty on Monday?

Ouch !

or you coul fit the 3.5 tyre like it was when it was new

wow thats in great shape, seems kinda odd to see a trailbike with with a small front wheel like that

another favourite seller added to the list

Greeings David, good choice is the frugal YBR...keep it clean and serviced even if you DIY and keep that chain well lubed especially in the wet weather.

I think leaving the head gasket out is a bad idea, if you want to reduce the squish, what distance have you measured the gap at, anything around 1mm is OK if you find yours is above that figure you'd be better skimming the excess clearance from the head IMO

yeah,,, maybe leave it a couple of days and then come out with it