Wow, it's nearly been 12 months since I made this post.

Well it's been a lush week and I've been out on the bike to work almost everyday.

alt text

It is in dire need of some much TLC.

Rear tyre needs replacing (Diablo Rossa's on their way). The gearing needs reverting to stock, rear wheel bearing has seen better days and the chain is utterly maxxed out. I've taken out three links and gone up the road to see it's already stretched again!

Alas joys of owning ancient motors!

No VAT was charged - all arrived ok 🙂

@goprokid95 What brakes have you put on? Is it just the 1.8 Brakes?

I could do with some bigger brakes for my MX5. Turbo + Stock Brakes = Disaster 😛

That said I've had it years and not had a problem yet.

@spookdog I'm in Dorset, near the coast. There's three of us down here that I know have DT's. Mines currently off the road in prep for the summer but the other two I see on a very regular basis!

@calum never truer words spoken and yet I’d never really though about it. Instead I can only think of the times I hadn’t thought about it but should’ve. I’ll remember that one for sure.

Unfortunately my mate got pissed the night before and called me 30 minutes after we was meant to meet to say he’s hungover and can’t move, typical. With a week long forecast of snow and that being the one clear blue sky sunny day we was gonna get for a while you could imagine how I was feeling 😂

All’s not lost though I gave the local boys a shout and we sat outside in the sun having a smoke, a couple beers and doing bike stuff. My personal idea of perfection.
I made the most of the day giving the RM a proper good deep clean and tending to every little rust spot I could whilst my mate Tom did a couple bits on his ‘04 YZ85 Big wheel

alt text
5 minutes of working off the brown sticky muck caused by that rust gel and you can already see the difference made. Pretty simple, the rust gel has a tendency to make everything look a lot worse then it is when you’ve left it on too long / it looks like the rust has grown. This i thought to be really annoying until a realised it actually works as a good way to highlight where I’ve missed / haven’t cleaned yet.
If you do things the way I did buy a small/medium sized copper wire brush and scrub the spokes one by one.
You can already see a shine start to come back to places that I thought would have been trash.
The chain use to be so badly rusted that even after cleaning it I’d assumed it was a gold chain. Nah, turns its definitely silver hahaha
Sprocket bolts and everything all look nice and new now

alt text
All I’ve used to bring this hub and wheel back was hammerite rust remover gel, a small and large copper wire brush and hot soapy washes uses either demon shine or rhino goo products as well as muc-offs premium brush kit. (The brush kit is a seriously good buy for anyone, there’s 6 different brushes all with rubberised and tips so you can never accidentally scratch or damage anything whilst cleaning)
Dare I say it though, considering what this originally looked like it has no place looking this good!

@calum Fair enough, but "While in India, he was tasked with setting up and running a training programme for army motorcyclists."

"As part of the Fourteenth Army, the so-called "Forgotten Army", he served in Arakan in western Burma (now Myanmar) – where he survived dengue fever.[10] Moore returned to the UK in February 1945, to take a training course on the inner workings of the Churchill tanks, learning to become an instructor. He did not return to the regiment, remaining as an instructor and the Technical Adjutant of the Armoured Vehicle Fighting School in Bovington Camp, Dorset, until he was demobilised in early 1946".

"Moore raced motorcycles competitively – he purchased his first when he was 12[14] and wore the number 23.[19] He rode a Scott motorcycle, winning several trophies.[6] Moore was a member of the Keighley and District Photographic Association between 1934 and 1936, as his father had also been".

A biker and a tank instructor, fits in here nicely!!! 😁

@stevie-wonder I would say the Mito is more comfy than the RS.

The way the panels are inline with the frame, as opposed to on my RS your knees rest on the making it feel rather cramped.

But yeah this bike is a hoon.

@nottsbiker said in Question for those that has their dt stolen an recovered:

Best place to store a motorcycle is indoors and if you cant do that a garage. I've had DT's parked outside chained up and been woken up in the night by the sound of rattling chains - had to sleep in the winter with the bedroom windows open just to try and hear if anything was happening to my bike!

Second this. I’m privileged on a level most arent with how secluded and private where I am is. People just don’t nose around here and there’s a real good community.
The sort of place where my next door neighbour left his pushbike outside for year because it had a flat and it never got moved, you know that type of area.

That still didn’t stop a van pulling up on our road and a couple boys coming around and start lifting up bike covers and walk off with one of his bikes

The truth is there isn’t a true deterrent for thieves, it’s just probability so make sure you do everything within your power to reduce those chances because even if you live in an area like mine you’re still at risk.

In a weird twist of fate though the thieves drew a short straw. They had a choice of trying me and my bike, my neighbours 83 ke100, cafe racer cg125 or the chink Lifan 125 dirt bike thing that has a seized engine, flat tyres and had sat for months. Guess which one the dull cunts robbed... yep you guessed it 😂😂😂

Needless to say, whilst the violation of that happening was definitely a reality all of the boys got a fucking good laugh out of them.
(Sidenote: some tools etc got stashed at arms length and around in case the cunts tried it again)

@irongamer727
Make sure to have your bike covered for the paint not to corrode if youre planning to park it outside for a couple of weeks. and i would also recommend buying BlueFire Motorcycle Security Kit Alarm System on amazon. its easy to install and i am telling you, its really loud. it also have a great bump sensitivity. hope this helps mate!

@mightyman You still got the Freeride E-SM bud???

@stevie-wonder
The most I ever had was a pre fab council garage that had no electric or light. I used to use old Fray Bentos pie tins with old engine oil and makeshift wicks as lamps! Caveman stuff...
Some of the best stuff is made this way, needs force musts when you’re baked and cold 🙃...

That’s embarrassing, I thought the mirror was another carb 🙃

I am very happy with my buzzing Aprilia. That will glide along at 90 and scream to 100+ (indicated it's Italian so take that with a pinch of salt).

Either way, it's fast enough for me. I only ride locally.

Sorry to hear that you failed 😕

Will try, thanks bud...

Dt’s don’t die! They just slowly fade away (if they’re treated right) 😊 any 2 stroke does.
Which is the issue, did the power loss come on slowly over time or just happen? Slowly would suggest normal wear to rings like the man said...
I’m wary of anything that claims to fix without work. Apart from that teralyne/whatever they pump through 4 strokes. But 2T are different, like you say, anything that breaks down carbon is not likely to be lubrication friendly to your bearings...

those bikes from baracing are always insane!

@Steady-Eddy Eddy! Great to hear from you 😃 There was a forum outage a wee while ago. Down but never out.

Sorry to hear about the ball joint, these things happen. But a fresh new one should see you for a while.

Sad about the DT, but there is plenty life in you yet, you could always get another one. Perhaps a doer uper to give some joy back into the world.

That sucks about the marshaling, everything happens for a reason though.

How's the new home? Happy with it. Was it difficult to downsize?

Wishing you all the best

Calum

Yeah, I get it. I don't want a heavy thumper. But part of me doesn't want the two stroke hassle factor either! Haha I'm getting old I think!