Stevie’s French '98, Mid-90's WR/YZ/DT (An idiotproof guide to building your own DTR)

[Calum]

It's whatever you're into really. My DT has probably done more miles up and down on the dolly than I have ridden it. The enjoyment comes from browsing the web, looking for parts and doing the work, I don't need to ride it to enjoy it. Same with my RS. Barely ridden that and the cost of the thing was eye watering.

[Stevie Wonder]

I feel you mate.
Each and everyone one of us that have embarked on our endeavours with these bikes have done so with a different story, motivating factor/purpose and a general idea of what they want to achieve.
MYou see some of the personality and mentality within someone’s build. Like we all got our own reasons for doing what we do and our own enjoyment. Mines just the simple learning curve. Like don’t get me wrong I find enjoyment in all those things you mentioned but because I entered this game not knowing anything I need a little help along the way.

Speaking of which bearing cup is made however I’ve got of the phone to my uncle and he’s tack welded the bearing cup into my frame without me knowing + stripped my forks for their stanchions and springs. They where only rebuilt with OEM seals 300 miles ago

[Calum]

@stevie-wonder Might bearing cup was an interference fit. And then powdercoated. It's been that way for 6 years, over jumps and all sorts.

But to be honest, tack weld is very simple to undo so no dramas.

[Stevie Wonder]

It’s actually kinda mad seeing these pictures, all that talk and help from everyone is starting to come into fruition

[Stevie Wonder]

Welds do mean that I probably won’t be using my original forks for the foreseeable future.
Not what I wanted or had intended but maybe it’s for the best.

In other news I cannot for the absolute fucking life of me find where I left my front disc & calliper guard for the standard forks. I put them somewhere safe like I would the rest of my parts I’ve taken off I’ve looked everywhere and I just can’t find them and it’s driving me mad.
Asked on fb and got quoted £70 for them used or £100 NOS through CMSNL. Ouch. Mine’s like new as well.

[Calum]

Well as I say, the welds can be easily removed.

But I didn't find they were necessary.

Once it's all bolted together there really is no place for it to go.

[Stevie Wonder]

@calum in all honesty bro that’s what I thought too. It wasn’t until I phoned my uncle and he’d said “ive just welded it in” I rolled my eyes and though ohh bloody heck

Not to worry though, even if it was a pain in the ass to take off realistically the chances of me putting the original forks on anytime soon aren't exactly high.

Also treated myself to a few little Apico YZ bits. One of the best bits about using YZ parts is the amount of snazzy bling you can grab. Not trying to over do it though.

Another development is that I’ve realised yz125 aren't sprung very well to suit a bike that weighs around 100-110lbs more then it so I’m going to get a set of 450 forks instead and sell the YZ forks.

I’m not sure if I mentioned but the yz forks aren’t in the best condition anyway. My uncle made a real big rookie move and took a copper hammer to the fork top cap whilst removing the stanchions, took him a minute to realise why I was shouting at him. Besides that the forks are useable it’s just the upper fork legs look destroyed which isn’t very easy on the eye and seems that a new fork cap is around £70-80 and fixing the original isn’t an option (ill grab a photo of the damage) it makes more sense to flog the ones I have and get some new ones.

[Calum]

@stevie-wonder That's what I'm running WR450F Forks. Been ramping them about for years no worries

[Nottsbiker]

@calum

Might have to do the same with my 200WR forks as new parts other than seals and bushes are impossible to find now. The newer forks are also better for fitting bigger disc's for a supermoto conversion

[Stevie Wonder]

@Nottsbiker a lot of the ‘02 onwards YZ you can actually get a 320mm brake conversion kit that comes with a disc and the disc conversion plate for the later YZ’s
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184616428375

@Calum i honestly can’t wait man, I haven’t rode my bike since June last year but now the RM80 is in the process of being sorted and simultaneously everything is in full swing with the DT. Absolutely buzzing. I’m gonna make sure I make up for my lack of riding and really put them forks to work. (Nows probably a good time to publicly admit setting up suspension/forks is a myth to me so I’m gonna tackle that too )

Second to handling improvements and weight savings I’m also really excited to see how she looks, I think with everything I’ve got now it once I get it on there she should look how I want

[Stevie Wonder]

We’re slowly starting to piece things together, like always when you’re at this stage the only thing to be holding you back or those little bits that no smarter how hard you plan you just always somehow forget.

As you can tell by the way it’s sitting in the frame I need a crown nut, some dust seals and washer plates. I forgot that mine came with them... I swear having to reorder from Fowler’s for something silly like £10-20 order after you’ve already done one the door before takes the P. I bet Fowler’s employees see them and are like “oop there’s another one”

For whatever reason as well my forks didn’t come with any handlebar clamps??? Fuck knows why, like what sort of dodgy person thinks to themselves I’ll flog them on eBay? I picked up some silver 22mm Apico risers.
I have a set of black fat bars from my last bike that I’ve been tempted to put on but never really got around to it. I know loads of people like them but not sure on the DT.

I also didn’t have a top nut for the stem too, OEM one? £40 I think. Luckily our good friends from Apico have got us covered. £10. Nice! A little bit of tasteful bling that that actually saved me some dollar, you love to see it.

The other thing that arrived was a seat cover! Let’s just say of all the things I’ve ever tried to hunt for for any bike an OEM/Replica replacement seat cover has been the hardest

It’s weird too because according to “how many’s left” website 97/98 models are the second most common model. I know the seat cover was a 1-2 year only thing but I didn’t think it’d be that hard to find. Honestly boys I’ve spoke to the aussies, Germans, French, tried blagging Facebook and eBay and no luck until someone came through and give me a link for a shop called “bikerpartseu.com” which oddly enough stocks quite a lot of DTR replacement parts and other bits and pieces.

I messaged them a picture of my bike just to confirm the seat cover they have and colours correct, they confirmed.
Needless to say “GASSSED” was how I was feeling. I hate so much how the original seat covers ripped and even worse due to the nature of vinyl it just dries, cracks and forever worsens. Shit.

There’s just one issue though...

In this photo they look the same

In this photo they don’t because as much as I don’t want to believe it, they don’t match. I thought to myself “I wonder if it’s just because of how much age has effected the colour?” But a quick check under the seat strap where it’s not aged or weathered reveals it’s just not to be, they’re different shades.

I even started to looking to replicating it myself and finding the materials myself but a local upholsterer with a textiles shop told me ” you will never find the exact cover the company that had it commissioned would have had the colour dye made and copyrighted as i have over 45 years experience selling vinyl it will always be different” so I’m wondering if I’m chasing a lost cause?

If anyone could feel I’d appreciate it so much. I need your help or someone like Scrimm for this one. Baffles me how common my model is yet you can’t get a seat cover

[Calum]

@stevie-wonder So you still need to raise the yokes a fair bit so that the bottom bearing mates with the bottom race.

My seat on my Yamaha is original from new 17 years old and there isn't even a blemish on it.

Could it be that your seat cover is a replacement of the OEM one? Since it's synthetic, there really isn't much for it to "dry" on.

[Stevie Wonder]

Nah I wasn’t gonna run it like that don’t worry, think the MOT tester might have something to say hey bro I think in the post previous I mentioned that I haven’t got a crown nut and a few other bits that’s what’s causing the gap.
I’ve now ordered a full RFX steering bearing kit as it comes with top and bottom dust covers (saves a tenner), I’ve just received the three spacers I need and I’m pretty sure I’ve also got the crown nut in a parcel next to me. I double and triple checked the parts diagram to make sure they where right, so fingers crossed no mistakes again

I s’pose there’s no guarantee it’s genuine although I’d put money on it being genuine. Why? The only thing not original to the bike when I got it was the rear tire and it came with nearly 20 years of receipts and garage history from a Yamaha dealer in France and it’s only a two owner bike

Also when I say it’s dry too I mean on the areas where there’s rips/splits. Only in those areas like in the photo the materials have gone dry and gone brittle, like if you bend it it just cracks. Not having anything more then a bike cover to protect her from the U.K. weather hasn’t helped.

[Calum]

@stevie-wonder In my ownership, it's always been kept in a garage. It only had 5k on the clocks when I bought it so it might just be down to how it was stored. But my previous DTR was not so looked after and that was fine. But this is going back 10+ years ago.

[Stevie Wonder]

Lights! Camera! Action!

Another package from Greece, you know that means something 200 related.
WR200 engine maybe?

I wish , although anyone seen the DT200WR top and bottom end for sale? £800 starting bid

If the headlight is kinda like the face of my bike I guess that makes this like the eye right?
The headlight I bought never came with a bulb, connectors or anything of that nature. It was just spare glass and plastic. Luckily these lights are also used by WR200’s so they’re a little more common and spares are still available on Fowler’s. Genuine bulbs are pretty expensive though at £70, so I took a gamble ordering this one from eBay.
Fingers crossed the bulb in this one still works.

Also had the ‘03 WRF 450 forks turn up. Much much better condition then the ones I have already. On first impressions they feel noticeably lighter then the ‘02 YZ forks. I like them. Only a couple minor scuffs around the clamping area too, something a lot of USD forks seem to suffer from.
A bonus is that the fork also has the same fork sticker as I was going to buy too

One issue though is I bought these forks as they where l quote “lightly pitted”. I imagined some wire would and autosol would’ve done the trick

I swear 3 things are guaranteed in life

1. as there must be life there must also be death
2. what goes up most definitely must come down
3. Parts from eBay not being as described

The right stanchion is actually in good condition with only a few tiny little pits like described on eBay meanwhile the right stanchion isn’t the best.

Here’s the right stanchion

And the left one too

Leaky and pitted, nothing terrible but a far cry from what was described and even further from what I expected.
Anyone know any little fixes?

I’ve got my ‘02 YZ forks which are basically spares/repair and I think the 02-03 use the same left stanchion. It might be as simple as just stealing the stanchion from the YZ fork if they’re in good condition.

In other news...
I had a really nice stroke of luck that’s left me being able to afford something that all of you guys from day 1 have all said are one the best things you’ll ever do for your bike

a custom mappable ignition!
Whoop! Whoop!

So I shot the illustrious yet elusive Jiri over at link text
Email: ignitech@ignitech.cz
(I also recommended that he change where his email is placed on his website or at least the colour as blue on blue at very bottom of the page isn’t exactly the clearest and probably why so a few people have got confused on how to contact them.)

I always start my emails with a hello and a good day, does anyone else do this? Kindness is a courtesy that costs nothing. Ignitech also recommend you give part number for your CDI and as most of you guys know that’s just not as easy as that when you own a DT.

Jiri was very helpful, only issue is me owning a earlier model limits to how much Ignitech can do for me.

Ignitechs units don’t allow you to program powervalve openings unless you have a later 5-wire servo, pretty crap when your bikes a 1998 and for the added expense of a servo you could just as well buy a Zeeltronic...

Before I move on though I’d really like to praise Ignitech for their help, reply time and information. Contrary to what I’d seen
If you have a later model bike with 5 wire servo definitely give them a message. Yes the Ignitech doesn’t have all of the features of the Zeeltronic but at only £162.33 (with everything rounded up as well) for absolutely everything you can’t go wrong. As they say “it does what it says on the tin” and in this case without breaking the bank.

But how’s about a Zeeltronic though

[Stevie Wonder]

Slowly... Slowly... Slowly...

But surely, we’re getting there.

[Stevie Wonder]

I treated myself.
This another where I just simply thought I’d never got around to buying and I’d never afford.

Any guesses what it is?
All the way from Indianapolis

[Nottsbiker]

@stevie-wonder Reeds?

[Stevie Wonder]

@nottsbiker

I wonder what gave it away

The quality is beyond anything I expected, they’re simply beautiful.

[Stevie Wonder]

3 steps forwards and 5 steps back

Spent some early mornings and afternoons down the workshop with my uncle down the workshop and got the ‘03 WR450 forks and the yolks. A quick bit of masking tape over the vin plate to spray the bearing cup and Voila, she’s a honey. All I needed was to chuck all the right spacers and crown nut and then she was set. Apico stem nut is a nice little touch too

She’s now resting on her weight for the first time in 7/8 months now. Crazy.

Although getting to see this makes it worth it.
I rarely say this about my bike but woah.
It likes 100x better then I imagined + the suspensions noticeable so much nicer. Super super stoked.

Except as ever there’s an issue..
I fucked up during one of my many late CMSNL part compatibility binges that I guess you could also call research. I was trying to see what the latest year forks I could run with my ‘02 YZ yolks.
At the same time I was also trying to make sure the set of forks on eBay I wanted where as describe and the correct year. I ended up getting the bits for the 03 forks I was comparing and 02 muddled up. What a twonk.

I planned to ditch the YZ wheel for a WR one at some point anyway. Remember before I said about trying to use the WR’s odometer and modding it to hopefully work with the DTR’s clocks.
I still need a new bracket caliper though as 03 forks can only run 03-04 callipers.
In a strange twist of fate it also turned out that the caliper that came with my forks wasn’t even right anyway, when it came to fitting it the bolt holes where about 5-10mm out. I believe it to be an 05.