Stevie’s French '98, Mid-90's WR/YZ/DT (An idiotproof guide to building your own DTR)
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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 -
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@nottsbiker
I wonder what gave it away
The quality is beyond anything I expected, they’re simply beautiful. -
3 steps forwards and 5 steps backSpent 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.
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I’ve now got to get
1 02-04 WR wheel
1 03-04 Brake Caliper
1 Brake hose.For the wheel scenario ideally I’d like to find a decent condition ‘02 426 wheel and have matching excels like I do with the YZ rim. Only issue 2002 was the first and only year the four stokes would receive them, from then on only the 125’s got them.
Although that’s the last of my issues as I’m struggling to find a decent wheel of any type in the first place. They’re all 05 onwards or in America.
My solution? Buy an ‘05 and put an ‘04 axle in it.
See the hub is the same from 02-19. Axle 98-04. Bearings 03-16 and just about everything else matches up so fingers crossed this fixes that.The brake caliper is just annoying. It’s hard finding one that be in good condition for sensible money / not in the states. It’s gotta be done though.
Brake hose is a broke hose. I’m just gonna buy one second hand for now depending on how much money I’ve got snd my urge to get my bike closer to having an MOT.
I did notice though that the YZ’s and WR’s brake hoses have different part numbers and I just wondered why? They use the same lower legs and the hose routes under snd over the fork leg the same?
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Not sure if the dogs that interested
Sorted out a brake Caliper. £50 for one like new only drawback is the 2 week wait for it to come from America however at this point I’ve just accepted that a 2 week wait isn’t even that bad. It gives me time to do everything else.
WRF wheel, axle and odometer ordered as well, going to be looking into making a mod for it to work with DTR clocks. I’m praying I get lucky and they just work with each other without any modifications but that’s just being a bit too optimistic.
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with the Forks well and truly firmly planted on the bike everything else can get done.
Slowly but surely everything’s coming together.
Been spending every bit of free time inbetween university and trying to make a buck going down the workshop with my uncle to get shit done.Decided to ditch the HPires fender and go OEM but with a tail tidy, much to my uncles and Ryan’s distaste who both said it looked tacky... which to be fair I do agree with considering I’ve got the OEM tail piece that suits the bike really well. I’d rather clean that back end up though and out the original one in the loft to preserve it for the future.
As I’m doing a tail tidy I’m going to weld a bar / tray to rear of the frame so I can have my tail tidy without three ugly protruding bolts in the fender and to also give a bit of protection against mud + make cleaning easier.
I’ve got to say it’s been a blast too! It’s been proper ideal whilst I’ve been studying at home to give myself something else to focus on and not have to think about being trapped in doors so much.
I had a weird stroke of luck too and the ‘05 axle worked perfect with the ‘03 450 forks leaving me with a spare front axle and odometer.... could be useful for the future so I’ll keep it.
Ryan’s cleaning 22 years worth of gunk and corrosion out my ignition barrel. It looked like an ancient battery inside there. My uncle in the meantime is welding brackets for the 3ET headlight. Also when I say welding I mean we chopped the original headlight mount and modified it to work with the YZ 125 yolks and 3ET headlight.
(I’ll grab photos when I’m next down the workshop to show)One of the issues with mounting everything is the YZ 125 yolks only have tabs for a number board so they’re not the most structurally secure thing to go mount clocks and a headlight too especially on an off-road bike.
My uncle had the brilliant idea of creating a central bar for the clocks and then two support columns made of steel to weld the pre-existing yet now modified DTR light bracketTrying to get the fitment perfect was a little bit tricky as the clocks on the DT protrude like a fat blokes belly after a carvery. However as chance would have it I spoke to a dude with an original 3ET who gave me a pretty good idea of the fitment for it on a standard bike
As luck would have it we wasn’t far off
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First start in 9 months.
I had to give her a bit of a tickle to work but straight after she jumped to life and run like a champ
Headlight brackets/ignition
The 200R’s headlight design has left a bit of dead space. I wonder what I could put there.The columns/frame for the front headlight and everything
Big issue is the Rev cable now doesn’t reach.Tail tidy
Welded tabs across the rear part of the frame to attach it too so you don’t have no disgusting tabs through your fender.Nice new Doppler master cylinder cover.
I still have an old one from Devol I could use but I wasn’t 100% sure if I was keen on it personally. I’ll try grab a photo of it at some point.Fast forward two days and we’re back in the workshop
*This is where we’re at currently *
I love the way she sits, bloody lofty though mind you
This is it against a XJ600 and against a bloke that’s 5’ 11
(Quite a nice bum too don’t ya think )She runs like a trooper. Just gotta run a compression test and see how that top ends doing / how much life she’s got left in her. Maybe she’ll be good and last through the summer? We’ll see.
Just gotta Chuck the front brake caliper on her (when it arrives), do the speedo + Rev cables as ones to short and the other I just don’t know wether it’ll work and might have to be made. Then it’s MOT + Riding time!I’ve still got the 200wr swinger and some plans for a rear shock but their going to have to go on the back burner just for a little while
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Hahahaha for fucks sake. True story though.
Function over form 100%.Realistically there’s not a nice way of getting that headlight to work with those clocks. Every way way we tried left the headlight either too high and looking like something from Easy Rider or to low and in the correct space but completely exposing the clocks or having them awkward above. Flattening the clocks rather then angling them towards you just pushes the 200r light so far away that it no longer matches the flat silhouette and looks weird.
The space isn’t bad but honestly it’s just the best of both worlds and the best bit is it’s functional
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Fun fact every time I’ve took this bike for an mot it’s lost it’s plate. This year I used metal anodised fairing bolts and still it went missing. Ghosts mate.
Chanced the mot on the basis of being able to ride it home legally afterwards and that there’s a 10 day free retest period - I can’t believe I never knew this!^failed on front wheel bearing failure, front and rear pads being too far gone (i later f found the rear with probably less then 0.5mm of pad left
) and chain was too tight.Here’s it the second time around. I never got a picture of it the second time, she just passed with flying colours and on my way I went. On the road at last.
Only notice something? I switched pipes and wow. Fuck me sideways - the heavens have opened.Whilst my bike was off the road I’d done a lot of thinking.
I couldn’t quite figure out why even though I didn’t rejet the plugs always came out perfect whilst using the dep yet I always used to get the worst throttle chop at high rpm’s or under sudden load sometimes. You’d be full throttle screaming and then it’s like the throttle would cut out mid way then come on after and then only get worse.
After solving all other potential causes I thought it might even be my rings are giving up.What do I think? I think it made me think a lot of other things where wrong with my bike which weren’t and that I’m probably going to avoid that dep pipe.
The DEP is nice but honestly the difference is amazing. No more throttle chop just strong power on tap everywhere.
My bike felt so good I ended up go for a test ride and ended up in the neighbouring town even though it was raining snd I had no goggles or nothing just a coat.Happy days. All nice and ready for fun times ahead.
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@stevie-wonder The other nice thing about the DEP is the weight difference.
Always Originate, Never Pirate!
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It’s nice when you finally get it running proper after chasing gremlins
You got access to a borescope or the like? There has to be some hard deposit of carbon in there somewhere. How long the dep been running on there, also did it always chop?...That mot, legal feeling is a good high!
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@calum said in Stevie’s French '98, Mid-90's WR/YZ/DT (An idiotproof guide to building your own DTR):
@stevie-wonder The other nice thing about the DEP is the weight difference.
My personal favourite feature is itself lightening feature. 3,000 good U.K. miles and the metal will be half the thickness
Honestly though I always said the same thing but the standard pipe has a much wider power spread and even better puts that power where the DT needs it most.
With that being said I ride some pretty private locations and the lesser amount of noise only allows me to ride for longer / not piss others off. Bit of bonus.
Much better thermal properties to flow gasses too due to the extra thickness + the durability of the standard people would outweigh 10 dep pipes.I literally dropped the dep taking it off once and dented it. Pretty shambolic if you ask me. Shame. I always thought I’d massively support dep being a historic and British company.
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@spookdog said in Stevie’s French '98, Mid-90's WR/YZ/DT (An idiotproof guide to building your own DTR):
It’s nice when you finally get it running proper after chasing gremlins
You got access to a borescope or the like? There has to be some hard deposit of carbon in there somewhere. How long the dep been running on there, also did it always chop?...That mot, legal feeling is a good high!
No bore scope just fingers for feelers and eyes for seeing. No fancy stuff around here
(at least until I invest in one which no doubt I will all in good time, big believer in that investing in tools is investing in yourself/they pay for themselves).I’m still going to be scratching my head for a while as to why the dep didn’t work well for my bike. The only thing that I really can imagine is that the CDI map and powervalve openings is way of for the power curve of the dep pipe. However even then that wouldn’t cause the throttle chop I experienced. If you was full throttle in a long gear you’d often hear a rather nasty metallic ping as the throttle suddenly slammed off then on. Gross.
Also yes legal is so good!
I owe all of you a thank you in your hands in making it possible. It’s very surreal to see what I imagined come to life. It’s even better riding it and feeling just how much nicer the bike is for it.
However to be completely honest after leaving her in such a sorry state for 9 months I’m just genuinely happy to know she’s running and that I won’t ever have to do that again. -
@stevie-wonder said in Stevie’s French '98, Mid-90's WR/YZ/DT (An idiotproof guide to building your own DTR):
Fun fact every time I’ve took this bike for an mot it’s lost it’s plate. This year I used metal anodised fairing bolts and still it went missing. Ghosts mate.
If you point your number plate at police helicopters and UFO’s, it’s bound to be abducted now and again
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Still on the same piston she came from France with.
All I’ve done is keep her tidy, use decent oil and do regular checks on the plugs, Powervalve and replace a bunch of inline fuel filters. It gets a carb clean once a year but other then that she’s a diamond.I recently bought a fzs 600. Within three days I’d done a ton on it and I thought to myself I wonder if I’ll wanna sell the DT now
https://i.imgur.com/dtWKfQ1.jpg
Then I get her out for a blast, get down to bike night and remember how much I fucking love this thing.
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Hey everyone hope you’re all in good health.
It’s been a while since I’ve been about so it’s nice to hear from you all.Have you ever seen a DTR less out of place?
Life’s been keeping me busy and on top of that I’ve now got the luxury of using the ole DT as a weekend treat.
Luckily summer has granted me quite a few days to get the bike out.
And with miles of years old unexplored public footpaths and by ways accessible to a little two stroke trial bike it’d be a crime not to break a few laws and go on many a excursion with your bike in to the countryside for a little explore. Pro tip: farmers fields usually have ditches at the boundaries so prepare to get your enduro on.
Despite now using the DT as mainly a weekend toy I still don’t shy away from using it as my weapon of choice for a nice little long distance adventure. This is “A house for Essex by Grayson Perry” ft. My dad on his now long gone trusty varadero. The site is actually a beautiful quaint village with plenty of backroads and seafront nearby 10/10 recommend for all of you guys.
Also something a little different… Keeping things true and blue I couldn’t help myself, this is Maureen (in memoir of my nan) my ‘98 FZS600 streetfighter. My first “big bike” and let’s just say she’s an absolute dream to ride. Fairly nippy too.However I must as fast as the Fazer is the DT still puts a smile on my face every time I ride it so despite what anyone has said, it ain’t going anywhere.
And for anyone that’s read this and is genuinely curious she’s running like a champ on the same piston/rings etc she had when she was imported from France 2 years ago.
When she blows up it’ll be Wr200 or Lanza 230 engine time. Got a nice little piggy bank ready and waiting for it. -
Hi guys my bikes still running lumpy with an untunable hanging high idle. After speaking to a couple two stroke gurus and my local bike shop they all believe the same as me the LH crank seal is gone.
I’ve been riding it on and off as it is for a while now and the engines still making good power however I can’t stand it anymore.
To find out for certain if the seal’s gone and to see how the rest of the engine is doing I’ve just bought a Draper leak down kit and compression tester.
I’d like some advice with how to use the compression tester and leak down kit as well as any recommendations for tools that I should get/will need for this and for the future
Also can I remove and refit the LH seal without removing the motor?
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Also update with the build, I might not be able to run standard DTR clocks!
So WR450 speedo cables are the same 11mm size fitment I’ve found as DTR clocks (meaning in theory you should be able to use DTR clocks with, ‘03 WR450 speedo cable and speedo drive assy), however the speedo drive assy is on the opposite side on a WR450 compared to the DTR. This means that because the MPH clock for the DTR is also the opposite side making it so it’s impossible to cleanly route the speedo cable to the clocks without having the cable criss cross all other electronics and controls
I also found some 11mm cable extenders to use on the Rev cable to as the only issue in that department was the cable not being long enough to reach anymore however the first time I attached the cable extender to the Rev cable and then attached it to the clocks, I started the bike up and the cable snapped itself
