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

[Darty]

Mate, no idea what you’re talking about with Swingarms.

Can you provide images to explain?

[Calum]

@Darty A picture says a thousand words

[Stevie Wonder]

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

@Darty A picture says a thousand words

@calum that would explain the volume of written content.. I will eventually learn how tag images in I promise.
Once you see a photo though you’ll see what I mean. Although calling it a bit of shit probably wasn’t choice words.

In other news I’ve made a nice discovery.
I think I’ve cracked how to run my modern Yz front end and keep the old standard clocks or potentially run some DT200 ones if I need to slim the cockpit space down a little.
Now I spend a bit of time on the webs n that and I’ve never come across anyone who’s done that to their DT before so it’d be cool if it works.
I know I’d be really happy because I never really had any plans for having an LCD display. The old clocks just give me too much nostalgia, they remind me I’m sat on an old bike. Something I don’t want to take away from.
Whilst it’d be super clean and convenient it just ruins what the bikes about. Motorcycling is a very visceral mechanical experience. It’s very much you and the machine and computers spoil that. I want to see those revs rocket at 7k not because a sensor tells a computer, that tells a screen, that that’s what it’s meant to be doing but because the engine is actually making it ‘ya know what I mean? I remember @Darty having a thing against this too just glad I wasn’t going to have to resort to a gps bicycle speedo or something ridiculous

[Calum]

But think of the parasitic losses of a tacho!

My RS has a needle, but it's built into the CDI. The Older RS's are very wonky on the RPMs.

[SpookDog]

Please let us know how it goes! I’ve got a nice-ish front and rear Yz setup waiting to go. I’m very interested in keeping the clocks for exactly the same reason, we’ll im a 50 year old git on a 32 year old bike but it’s close enough!

[Calum]

Why can't you just fabricate a bracket to mount the clocks?

[declan]

@Calum because that's way too easy and sensible of an idea

[Darty]

I made my own brackets out of old Aluminium cuts, with a Bandsaw and some hand files.

I even eventually spray painted them Halfords Special Black (Show Bike m8)

Didn't even use any maths, just cardboard templates and some callipers.

Even the YZ Yoke for 1997-2002 has threads you could use.

[Stevie Wonder]

I haven’t crossed that bridge yet but that was kinda the idea i was going for. I’d seen it done before and figured it’s simple as couple little bits of metal and if you’re lazy you can get brackets premade on eBay, easy peasy

I might have to use a gps bicycle speedo for a little bit though if I can’t get hold of the parts I need or my plan don’t work. I guess one way to keep miles low is to remove the device that counts them should circumstance force it for a little while ...

Although that’s all very much at the future because without a certain someone moving his ass and helping me with something I’m stuck. Or am I??? I dunno, this is a blog after all isn't it? I suppose I ought to write about it.

So as luck would have it I managed to find someone who for swapped their DT with a set of YZ426 forks (Facebook groups and their size do have their advantages)and I’m pretty sure they’re 100% identical to my YZ ones. Even better though the guy used the bearing cup method.
You want to know the shocker though? He was a down to earth, nice bloke and was very helpful. I was humbled. How wholesome. None of that weird toxic one-up-manship you’d usually see from Facebook/the internet.
Anyway said bloke was even nice enough to share with me his plan and measurements which as you can guess is very very helpful for me.
Why is this so useful? Surely I could do it myself?

Well this is the thing I’ve been relying on help from a family member to give me some help and explain some stuff because there’s parts to it I don’t understand. I get the concept and basic idea behind it. I think I’ve got the stuff I need for it it plans and measurements wise. I’m just stuck because I don’t know how to translate that information or understand the other basics behind it. In my mind I still compare bike forks to bmx forks. However if I understood all of that I wouldn’t have to relying on and stuck because my family member. I could go to the engineering shop and get them to make me the bearing cup I need this week.
I guess that just about describes exactly why I’m at a standstill currently because even financially I can find a way to make it happen.

[SpookDog]

I didn’t think mounting the clocks was a problem, I thought it was the drive gear wheel/spacer that meshes to the Yz wheel?...

[Stevie Wonder]

Precisely that @SpookDog! The issue isn’t bodging the clocks in, it’s making them useable in the first place

[SpookDog]

Have you managed to engineer (bodge!) anything yet? I haven’t had a chance to try yet. I’m sure it’s doable without too much ‘engineering’

[SpookDog]

I haven’t had a chance to get a really good look into it. It’s just replacing the right side spacer with the gearwheel. Matching the diameter of the front wheel spindle and width. Then fixing 1 or 3 ‘teeth’ to the wheel hub to drive the gear-wheel...
That’s oversimplifying it, but it ...
I’ll get round to it when I finish MOT readying my bike. Weather s’been A bit of a bee-atch lately...
If someone has done it already I’d love a link...

[Stevie Wonder]

So it’s late
Can’t sleep. No money. Tax and Mot ran out a few days ago and winters drawing in and my bike isn’t even stood on its own wheels.
I need to do something and fast.

I didn’t expect this to a be a 3 month thing. The lack of money, the for an MOT and the amount of time already passed etc has just made my way up my options on what I can really do. That’s 1) Say fuck this and just find a way to get it done on my own or 2) I just put the original front end and just forget about it for a while.

I’m not one for giving up (and a storm vanished the original steering head bearings) so I started reading @Calum’s Leviathan project and the USD fork post to try and crack what I couldn’t understand rather then relying on someone else. In the process of reading it over for the 5th time a lightbulb clicked and I think I get it now.
The thing is it doesn’t help me with the sketching up and taking measurements side of things, I hands down admit I don’t know where to start.

However.... in a very very strange twist of fate things seemed to have worked out again.
So the guy who I mentioned earlier who shared with me his USD plans and who I was pretty sure has the same forks as mine?
Well it turns out they where Callum’s plans from the forum all along.

How is this good? Well I did a little looking and in a twist of fate it turns out Cal’s ‘01 WR450 forks are identical to my ‘02 YZ’s.
And there’s me thinking I was going to be different... Sorry mate
On the upside Cal I know I understand things a lot better now, makes my life a billion times easier and I can rely on you to point me in the right direction.

Another thing, I’ve decided on selling one of my top ends. Which one? Probably the 4FU outfit (I couldn’t get definitive technical answers why ones better then the other, a lot of people prefer the P setup and I don’t think the £130 spent on nicasil plating is going to be as much as an improvement as £130 doing a good port job).

My engine is healthy so touch wood and may someone smile down upon me... that she continues to run like a champ.
Anything engine wise is all in the future. Need to get everything else chassis wise done first as originally planned.
But when the time comes I want to port the top end, get a Mikuni TM30, zeely and just enjoy it having a Revvy little 125 two stroke for a good while. Nothing too fancy, expensive or crazy and still fairly reliable. I’m sure with a good port from what I’m told the results will still be plenty enjoyable enough.

I’ve also now come to conclusion I’ve probably spent more time changing my bike and fiddling with it in my entire ownership then I have enjoying it. Worst off all it’s through no fault other then of my own either

[Calum]

So the plans I uploaded are good for a template, the part that slots into the DTR frame stays the same. The upper half you just measure the outer diameter of the race that fits your forks.

The rest isn't really that all relevant. But you still need someone with a lathe to fabricate it for you.

Personally, I would stick with the 4FU barrel. The 3MB00P barrel feels like it's lost power. The shift of the exhaust port doesn't work very well. The extra "performance" gained in the higher revs has just resulted in loss of performance low down.

I would use the 4FU barrel and have that ported.

[Stevie Wonder]

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

So the plans I uploaded are good for a template, the part that slots into the DTR frame stays the same. The upper half you just measure the outer diameter of the race that fits your forks.

Wicked, thanks a lot for helping me get it sorted Cal and also for bearing with me when I didn’t quite get it. If what I found out last night is true ‘01 426 forks are the same as ‘02 yz.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/293695067645

I mean it makes sense, looks the same and there parts are always coming up in searches and even the fork seals I bought where 96-03 yz250.
I’m gonna see if I can cross reference it through Fowler’s and then go from there. Once I know that we’re laughing

luckily we have an engineers shop and a couple friends with lathes although given the fact I don’t want to rely on anyone I’ll probably just head to the local engineers shop. Just out of curiosity too what’d pay to make it (even if that’s just cost of materials)

taking from what you said there I must agree. Upon reflection i don’t think my bike ever really like the dep pipe as much as the standard unrestricted pipe but that could just be me. IMO it felt like it lacked the mid range to be able to really pull hard as high into higher rpms. I don’t know though, it’s all just theory’s and spitball ideas. and was just generally a bit quicker.

one advantage to a ported 4FU is I can make it 150cc and have it ported to 150cc and I only ever have to worry about replate it and the spec will always be the same unlike if I had to rebore everytime which would fuck up the port timings

[SpookDog]

@Stevie-Wonder

The YZ headstock is longer than the DTR125 one, no?..
The YZ125 headstock/clamps I have are threaded lower down. So all I have to do is tighten down the bearing with the ‘ring nut’ to the right spec, then put a spacer on (about 3/4 inch maybe), then put the top fork clamp plate on and tighten the dome nut on top to clamp it in place...
I’ll have to measure the dome nut thread size, see if the ‘bearing ring’ are the same size or different. I think the previous owner threaded into the wider tube lower down. It seems to work...

[Stevie Wonder]

HOOOMOTHERFUCKINGRAYYY

I’ve cracked uploading photos on here on my iPhone!

Must say feels bloody good to bring this into the 21st century and it not just be walls of text now
Here’s a couple pics to celebrate

Found this cool mural after an afternoon in the woods. Couldn’t pass up grabbing a photo.

One of the local slices of bliss I have the ability of being able to ride to with a motorbike.

Only issue is now I’ve got about a year and half worth/500+ photos to sort through all of which are completely out of order. I’m sure one night with some beers I’ll get it done.
At least with everything sorted now posts become a lot easier for me, I don’t have to type as much because I can use photos and everything from here on in will come out chronologically as it happens.

[Calum]

Bike looks clean bud!

My advice, don't modify it! That little gem will go up in value nicely.

[declan]

@Calum yeah would be a shame for sure