So Close!...
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I had a very close near miss a few years ago. I was out with my brother on my RS on a notorious road that leads to Cirencester from Stroud. It's a national speed limit road and it was a gorgeous summers afternoon, too hot to be stuck in leathers pootling around and "Driving Miss Daisy L Plate" driver just pulled out in front and there was a huge queue of traffic behind it.
I really am not one for speeding and if I were on my own I'd have just hung back, but nope not today, dropped it into the powerband and accelerated to overtake the 40MPH on a 60MPH driver. The road ahead was clear but a white van was waiting to turn out from a minor road onto this national speed limit road. I reckon he saw the L Plate driver and the tail of traffic behind it and didn't want to get stuck behind that lot. So he pulls out...
What he didn't see was me on my bike overtaking the queue of traffic, some 50MPH and accelerating quickly (for a 125 remember). Bearing in mind, him jumping out in front of this L plate would have resulted in her slamming the brakes on. The van pulls out and I am on a direct course for collision smack into the side of it. I dart the bike into the grass verge, bike tank slapping as it hits the dirt but wrestle it back onto the black stuff. I was probably a few milliseconds and half a metre from being something else...
What I want to know, is how my brother, who was hot on my tail, managed to wrangle out of it. I was nearly killed so gawd knows how he made it out., although he is a lot better of a rider than me.
And after that, I pretty much put the RS to bed. YOU CAN'T EVEN USE A 125 WITHOUT GETTING YOURSELF INTO TROUBLE FFS! I like using my DTR. It doesn't do a lot more than 60MPH at a push. It's comfortable and handles well and it scratches that itch should I need to go out on the bike. The Cagiva Raptor is also superb, but any sense of an incline or head wind and you have to drop it down a gear. Again, this is fine in the twisties and I had a wail of a time on it this year.
The problem with the RS is that the gearing is so tall, and the powerband so narrow, that you have to wring its neck to use it. That's fine, I haven't got a problem with its power delivery, that's what two strokes all about. Once that thing is on pipe it is a bloody riot. But good luck trying to enjoy it on the roads today. A track day, suitable for a 125, would be fun. But I'm just not that really into motorbiking. I like hopping on and getting a coffee.
So, back to the garage. Back to doing something I enjoy with a topic of interest and sharing it with you lot, as a bit of conversation. For me, it's less about riding and more about the community we all enjoy. @HOTSHOT-III Your contributions are always valued and I hope you lurk around and share some of your other projects.
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@Calum Sounds like you both did well to keep it shiny side up that day, stuff like that can happen in the blink of an eye.
I'll definitely be hanging around here and posting up stuff/helping where I can (and being helped
). As you say this is a great community; based in the UK but members from all over the world including DT200R guys from Australia, mainland Europe etc.Talking of other projects, here are some pics of my 2007 Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Comp which I've just rebuilt. It came from the local secondhand shop which is run by Dorset Council to try and reduce stuff like this ending up in landfill.
No idea why it's green as I thought the Comp from this year was black and red but I like the colour; maybe it was originally sold in another country and the original owner moved here and brought it with them.
Brand new wheelset built using Shimano Deore XT M756 hubs, NOS Weinmann ZAC19 rims and Sapim Race double butted spokes with coloured alloy nipples.
Original Fox Float 120 fork serviced with Fox internals and SKF green dust seals. Travel kicked out to 140mm during the service by removing the plastic spacer underneath the air piston. OEM Triad shock serviced likewise using a nitrogen needle kit and RockShox shock pump to inflate the chamber behind the IFP (this does the same job as the remote/piggyback reservoir on motorcycle shocks).
Every chassis bearing has been replaced with full complement bearings; these have no cage and are packed with balls to take higher loads in low-speed applications. New headset bearings but the OEM cups and crown race were fine so I didn't disturb them.
Shimano Deore XT T8100 brakes; these deliver XT quality without the fiddly servo-wave levers. 180 front/160 rear rotors.
3 x 9 transmission with cheap-ass Shimano 73mm square taper BB and pressed/spot welded steel crankset; I ride mainly in sand/gravel so transmissions on all my bikes get trashed in winter anyway. Deore Shadow rear derailleur with ballraced jockey wheels as these do make a difference to shifting performance.
New FSR pivot bolts made from grade 12.9 M10 x 1mm steel bolts; 2007 isn't all that long ago so Specialized should really still supply pivot bolt kits for these, but these won't add much weight. The seat stay bolts have twice as much thread engagement as OEM as the threads extend about 30mm inside the bosses.
NukeProof bars, Exotic 100mm stem and No Logo external dropper post. Magnesium platform pedals and the obligatory inline cable oilers.
I've wanted one of these for a while. I have a couple of 2008s but the spec wasn't as impressive as the '07 when they came out; IMHO the Credit Crunch hit and they cheapened the 2008 and disguised it as a redesign. For example the '07 has an extra pivot bearing on the lower shock mount whereas the '08 just has plain bushes at both ends. Geometry is similar so looking forward to comparing them directly!
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Cheers bud! They’re ok, I cut off the bad split bits at the bottom. They’re still soft enough. I just have to get around to it eventualy!…
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I’ve just had a bit of a revelation, maybe…
A while back I put an earth from the battery to the frame (because I thought they all had that) and it kept blowing fuses. I’ve just realised there are two (Edit: there are actually 3, maybe 1 for ignition??) separate earth wires going to the front (headlight area) as well as two to the back.
Now I’m thinking that one is for AC and the other for DC! Me having them crossed is probably why I get a big old ‘dim’ of the headlight when I use the brake lights, horn or indicator!…
The only thing that befuggles me is the brake and tail lights have to share a common earth…I’m going to explore and experiment with this!
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@SpookDog I've never seen one specifically for the DTR but a smart way around this is to polish that part of the clutch cover with finer and finer grades of wet & dry, finishing with Solvol Autosol for a mirror finish to seal up the pores in the aluminium. When it gets roughed up by your boots just polish it again. A 750ml tin works out to about half the price of the little tubes you get down the motor factors and would be good for your rims and stainless RH pipe as well:
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Bless you bud, I was thinking of the quick fix! When I have more time I’ll finish what my right foot started
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Baby steps! I’ve been playing with the wiring for most of the afternoon…
What ever indicator I put on they all lit up along with the taillight
I found the cause but have had enough of the rain and cold wind this evening…I forgot to ask! Does the rear rack have spacers or rubber things to fill it out at the mounting points at all? Mine came badly fitted and I’ve made some ally spacers but would like to know what it’s supposed to be like?…
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@SpookDog From memory I don't think it has any spacers but mine were always a bit springy and just pulled up the last few mm by tightening the bolts. I think it's supposed to go behind the tailpipe at the right front mount, the idea being you can take the tailpipe off without disturbing the rack.
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No, standard. Optical illusion
…Does the rear mudguard have any grommet/bush in it? My rack is like 5mm loose gapped on each side. It was so bad it’s cracked and been welded, badly
I’m wondering if it’s the proper one? It all lines up on the bolt holes apart from being wider at the back and the tailpipe mount point…———————
That StumpHumper looks gorgeous in green. Was there a more basic version of that frame back in the mid-late 90’s?
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2024? Some of us ole’gits didn’t think we were going get past 1984!!
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@SpookDog That sounds about right for the rack to be honest, I've never known one to fit perfectly even when undamaged. A lot of them have cracked and been welded, particularly French bikes as they use DTRs for commuting the way we use C90 step-thrus etc. meaning you see a lot of DTRs in France with top boxes fitted. And the weight limit for the rack is 2kg according to Yamaha.
Yes I think the 1st version was called the FSR Ground Control in the 90s, same basic layout but they look dated now. Still lots of them about on eBay etc. though so it must have been a good design. There was also a hardtail StumpJ(H)umper, and they came up with another design called the FSR XC which was like an entry level full suspension Stumpy. In fact I took the view at the time that for any given year the FSR XC was basically the previous year's StumpJumper FSR rebadged.
Part of the fun for me is trying to piece together what changes were made in which year; just like when MX bikes had a major redesign every year back then, everyone being fashion conscious and raving about the very latest version of something means the process of evolution is soon forgotten and that suits manufacturers who just want to keep coming up with something new to sell more units.
Unfortunately it doesn't really help people buying secondhand; riding in local woods in the days before it was made a more serious offence than being on Epstein's client list, it was quite common to meet people riding air-cooled, drum braked 1970s dirt bikes who would swear blind that "it's a '93 bruv" when asked what year it was. So the nature of the Human race presents quite a few barriers to understanding why the bikes we ride now look and fit together the way they do.BTW if you want new fork gaiters, genuine ones are stupid money but Polisport ones like these fit the DTR very well, you just have to use a leather punch to enlarge the vent holes to stop them ballooning under full travel:
https://www.bikerpartshop.com/en/home/41-fork-boots-for-yamaha-dtr-125.html
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Damn! I still have all four indicators flashing!
I don’t think my loom liked being removed and refitted!…Edit: There is absolutely no accounting for stupidity! There are 2 six pin connectors, 1 black, 1 white. Guess who had them crossed over?…
In my defence, it was dark, wet & windy! Also there was a ‘broken inside’ taillight earth that was throwing confusion into the mix. Every time it disconnected the brake light dimmed and the indicator light on the ‘dash’ came on! Why it chose then to manifest is beyond me! 
…Happy daze now it’s all working!…
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I actually had to start again and re-route the expansion pipe! I finally have it running properly! Along the top then zig-zagging back down to the expansion bottle. Should of listened the first time
…Also totally forgot about the metal coolant tube that’s been head butting salty road water for the last few years! QTLC is needed yet again
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@SpookDog All's well that ends well I guess, routing that expansion pipe is one of those jobs no-one wants to do ever.
The metal coolant hose does catch a lot of road salt etc. yes, £78/discontinued from Fowlers but CMSNL can order them in for about £27 plus shipping; not quite sure how they're managing this but they do a lot of stuff like that you can't get any more, I think I read on their website they sometimes get things like this made. If yours is really far gone and threatening to leak coolant maybe get on eBay and find one from a French bike if you don't want to wait for Holland post, some people sell them still attached to the waterpump cover as well.
It's not only the hose which is a potential headache, also the two screws which retain it are similarly prone to seizing. I had to use an impact driver to get the one out of the waterpump cover to replace the O-ring (this is 90p from Fowlers and worth buying genuine as Japanese manufacturers are notorious for being awkward with O-ring sizes). -
I still feel like an idiot for putting it back where it was when I got the bike, but ‘better’! It’s an original tube and all the kinks and bends line up now! I should be a bit quicker on the uptake by now…
Do you know of a paint stripper that doesn’t damage the Yamaha plastic? I don’t know if what’s on there is acrylic or cellulose, or what…
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@SpookDog Not sure about Yamaha plastic but I once watched someone use Nitromors on some painted Suzuki TS125X plastics (the one that looks like a mid-80s RM) and it seemed to get the paint off without harming the plastic. B&Q sell one called Paint Panther which smells the same, I used some this year on something else. Maybe just try a thumbnail-sized blob in an area that isn't very visible first?
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Cheers bud, I’ve got some bad condition old ones to try out with…
Everything is taking an age! It looks like I’ve made zero progress in 3 days…
