Update,

I’ve checked the air filter and as suspected it’s still like new.

I’ve removed the carb which is still also like new, before the bike went bang and stopped getting used I had Jim Bailey drill out the AFR screw as it’d seized and also refurb the carb. I checked the emulsion tube too, not a single bit of dirt.

I also did a few compression test’s and I’ve got really good compression.
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3-4 tests and every single one coming a touch under 120psi with the engine stone cold. Pretty impressive.

Also sidenote does anyone find it a right asshole getting the compression tester into the spark plug hole? I was having a right mare

The coolant and trans fluid/oil leaks seemed to have stopped too. The only fluid I could find was blue. None the less I’ve bought a couple OEM copper washers. Even if I don’t end up needing them they’ll get used eventually.

I had noticed some fluid around left side crankcase gasket but that was blue as well (same colour as putoline mx5 two stroke)

There wasn’t any trail showing how it got there though? Odd… Had me wondering if the trans oil could get dyed blue from the gasket?? Then I realised that’s just silly.

I also made a job of trying to fix the OEM fuel tap.
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EBay replacements do the job and are nice and shiny but the material quality is sub par by comparison. Just look at the erosion on the copper.

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My other gripe is your reserve leaves you with about 5-10 minutes worth of riding to get to a petrol station or you’re fucked.

Unfortunately things didn’t go to plan.
I found out the hard way the petrol cap isn’t watertight.
Between the tank being upside down whilst I repeatedly fit and took off the pet cock and it sitting upside down I ended up losing 3/4 of a tank of fuel. By the time I’d realised it was too late. You can’t help but laugh.

To make matters worse no matter what I tried with the original petcock I just couldn’t get it to seal.

Where it screwed into the tank was fine but petrol would piss out with the Cock left on Off position. Further inspection showed the tiny little metal washer that goes between the two rubber pieces was all bent in multiple directions I assume this was stopping it seal properly.

Unfortunately you cannot buy this washer anymore, I’m kicking myself now though as I should’ve tried to see if the repro one had a washer identical or similar I could’ve used

Either way it still doesn’t make sense to me as it didn’t just leak a little bit fuel pissed out like the tap was on.

Im also missing the filters, pretty handy if you don’t fancy having the carb off every 5 minutes.

The more I type the more it sounds like buying a new OEM replacement sounds like a good idea. Unfortunately they’re £75-85. A lot of money I don’t currently have

Long story short what was meant to be a 5 minute fix ended up being a ball ache. If anyone finds a good condition OEM replacement petcock / fuel tap or has one laying around I could buy I’d be forever grateful.

Now that the bikes on the road I really want to get the miles in and enjoy her once again only issue is I used to run out fuel often enough with the old petcock which gave you a fair warning so I don’t fancy my chances with the repro one .

Gear shaft seal is still leaking but barely enough to form drips. It needs fixing for sure but I can get away with neglecting it for a little while until I can order a new OEM seal.

The gear shaft also has some play side to side, I’m guessing this indicates a worn bearing? I’m not surprised being honest as my gear lever took quite a bit of the impact. Still though it’s not doing any harm or causing any problems.

I also had couple spare plugs laying around, I took the old one out which was blacker then the midnight sky and put a new one in.

This seemed to have made a difference as I noticed the bike fired up first kick.

Even better I could start her without choke, my old method of a few priming kicks, one more to get TDC then one big kick holding the throttle wide open done the trick and she comes to life.

Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to go for a test ride. I thought I was done but some silly twat (aka me) forgot to remove the carb warmer hoses and didn’t realise until they’d got the carb half way out of the bike. Not fancying wrestling with it to get it bike I removed them in situ. This led to coolant running down the manifold and into the reed cage so that all had to come out and get cleaned as best as I could before reassembly.

Said silly twat then puts it all together goes to ride off only for the bike to begin revving its tits off from idle. At one point I’d even hit the kill switch only for nothing to happen.

Having spent 6-7 hours working on the bike at this point, I shit myself and let out the biggest sigh you could imagine. I wasn’t happy. Was my engine running away or had my kill switch gone faulty?

Luckily my brain went “did you tighten both sides of the manifold?” I reached down and you could feel the force of air being sucked from underneath the manifold into the reeds.

As annoyed as I was, I was just as relieved as the last time this happened it was time for new crank seals .

I also have no idea why when I hit the kill switch she kept running, I turned her off using the keys kicked her over and tried again and the kill switch worked. Very odd behaviour… especially with the kill switch being magnetic, there’s nothing to really go wrong.

Anyway I go to tight the bolts for the manifold and you wouldn’t believe it? My 10mm is missing. Yes. You heard it right. It’s not a meme, it genuinely happened. For fucks sake, you couldn’t make it up.

It wouldn’t even be an issue if it wasn’t for the fact I’d put everything together so there was absolutely no chance of getting a socket in there, I managed to use an adjustable wrench to do up the top left bolt furthest from the carb which fixed the air leak and settled the idle and ordered a new 10mm spanner.

Just as I thought I was done I noticed a puddle of coolant forming underneath the bike. “FOR FUCKS SAKE WHAT NOW” silly twat muttered under his breathe. Dripping from the bottom of the carb was green and clear droplets. I knew for a fact all the bolts on the carb were tight, then I noticed the lower carb warmer hose leaking. I don’t know why because the hose was pushed back on to the nipple far enough and the clip over the nipple with it.

I can’t lie it sent me over the edge because the coolant is bright green yet there where also clear droplets mixing / forming with the green. I really don’t fancy taking the carb off again assuming it’s petrol leaking however a quick whiff and there’s no petrol smells.

Ya know when you’re really tired and ready to call it a day but you just can’t give up? I’m at this point. Luckily after a bunch of faffing around and head scratching the coolant leak stopped. It was the carb warmer hose not sealing the whole time.

As to why or even how the bright green putoline coolant decided to turn clear I don’t know. It probably did it just to fuck with me. Who knows?

By this point I’d run out daylight and with what was a full tank of petrol mostly on the floor I thought it’s time I call it quits

With that being said silly twat returned to cave he arose from to return another day with more energy and enthusiasm.

Silly bike things aside I took 3 different calls for new jobs! Overall making today a pretty good productive day

All that’s left to do is actually go take the bike out for a ride and see how things go.

I’m also going to have a day where I ACF50 the bike and give her a deep clean and detail. She deserves it and as mentioned it’s been too long. It’s just hard to keep on top off when she’s always getting dirty!

If things haven’t worked themselves out then the only thing that leaves me to check is HT lead / coil !

Outside of getting to Rev out that just leaves using @HOTSHOT-III tips and advice to sort out the oil pump and gear shaft seal.

Anyway’s good evening chaps. Hope you got a good laugh out of some of the mishaps I was having. Sorry about the “wall of text” I was so busy I completely forgot to take photo’s. Alll

DT125R FORUM

Stevie Wonder