@SpookDog that could just be the fact the DTR’s are very under braked. The stopping power is more then adequate for being out on a trail and riding off road but on the road they bite hard then forks dive and all the weight goes over the front wheel where they don’t cope very well.

With that being said I found my problem. Bubbles bubbles and more bubbles.

I thought fuck it I’ll pull all the bubbles through the calliper bleed nipple with my vacuum pump thingy

As you can see there’s a lot of bubbles. I had to start from scratch too as I remember last time I changed the position of the hose I forgot to feed the brake hose back through the guides to remove the old DTR hose guide that I was no longer using.
Rather than be lazy and cut it up to remove I figured I may as well do it properly. It’ll only bite me in the ass in the long run.

As I don’t have another pair of hands to hold the lever in a cable tie will do. I did forget when I was done to do this again to allow any other air bubbles that might be trapped to work there way up. I learned from the video I posted that giving the hose a good shake and putting pressure on the piston/calliper using the disc helped work out any bubbles pretty well.

Old battery out

New battery in

DTR’s are so well designed, I love the way everything is so organised and fit together perfectly. Even the battery cover just slides right out to make life easier for the person replacing it. I just love how everything on these has a place, purpose and reason if that makes sense?
To be fair to the new battery, I think I bought it 8-9 months ago and it’s never died. I’ve only just put it on the back and only occasionally put it on my smart charger, have to give vertex credit where it’s due their pistons aren’t the best but at least their batteries are. £20 well spent.
The metal for my battery strap rotted out a while ago, I can’t remember if I posted on here but there’s a company that makes OEM replacements.

Ooooh shiny… my first tap and die set. I wouldn’t know a good one from a bad one but I have to say as always I’m very impressed with the quality / value for money with US Pro tools. The case is metal as opposed to cheap plastic and most of their stuff is blue. Ideal if you’re but of a Yamaha fanboy.

I’ve been saying for a while now I need to clean up the threads but having never used a tap and die set and not really knowing what to do with it I’ve been shoving it to the bottom of the pile of jobs I need to do.
Also notice the way the brake hose routes? I’m correct in saying air likes to rise right? not ideal for me when the brake hose routes in such a way where logically there’s plenty of places for it to get stuck. I spent a lot of time wiggling, jangling and lifting the hose to try and free up any air from what I imagine to be bottleneck spots.

Whilst in this region and with the fork guard off I noticed my worst enemy, pitting. Nothing crazy or worthy of replacing the forks but bad enough where I know I’m going to have to accept at some point they’re going to need to be rechromed/replaced.
Given the cost to rechrome amongst other reasons I’m definitely going to need to replace them or find out what other year WR’s used the same diameter uppers.
The good news is I think ‘05 onwards switched to gold uppers and are quite a bit better then ‘03 year forks. Not that it matters that much to me, my riding skill is not at a level where it makes much of a difference. I’m just going on what’s been said by others and YZ/WR forums.
However it is worth noting that if I was to switch to later year forks I’d probably have to swap callipers and go through all the effort of sourcing all the little bits I’ve just done for the ones I currently have.

Not the best photo but as you can see their are little blemishes and marks off pitting running down the bottom of the stanchion.
I’ve seen worse and I’m pretty sure of that is just mud from where I’ve not cleaned the bike but just something to be mindful of in the future.
Sidenote, it’s probably bad but pitting is one of the reasons I don’t mind leaky seals. At least I know theirs always a little bit of oil coating the chrome to stop it from happening.

Anyway back on topic, M8x1.25 tap down the threads of the axle. I found it was oddly satisfying cleaning up the threads. Feeling them start them start to free up and seeing little bits of metal come out along with all the rust and other shit that’s built up and finally being able to screw a nut into it without any trouble felt great. Nothing like making something work as originally intended.

For the first time ever I can now bolt the hose cover in properly, pretty chuffed to be honest. A lot of MX/Enduro bikes around this time period chose to route their hoses under the fork like this for some unknown (and not very logical) reason but to the best of my knowledge Yamaha where the only ones to hollow the axle and create a guide/cover like this.

I’m also slightly lucky, much to my surprise despite a small fragment of the fork being missing the threads are still in tact enough for this bolt to be screwed in. Only downside is that there’s still half of the last hold still in there meaning it could be tightened but not enough where I trust it won’t come lose and fall out… oh and it’s a completely blind thread so removing it could be a big pain in the ass. I’ve been told to drill it out but being a blind thread I don’t want to find out what happens if you drill to far. That wouldn’t be fun.

I had wondered why my bike was sitting funny on the stand or why when I put the stand down it didn’t feel settled or like it was going to fall… by the looks of it my side stand took an absolute battering when I crashed and will need replacing. Very odd how it took a beating but I’ll take that over the million and one other things that could’ve got fucked instead.
I do have a pretty rare WR200/DT200WR side stand handy (the type that kicks up in the air towards the seat as opposed to being straight) but I need a custom spring made for it. I’ve tried a couple but had no success as I need a specific tension, length and wire thickness. I’ve tried stretching the DTR spring but even with a lot of swearing it wasn’t having none of it.
I’ve even found people that make them but I’ve never been able to give them to correct details for the one I need. Maybe you guys could help me with that one?
With all that being said my old 3ET headlight is back on, I bled the rear up so that the rear locks up with no problems whatsoever (yes I was just being shit and it was a me problem) and solved most of the niggling issues. Dare i say it but the bike is now MOT ready.
I look forward to getting some photos!
As I mentioned before I’ve promised myself to get to this stage for what feels like an eternity so it’s a great feeling to get where I am today. Not only in the sense of getting a bike back on the road but for the DT to be working as good as the day I bought it with no little problems or faults thanks to my inability to leave things alone.
However better yet is the fact this time around I’ve got there entirely by myself, learning and enjoying everything in the process. @Calum you said you where never one for drugs, drinking or going out etc and now I get why. Nothings brought me a level of fulfilment or happiness quite like overcoming the hurdles, solving problems and making progress like this in a long time.
I’d never thought I’d say this but those moments I’ve got something to work for the first time / fixed something has been the best high I’ve had in years. Nothing really compares to it. It’s a great feeling being able to take a step back, look at what you’ve done and be able to say I did that.
I’m actually a little guilty in saying that whilst I look forward to having the bike on the road, being able to ride it and make up for lost time I’m also looking forward to carry one working on it. I used to look forward to day I’d be able to ride and just have no problems. Now I look forward to what’s next. I hate to say it but you guys were right, once you start you never really stop.
I better start planning what I want to do next… 18” excel rear to replace the 19”? DT200WR swinger? Sumo wheels? Rear shock upgrade? Decisions eh haha
Anyways on that bombshell… love my guys, looking forward to getting some more pics. the suns starting to come out so hopefully you all get out on your bikes more. Watch out for idiots and ride safe. Peace 
