Hippie Enduro? (dt250 painting in progress..)

esworp · 06-02-2008, 08:36 AM

I recently go ahold of a 78 dt250. It's a major basket case, but occasionally it will get on the road and turn into a ton of fun. My long-term goal is to turn it into a lightwieght campsite piddler that'll bolt onto the back of my orange Element. The mount I'm trying to weld together will be the subject of another post much later in life.

When I bought the thing, it was coated in three coats of truck-bed liner. It was lumpy and looked really wierd. Sorta like Darth Vader's Enduro. I was a good idea, I think, but not where I wanted to take the look of the thing. What I really wanted was to involve the wife on this one, to try and warm her up to camping and riding this thing to places other than where shopping occurs. It's working, I busted her last night looking at the different state parks in our area that allow off-trail camping (none, btw).

So, after a sunday of pulling the parts, admiring my carb-cleaning skills..

and painting them with an equally wierd textured enamel, I gave the bike to the Missus for her to get painting on.

I Then took it back after realizing that the paint stripper uncovered some holes in the tank that were patches by something that didn't stand up to the stripper.. frigging pinhole leaks. Ho-Hum.. bust out the JB Weld while the wife and the weenie dog watch TV. :[

She's got an art degree, so I trust her. Turns out she's going with a marine creatures motif.. her and I are divers, I used to do it for a living with NOAA. We both like Jellyfish and the higher-order mollusks (squids octopods, etc) the best, and so that's what's going on it.

When It's done, I'll add a post. Now if I could only find a used flywheel, coil assembly, and the crank they bolt onto, I'd be a happy camper.

Helmet_Hair · 06-03-2008, 06:42 AM

Keep us posted. That could turn out interesting. She's not going to leave the background black, is she? Needs to be an aqua-marine color or something IMHO.

Keep an eye peeled on e-bay for the parts. The MX bike (MX 175 and MX 125) shared some parts with the DT. The IT's may as well. The stators will be different since the DT has a lighting coil though.

esworp · 06-03-2008, 07:41 AM

The frame and motor are black.. the tank and plasticy bits are a metallic brown gray. the maker: http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=29 calls it Dark Bronze. the swatch is on that page. Her detailing is almond, with black. I also found the same almond color in high-temp for the spark arrestor and expansion chamber. I'm holding off on the expansion chamber untill I pull it ancillary to a pending engine rebuild.

thanks for the headsup about the similarity of parts. I would KILL for a comprehensive listing of compatible parts.

Every time I visit this forum, I look at the growing number of views this thread has, and up till now, would laugh at the fact that noone's touched it. I take it you guys are a little hippie-averse!

No worries from me, this is a situation where the paint job will be the anti-theft system. Worked for me when i was a diver for NOAA - all my pocketable dive gear was pink.. noone ever stole my stuff, but the guys who had the same snorkel in black or red would see that thing walk the first time they hit shore.

Gijsch · 06-03-2008, 10:01 AM

As far as I know, the best way to find out matching parts is to track down the partnumbers. First 3 digits stand for the bike type.

My once beloved TX750 had ID code 341, with that in mind I found out I could exchange the main part of the gearbox with XS650 parts.

esworp · 06-03-2008, 12:37 PM

Do you mean to say that if the other part numbers match, then the part /should/ work on my bike?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gijsch

As far as I know, the best way to find out matching parts is to track down the partnumbers. First 3 digits stand for the bike type.

My once beloved TX750 had ID code 341, with that in mind I found out I could exchange the main part of the gearbox with XS650 parts.

bongodave · 06-03-2008, 12:39 PM

The Mystery Machine!

Make room for Scooby.

JWhitmore44 · 06-03-2008, 01:15 PM

Some parts interchange between the engine size. I have a 81 DT175 that I used a shock and spring out of a DT400 of the same year. In fact the spring and shock look to be about the same setup as your 78.

I ignored the hippie comment as I did not see any flowers or beads on the bike. No psychedelic colors either. Now if you would have had In-a-gadda-da-vida playing in the background then i might have taken the comment serious

esworp · 06-03-2008, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JWhitmore44

I ignored the hippie comment as I did not see any flowers or beads on the bike. No psychedelic colors either. Now if you would have had In-a-gadda-da-vida playing in the background then i might have taken the comment serious

Hehe.. I use the term to indicate anything other than the typical aggro/tribal/moutain dew extreem graphics that are the dou jour. We used to live in the florida keys, and are trying to decorate the bike in a folk art theme... tres hippy, desipte a low/absent paisley quotient.

esworp · 06-04-2008, 07:10 AM

well, she's halfway done. the missus still has to do the outlines in black, and the octopus on the gas tank.

Stay tuned. :]

drhach · 06-05-2008, 07:23 AM

Are you familiar with the concept of "art cars"? You're bike is heading in that direction. I mean that in a good way. You don't see many "art bikes". Check this place out. Or, Google "art cars".

http://www.artcars.com/

esworp · 06-05-2008, 10:31 AM

hell yah. Art cars were common when I lived in the Keys.. that look is factoring into the bike, but with less foo-foo and more manly goodness. A narrow line to walk, eh?

Inane Cathode · 06-05-2008, 10:54 AM

Thats interesting.
Did she paint the engine cover or the exhaust? It might burn off she might want to try using paint rated for high heat.

esworp · 06-05-2008, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inane Cathode

Thats interesting.
Did she paint the engine cover or the exhaust? It might burn off she might want to try using paint rated for high heat.

The Engine cover is plastic, and was coated with plastic primer and rustoleum. The rattle cans and the little cans of paint for the accent work at kosher up to ~200 degrees, but my personal experience is that you can sneak by a little hotter than that, so long as you use a good primer and let things cure a coupla weeks. The plastic parts would melt before the paint, I think.

The Exhaust is painted with a matching rattle-can high-temp paint. All the paint was may by rustoleum. I think the total cost counting sand paper and stripper was around 50 bucks. Woot!

The prior owner painted the cylinder and expansion chamber with that awful undercoating crap, which appears to have help up pretty well, depsite being lumpy funky.

Gijsch · 06-05-2008, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by esworp

Do you mean to say that if the other part numbers match, then the part /should/ work on my bike?

No, exactly the other way around.
The first segment of a given part number stands for the bike model where this particular part was used on first.
Strolling around on the net, I found that your DT has type number 1R7.
Here's a list of all Yammie models and model codes :
http://www.dropbears.com/m/models/yamaha/modelcodes.htm

So if you find a parts book of your DT, you might see that parts of, for example, the clutch have a different engine ID, so were used before on an other bike.
And the other way around, parts that first appeared on your DT may show up in newer bikes, the engine code will tell.

Hope my language is clear enough now, I'm better with Dutch than in English I suppose...

06-02-2008, 08:36 AM	#1
esworp ^OP ADV Social Worker Joined: May 2008 Location: Panama City, FL Oddometer: 27	Hippie Enduro? (dt250 painting in progress..) I recently go ahold of a 78 dt250. It's a major basket case, but occasionally it will get on the road and turn into a ton of fun. My long-term goal is to turn it into a lightwieght campsite piddler that'll bolt onto the back of my orange Element. The mount I'm trying to weld together will be the subject of another post much later in life. When I bought the thing, it was coated in three coats of truck-bed liner. It was lumpy and looked really wierd. Sorta like Darth Vader's Enduro. I was a good idea, I think, but not where I wanted to take the look of the thing. What I really wanted was to involve the wife on this one, to try and warm her up to camping and riding this thing to places other than where shopping occurs. It's working, I busted her last night looking at the different state parks in our area that allow off-trail camping (none, btw). So, after a sunday of pulling the parts, admiring my carb-cleaning skills.. and painting them with an equally wierd textured enamel, I gave the bike to the Missus for her to get painting on. I Then took it back after realizing that the paint stripper uncovered some holes in the tank that were patches by something that didn't stand up to the stripper.. frigging pinhole leaks. Ho-Hum.. bust out the JB Weld while the wife and the weenie dog watch TV. :[ She's got an art degree, so I trust her. Turns out she's going with a marine creatures motif.. her and I are divers, I used to do it for a living with NOAA. We both like Jellyfish and the higher-order mollusks (squids octopods, etc) the best, and so that's what's going on it. When It's done, I'll add a post. Now if I could only find a used flywheel, coil assembly, and the crank they bolt onto, I'd be a happy camper.

06-03-2008, 12:39 PM	#6
bongodave Cite Pwner Joined: Mar 2006 Location: Fabulous Eerie, Indiana! Oddometer: 31,206	The Mystery Machine! Make room for Scooby. __________________ Freedom without regulations that protect the general good is nothing more than anarchy by the rich. -R-1150-RS

06-03-2008, 01:15 PM	#7
JWhitmore44 pistolero Joined: Aug 2006 Location: NW Kansas Oddometer: 1,180	Some parts interchange between the engine size. I have a 81 DT175 that I used a shock and spring out of a DT400 of the same year. In fact the spring and shock look to be about the same setup as your 78. I ignored the hippie comment as I did not see any flowers or beads on the bike. No psychedelic colors either. Now if you would have had In-a-gadda-da-vida playing in the background then i might have taken the comment serious __________________ 84 Honda Goldwing (GL1200) 03 XR650L

06-05-2008, 10:54 AM	#12
Inane Cathode Cheated Anion Joined: Jan 2008 Location: Arvada, CO Oddometer: 4,540	Thats interesting. Did she paint the engine cover or the exhaust? It might burn off she might want to try using paint rated for high heat. __________________ _______ Pokey The Wunderbus The VEEP Project

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06-03-2008, 06:42 AM	#2
Helmet_Hair Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Aug 2007 Location: Seattle Oddometer: 225	Keep us posted. That could turn out interesting. She's not going to leave the background black, is she? Needs to be an aqua-marine color or something IMHO. Keep an eye peeled on e-bay for the parts. The MX bike (MX 175 and MX 125) shared some parts with the DT. The IT's may as well. The stators will be different since the DT has a lighting coil though.

06-03-2008, 07:41 AM	#3
esworp ^OP ADV Social Worker Joined: May 2008 Location: Panama City, FL Oddometer: 27	The frame and motor are black.. the tank and plasticy bits are a metallic brown gray. the maker: http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=29 calls it Dark Bronze. the swatch is on that page. Her detailing is almond, with black. I also found the same almond color in high-temp for the spark arrestor and expansion chamber. I'm holding off on the expansion chamber untill I pull it ancillary to a pending engine rebuild. thanks for the headsup about the similarity of parts. I would KILL for a comprehensive listing of compatible parts. Every time I visit this forum, I look at the growing number of views this thread has, and up till now, would laugh at the fact that noone's touched it. I take it you guys are a little hippie-averse! No worries from me, this is a situation where the paint job will be the anti-theft system. Worked for me when i was a diver for NOAA - all my pocketable dive gear was pink.. noone ever stole my stuff, but the guys who had the same snorkel in black or red would see that thing walk the first time they hit shore.

06-03-2008, 10:01 AM	#4
Gijsch n00b Joined: Mar 2008 Location: Holland, near Nijmegen Oddometer: 8	As far as I know, the best way to find out matching parts is to track down the partnumbers. First 3 digits stand for the bike type. My once beloved TX750 had ID code 341, with that in mind I found out I could exchange the main part of the gearbox with XS650 parts.

06-04-2008, 07:10 AM	#9
esworp ^OP ADV Social Worker Joined: May 2008 Location: Panama City, FL Oddometer: 27	well, she's halfway done. the missus still has to do the outlines in black, and the octopus on the gas tank. Stay tuned. :]

06-05-2008, 07:23 AM	#10
drhach gorillamanufacturing.com Joined: Nov 2006 Location: Waukegan Oddometer: 1,880	Are you familiar with the concept of "art cars"? You're bike is heading in that direction. I mean that in a good way. You don't see many "art bikes". Check this place out. Or, Google "art cars". http://www.artcars.com/

06-05-2008, 10:31 AM	#11
esworp ^OP ADV Social Worker Joined: May 2008 Location: Panama City, FL Oddometer: 27	hell yah. Art cars were common when I lived in the Keys.. that look is factoring into the bike, but with less foo-foo and more manly goodness. A narrow line to walk, eh?