Getting an old bike to run

[R E A L]

Hey guys, I just recently got ahold of an old Yamaha dirtbike. Im not sure the exact model, all I know is that its a Yamaha. It was made in like the 70s-80s I think, it might be a little newer. Well me and my friend are detirmind to get it to run. Any pointers or anything we should look at cleaning/replacing first?

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Jon K.]

Jeff;

You gotta give us a bit more info!

How many shocks? What size (it is cast into the cylinder)? Air cooled? Water cooled? Two-stroke? Four stroke?

Does it kick over? Do you got compression? Spark?

A lot of people on the board would like to help, but need a bit more to go on!

Jonny

 

[JesteTac]

Jeff;

You gotta give us a bit more info!

How many shocks? What size (it is cast into the cylinder)? Air cooled? Water cooled? Two-stroke? Four stroke?

Does it kick over? Do you got compression? Spark?

A lot of people on the board would like to help, but need a bit more to go on!

Jonny

LOL. :clue:

 

[JasonWho]

R E A L: Can you read us the VIN number off the head tube? We can figure out the year from that. Ms. Cleo got fired, so like contestant number 1 said, you will have to give us more info.

 

[R E A L]

Ya, I just thought Id test out your guys psychic abilitys on that one.

ok well all I know about it is that it is a 4 stroke, air cooled yamaha, I will check the vin number in daylight. and I dont know how to tell if it has compression. and I checked and there is spark. What do you mean by kick over? wouldn't that mean it would start then? if not, what does it mean?

 

[sodflyer]

It would have a kick starter.......not a push button.

 

[mxmatthew]

kick over means that you can turn over the engine with the kick starter. (the kick starter moves when you try to kick it)

 

[mxmatthew]

so in other words is it seized or not?

 

[R E A L]

ohhh I see. Well yes it kicks over fine.

 

[R E A L]

I got this bike from someone who lived in Utah. He said that it ran fairly well that summer but then he stopped riding it all through the winter and it hasn't ran since, It was kept outside. Is there any general things that go wrong when a bike is kept in conditions like this?

 

[YZ165]

Clean the carb and air filter. Check for water in the oil. Put in some fresh gas and give it a go.

 

[JasonWho]

Yes, take the tank off and rinse out the old gas (with new gas). Make sure the air filter and carb are clean.

Sorry to fail the psychic ability test. :-) If it doesn't crank, then it must not have been in the cards for you. :-)

Any chance to shine a flashlight down in the spark plug hole while you have the tank off? You might be able to see if the piston top and/or cylinder are in OK shape.

Hope that helps.

Dennis Miller joking to 1st Pres Bush: I don't read the NY Times. I find more accurate information in the Auto Trader.

 

[Jon K.]

I'd still like to know how many shocks it has. The VIN number would be better, though, that would give us the exact year.

Really! The CC displacement is cast or stamped right into the side of the cylinder.

If it ran 6 months ago, maybe it is not so bad. You might drain the fuel out of the carb (there should be a drain screw toward the bottom of the float bowl). Does the fuel smell bad?

Go ahead and drain the tank while you are at it, and you might get lucky.

Compression refers to the effort required to kick the engine through the cycle. If it spins over with no "lumps" then you have some serious problems. A large four-cycle will actually be a beast to kick through, especially if you don't know how.

Jeff; please post back with your findings.

 

[SuperCam]

whoo. 4 stroke engine not running... have fun with this one. good luck =/

 

[mxmatthew]

also if you have someone to tow you you could try to bump start it.

 

[R E A L]

ok sorry guys for pretty much wasting this thread, me and my friend got it running. we just cleaned out the carb and cleaned the throttle stuff. The only bad thing is that when we were putting the throttle cable back on it snapped so i guess we need to go pick up a new one. Is there like a universal one that we can buy?

 

[YZ165]

There are universal cables out there, but they suck. I'd get the OEM, or Motion Pro, that is built for that bike.

 

[R E A L]

ok, I looked for the VIN number and I found 2 different numbers, one had dashes in it and the other didn't and they both had some letters in them. What one is the actual VIN number? And how much money would one of those throttle cable cost? when I go to the Yamaha place to order it do I just tell them the VIN number on my bike? Also when me and my friend were riding it around, we noticed that when we have the gas on reserve and going in about 2nd gear it would have a surge of power, like a 2 stroke, but it only does it on reserve, any ideas on what that could be? Is it anything I should worry about for now?

 

[R E A L]

ok well I went out and checked them with a flashlight. The number under the cylinder cooling fins is 2A40072CC, and the one right below the carb is 2F4-017931

 

[YZ165]

The V.I.N. number is on the frame, not the motor. It's behind the front number plate, or headlight, between the triple clamps. See pic.

 

[JasonWho]

This is one I found on Google images:

http://www.seanano.org/vehicles/pastvehicles/fj1100/images/05232002-1/vin.jpg

As far as running better on reserve, I hope you don't have a bunch of gunk around the normal inlet. On one of KDX200's, the reserve part sticks up higher.

Report back on the VIN, R E A L. You are like Scooby Doo, with a Mystery Machine.

 

[R E A L]

Well this sucks, looks like it's going to remain a mystery. I found the plate thing but the VIN number is completely worn off. Is there any other places where they might put the VIN number? If not I could take a picture of it and then maybe somone would know what it is, I will take the picture when I get home from school and I will put my atv behind it so you can kinda get an idea on the size.

Jeff

 

[Jon K.]

I'm bettin' even money that it is a TT or XT350.

Any takers?

Oh, and R E A L; are you sure the numbers are worn off, and not ground off? :p

 

[JasonWho]

R E A L, there may or may not be a sticker, but the 17 digit (numbers and letters) VIN code should be stamped into the head tube. If it is ground off, then you have yourself a stolen motorcycle.

 

[R E A L]

oh, well at the top of the sticker theres a part that was ripped off and there is extra rust so it might have been grinded off. I doubt it is anything bigger then a 100, its pretty small, the seat height is about 26".