Nebie to site and dirt bikes and need some help please

[jmhyz426]

Well like I said I am new to dirt bikes. My buddy gave me a good deal on a 2000 yz 426, but I have some pretty important questions. First is, without a title on the bike, what are my options to register it? It has a green sticker on it from 2003. I heard that they are valid for a few years, but I didnt want to take a chance.

Next question is, can some recommend a good service manual for this bike that shows steps on doing gerneral repairs and/or rebuilding?

Now last but not least, bike will not kick over. Ran beautiful when purchased, but after riding it around the street for about a hour I let it site for a week and it willnot start. I accidently left fuel switch turned on if that means anything. Also when I do try and kick it over I take all the right steps. Pull black knob out, hold compression lever lightly kick 3 times to find tdc and then kick as had as possible lol. I repeat if it isnt tpc also. Wierd thing is after this problem started, a loud pop comes out of the pipe, and it seems to want to start with the black knob not pulled out.

So yes, I am a newbie. I would appreciate no negative replies lol as I know how forums can be. Just help a brother out !!!! lol

 

[XRpredator]

If you're green stickered, you're obviously in the People's Republic of California. I know up here in Idaho you can apply for a lost title and they will search the VIN and see if the bike is hot. If not, they will issue a new title. I'm sure California has a similar process.

Yamaha has a pretty decent service manual from the factory. Clymers are good too.

the "black knob" is the choke, and you'll need to use it when you start it cold. Pay attention to the "red knob" also, for those starts when the engine is hot. A new plug and maybe a valve adjustment might be in order for an 8 year old machine.

 

[jmhyz426]

Thank you, I will look into the title portion of this. Now for the valve adjustment. Is that smething I could do on my own. I am very machanical and usually do my own work but I have no experiance with valves. I hear dirt bikes are pretty straight forward though.

Also when I go to the dmv they are going to need some kind of info on the bike so can someone tell me where the VIN usually is?

 

[Papakeith]

Welcome to DRN. Dirt bikes are pretty straight forward. If you haven't looked for one yet, purchace a service manual. It will tell you in detail how to perform maintenance on your bike.

Good luck with the DMV. The VIN is usually on the steering stem.

 

[rmc_olderthandirt]

The Green Sticker is good until the date on the sticker, so that sticker was out of date 5 years ago.

If you haven't had to deal with California DMV yet this will be an "interesting" experience for you.

Keep calm, bite your tongue, keep chipping away at it and you will eventually prevail. Don't expect it to be easy or a one trip to DMV deal. My experience is dealing with situations like this is that they require the stack of paperwork to be at least an inch thick before they relent and give you what you need.

If the bike had never been registered then it would be fairly straight forward, although it would still require at least two trips to DMV and one to the CHP (for VIN verification). If the bike had been previously registered to your buddy and he is still available then it will be easy. If the bike has changed hands several times since it was properly registered then you might have a major problem.

If the bike was registered in your buddy's name then you need to have him request a duplicate title from DMV. Note that DMV will send it to him, not to you! Once he gets the duplicate he signs it, you take it to DMV and transfer ownership.

If you buddy never had it registered in his name and the person he bought it from is not available then there will be a lot more hoops to jump through. The DMV prefers documents on their forms so start the process by downloading the "Bill of sale" and "Statement of Fact" forms. Fill out the Bill of Sale as you would expect. On the "Statement of Fact" have your buddy how he came to own the bike without the title.

I really doubt that this will be sufficient but it will be a start. DMV will probably send you off to jump through some more hoops and when you have suffered enough they may eventually relent and give you a new title.

Or you can skip the whole thing and just not ride the bike on public lands where the sticker is enforced.

Where do you live? Where do you intend to ride?

If you are going to go to private MX tracks exclusively then you don't need to worry about it at all. If you ride the desert then you can usually get away without proper registration because there is very little enforcement. If you want to ride any of the forest OHV parks, however, you won't get the bike past the ranger kiosk without a current sticker.

As for why your bike won't start I would guess that you managed to flood it. Sitting for a week with the gas on would not have caused any harm. Sitting for a month should also be okay. Sitting for 6 months can cause problems.

My suggestion would be to start with the basics. Pull the plug, make sure it hasn't fouled. If it is wet then that will support the flooded theory. If it is dry then I would suspect that it is not getting gas. Are you sure you have gas? I have had a leaky float valve drain my tank ....... While you have the plug out put the wire back on, hold it against the head and kick the bike to see if you get spark.

If you suspect that it is flooded then leave the plug out (easier kicking), hold the throttle wide open (knob in) and kick it a dozen times. Put the plug back and try to start it again.

If you still can't get it to start then I would gather up a couple of buddies to give you a push. Shift to second or third (certainly not first!), hold the clutch in, get rolling then let the clutch out.

Rod

 

[jmhyz426]

Yeah thanx for the luck with dmv lol. I know I will need it. Since this is my forst dirt bike I have no idea of private places, or deserts to ride. Maybe someone could help with that too? I live in Redwood City.

 

[rmc_olderthandirt]

I live in Redwood City.

You choices are a private track, such as "Club Moto" in Livermore or SCMX in Santa Clara, or driving a long ways.

Any of the local OHV parks, such as Holister, Metcalf, or Carnegie will enforce the registration requirements and you won't get the bike in.

If you wanted to drive all the way to Nevada then you could ride without any problems.


Rod