Restoring motorcycles

[elamb]

My folks brought down my bike, that I had when I was a kid, this weekend and give to me. It had been sitting in my uncle's barn for ever and I had forgotten all about it. Well I want to restore it but I can't really find anything on the net. When I do a search it comes up with like 10 links. It is a Yamaha DT80K, 1983. If anyone could give any info. or links I would greatly appreciate it. Just looking at it brings back alot of memories.



Thanks

Eric

 

[Jeff Clark]

Ebay. I'm interested in what you find out there. I'm thinking of finding a Honda like my dad had back in the mid 60's and restoring it for him. I've seen a few already done, but they are pricey. I want one that just needs some TLC. I'm also looking to buy a late 50's or very early 60's Vespa and restore it.

 

[lschultz]

Those Vespas were good. I got my first ride on one back in the early 60s.

 

[RustyJC]

I still have my 1971 Honda CB750K1 in the garage. Yoshimura Road & Track cam & pistons, double disc front brakes, oil cooler, Jardine 4 into 1, etc. 8700 miles. Gotta get around to restoring that thing sometime.



Rusty

 

[lschultz]

First one was a 1959 NSU Quickie(Moped)>Honda 50>Honda 450>Honda 750>Yamaha 650>Norton 750>Harley Superglide>Harley Softail>Harley FLHTC Ultra Classic Don't remember the years of them but it went from 14 yrs old to 50. I thinkMaybe some day I will be back on 2 wheels

Got a Kawasake Mule I run around on now.

 

[TPCDrafting]

I've got the same situation. Brought up my '79 Honda XR 80 last year. It had been barn stored for quite some time and now it's sitting in my barn. It don't need much, just tighten down everything, clean the carb and fuel tank, change the oil, spark plug and it should kick over. I do need a seat, but I was thinkin' of just going down to the local apolstry shop to see if they can put new pleather on it. It'll be nice to have a neighborhood run around bike, my ninja 900 doesn't do too well on the dirt.

 

[willyslover]

here is a great source of info and who know what else... they do great work on their racers and are heavy into vintage racing moto cross



http://www.vintageiron.com/

 

[lschultz]

TPCDrafting maybe you can get Kevin :--) on that Honda XR 80

 

[TowPro]

There is almost a cult following out there on those DT-80's



Try to expand your search using JT1, DT80, GT80, MX80 and YZ80.

I had one I was thinking about restoring, but the end result would not have been worth the money to do the job.



good thing is most of the parts are still on the books at the Yamaha dealer.



Also check out ebay

 

[elamb]

I appreciate the replies. I'm going to get a new battery this weekend and I got a guy lined up to boil out the tank. It's full of rust. I'm trying to figure out if I want to pay to have someone powder coat the frame or just paint it myself.



Thanks,

Eric

 

[Ncostello]

I'm restoring a 1968 Honda CB350 right now. Its kinda fun but very expensive if you have to buy too many genuine parts.



I wish I had all my bikes as a youngster. Honda Trail 70, Kawasaki Trail 75, Honda XR75, Kawasaki KD125, Honda ATC 110 (rare blue). From what I read now... they are drawing decent sums of cash in the restored state.



Use paint. Powder coating is basically dried up paint applied in a dust form then baked of course. Like some paint, its plastic. Problem you might see on something like a frame is powder coating is usually much thicker than paint in the end and can make some assembly very tight if not impossible without grinding it off. I'd really try and stick with paint (no pun intended )

 

[TPCDrafting]

A neighbor friend had one of those blue ATC 110's, his brother had one in red. Weird one up shifted up, the other up shifted down (they were the same year I think). I had a Honda ATC 90, Honda trail 70, Honda 200x, Honda xr 80 (still have) and when I got outa college I bought a Yam XT 600 (serious kick a$$ trail bike)

 

[elamb]

Ncostello - I was still wondering about which way to go on the powder coat or paint, but after reading your post I may just paint it. Besides I believe that would be the cheaper route.



Every body tells me that powder coat is stronger than paint. In this case that doesn't really matter to me because I probably will never ride the bike once it is finished. Either I'm too big or the bike is too small. Depends on how you want to look at it.

:-laf :-laf



Thanks again



Eric