YT125 upgrades

[fenderbender713]

I am planning on buying a 1980 yamaha tri moto yt125. If I could only do 1 modification on the trike, what should it be?

[Vealmonkey]

Chang the front end out for the yt175 front end. The 80 and 81 yt125 don't do well with the yt175 top end change over as the clutch pack is way too wimpy and you can't change the clutch pack out cause the 80 and 81 engines are different than the 82 and later engines. Also the shift rods aren't the greatest either.

[fenderbender713]

how much does a yt175 front end usually cost, and where are some good places to pick one up? also, can you use front ends from other 3 wheelers or dirt bikes, or would that be too hard to get it to fit and function properly?

[Vealmonkey]

You can try putting an ad in the classifieds on here looking for a yt175 front end. Ebay can be a good place. A yt175 front end is a bolt on, meaning no mods for it to fit. Prices for the yt175 can vary. You need to get the yt175 front wheel and brake assembly as well as the front end. Plus you have a brake cable and spring and adjuster nut as well that goes along with the front end. Then you have a different shroud than what is on the yt125. But it makes the trike ride a whole lot nicer than the hard front end. The extra brake is nice as well. There are no other front ends that will just bolt on.

[200XMichigan]

I would recommend picking the trike up. If your winters there are anything like ours the YT125 and YT175 are a blast. Seems like they were more common up north than in other areas and I have had no problem finding parts and a few whole trikes. Not the awesome NOS stuff that VealMonkey finds but there are lots of the old Yamaha's around just waiting to be resurrected.

[fenderbender713]

yeah i think i am going to pick it up tommorow. I think its quite a steal for $150

[Vealmonkey]

Just remember, there is not much you can do to those earlier yt125 engines without it causing alot of problems. If you want to build up an engine, you would need an 82 and later engine.

[ezmoney1979]

Also they changed the shift pattern to all up instead of 1N2345. My 81 YT doesnt like to upshift/downshift past neutral. Probably a poor design with an auto-clutch.

[RubberSalt]

Makes me sad knowing my 125 is probley an 80 or an 81. It has the 1n2345 shift pattern also. Oh well, it's a trike i let people learn to ride on anyways.

Now if i rebuild my spare 175 bottom end... :) I saw that 125 cranks are cheap and should be the same as the 175 - damn if i could only have a stroker for it instead >.<