Moved to the Yellow Side

[350for350]

Man those little F'ers can get EVERYWHERE before you realize it!

[ATC King]

Yeah. It only takes them a day, two at the most to build a nest that size. There's no easy way to keep them out of the trike frames that are fully assembled either.

When I first got this YTM, I ran something up there to check for obstructions and blew air through, so it's been after that. My bare trike frames have red wasp nests inside of them. I should have plugged the holes before setting them up. In the summer, don't ever just grab anything large that has been sitting a week or more without first checking for red wasp, or for that matter, black widows and brow recluse. This place is critter crazy in the summer. Got to plug any holes you don't want them to, and spiders have caused automobile recalls because of their webs (true, fact).

Southern living. At least the bull frogs are relaxing to listen to...the tree frog outside the window right now too.

[patriot1]

Love this build as I am trying (and sometimes promising to quit) to get a Yamaha 225 going. Wish I had the knowledge. Very good work

[ATC King]

Thanks.

It's been learning about something new to me, but I've had everything except the engine off of this frame, so I'm getting to know it pretty well.

The oil flow check bolt on the head is kind of scary. Why does it even need that? Makes me wonder if these are bad at not getting oil flow after an oil change and it's going to lunch the top end. It' also got some type of one way oil valve screwed into the case, under the clutch cover. The plastic oil pump gear isn't helping me feel better about it either.

I was browsing for trikes on Craigslist and seen your "Dueces". I haven't looked to see if it's still on there.

[patriot1]

Dueces went to a loving family in East Texas. Great bike. Bought a 125m yesterday that I am thinking about putting my blue plastics from a 110 on. Making major progress on "Sexy black" 225DR that I picked up in Bloomberg, TX. Learning a lot from it for sure. I've ridden it a couple of times but it still needs attention. Looking for an exhaust for it now, might have to buy a new DG but don't want to spend the money.

Are they still cooking fish down there at Nadenes?

[ATC King]

IDK what's on the menu at Nadine's. It's been months since I've eaten there. It's the stereotypical small town haunt, where local girls try to make a living working in a small town café, and the old farts drink coffee all day and gossip. Could be a Hollywood location for an apocalyptic movie.

If in town, may as well say hello to Eddy at the local hardware store that's been there since 1869. Cool place, but it will probably close when he stops running it.

[ATC King]

I made a trip to T-town today to get a few bolts for the YTM. Got some stainless fasteners for the brake caliper and plastic clutch cover...cover. Too dang hot today and after riding the motorcycle, I'm going to wait until tomorrow to put them on a get pics. I ride like a total -hat on the motorcycle, jumping curbs across parking lots and such. Cars and their drivers are so sluggish in town because they can't see squat from their cages, and are so distracted by everything in them, it irks me a little and I put the dual sport to use. Y'all just wait there in line, confused at the four way stop, Ima gona jump this curb, straight into the parking lot. I need to chill out, but it's hard to, sitting in traffic with an air cooled bike.

The law has been suspended anyway, as far as I can see on TV and the news. It shouldn't apply to me just try to get where I'm going.

It's not like I'm kicking people in the head.


I did put a LED taillight on it yesterday. No, I haven't converted it to a DC system...yet. I use LED marker lights, like those used trailers, that Wal-Mart and auto parts stores sell. I've used these for years as taillights on 12V AC systems. They probably survive well because they are low power and don't produce much heat. They're relatively cheap, so I didn't mind trying them and they seem to do just fine. I do use a voltage regulator though, and it's to protect the headlight bulb. Without the additional draw of the stock taillight, a regulator is really needed. Same as if the headlight blew, it will protect the taillight.

It was typical for Yamaha to use voltage regulators on the two stroke engines. Probably because they turn more RPMs and NEED one to keep from blowing bulbs.

On this YTM, without a regulator, and with the LED taillight, voltage gets above 17V at high RPM. That makes the headlight very bright, but it also severely shortens it's lifespan. The regulator I'm using is keeping it just below 12V, which I'd like to be about 12.5-13, but it's not adjustable. So, a little dimmer headlight, but it'll last longer. TrailTech sells an adjustable AC regulator, and I have one on something else. I'll probably convert this to DC if I keep it, so I'm not fudging around with another AC reg.

[ATC King]

The caliper bracket and cover bolts. Posting this mostly for size.


I painted the cover. It had some wear on it and was sun faded. An adhesion promoter was applied before paint.


After removing the angle iron a previous owner welded to the grab bar, to bolt some unknown motorcycle tail light to, I fastened the LED marker light to the OE location by using screw clips. The light already has a rubber back to it.




The voltage regulator I used are sold on Ebay as a voltage regulator for Yamaha Blaster/Banshee. The adjustable TrailTech one can be bought for about $5 more. I'd just go with that next time. This one has a grounded case, so only one wire to hook up. Not knowing what I'm going to do with the system in the future, I used one of the grab bar bolts to hold this on, nothing fancy.


Real simple to hook up. I made a little Y connecter to attach it between the OE harness and tail light.


These can be added to any 12V AC trike. It's needed if going to a LED tail light, and just good insurance otherwise.

[ATC King]

I've had some time to actually ride this thing now.

I'm probably going to put the #20 pilot jet in. Ambient temps got around 100f a few days ago an it just didn't want to idle. The #25 is just too close to the line. If the #20 lets me get the fuel screw 1-1 1/2 turns out, it should be fine. I don't have jet drill bits small enough to fudge with pilot jets on small engines, I've just got to buy the jets.

The ATC250R forks are working good. I put a little air in them, with a fork air pump I have for my mountain bike. Maybe the springs are weak, but about 5psi made a big difference. They had too much sag with no air. I run about 175psi in my mountain bike forks, yes, 175psi. I'm fat. In case anyone doesn't know, narrow road bike tires often run 110-120psi (that's slightly more than 18 wheeler tire pressures). You have to have a high pressure pump, which a bicycle fork (suspension) pump is. That should put ATC fork air pressure into perspective. With good seals and chrome, you're not going to blow out oil anywhere within the specified fork pressure. Bicycle air forks, for example, don't have any super duper seals. It's just O-rings and oil seals, and and air only, no physical spring.

The '81-'82 250R front disk brake though...leaves me unimpressed. The lever is a little squishy, so I need to bleed it again, but it's not as powerful as I hoped. I know it's a tiny brake rotor, my mountain bike has larger rotors, but it's not any stronger than the front drum on my 185S, which is working great with a freshly lubed cable, good lever, and new(ish) EBC shoes.

Really, my 185S with the rear hydraulic disc conversion and stock front drum, is stronger braking than this YTM with mechanical rear disc and front hydraulic disc. Not that the YTM won't lock the tires, it just lacks the modulation.

I am using a Chinese caliper, which has pads that are anyone's guess as of composition. Is the '81-'82 250R front brake really just a styling exercise or is mine in need of some different pads? What the hell type of pads fit the Chinese caliper (I'll have to answer that one myself)?

[350for350]

I don't know about the calpier, but I had a Chinese master on the front of my AutoX for a short time. I didn't like it. It worked fine, but always felt squishy. There's just wasn't any feeling of building pressure. I replaced it with one off of a CR85 and that works great. All I did was install the Honda master and rebleed the front brake. Maybe the same thing is happening with your caliper?

[ATC King]

I'm using a Honda master cylinder from a XR600R.

After some more riding time, I'll have to update if the pads bed in or are just not good. It looks real close to a ATC250R caliper, so if I buy new pads, that's what I'll buy them for.

It was running so good yesterday, then today the humidity went full helter-skelter, and it wasn't running so well. I've got to put that #20 pilot in.

[ATC King]

I've got a #20 pilot and #105 main jet in the new Chinese carb now and it's running great. Needle back to the middle position. Starts easy, idles good cold with the enricher on, and pulls to the top.

Last time I had something close to a 110 after drilling one of the spare jets, and it was a smidge too rich on the very top. I ordered a 105 and 100 so had some wiggle room.

Someone must have snuck in the shop and filled the front tire with helium. I can barely accelerate in first gear without the front wheel coming up. If it had reverse, it'd be a decent hill climber.

[ATC King]

I ordered some new rear tires. The TrailPros are just too bad too tolerate on a hardtail. Even if I sell it, I can't enjoy riding it with those still on before.

The seat foam is too soft for my heavy self, combined with the concrete hardness of the TrailPros. Something has to give and at this point, it's my spine. A $100 for new 2 ply tires is less than a chiropractor appointment.

I'm sure someone has felt this way before, but anyone who could afford to buy something other than TrailPros for their hardtail, but didn't, should ride a turbocharged pogo stick. Cheap bastards...



I have a long history or riding hardtails, all the way back to being a teenager. Stiff tires have always sucked and left the rider worse for wear at the end of the day. This isn't just an old guy rant.

[ATC King]

Just got around to mounting the new tires today. Later, I'm going to post the crud that I went through to make these wheels last another round, but they are later ones that do have a bead lip, so I'm using them.

One of the new tires had the bead seat with a little bouncing around, but the other was being difficult. I borrowed a fix for that.










These are also a great tool for curing constipation while simultaneously making people want to kick you in the balls.

[ATC King]

I replaced that beaten up grab bar and homemade rack with a straight grab bar, and also upgraded to a bar from one of the other YTM models that has a toolbox. I got a good condition taillight with it too.

There was a little rust on it, so I blasted it and painted it black. It's got something a little different on it than the US version grab bar, if anyone notices.



It turns out the taillight socket is actually designed for a dual filament bulb, but only has one lead soldered on from the factory. I'm going to run a LED bulb in this, so I soldered a jumper on, so it'd be a bright as possible.