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hey guys

I finally managed to get the wifey a nice little starter bike...a 2003 TTR125-L
its in a little bit of a rough shape but nothing I cant fix
on the to-do list :
tune-up
new front tube
new plastics
purple paintjob on said new plastics (ive heard good things about krylon fusion...any thoughts on that?)
semi custom decal kit
new seat cover
new grips

im sure im missing a few odds and ends

figured I would keep track of my progress here
(pics to follow soon)

I like Yamahas. My last bike was an air cooled '82 XS400 Maxim and it and ran very well for being 30+ years..Needed headstock bearings and sprockets for safety, other than that it was a reliable bike and would ride all day

I'm actually setting my sites on a TT-R230 for another bike, I wouldn't mind a 4 stroke in addition to the KDX

I took it out for a test drive and compared to the KDX it felt like a moped...perfect

ive had one or two yamahas before and never had any complaints about them

Yeeah that's what I heard. Manageable power with relatively good torque...they're like the Jeep YJ's of the dirt bike world

as for painting plastics I had a good conversation with a fellow painter on some other forums about it and he posted his results and I would have to concure this does work well in the automotive world. Ive done it and plan on doing my wheeler this summer the same way. My plastics are good but .....they are red. Im going Kawi green with black.

Heres the thread

http://www.mudinmyblood.net/forum/23-ka ... astic.html

you have to register to see pictures but if you like mud its also a good place to roam.

Heres his wifes purple painted brute. For purple that thing looks tough. He also painted his and he muds a lot so it has to hold up pretty well. Ive done the same method for plastic bumpers and went through the whole kryfusion and just about every special paint there is and I still see some of my paintjobs and the bumpers still look great.

diymirage wrote:hey guys

I finally managed to get the wifey a nice little starter bike...a 2003 TTR125-L
its in a little bit of a rough shape but nothing I cant fix
on the to-do list :
tune-up
new front tube
new plastics
purple paintjob on said new plastics (ive heard good things about krylon fusion...any thoughts on that?)
semi custom decal kit
new seat cover
new grips

im sure im missing a few odds and ends

figured I would keep track of my progress here
(pics to follow soon)

I bought a 2008 TT-R125L a week ago.

You may want to look into richer pilot and main jets. People seem to recommend going up a little on them.

I cleaned the stock air filter with kerosene yesterday. It ate the glue seams, unlike the Twin Air filters I am used to. I ordered a Twin Air filter last night.

Good luck with yours. It is definitely less intimidating than a KDX.

Gotanubike, if you have not test ridden a TT-R230 before, do so before buying one. It is a let down compared to a KDX. The bosslady had one before. They are not as sproty as your KDX.

that AtV looks pretty slick
but im gonna try the krylon paint first (since most of if will be covered with the graphix anyway)

anyone have any idea how that would hold up with the tank, by the way ?


thanks for the tip on the jetting Jason, cleaning the carb and checking the jetting on it is part of the tune up I have planned for it

Blister and bubble is how painting a gas tank usually goes.

Check the TTR section on ThumperTalk for more info.

Buy a manual.

yeah, ive heard good and bad things about painting a tank
what I have decided to do is paint as little of it as possible: only the parts that wont be covered by the tank, shrouds or decals

hopefully that leaves enough bare material for it to breath


as for a manual, it actually came with a paper owners manual and a digital service manual

A Kawasaki real CD??

Is the tank metal? I was referring to a plastic tank.

unless Kawasaki hand writes the title of the CD in sharpies I think it is a copy
the tank is plastic so im still not sure how to paint it
or dye it maybe ?

Aerosol Plasti-dip might work but I'm not sure it works on plastics. I'm probably going to do my rims with it this spring when it gets warmr

got some pics of the bike



cant tell from that pic to well but it has a few rips in the seat (and a tiny bit of foam missing, not sure yet how im going to replace that)

she sure is a little one



and if that pic isn't clear




I didn't notice this when I first bought the bike but someone did a hack job on the exhaust and chickenpoo welded it back up
not even sure why in the world anyone would do that ?



breaks my heart but im afraid I have no choice but to replace the entire exhaust (and since I still need to do the tune-up I might as well do it sooner rather then later so I only have to jet her once

anyone know which one is the better pipe FMF powercore ($180) or pro circuit T4 (230)

Not bad! Wiseco and everything?

chain slack adjusters are maxed out too

Gotanubike wrote:Not bad! Wiseco and everything?

chain slack adjusters are maxed out too

like I mentioned in a different thread :

diymirage wrote:220s are just as good as the 200 (maybe even better considering it has more low end grunt) BUT it needs to have the stock piston replaced

unless the seller can prove to you he has had the cylinder off and put in an aftermarket piston it needs to have the piston replaced (and a "wiseco" sticker on the swing arm is NOT sufficient proof)

so I wont know for sure until I open it up to check it out (not even sure if that is needed or not)

once the tune up is done ill know if I want to change the gearing and then get a new chain with fresh sprockets
(or just cut a link out...its got case savers)

as for the exhaust weld up. I would say more then likely they opened up the exhaust to drill out the baffles more. Supposed to give you a little more oomph but for the amount of work involved to do it and for what you gain is kinda pointless really. Some do it also for a deeper sound or different sound.

it does sound kinda odd, but I haven't met a thumper that sounded like a real dirtbike yet
either way, it was a hack job and I think it is the perfect excuse to get a decent pipe for it...im trying to talk my local parts dealer into selling me a PC pipe for it for $200.00 out the door

also started (and finished, but didn't take pics yet) reupholstering the seat
there were a few small chunks missing so I cut the edges out nice and square and then taped in a little filler piece of junk foam I found laying around in the basement (musta been an old couch cushion or so)

the foam is a different density but I think it is a small enough graft that it should do well

I taped them in place to keep the grafts from moving around and to kinda smooth out the edges



once the seat cover went on it is hardly noticeable

I have the same 2 bikes.

The TTR-125 is for my 11 yr old, and the KDX is so I can ride with him. I also have a 9 yr old who is currently on a TTR-90.

I went up to the next larger jet size on both the 90 and the 125 and it woke them up nicely. On the 125 the choke passageway in the float bowl in notorious for clogging and a b@tch to clean (it's actually 2 passageways connected by a 90 degree bend). I ended up using a LOT of care and the smallest drill bit I have ever seen to remove the crud. The bike starts 1st kick every time now, and settles down quickly to a nice steady idle....wouldn't do either of those before cleaning that choke passageway.

Dave.

[quote="diymirage[/quote]


You may want to route your brake line inside the fork leg. Good way to have a bad day or get hurt.

cant remember how that one worked, KDX caliper, KX brakeline swapped upside down?
something like that
at any rate, that brake line is tight up against the fork, anything that would get stuck behind it would wipe out the front end anyway