Congratulations!  Good job on getting a baffling problem resolved. 

Further info on that thrust washer. If it gets pinched it will not spin freely with the clutch disengaged when you pull the lever. If you idle while in gear with the lever pulled it will generate friction and heat. On one ride with it pinched the right side crankcase cover was too hot to touch after a 20 minute trip with a lot of stop and go. Plus it became very difficult to get it in neutral.
 

We look forward to good news from the test ride that's for sure.

Thanks Fellas!

Well, it's done!  5yrs. after  restoration "completion" it's now finally complete!  lol   Utilizing my non 4:00 kicker, and a nurse bottle, I fired her (him?) up this morning and took a short ride around the neighborhood hitting all the gears.  Two thumbs up!  Ran and shifted beautifully.  This is the first time the bike has been actually ridden in nearly 35yrs.  Clutch did great.  No slippage when power poured on and pulling my 260lbs.  Smooth engagement.  I couldn't be happier.  I'd been staring at this needed correction on my garage whiteboard for so long the writing wouldn't wipe off  
And, I've never ridden a 250.  I have a 360 RT1 (thus my screen name) and it's nowhere's near as smooth - just more powerful - and cantankerous.  Nicknamed "Lucifer".  20+ stiches and a whole other story though  

Thank you all!  I'll be selling off my enduros (and Hodaka)  in the upcoming months and I couldn't ever sell something that doesn't perform as it should.  They need to be perfect.

Thank you again all!

Congrats and great news!  Those first rides are always great. 

Great to hear RT1.

I agree the first start up and test ride is a great feeling especially if all goes well. I just finished my last restoration last year. A 1968 DT1 250 and it was a joy to do. I enjoyed restoring that bike more then any other bike i have done. Came together just how i wanted it to. Ran great and looked exactly the way i wanted it to. Not to flashy, correct stock look with a little patina. It had all the right stuff on it. About 800 original miles on it. New owner absolutely loves it because he had one back in that era and always wanted another one. 

He license it and does ride it to this day. Thankfully he is a very knowledgeable person because of his other hobbies in rare vintage mechanical machines so he takes very good care of it. 

I must admit i miss that bike. Probably shouldn't have sold it but i retired the year i bought it at 62 so i invested the money into my retirement. 

Man i could just look at that all night.
I had a white one new but no tank brace so must be the second batch--or something.
Had the small tacho like yours.
Pretty sure mine didn't have that small tail pipe on the exhaust so is that specific to the very very first one.
Out of curiosity & what countries got what first, when was yours manufactured.

They are attractive bikes for sure. I'd post a pic of mine but I'm not going through the pain of dealing with another tech provider, another user name, password, etc. And, Photobucket wants $5 monthly! I stopped there.

img.doerig.dev
   RT1 this is what I use Imgur no sign in, password etc 
   Plus it’s free.  

RT325,

Mine was vin DT1-03974. Not sure where that falls in the production time frame for the U.S. bikes but It did have the blue high beam indicator light and 6mm gas tank bracket bolts which were considered earlier models. Has correct exhaust tip among all the other stock parts that the 68's came with. It was most likely one of the last bikes that came with the blue high beam and I read later production bikes had 8mm bolts in the gas tank lower bracket then no bracket at all on the last bikes? 

There is a lot of talk and good information on these 68's on Dave Kolbo's 1968/69 yamaha dt-1 group on facebook.But even with all the documented info people have on these bikes and when changes were made by vin it still seams nothing was set in stone back in the day. Forum member Steve Shoppa might know answers to your questions. I didn't get to involved in the history of the 68 or when changes were made, just researched enough info to know about the 68 DT1 i restored making sure it was a correct bike.