Next we will go out into the dark garage and try to get a few pics of it sitting in the bike.





The holder is designed to sit on and attach to all of the original mounting points to keep things as original as possible. I did install a threaded insert at the front end sunk into the bike's center down tube so the tray was fully supported at that end. When installed it is really solid and other than the crappy build quality, looks almost factory. It mounts on the one tab near the seat hinge that uses a 6 mm bolt. The bracket will have a grommet like a stocker. It also sits on the upright pin in the middle back, which will be secured by a washer and clip (there will be a grommet there too!). On the side near the oil tank, it is sitting on top of the long pin that sticks out of the frame, which I covered with a length of tubing.





A better perspective of how it sits:





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I had been agonizing over my fender treatment on the bike for a few weeks, as the original concept of yellow fenders did not look right when the tank turned out better than expected. I decided to go with a fairly vintage aftermarket plastic front MX fender, manufactured by "Pacifico" designed for a CR250. It is kind of neat in that it has a textured finish. I used a dark grey paint as it was too light of grey from the factory. I want the fenders to show from the frame, but simply be a backdrop for the rising sun themed items. I didn't want the silver to stand out like an original, so compromised with the somewhat sinister grey. I also wanted a high mount fender to keep the painted fork brace in view. Wicked The fender mounts to the original mounting holes on the lower tree. The fender is mounted with rubber spacer/dampers using the 4 factory threaded fender mount spots on the MX triple.





So now that we have a legitimate front fender worked out, time to turn the attention to the posterior of the bike. I did not have a stock fender in my inventory, and did not want to carve up any of the really nice DT400 fenders I had, so something custom seemed in order. What to do :

First, lets make up a template that will fit the spot in question. I needed to bridge the gap between the plastic inner fender under the seat and the back frame loop. Cardboard is a lot easier to work with than sheet metal.





Then we transfer the pattern to some 10 gauge stainless sheet metal, then out with the hand shears. (You read that right - 10 gauge. The fender actually adds a degree of frame stiffening I think!)





Now - the bigger issue is how to make a nice bend : The original Redneck Metal Break^tm!





Sandwich the metal with a 2x2 screwed to my back porch and secured down yields a pretty nice bend. Simply line up the edge of the board to the line on your metal, then secure with the screws. Grab the longer edge which protrudes and carefully pull up! (you should wear gloves if your metal as not been deburred).




.

The roughed out part . . .





We then test fit in the mounting spot and after fitting, some trimming, more fitting, more trimming, followed by some more of the dark grey paint, and we get a fender all the way to the back loop.





Then we bolted up an old Acerbis dual sport light setup designed to convert MX bikes over to street legal setups that came off of E-bay . . .





Ultimately there will be a small rack or tool bag sitting on top of the rear fender, so it will be less visible. It will also probably get some trim paint added at some point.





Finally an overall shot showing the profile of both fenders. This is really still in mock up at this point.





Again, this bike is obviously not a stocker, but it will be fully street legal, and that little black tab below the DOT taillight is destined to have a nice fresh Washington plate installed. The bike also will probably have some tiny blinkers simply because I have a blinker switch which needs to be installed on a bike . . . and I like the added safety. I promise they will be pretty tasteful. I still need to finish the battery tray (paint and grommets and final mounting), add a place for the regulator, blinker module, route the wiring harness and secure, install the freshly rebuilt carb and create a custom air cleaner box, Mount up all the front controls, different handlebars (more tracker-like) and get everything working.

More as I move it down the assembly line!
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I built a custom lower chain guide with rubbing block, as the factory one was too short to work with the 54 tooth rear sprocket! Got it fabbed, with paint on it, the skid plate and tool box. All are going to be the same grey as the fenders so they are set off from the frame.





I lengthened the drop about an inch and a half, then filled some of the "extra" gap with a rubbing block made of some of that neat kitchen chopping block material!








I wanted to have one of these, purely for safety. Keeps stuff (like my foot!) from getting sucked into the chain/sprocket! Plus the rubbing block is replaceable. I may adapt an actual chain tensioner to this later in the project.

I finally got most of an afternoon to myself in the garage/driveway to work on my project and the weather seemed to cooperate. Mostly just bolting on misc parts to get it moving along.
This was where the day started:





To get started, I had previously installed a new countershaft sprocket so now it is time for the new chain. I changed from my usual choice of Renthal R1 to a less expensive, though very highly rated non-o-ring chain. I don't think this bike is going to get in the muck all that much, so picked this product.





A very nice chain which just needed a few links cut off to install. I also installed my freshly painted-to-match-the-fenders chain guard and chain guide with rubbing block I described a few posts back.





All adjusted and ready to go. You can see the extra mount at the top of the chain rubbing part which is for mounting up a different style chain guard I believe. The chain guard and guide are of unknown origin, as the bike had neither when I got it. I will probably just cut that bit off as it is unneeded. One of the parts is incorrect, but it really doesn't matter as this bike is not a purist resto by any means. A better angle on the chain guide. (sorry for the photo quality, my little camera seems to be struggling.)





I also got my air cleaner setup installed. It is a modified DT400 carb-2-airbox tube (I used a nasty old one not NOS ) coupled with a small length of exhaust tubing and a Unifilter which fits quite nicely in the space formerly filled with an airbox, battery, etc. Fairly easy to change out and clean with everything installed too.

The last installation stuff for the moment was the Repop handgrips. These are the usual ones from the fellow off of e-bay which are really true to the originals.

Link is in our weblinks section but is also HERE

The Clutch Side:





I am using the restored light/blinker/horn switch I detailed some time ago in another post. And the Throttle Side:





The bike had a kill switch originally which I cleaned and re-used. It is identical to the one on my MX360, so it may be oem. I added grey heat shrink to the wire so all of my wiring and cabling at the handlebars will be grey.

I am using some WPS lever holders which are very similar to the later model bikes and incorporate standard 10mm mirror mounts and the brake side has a brake light switch hole. These are available from MikesXS for a very reasonable price. I am using a brake switch off of a late model Yamaha of unknown origin. The levers are some dogleg versions I got off of ebay and the lever protectors (black rubber bits) were located in a stash of old parts at a MC wrecking yard. They are very similar to the ones used on the DT400/250 models.

A better perspective shot still with the DT400 testing tank in place.





I actually kind of like the look of the DT400 tank shape on the early frame. I am using an old DT400 tank for testing purposes to get the bike running and sorted out. I need to take it off and on a number of times before I get finished, and did not want to take a chance on messing up the sunray tank. It is interesting that the late model tank fits right on there. You can also see the fender/taillight setup better here.

I am having a bit of a struggle getting it running right. The carb setup I have is OEM, but the cables ended up being a bit short. I needed to remove a bit of the cable cover to get the carb slide to seat all the way down. The bike does run fine but was racing.

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So just a bit more history of this build for tonight - then I will continue the tale soon.

This was a post I did a few minutes after an "incident".

I think I may have it adjusted now but it just kicked back and I am waiting for the ibuprofen to kick in.

I had been playing with the ignition, trying to get it sorted. That post was followed in short order by this one:

Damn, evil, possessed machine.

And then this:

I don't think I have hurt this bad since I snapped the collar bone! Gonna go work on a different bike to keep the ankle moving. BTW - it did start right up with some heavier boots. The bike is running well, but I may be pulling the motor apart and checking the shifter forks and general tranny parts. Time for a full motor detail methinks!

A couple of days later the posts contined:

Well - I don't think it's broken. Just a bit sore. I spent most of the day fixing the auto-loosening head bolts of my TAT bike (finally). Was able to kick it over and squatting in the garage all day. I suspect timing - though this has the DT400 CDI box onboard.

Some progress pics: Inside left foot:

Other side of the same foot:



My favorite comment received . . . . kicking a RT1 over with the timing off is like trying to kick start a land mine.

I did get back on the horse and kicked it to life after the incident. It did tack 1/2 an hour to work up the courage

It is one Evil Mo' . . .

There ended up being no permanent damage to anything, but between that and some other leg injuries, kicking over the somewhat primitive compression-release-free RT1 motor became less than desirable. For those of you who have read the whole thread, you know this bike was titled at some point as a DT1. It is the original Frankenduro. MX parts, a sleeper 360, Akront rims . . . So why not fix a number of problems with a new mill!

DEET came to the rescue with a proposal and trade offer. My housebreaking-resistant RT1 motor for a rebuildable DT2 or 3 ( haven't opened the box yet.) Reed valves and a lower compression motor for sure. Hopefully it will come to life before and in time for Endurofest-MOAB!

Keep your eyes on this space as we return to the ongoing saga of our hero . . .

I had been agonizing over my fender treatment on the bike for a few weeks, as the original concept of yellow fenders did not look right when the tank turned out better than expected . . .

I decided to go with a fairly vintage aftermarket plastic front MX fender, manufactured by "Pacifico" designed for a CR250. It is kind of neat in that it has a textured finish.

I used a dark grey paint as it was a light grey from the factory. I want the fenders to show from the frame, but simply be a backdrop for the rising sun themed items. I also wanted a high mount fender to keep the painted fork brace in view.





The fender is mounted with rubber spacer/dampers using the 4 factory threaded fender mount spots on the MX triple.





The final plans in my head called for a low mount fender, but that is still in progress - with a custom mounting setup being worked out. That will be installed in version 2.0 which will come after all of the operational details are worked out. I.E. I wanna get some seat time on the bike, so getting something on it will move that along!

I finally got some time back in the garage today. No pics yet, but I promise some this evening. I got my NOS oil tank bolt and fittings, as well as one of those cool brandy new Fuel Valve's that DEET located for us installed. The oil tank is installed, just waiting to get the oil lines bled and hooked to the cylinder. The Fuel tank is wrapped back up on soft wrapping until the very last moment after all the bugs get worked out. (Hopefully later today!)

I got a lesson today in adjusting the shifter on the old girl. Having always had bikes that shifted perfectly, I never had to go in and adjust one of them, so I didn't know how bad the manual instructions were.

For reference - this is where we are working:




I popped the clutch basket off which makes this job a heck of a lot easier. You can do it without, but you will get a good kink in your neck. Also, adjusting the first eccentric as follows would be a lot easier with a third hand, preferably on someone else's arm.

Now - since the manual is not good on this point, a close up.





If you full size the above, you will see the markings. The top and bottom stops are more clear in this photo, and the two eccentric bolts are identified. To adjust the first eccentric, you need to match the distance from the top stop (the distance between the two orange lines) to the mechanism (with the shifter lever held up) to the the distance from the bottom stop to the mechanism (with the shifter lever held down) see below:





The distance between the orange lines is what you are matching up. After you get that set approximately the same, then tighten the lock nut on the eccentric bolt number 1.

Then with the shifter lever at rest (not up or down) you can set the other eccentric per the manual instructions (not included here for brevity).

Hopefully that is helpful to someone out there.

For those of you who have read the whole thread, you know this bike was titled at some point as a DT1. It is the original Frankenduro. MX parts, a sleeper 360, Akront rims . . . So why not fix a number of problems with a new mill!

DEET came to the rescue with a proposal and trade offer. My housebreaking resistant RT1 motor for a rebuildable DT2 or 3 ( haven't opened the box yet.) Reed valves and a lower compression motor for sure.

Hopefully it will come to life before and in time for Endurofest-MOAB!

Keep your eyes on this space as we return to the ongoing saga of our hero . . .

So some of you have received packages from the DEETmaster, and will know of what I am about to reveal. There are few folks who put as much care and feeding into parts packaging as the part itself. Especially when it is a used part.

EnduroDoctor Enterprises is an exception.

I approach the target with the lithium powered screwdriver drill:





About 40 heat-treated, powder-coated construction screws later, I get to see the prey:





Note the industrial strength multi-stranded aircraft cable carrying handle setup! You too can expect to see such construction when unveiling a DEET constructed contraption!





A nice patina-coated, mostly unmolested 1973 DT2 motor, with ignition, awaiting a cleanup and massage to become the heart Trans-power-plant for the soon to be re-powered Yamaha period correct works model enduro!

Lest I overlook the packing details, under the bubble wrap we see the specially constructed custom shipping mounts which held the motor solid for its Trans-continental journey, and which will secure the errant, ankle-biting RT1 motor back to the EnduroDoctor's reprogramming facilities in Raleigh.





There is one of these on each end!

Needless to say, the box and contents weigh in at just about 104 lbs - not a lightweight by any means.

More film at 11:00. Hopefully going to get a few minutes to work on both this and the GT80 this weekend!