Hi I'm Ryan. New to the site, had my CT1-C for about 17 years. Excited to find this wealth of information!

Wow 17yrs, looks like a street machine. Like the Hooker exhaust, its in great shape.

Mark from Butler PA here. I've been a lurker here for a bit and extracted so many fantastic accounts or bits of info, I had to join. Been riding/wrenching for over 40 years now. Acquired a '74 DT250A. It was literally out of a barn, covered in layers of dirt, dust and raccoon excrement. Sad sight. It had either been in a very severe impact, thrown off a cliff, or ran over (or some combo thereof). Fork sliders were shattered, frame tweaked, gas tank totally caved in on right side, handlebar bent up against both gauges, shattering the lens, etc, etc. Considered it to be pretty much junk until I scraped the crap off what was left of the speedo and saw that the odometer AND trip meter read 101.5 miles. Ok, the speedo has been replaced or cable off, right? But I take a look at the tires, which were rock hard, but OEM and still had rubber nipples down the center. Pulled the swingarm pivots out and,,, no wear. Pulled the engine and removed the cylinder,,, OEM piston had hardly any carbon, and minimal signs of any use...Everything is telling me that this bike got killed at 101.5 miles!! Not fair!! So based on the sympathy that I have for this old DT, I'm trying to get this old girl back in action. Already obtained a replacement frame and got the forks squared away. Freshened up the Thermo-Flo shocks with new fluid (although the fluid I removed was CLEAN!!). Rebuilding the gauges with new pieces of round glass and un-tweaking the small bends. The faces, while dirty, had NO fading..). Will need a fuel tank, but oil-tank is undamaged, but has some surface blemishes from the long storage. Will be tearing into the rims/spokes soon, but brake shoes are OEM and look new!. This bike will never be a museum piece, too much surface corrosion and neglected long-term storage (probably since '74 or '75). I'm feeling obligated to make it into a rider. I'll be maintaining activity here. Very valuable source of great info. Thanks!! Mark

Welcome from the UK Mark.

101 miles - not even close to being run in and probably never even had its first service! Would be great if you could find some history of the bike.

That's some severe damage mind - maybe caused by some irate parent or wife whose permission wasn't sought prior to purchase..........?! If not, looks like a leg breaker of a crash, if not worse. Maybe don't seek out the history after all!

Re the tyres and brake shoes, I would replace all of them as a matter of course, no matter how good they might look. Underneath their shiny surfaces they will have deteriorated over such a long time.

Have fun with the resto!

Hello to all!
I'm George and I like to choose projects that are way too complicated for me to cope with...I love it**?? (It's a habit/pet project of mine).
For a start I have a Yamaha RT360 1973 Enduro motorcycle and, yes to make matters even more difficult for myself I am based in Scotland.
Here there is an abundance of Haggis but no RT360 spare parts to be found and I am sure like other RT restorers in the UK find the post/UK Import Tax from the USA almost prohibitive....but you gotta do what you gotta do to get the parts....ouch! £££$$$.
I am new to restorations, this is my first, and I seem to be hooked on the Yamaha RT Enduros.
I have chosen this project to learn what I can about 2 stroke engines etc. and on the journey hope to produce a reasonable restoration.
I would be happy to receive any wise words of encouragement from the RT Sages and the knowledgeable on this quest!
Will post pics. too!
All the best,
George aka VAX

Welcome from Dorset, VAX and a nice find. Did you import it yourself?

There are a few Brits here who post regularly and who have probably already been through what you are about to face!!

The pedant inside me wants to tell you that what you have is actually an RT3 (no such bike as an RT360!) - might be quite important when ordering parts. Having said that, parts for our bikes get advertised under all sorts of descriptions, so use as many search descriptions as you can (yes, including RT360!).

Looks like a non standard paint job and possibly an MX front mudguard.

There is loads of info in the Tech Library.

Some parts are still available from Yamaha, a good European source for old stock is CMSNL, otherwise it's off to the US we go!

Forum Moderator DEET can supply some repro parts (eg wiring and silver/grey wire sleeving).

Finally (for the moment!) I recommend that you find and fit a voltage regulator (fitting instructions in the Tech Library), otherwise you might go through headlight bulbs at an alarming rate!

Feel free to ask as many questions as you like - none of them will be daft, I can assure you.

All the best.

Hi VAX.
Welcome along .
Yes you had better start to nail your tammy on as we do get screwed for post and tax.
However,Keep your eye on DK spares as they often get RT 1 stuff in and had quite a bit about six month ago.
You're certainly in the best place to find stuff or help at least on this site.
i'm in Lancashire and have paid a small fortune to the tax and post for stuff from the US.
You have another alternative and that's CMSNL. Make sure you compile your order as postage is Eu14.00 no matter what unless you buy Eu500.00 worth of stuff,in which case it's free.
Regards Ted.

Ted is right about D&K being a good source of spares. However, they frequently get their RTs and DTs mixed up, so it's a good idea to have pictures of what you actually want before you start searching for it/them!

Thanks for the Dorset welcome!
Actually bought the bike on e-bay from Triad Motorcycles in Brighton. The owner there, Neil Bostock, Imports bike in from the States and sometimes has some interesting bike from time to time.
Will check out the voltage regulator situ...thanks for this!
Cheers!

Hi Ted,
Thanks for the welcome and info on CMSNL and DK for spares....point noted....tammy is well nailed on!
Excited to be on this site. I am sure it is the best place for info on these bikes.
I was at the Carole Nash Motorcycle Show at the week-end and had a chat with some friendly bikers who suggested that buying a 2nd doner bike was the way forward....then sell on the unused parts on good old e-bay!
Kind regards
George