THIS PROJECT IS STILL UNFOLDING - more to come
In 2024 I was in country South Australia visiting some friends when I had the opportunity to pick up a 1977 Yamaha DT175 from a farm just up the road. This dates back to the time I was riding these bikes as a teenager and I couldn’t say no, so it was loaded into my van and brought back to home in Tasmania as a restoration project. I am not looking to make a show machine out of it but would like to bring it back to looking and running nicely without spending a lot of money. This is the story of that restoration and a record of how I did the work and whether I am successful in not spending too much.
What I Have To Work With
As with any project, it starts with assessing what you have to work with. Considering the bike is 50 years old and appears to have had a fairly hard life on the farm, it still runs which is a big thing as. it gives a really good starting position for a bit of restoration work. The rest of the work is really cosmetic and there is a great deal of rust and heavy pitting in the chrome pieces such as the forks and guages. The fact that it was absolutely caked in oily dirt and grease when I picked it up was probably a bonus as it protected a lot of the components. I had to blast most of this off before bringing it back to Tasmania to get it through quarantine inspections when I returned to the island. The first major task will be to strip it down and bag and mark the parts then I will be able to assess exactly what needs to be cleaned up and what needs replacing.
Tear Down & Cleaning
Surprisingly the tear down went pretty much without a hitch. The only issue I really had was removing the swingarm as the bolt was seized solid in the pivot. For that I ended up cutting it out by inserting a thin cut off blade in the gap and chopping the shaft. Luckily it all came apart with no damage to the swing arm nor the frame mounting points. A close inspection of the frame once it was cleaned up revealed a broken frame down behind the left footpeg. Easy fix with the welder so that was no problem really. The oil pump cover also has a large hole from being dropped at some stage so I managed to track down a used replacement from Queensland which was easy. Now it is down to cleaning, painting and polishing bits and pieces and also working out what parts need replacing.
First task was to clean up the frame and other major pieces that bolt onto it so I at least have a starting point to begin the reassembly. In my budget mode the frame was primed and painted using Dulux spray cans. I opted for a satin black rather than full gloss for the frame components. I had ordered the swing arm bearing kit from Australia but had to go to England to get a shaft bolt. Once the swing arm parts arrived and the paint had hardened sufficiently the assembly of the main frame pieces was carried out.
Cleaning Up The Alloy
The alloy engine cases were in pretty bad condition with a lot of tarnishing and some pitting. The oil pump cover had a hole in it and was replaced with a used item from eBay which also needed a lot of cleaning. The sprocket cover was missing so I also had to purchase one of them. Moving to the forks, the stanchions were also in pretty poor condition and will require a lot of elbow grease to bring them back to a reasonable state. This work was all completed a piece at a time sitting in my lounge chair at night while watching TV with a tube of Autosol and some polishing rags. Pretty happy with the way they turned out in the end.
What Did It Cost?
| Item | Cost (AUD) | Supplier | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oil pump cover | eBay Seller | Used item | |
| Swing arm pivot bolt | $18.98 | YamBits (UK) | OEM stainless steel shaft & lock nut |
| Swing arm bushes & seals | $74.95 | Firestorm Motorcycles (Aust) | New Item |
| Sprocket cover | $76.21 | Moto Retro (Aust) | |
| Swing arm seal chain guard rubber | $36.98 | eBay Seller | New item from Thailand |
| 2 x Primer Dulux auto spray cans | $35.54 | Bunnings | Frame primer |
| 4 x Dulux Black epoxy enamel spray cans | $67.60 | Bunnings | Frame paint |
| 1 x VHT Flat black heat paint spray can | $21.99 | Autobarn | Exhaust paint |