[corksil]

Originally Posted by subxero

I get what you are saying about pictures but if you are just posting pictures of your bike and not build pictures I think you should be ok.

Yeah part of my concern is about thieves and attracting attention. Doesn't seem to matter if I have eight high-def security cameras rolling 24/7 with automated motion-sensitive triggered email sent directly to my phone (with a picture, lol) -- locked gates, dogs, and all forms of weaponry both orthodox and otherwise -- sometimes people really get stupid and try to take things that aren't there's.

As far as starting i don't ever mess with tipping the bike over.

Turn the fuel on, put the kicker through a few cycles to get some fresh air in the system, hold the throttle open a little and cycle it another 2 times or so. Then put piston just past Top dead center, return kicker to start position and give it a sharp kick.

This right here is a solid starting regiment which I will adhere to each and every time I try to start that beast.

see what year the engine is and if anything was done to it.

I believe the 94-01 engines had a wide ratio tranny.

89-93 was the exact same engine but with a closer ratio tranny.

Lots of people swap the 94+ WR tranny into the 89-93 engines so it helps to know what was done to the engine and there were actually some really nice aftermarket WR transmissions available at one point, most are long gone and snatched up but once in a blue moon one will pop up for sale here or there.

Dude these are the things that dreams are made of. I haven't had the time to properly look into all of this stuff but it's inspiring to hear about.

Originally Posted by jkv45

If it doesn't seem to be running right, I would look into the carb to see if it's the original size and type.

Pretty sure it's original carb and original bore and stroke and all that. I leafed through the file the PO gave me with the bike and it had a lot of info about previous owners and back and forth printed emails etc. My impression is that this bike bounced from one owner to the next because it was a lot of bike.

When I got my Derbi it had a much larger Mikuni Flatside on it, and the jetting wasn't even close. It was so rich in the midrange it wouldn't even run when it hit 1/2 throttle. I had to replace all the jets - the needle jet, jet needle, and Pilot jet, and Main jet.

If that's the correct carb I would confirm that all the jets are correct, and maybe replace them all with new of the original size so you have a good starting point. Sometimes people drill out the jets, so you don't always know if they are what they should be. Most likely you will need to re-jet, but starting from the original sizes would give you a good starting point for your tuning.

Be sure to run the same gas (ethanol-free if you can get it) and the same oil and ratio the entire time. Running in the 32:1 or 40:1 ratio isn't a bad idea, and even though it seems odd, more oil can give you more power (and more engine life as well).

Yep it's gonna take some work to get the jetting dialed. Good tip about people drilling out jets. I've done it myself and it can be really confusing if the jet is drilled out and performance doesn't correspond with the manufacturer jet size info stamped on the jet.

That bike should be a blast when you get it all dialed-in. Back in the day I had a CR125 and a RM125. My first street bike was a RD400, and then a RZ350. For sheer riding thrills, it's hard to beat the explosiveness of a good running 2-stroke coming on the pipe. I don't think you need to try to restrict it in any way, just keep your wrist in check!

Originally Posted by choneofakind

Ghetto style: gorilla tape and sealant. Many many MTB tires have been run tubeless this way, it also works for dirt bikes.

I have come to the realization that the quickest way to get the small 'trainer' bike on the street is by simply ordering some tubes and slapping it all together.

Originally Posted by Zaph42

But not for 17" supermoto wheels, that are ridden hard at least. The heat generated will cause the adhesive to degrade then the tape balls up and leaks. Very suddenly. If it happens while you are rolling, you're probably going down and grinding/denting your rims in the process.

For supermoto, my advice is to use tubes with spokes, use mag wheels (the newer Warp 9 mags are a good value), or the coolest but most expensive option, Alpina tubeless rims. Mmmm....

I don't have that much $$, I'm trying to recover from the holidays. Good tip, thanks and those rims are definitely... boner inspiring. The next phase is finding and ordering the appropriate tires for 17 * 3.50 rims on the 80, and some tubes so I don't have to deal with the 200+ hours of sealant application and curing time etc.

Originally Posted by Triple Jim

I guess the flashing orange and black is to distract competitors.

Yeah they are great for the street because they create a strobe effect. Contrasting colors rapidly moving draw focus of the eye. I think part of the two-tone wheel phenomenon also had to do with motogp bikes and the sections of track where the 3000fps cameras were set up. The color pattern on the wheel helped the journalists calibrate the aperture and duration settings for the camera lenses.

They definitely are eye-catching wheels.