YT125 rescue

[ezmoney1979]

I was holding off on getting this but I am one of those guys that cant stand to see a trike rot away. After watching the old Yamaha commercial I figured it was worth it:lol:

http://i975.photobucket.com/albums/ae240/ezmoney1979/yt125001.jpg

http://i975.photobucket.com/albums/ae240/ezmoney1979/yt125003.jpg

http://i975.photobucket.com/albums/ae240/ezmoney1979/yt125006.jpg

The story is the previous owner spray bombed it black so it would go better un-noticed to law enforcement in helicopters as he tended to his crops. You know how we do it over here in Oregon.:naughty: Maybe he was inspired by the farmers in the commercial! Anyways, it apparently ran 5+ years ago when parked. It appears to be very complete and so far the tires aired up and the parking brake works;) It also has the original air cleaner. I cant wait to strip all this paint and get it running. I need help on the VIN, I tried the decoder with no luck 4U3-005852. And any advice you guys got would be sweet too! Oh yeah, almost forgot the best? part, got it for the low price of free. If I keep this one I am going to have a strange trike collection:crazy:

[200XMichigan]

You'll have a blast with it. I got a YT175 and they are awesome. A little different at first with all the weight to the back but they are so light, peppy and fun. I picked up a genuine service manual for the YT175 on tradebit.com. MonroeMike has a the condensed service data for the YT125. They are great trikes.

[MonroeMike]

It's a 1981.

[Frankencelery]

Funny you should say that about the VIN. Everyone says that the Yamahas should have a 17 digit or similar VIN just like the Hondas, but on my YTM225DX, the only number on the front tube is 29U-001748. I'd love it if someone could explain that.

I was thinking how hideous it looked, but then I realized it was mostly the paint, and the fact that it was free...I would have snagged it too! Good luck. Keep us posted on how the project goes.

[ezmoney1979]

Thanks guys! I appreciate it. Worked on it a little this morning and to my surprise someone had emptied the tank before they put it away!! What luck. So after a quick carb clean, it fired right up! I hope my neighbors aren't too mad about the smoke cloud that went their way:naughty: Now onto making it look like new again. Looks like all I need is the grab bar/tail light and an air cleaner. (the original turned to dust:lol:) Man its going to take a long time to get the black paint off

[200XMichigan]

I have read about soda blasting for smaller delicate parts. Maybe it would work to take paint of old plastics?

[RubberSalt]

Dunno if paint thinner would harm the plastics(Doubt it), but gasoline or carb cleaner can lift that paint extremly well.

[tri-shee]

Great find on the yt-125 . I have 1980 yt-125 that i restored . You can use auto strip paint remover in a aersol can . You can get it at the auto parts store . Have fun with the clean up on the old tri-moto and Merry Christmas .

[Kfx-xc-racer88]

LOL, SO IT MUST BE MY FAULT YOU GOT IT THEN!! i posted the vid of the yamaha advertisement!!

Don't put thinners on the plastics it'll eat into it, i'd try a pressure washer first it'll probably blow half of that paint off!!!

[200XMichigan]

That's why I was thinking soda blasting on a lower PSI would work. Seems like most chemical paint strippers could mess up the plastic. On the video of soda blasting they used it to clean the inside of a carb. So it must be pretty gentle.

[200XMichigan]

That video you posted also convinced me to re-jet the YT175 for winter rather than just putting it away. And man am I ever glad I took it out in the snow.

[Kfx-xc-racer88]

I'm inbetween trikes at the moment i've got a quad for sale so soon as it goes i'm getting another 3 wheeler!!!! can't wait!
I keep watching trike vids and it's driving me nuts!! LOL!

[hang&rattle]

My son rode his 80' YT (which was pretty worn) for nearly 5 years. That little 2-stroke sounds cool and runs good. I know of one original 81' YT125 on the Blackfoot reservation an old rodeo buddy of mine has I think in o.k. shape we may still nab this year. They kinda beat ya to death, but I always wanted to hook up to a deck mower and small trailor for yard work. Cool little trikes, and free is a great deal, good salvage!

[ezmoney1979]

Whoever was putting oil in this thing must have been doing it from on top of a ladder, what a mess. I loaded it up and took it to my works shop where I had the use of a serious pressure washer. The paint was way tougher then I thought it would be. I had the pressure washer on the hottest setting and it would almost rather melt the plastic away than take the paint off. I thought I would share the progress.

http://i975.photobucket.com/albums/ae240/ezmoney1979/yt125003-1.jpg

http://i975.photobucket.com/albums/ae240/ezmoney1979/yt125001-1.jpg

http://i975.photobucket.com/albums/ae240/ezmoney1979/yt125005.jpg

Its clean but it could really use some new plastic, and of course I still need to rebuild my seat. The spark plug cap broke so I had to buy a new NGK cap- so now I have $3.95 into it :lol:

[200XMichigan]

That thing is a steal. Did just the pressure washer take all the paint off the plastics? Doesn't look too bad at all in the pictures. I have seen posts where people wet sand them to get scratches out and it makes them look really close to new.

From the looks of it they could have been using the submersion method to fill the oil tank, just dunk the entire machine and wait for the bubbles to stop.

[ezmoney1979]

That thing is a steal. Did just the pressure washer take all the paint off the plastics? Doesn't look too bad at all in the pictures. I have seen posts where people wet sand them to get scratches out and it makes them look really close to new.

From the looks of it they could have been using the submersion method to fill the oil tank, just dunk the entire machine and wait for the bubbles to stop.

Yes, just the pressure washer (Honda powered industrial hot one). I might sand them out. I got a lot of practice restoring my 87 T3 tank and right shroud. But I am tempted to buy some plastic I found on Ebay- OEM headlight bucket $20- cant hardly pass that up! This old bike deserves some new parts! It is so remarkably intact, factory wire ties and all. Sometimes it is better when they get spray bombed and covered in oil. It kinda has a way of preserving things!

[Vealmonkey]

Have you figured out what year it is yet? 82 and later is the best. That means it wouldn't take alot to make it a yt175 if you wanted. I can tell you trying to find NOS rear fenders is really tough. I found NOS front and rear fenders and headlight shroud and seat and a bunch of other bits. I changed my front end to a ytm200 though, so I found that front fender and shroud as NOS. I sure would like to find a NOS tank cover though. I've never seen one of those yet. Luckily I managed to find halfway decent used fenders and the rest of the body parts, except for the tank cover. 82 and later have a way better chain adjustment system than the 80-81 models as well. If you ever find any nos tank covers, let me know, I would sure like to get one.

[RubberSalt]

I've got some damn near new rear fenders if you got the right $$ :)

I have a little trick for you to try with yours first (try spare plastics to learn on). Wet sand them smooth, then hit them with a propane torch. You can make an old fadded fender look new again. This is from personal experience, but i first saw it on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI0T9m47ja0

Sanding smooth is HIGHLY recommended, fadded plastics usualy go back to the original color also.