Update on vintage Yamaha racer

[Yamahammer490]

Ooops... I had a brain fart and didn't actually click the "Upload" button to attached the pictures I said were attached. They are now!

[BigGreenMachine]

The plastics look sweet, as well as the tripples and everything else. Very cool project.

[Billy Golightly]

This is a cool project, gonna be watching it. If I remember right, your using the dirtbike forks right? Just make sure you keep your ride height and stuff in check ;-)

[westcoast TRI-Z]

Very cool! I like projects like thse, they interest me alot. So in a way, you are building like a vintage replica-racer of the past?

[vartiak15]

i think the axle is a little weak. lol jk. looks good man.

[N5HNY]

Whoa ! That is awesome !

I really like looking at CAD designs.

[Yamahammer490]

This is a cool project, gonna be watching it. If I remember right, your using the dirtbike forks right? Just make sure you keep your ride height and stuff in check ;-)

Yes, I will be using the dirtbike suspension and will have the same ride height issues as the other dirtbike conversions. (I watched your CR500 post closely too.)

I will have to run with the forks a couple inches up in the triples. Like all conversions, the geometry just isn't the same as a native trike, so I will have a little monkeying around with the height.

Here's a computer layout I did a while back to try and figure out what it will look like. This is all done with raster images so it isn't "completely" to scale but it is pretty close.

[MTS]

This is a Sweeet project, That bike will go like Snot off the line when it is done, How's the DG pipe on that thing? i was thinkin of one for my IT465 cause mine is rotted n baged up pretty good..

[Yamahammer490]

This is a Sweeet project, That bike will go like Snot off the line when it is done, How's the DG pipe on that thing? i was thinkin of one for my IT465 cause mine is rotted n baged up pretty good..

The DG pipe and Answer silencer combo seem to work well, but I've not had a chance to ride this bike with the stocker. When I bought the bike it had been ported and fitted with the DG pipe.

I will say that this is an awesome motor, though. It has super torque off the low end and a monsterous midrange. And, since it has a 5 speed tranny, it really boggies when opened up on a dirt road.

[MTS]

The DG pipe and Answer silencer combo seem to work well, but I've not had a chance to ride this bike with the stocker. When I bought the bike it had been ported and fitted with the DG pipe.

I will say that this is an awesome motor, though. It has super torque off the low end and a monsterous midrange. And, since it has a 5 speed tranny, it really boggies when opened up on a dirt road.

Amen to that! im havin mine ported and done out in the near future, i havent come up to anything that can Out Climb this thing yet, Buddy;s ported Cr500 dosent even put out as much bottem end as this thing..its unfreakin real.

[Darius1502]

Wow...this project is very exciting!

It will be awesome!! Keep it up!! Long live the vintage racer 490!!

[Yamahammer490]

Amen to that! im havin mine ported and done out in the near future, i havent come up to anything that can Out Climb this thing yet, Buddy;s ported Cr500 dosent even put out as much bottem end as this thing..its unfreakin real.

I know this is a little off topic, but the IT engine was quite different from the YZ. The YZ 490 had a bad reputation and, having had one when I was a kid, I can say it had its faults. You can't ever get the jetting right it seems. The IT is a completely different animal.

It's important to remember that back in the 80's, Yamaha made the IT and YZ line as two distinctly different motorcycles. The ITs were not YZs with different colored plastics but, in fact, different designs. Dirt Bike Magazine hated the YZ but raved about the IT 490.

I do think it will make a great trike because I can lug it down to an idle in 3rd gear, twist open the throttle and have it almost rip your arms out as the scenery starts rushing by. It has a very smooth power delivery.

I'll be working on a few things yet this weekend and will post more soon. Probably going to work on the brake stay tomorrow see if I can figure that out.

Happy New Year, All!

[3leggeddog]

dude this is a sweet little project.i am very impressed by the planning,and the work shown so far.very uniuqe,and classy.keep it up.

are you gonna remove some of the rake,the front wheel appears way out in front.

[BigGreenMachine]

Sounds great, my 250 needs some slippage to get back into the meat of the powercurve most times. Sounds like you have that itch again that doesnt go away until you have it well taken care of. Great to see some headway on this trike again.

[MTS]

I know this is a little off topic, but the IT engine was quite different from the YZ. The YZ 490 had a bad reputation and, having had one when I was a kid, I can say it had its faults. You can't ever get the jetting right it seems. The IT is a completely different animal.

It's important to remember that back in the 80's, Yamaha made the IT and YZ line as two distinctly different motorcycles. The ITs were not YZs with different colored plastics but, in fact, different designs. Dirt Bike Magazine hated the YZ but raved about the IT 490.

I do think it will make a great trike because I can lug it down to an idle in 3rd gear, twist open the throttle and have it almost rip your arms out as the scenery starts rushing by. It has a very smooth power delivery.

I'll be working on a few things yet this weekend and will post more soon. Probably going to work on the brake stay tomorrow see if I can figure that out.

Happy New Year, All!

Yea so i hear, my bike you feel the power comin on but the scenary dosnt move that fast on dirt, *Edited**Edited**Edited**Edited**Edited**Edited* thing throws a 60ft roost in 5th gear just spinnin,,, on asphalt its a whole nother animal, theres NO keeping the front end down in anygear.......no freakin way...dont matter how much gas your giver her she comes up like NOTHIN...