tony283

Fit the OEM Yamaha guard and do not use the chrome aftermarket support. The very early front guards did not have an internal steel brace which the later ones have. You will notice that there is a directional arrow on the inside of the guard as some people seem to fit them backwards!! The aftermarket support is for standard non Yamaha guards and is often fitted incorrectly. The longer portion should be forward of the forks to allow a straight run on the brake cable. At the rear the inner brace is there more for securing the wiring harness cables rather than acting as a true support. Aftermarket rear guards are quite expensive so most people retain the lower portion splash guard part that fits around the exhaust and cut the remaining piece off. A standard generic guard can the be cut and joined to the inside of the lower portion. Tony

Sounds like it has a badly blocked pilot jet. Tony

The TY250A is steel, (yellow/pearl) the rest are alloy. The Ty80 tank is smaller but can be adapted to fit. Tony

Turns out it was the timing after all! Just reset it to April 2nd and it works a treat. Tony

I can see Garry's problem with doing this on a 2 Stroke as there is no way to contain the lead shot and let it do its work. It will surely all go out the exhaust port but of course will do a good job sorting out the silencer. I don't see it as being an improvement over a Holland & Holland or Purdey but I suppose you could multi-choke the tailpipe and then have something for both ground game and partridge and if all else fails you could use it as a trials bike. Mine did run well on the leaded fuel! Tony

Having seen the results from the wife's rock tumbler I thought I would try something similar to decoke the head and piston of the Cub. I took a standard 8 shot Eley clay cartridge and emptied the contents through the plughole, refitted the plug and started her up. As expected there were a couple of muffled explosions and then it ran fine and sounded like the rock tumbler. I set the idle up a bit and went off for a coffee. When I came back it had stopped. The head and piston are spotlessly clean although both have a "dimpled" finish a bit like a golf ball. Having put it all back together it still won't go, could it be the timing? Tony

I have a 1960 ex Don Morley works 350 Bullet. The frame number is located on the left side where the downtube comes off the headstock. It should be a 5 digit number. The main engine number is on the left side forward crankcase and starts with C2/ followed by 5 digits. The full story of this machine can be found on my "Blog" under "Reshaping a Bullet" Tony

Tires ! Tony

Yes the BLACK is all you need. Tony

If you wish to read a full article on the subject, pertinent to the TY250 then have a look on "Tony's Blog" under "Of Bars and Men" published on 7/5/2009. You may find this helpful in setting up the Yam. Tony

You can also do it in a School Bus!! See my "blog" under "The Bluebird Cup Trial" Tony

For the most part you seem to have the carb side solved so a good look at the ignition should do it. I would fancy from what you say the points are out there at around 18-20 through wear and may well, like roses, have "black spot" and the condenser is about done! Tidy up the plug cap and cut back to bright wiring before fitting the cap. If this doesn't solve the problem, and assuming the oil system is off and the base of the cyclinder plugged then decoke the exhaust system. Tony

You don't say what the "ills' are ? The TY250A is very simple as it has a fixed stator plate and therefore does not require setting any timing. If you are fitting new points then make sure the surfaces are clean and not the teflon coated style. Set to 15 thou. use the correct plug, NGK B7ES and set to around 22 thou. The engine may sound a bit rattly but that would be normal so taking the head and jug off it is not normally necessary unless you are going for a rebore. Most of your problems will be ignition or carb related. I would replace your main hot wire from the stator if you are changing the condenser, check the condition of your plug wire and cap and replace if required. Old carbs can be difficult to get running smoothly again especially if someone has changed all the jetting. You might be better starting with a new Mikuni VM26 correctly set up at around 150-155 main and 30-35 pilot. Tony

Simple answer NO ! Tony

If its new and just come out of a crate is there any oil in it ? Tony

When dealing with the old Ty250A start with the simple things first and then progress. All the items are usually quick fix. 1 Disconnect the fuel line from the petcock, check flow on ALL settings. It is quite common for the old fuel to have dried up inside the petcock leaving a gummy or solid red residue. You will need to clean this out with a wire or dentists pick and then follow up with compressed air. Being a steel tank there may be rust flakes inside the petcock that have got through the filter gauze. 2 If you have a good positive flow reconnect the fuel line and assuming you have fitted an "in-line" filter check to see how it works. you can run the fuel into a clean can for about 1/4 gallon and see if the flow diminishes. If it does try the same operation with the tank cap OFF. 3 If all is good at this stage remove the carb and then undo the float bowl. With the bowl off raise the floats and watch the cut off valve close, gently lower the floats and see if the valve opens. This mechanism can OFTEN STICK in both new and old carbs. If it is sticking then slide out the rod and catch the barrel which will fall free. A very light touch up with emery should have it working freely. If you didn't fit an in line filter when rebuilding the bike do so NOW and before putting the carb back on blow out the pilot jet and choke circuit. Tony

Blocked Pilot Jet ! Tony

A little early for an April fools story ? Never mind it made me laugh and also wince at the waste of a perfectly good hardly used tire which looks like an IRC. Just think how much fuel and riding time you could have had for the cost of butchering what was a perfectly usable tire. If you wish to experiment in the eternal quest for "grip" then first find out what your footprint is for the make of tire that you are using. Many people let their modern tires down too much and with a very soft tire like the IRC the center of the tire will fold in towards the rim instead of providing a flat base like a snowshoe. Now add in personal variables like weight and machine set up and you will eventually come up with the ideal pressure for you and your machine. I'm assuming you are riding a modern bike using the clutch all the time ? Try riding without the clutch and use throttle control instead and now use a blipping technique of on and off to gain momentum between rolling and spinning and flick the bike left and right to get the sidewalls to bite and get extra traction. Tony

Glad we sorted out the Enfield legs ! ..... and the wheelbase, as the Enfield was up there at 55.5" Better make sure you have Greeves and DOT forks as acceptable even if they were never desirable! Tony

I have a Yam frame with the Majesty style mounts. You can see all the work on this bike on "Tony's blog" in the article "Building the Glitzmobile" The same bike is in TC Garage and has been ridden by Mick Andrews. Tony

The one word answer is Yes ! Tony

Woody, If you look on "Tony's Blog" under the article "The Clockwork Elephant" you will see the kicker prevention bracket that fits on the clutch casing. Its a cheap nasty bit of engineering but it works. I believe you can still buy them from Martin M. Tony

Yes, you are quite right the TY250A 1974 side stand is frame mounted below the Left footrest bracket. All later models and the TY175 are mounted on the swinging arm on the right side and therefore stay aligned with the SA as it moves. On the TY250A it stays rigid with the main frame and if bent can hit and gouge the rear spocket as the rear end moves up and down. The sidestands are also different with the TY250A being shorter and the ground plate being on the opposite side. The spring is common to ALL models. Your choice is to either weld a plate of the correcct dimensions and add a spring retainer or buy another SA. Both will fit the A model and is a better choice especially if you are fitting the rear and down pegs. See "Tony's Blog" for all the how to's and pictures. With regard to the chain oilers they were good in their day (as we knew no better!) but they tossed oil all over the back end of the bike. You are better off today using modern day chain lubricants from the rattle can. Tony

As they say in the USA if its got wheels and a motor someone will make a competition for it ! Full report and pictures from the "Bluebird Cup Trial" available on "Tony's blog" or direct to www.blackcatvintagetrials.com Tony

Within the US the best place for all OEM Yamaha trials parts at discounted prices is Speed&Sport in PA. If you go to their web and select year and model you can get all the part numbers and then call them for pricing. I have used them during the course of my 30+ Yamaha rebuilds. www.yamatopdog.com Tony