YZ125A Rebirth

[r4brightred]

I'm getting an old YZ operational after it has sat for a whole lot of years. It was stripped in 1976 to make a flat track bike. I'm operating under budget constraints so it will be a low buck endeavor. I thought I would share a few pictures of my progress so far. I was not planning on painting the frame but it had just enough surface rust that I couldn't leave it alone. I sandblasted it, primed it, and finished it in base/clear. 

[Nathan S]

Nice!
Fantastic to be able to start with a bike that's effectively only a couple of years old.

[bazza]

had 2 of these but was really to fat to ride them...lol   nice bikes

[r4brightred]

I'm moving right along now. I found the forks on ebay for twenty dollars, not a bad deal. I have some Thermal Flow shocks ordered,  they should be here in a week or so. The wheels are off of a MX175A. I will also be using a stock MX175A exhaust. I regret removing the K&N decal on the rear fender. I had a NOS stock fender decal lying around and thought it would be better with that. If I could do it over again I would have left it alone.

[shelpi]

Good work  always great to see another come to life

[r4brightred]

Anyone know when the YZ125A went into production or when it became available in Australia? The black & white picture is from a parts manual printed in March of 1973. It looks like Yamaha originally planned to produce the bike with silver painted hubs, dual rate rear springs, and unpainted cylinder head. Also the forward tank strap looks like it mounts under the gas tank in a different position than the production bikes ended up having.

[r4brightred]

I'm in the final assembly stage now. Still waiting on the shocks. I've been able to keep this affordable because I had a bunch of spare parts that fit this bike. One thing that I noticed is that the rear strap tank bracket sticks upward which is a different design than my other two frames. The serial number on this bike is pretty low so I assume the strap bracket changed later in the model year to the horizontal bracket. I included a picture of the extra top end that came with the bike. That looks like a lot of carburetor for a 125.

[r4brightred]

It's Alive! This bike really scoots when you get on the pipe, nearly hurt myself a few times already. I think it has an air leak because the idle rises a bit on it's own. I need to figure that out before I blow it up. Future plans are a 175cc top end and black out the hubs and backing plates. My wife wants to know why I needed a fleet of the same bike. I didn't have a good answer. I just like 1974 YZ125s.

[shelpi]

well done 

[Iain Cameron]

Ask her why not they are an investment . Then show her one on Evilbay and how much they are asking for one . Iain   ps lovely bike .

[Freakshow]

actually funy you say that have a few here and one has that upward clip, i though some bush hick had knocked it off and just welded it back on that way.  to have 2 like that must means its not an accident

[r4brightred]

Well I made a few updates to the YZ. I missed having a yellow bike in the stable so I found a 1975 tank and swapped her over to yellow. I had one of my 175a cylinders bored to 4th over and swapped the top end on. She runs real nice now.

[albrid-3]

would you  be interested in a brand front guard.

[r4brightred]

I need an NOS one in bright white. I think the one you have is crystal silver if I remember correctly.

[albrid-3]

thats right.