Rossco,
Engine aside, the chassis shares a lot with the 250 of the same vintage so it helps a little.
- Swing arm, head stem, wheel bearings are readily available.
- Swing arms have a tendency to crack at the boss where the swing arm bearings are installed.
- The bearings in links from the rocker to the swing arm can be a bit exy.
- If you have access to a lathe, you can replicate the factory items with a handful of spherical eyes and a piece of 20mm alloy bar.
- The rear shock is generally rooted and whilst they can be overhauled, typically I have found that its akin to Flogging A Dead Horse.
- Ohlins & WP shocks can be sourced without too much problem, it's just the $'s that you have to be aware of.
- ALWAYS check the frame around the foot peg and lower frame area. Rusting from the inside out, cracked foot peg mounts etc are the norm unfortunately.
- Plastics, no issue. Seat Cover No issue
- Cables and most consumables are also available.
- The rear shock flaps and rubber gaskets in and around that area are NLA. The do appear on flea-bay from time to time but are very expensive.
And the engine.
- Beware of loose engine mounts and the subsequent damage that this can cause. Have seen some very bad example’s of this.
- Conrods are as rare as rocking horse shit, pistons not so bad.
- Have seen a handful of 465’s and one 500 where the barrel had cracked around the mounting boss where it bolts to the cases,
- Engine internals are always on USA flea-bay, and generally not that expensive.
- DG do a complete exhaust (pipe and muffler) although most people that I have spoken to that have fitted them prefer the power delivery of the standard combination.
- Gasket Sets and seals etc are generally no issue.
- Kick-starters are always flogged out and very expensive to replace.
- The flat slide carbie will be toasted. Don’t mess with it, pitch it for a new unit.
And the worst part (in my mind) is the previous modifications. Many complained about the power delivery of the bike and a lot of so called “experts” messed with the bike in an effort to fix it. Horrible porting work, compression & carburettor changes etc are not unusual to find and in most cases can’t be reversed cheaply.
