Yamaha DT1, I have found a whole new interest & respect

[John Orchard]

Well I acquired an old bike from the dusty back corner of my Brother-in-law's shed, turns out to be a mixture of DT1 & DT2, it has had so little use! The footpeg pins have less slop after 50 years than my bikes normally have after 6 months!

Not much wear but rusty as hell  :-)  So I have started researching parts & information for the DT's, man it is so interesting.  There must have been millions of them sold in the US; you can still buy heaps of stuff for them; new & used!

For a 1968 model Japanese machine, it was so far ahead of its time, and incredible better quality of materials than modern machines.

I'm interested in your stories relating to the early DT's ........

[80-85 husky]

only rode an RT 360..terrible bike...outrageous power (for the time) tallll gearing, bone crunching shockers and forks but the brakes worked. like the QE2 in dimensions and so hard to make it turn. raised on ts 125 185's it was a massive aircraft carrier to me !  i burned myself on the pipe somehow?? so no real fond memories and i vaguely remember it lunched the box liek other yammies of the time...

[Hoony]

get in touch with Firko (Mark Firkin) on Facebook

[Oldfart]

John... my first bike was a DT-1  250 . It was bullet proof and I served me well.

Enjoy

[jimson]

A very cool model, as it was the starting point for many dirt loving road users, and it was at the time capable in the dirt apart from the frame needing a bit of modification to make the engine lower for better handling. The engine is bullet proof. Yamaha really ticked the box in 68 with these lol ?
jimson

[sleepy]

Great machines. Had a DT1 as a teenager with a GYT kit. When I got my license at 17 I bought a used RT3 as my first registered bike and I still have have it today. Restored it as close to original as I could 2 years ago.

[David Lahey]

I bought a DT2 in 1977. It was in original condition and had no problems mechanically and looked like it had only been used on the road. I had wanted a bike to ride to work to avoid putting too many kms on my IT175 and for that purpose was a good choice. I did a cosmetic resto on the DT2 and remember being able to walk into my local Yamaha shop and buy a complete new seat for it. I rode it to work for a while and even did some sort of all-day nav run on it (12 hour road trial?) but didn't fall in love with it. The main issue for me was the scary-poor handling in the dirt which in hindsight would have been greatly improved with a 21" front rim and decent tyres. As well as the standard Yamaha exhaust, it came with a Bassani exhaust and a bigger carby? (Sleepy may remember). The pipe gave it more top end power (and noise) but with the standard (fairly high) gearing it was hard to keep it in the fat part of the rev range even on the road.
Sleepy's RT3 (mentioned in a previous post) had been very well developed in the power and handling department at the time and was a far more enjoyable bike to ride than my standard DT2.

[sleepy]

Got a Two Wheels mag issue No5 here with a road test of what look like a 69 DT1. Can I post it here or does that cause a copyright problem?

[John Orchard]

Got a Two Wheels mag issue No5 here with a road test of what look like a 69 DT1. Can I post it here or does that cause a copyright problem?

Go for it, l'll represent you in court ;-)

[sleepy]

Just got to work out how. I can scan the pages but what is the best way to show them?

[sleepy]

Scanned the 5 pages I could email them. Send me a PM with a real Email and I'll send through.

[dont]

I think Jim Scaysbrook did a test of a factory kitted dt1 when they first came out ? He won a motocross (natural terrain in those days) championship from memory.

[fred99999au]

First bike I ever bought, and still have it. It looks a little sadder these days.

Played with the exhaust port until it could only be push started when I was a kid. I do have a new cylinder and piston for it thought and plan to do something with it at some point.

[Mick D]

Hi John,
your really going to enjoy this Cycle World article if you don,t already have it.

http://www.eurospares.com/graphics/chassis/LightWeightWeaponCycleGuide.pdf

Cheers

[topari]

http://www.eurospares.com/graphics/chassis/LightWeightWeaponCycleGuide.pdf

Good article, but I see the beginning of the small under-powered drum brakes. My 250B has a 160mm front and 150mm rear, compared to my KDX175 which had 110mm front and the KDX200 at 120mm.  I reckon if they had stuck to big drums the disk brake evolution would have been deferred for sometime. I also like cush hubs. Under very slipper conditions they work well. Love my old honda XL350.