Resurection of an 1986 Yamaha IT200

offrdr1975 · Dec 30, 2011

This thread details the restoration of an 1986 Yamaha IT200 that I bought with my Dad over the Thankgiving holiday. When we found it it was in pretty sad shape overall. The engine had no compression, the rear frame loop was broken off and it had been painted an ugly shade of dark blue. Luckily it was cheap.

Here is my Dad, so excited to have a new project. I have to thank him as he did most of the work on the bike. We live a 1000 miles apart so I left it with him in Illinois to work on.

First step in the project was to locate a new frame as this one was broken at the rear frame loop and the kickstand mounting point was broken off. After a little searching of Ebay this is what we found.

The only problem with the new frame is that it was yellow, otherwise it was in very good shape. Painting it the correct color of black would have normally been an easy project except that this frame has actually been powder coated yellow and the powder coating was in pretty good shape. At this point we made the decision that this IT would now have a yellow frame.

After the cleaning and inspecting the frame assembly was started. First we started with installing suspension and replacing or repacking all of the bearings. It was during this process that we discovered that the left front fork was bent. So off to Ebay again in search of a new set of forks.

The next step was the engine. As stated earlier the engine had no compression when purchased. After disassembly we found that that it needed bored and would need a new piston and rings. The crankshaft and rod were still in spec so just a crank seal replacement was needed. Here is a picture after the engine has been assembeled and installed.

Now time to clean up and install the rest of the rear suspension as well as the tank and the new front fender.

Here it is as running bike. We were still waiting on a new rear fender and side number plate at this point, but the bike was alive again.

After getting the engine broken in and a little fine tuning we were ready to start the final assembly. First up was a new rear fender and left side number number plate.

Next up were the final touches that included a new graphics, a seat cover, a clutch and a rear tailight. The bike is now complete and a lot of fun to ride.

ADK · Dec 30, 2011

Great job.
Do I win the bike if I can guess correctly what movie your quote is from?

JimVonBaden · Dec 30, 2011

Sweet!

I have an XT200 that I am going to do the same to!

I doubt mine will look as good as yours!

Jim

Tim McKittrick · Dec 30, 2011

I did one of those a few years back-

But my engine had been left outside and needed a crankshaft.... an item no longer available... at least not that I could find. My pitted and rusted unit was salvaged by my friendly machine shop, and with a new rod, bearings, and seals I was able to get it back together.

I think I put almost a half a tank of gas through it before I sold it to pursue other projects. Lately I seem to like working on them as much or more than riding them.

milq · Dec 30, 2011

Hey, I know that guy! Looks good, hope your holiday back here in FF has been fun.

JC

offrdr1975 · Dec 31, 2011

ADK said: ↑

Great job.
Do I win the bike if I can guess correctly what movie your quote is from?
Click to expand...

I am afraid there is no new bike for the guess, but if you have it correct I will be impressed by your knowledge of obscure 70's motorcycle movies.

offrdr1975 · Dec 31, 2011

Hey Jim, It looks like you have a great bike to start with on the old XT. We used to have an old 82 XT250. My brother still has fond memories of that bike. Good luck with the project

BirdsMC · Dec 31, 2011

The bike turned out great guys. If the guy in the background in picture #1 would spend a little more time working on his projects instead of looking on the computer for the next big deal. He might get something finished.

Bounder · Dec 31, 2011

Thats a great job! I had an IT175J years ago, I installed a twin leading shoe front brake plate off a YZ490, it worked well.
Just a heads up, The Yamaha Blaster YFS200 quad has this engine so parts should still be available for it from Yamaha.

ADK · Dec 31, 2011

offrdr1975 said: ↑

I am afraid there is no new bike for the guess, but if you have it correct I will be impressed by your knowledge of obscure 70's motorcycle movies.
Click to expand...

http://youtu.be/hk2rbpnqQq4

offrdr1975 · Dec 31, 2011

ADK said: ↑

http://youtu.be/hk2rbpnqQq4
Click to expand...

I am impressed. Lol

NumberCruncher · Jan 28, 2013

Nice job.

How quiet is the stock exhaust?

NC

offrdr1975 said: ↑

This thread details the restoration of an 1986 Yamaha IT200 that I bought with my Dad over the Thankgiving holiday. When we found it it was in pretty sad shape overall. The engine had no compression, the rear frame loop was broken off and it had been painted an ugly shade of dark blue. Luckily it was cheap.

Here is my Dad, so excited to have a new project. I have to thank him as he did most of the work on the bike. We live a 1000 miles apart so I left it with him in Illinois to work on.

First step in the project was to locate a new frame as this one was broken at the rear frame loop and the kickstand mounting point was broken off. After a little searching of Ebay this is what we found.

The only problem with the new frame is that it was yellow, otherwise it was in very good shape. Painting it the correct color of black would have normally been an easy project except that this frame has actually been powder coated yellow and the powder coating was in pretty good shape. At this point we made the decision that this IT would now have a yellow frame.

After the cleaning and inspecting the frame assembly was started. First we started with installing suspension and replacing or repacking all of the bearings. It was during this process that we discovered that the left front fork was bent. So off to Ebay again in search of a new set of forks.

The next step was the engine. As stated earlier the engine had no compression when purchased. After disassembly we found that that it needed bored and would need a new piston and rings. The crankshaft and rod were still in spec so just a crank seal replacement was needed. Here is a picture after the engine has been assembeled and installed.

Now time to clean up and install the rest of the rear suspension as well as the tank and the new front fender.

Here it is as running bike. We were still waiting on a new rear fender and side number plate at this point, but the bike was alive again.

After getting the engine broken in and a little fine tuning we were ready to start the final assembly. First up was a new rear fender and left side number number plate.

Next up were the final touches that included a new graphics, a seat cover, a clutch and a rear tailight. The bike is now complete and a lot of fun to ride.

Click to expand...

Scampbell24 · Apr 17, 2019

I am late to the game but I am curious what you did with the carb. Were you lucky enough all it needed was a clean or did it need a kit? I recently got an 86 myself. In the same process. Just ordered new plastics, boots, and decals. Not sure if I am gonna get it showroom clean or just semi clean and hit the trails. Any pointers would be awesome. Thanks!

Just4Fun11 · Apr 18, 2019

The bike turned out sweet. Blue looks killer!
The house/road seems right out of the movie dang
Keihin 34 pj carb (stock trx250r) can be found for a decent price on atv forums, they worked pretty well on blasters. Way better top end with a pipe silencer.

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