A forum for owners of Yamaha TTR250 trail and enduro bikes!

Hi All!

My name's Stef and I recently joined the forum.

I used to commute daily for many years and sold my last bike (a Suzuki SV650S) about 5 years due to increased whinging from the Mrs - something to do with bikes being dangerous or something - wasn't really listening but did eventually give in :(

Well, the itch never really went away and earlier this month, I bit the bullet and bought myself a 2004 TTR.

It hadn't been used much by the previous owner and was standing for some time (about 6 months from what I understand). It hasn't got many miles and needs some TLC but having been out over the weekend with a friend who has only recently got into biking (he's on a DT125RE in blue - so we're colour coded!), I am still grinning like a Cheshire cat! It's good to be back!

I've owned various bikes over the years, one of which was a Honda NX650 Dominator - lovely thumper - when it worked! It was out of action for about 3 months while the dealer was sourcing parts to repair it and as a loan bike, I was given a TTR 250 and abosolutely loved it - it felt like a grown up version of the KMX125 which I had in my younger years :)

Looking for a bike to go green laning on (never done that before) and researching all sorts of options, my mind kept coming back to the TTR - and I'm so glad it did. The bike seems ideal for a bit of road work and fun on the lanes.

I struggled to the get the bike started when I had it delivered. The battery was flat as it had been standing, so charged that up and electric starter doing it's thing, there was no sign of it firing up, so on with the usual checks....

Spark - yes

Fuel - drained the tank and filled with fresh fuel

Open up carb drain plug to check fuel flow - oh crap, it's rounded off and needs to be extracted - better do that soon before it's an actual problem!

Removed spark plug and put down about 5ml of fuel into the cylinder. Tried starting, fired for a second so assuming that fuel was the issue, I removed the carb and float bowl and both jets were covered in birght greenish gunk - guess that fuel really was old!

I cleaned out the jets as best I could with carb cleaner spray (I don't have a compressor unfortunately), ran some wire round the jets and then put it all back together

Double checked everything, said a little prayer and then hit the starter button - after a few turns, she fired right up and has done since! :)

I've added indicators as there weren't any on there already (relay and associated wiring all present however) and some mirrors (too used to having these on my road bikes and couldn't do without them!). I also have an oil filter waiting to be installed. All the bits came from Steve @ Totally TTRs - great service and prompt dispatch, thanks Steve!! :)

Although the previous owner (based in Ely, Cambridgeshire) didn't seem to know about it, there appears to be a TRF Cambridgeshire sticker on the front of the bike and was wondering whether anyone here may recognise the bike?

There is an 'Outback Import' sticker on the rear fender and there were two more on the side panels that I have since removed, so while I assume it's an Australian bike, is there a way of verifying that?

Overall, I'm really happy with the bike but as always, there's a few bits that need doing (or I'd like to do anyway):

1) Oil and filter change

2) Spray the exhaust up in black as it's looking tired - eventually I will get a shorty pipe and Motad silencer from Steve but would like to tidy it up for now

3) Fit renthal handlebars

4) Investigate 'sticky' kickstart lever which, while it works in that it starts the bike, gets stuck in the 'down' position almost every time

5) Check whether restrictor is still present in the end of the header pipe and remove if so

6) Remove carb drain plug and replace with new one

I hope that in time I can contribute to what is already a thoroughly comprehensive forum - the amount of information, advice and guides on here and the FAQ is really really impressive! Thank you all!

Stef

-- Edited by stefk on Monday 10th of September 2018 12:04:28 PM