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

Hi all,

I'm Simo, of Finnish origin but based in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, since 5 years. I have been riding, repairing and restoring bikes for a number of years in whatever country my work has taken me, most recently Kenya, the US and now Ivory Coast. I joined this forum some time back, so my apologies for taking this time to introduce myself.

My interest in the TTR 250 started while reading "Red tape and white knuckles" many years ago, and I started looking for one here in Abidjan soon after arriving here as it meets my requirements for a bike; light, capable, enough power for trail riding and commuting, good parts availability and simple to repair. While living in Kenya some years ago I also met some overlanders riding these across Africa at a friend's garage cum camping site (Jungle Junction in Nairobi). Due to the limited availability of used bikes here generally, and of smaller trail bikes specifically, it took me 5 years to finally find one for sale.

I found a well used (and abused!) Raid from the mid-90's, with the white tank, blue-purplish frame and the shiny purple rims. It had crashed and fallen on its right side, with some damage to the tank and the headlight support, and scratched side panels. I.e. the very parts that make a Raid a Raid...   However, the frame is straight, the forks as well, and the wheels are true, so that's a good start. And it was registered and had the required paperwork, which already is a challenge here for most used bikes. A good base for a project, at least considering where I live. The owner also had a second TTR 250, an OE with a broken engine which had been replaced with a Chinese Jialing (or Zhongshen?) 200 cc engine, and I managed to get the broken TTR engine as part of the deal. It came with most of the the kick start mechanism and the complete oil cooler, which I'll install on my Raid.

Here's a picture of the bike as bought. A bit rough, but it has plenty of cool stickers

A turbo TTR...? The condition is generally rough, but mostly complete.

So far I have taken it completely apart to go through the frame, suspension etc. and the more I disassemble it the more I find that needs fixing or replacing.

As I really didn't like the original frame colour, I stripped the frame completely and repainted it in silver metallic. That got rid of the surface rust I had found in a few areas, and is more pleasing for the eye even if it turned out a little more light and bright than I expected. Looks like aluminium in the picture ...

I have already placed three orders with Steve at TotallyTTRs for new and used parts, and I'll start assembling the bike. It'll take some time, I'm not in a hurry and working on the bike is my way of relaxing.

The last picture below shows the TTR 250 OE with the Chinese engine installed. Warning to any sensitive souls in this forum. Never mind it says "KTM" on the clutch cover, it has nothing to do with the KTM that we know. Intellectual property rights are a flexible concept in some countries. 

Looking forward to learning from other members' experiences with the TTR and sharing some of mine .

/Simo