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

Jeff B · Senior Member

2006 TT250R Restomod - USA street legal

KiwiJeff · Senior Member

Hi Jeff B,
What a great job !
Do you think that you will have any trouble getting it certified for road use as I think the TTR250 was never a model that you could use on the road in the USA ?
Maybe the authorities in some States are “kinder” than others.
Cheers
The other Jeff B

Jeff B · Senior Member

Hi other Jeff B!

Its already certified for road use. I worked with a legal firm to get it titled and registered. Our annual road inspection process requires lights, brake lights, turn signals, horn and a valid VIN number that is registered with a title. Done!

Oh yes, insurance is required to get it registered for road use. That was a challenge as well.

-- Edited by Jeff B on Tuesday 13th of July 2021 01:51:01 PM

KiwiJeff · Senior Member

Jeff B,
Again, well done !
I guess this shows that if you are prepared to spend the coin, you can do just about anything.
Freighting a Frame from Aussie and having to get Lawyers involved to get it on the road, shows dedication and you deserve praise for that.
So now you have a Road Legal one, an Off-Road “Dirty” one and what we call a “Christmas Tree” (one that you pick Parts off as required).
Cheers, Beers and well done again
The Other Jeff B

TTRfan · Super Guru

Absolutely brilliant Jeff - a labour of love it seems wink

The forum has been very quiet of late and your post was just what was needed to brighten it up with some really good new content!

Great job!

Brian

PS What frame paint did you use please? I have found it difficult to source a good match for the Yam metallic blue.

PPS You have also confirmed a long-held suspicion of mine that TTR250s aren't as sensitive to carb jetting as many owners believe biggrin

Jeff B · Senior Member

Thanks KiwiJeff.

I hope to share a beer with you someday after this pesky pandemic stuff settles down.

Believe it or not, it wasn't as expensive as you might think. I bought the frame on Ebay and it cost $500 (360 pounds) including shipping. Legal paperwork cost $650 (468 pounds). Total cost was about $4500 (3240 pounds) which was what they cost new in the US in 2006. I was able to sell some parts from the parts bikes to recoup their cost (but I still have a spare running motor). I spent about 70 hours on the whole project which includes breaking down the parts bikes and refurbishing parts for the build. I kept a portable drill with a Scotchbrite pad on it handy to polish bolts and bits.

I was lucky to get the frame as cheaply as I did because they went up a good bit in price. Also, the wire loom that I purchased from Steve at Totally TTRs was the only one available. I was also very fortunate with this build to be able to get new and used parts from Steve. New parts from the Yamaha dealers in England (if available at) cost a fortune. Rear indicator mounting brackets are tough to get as well. The stock silencer was a must as I wanted this to look as original as possible. I still need to install the chainguard and refurbish the rear fender grab handle.

Jeff B · Senior Member

Thanks Brian!

It definitely was a labour of love. All of your work and knowledge around these wonderful bikes was an inspiration to me.

The paint I used was PJ1 #17-YB8 Blue which should be used with primer #18-PRMG for best results.

Yamaha paint.JPG

It is as tad darker than original because the original paint is usually a bit faded. But the metallic glossy finish is excellent.

Actually, I found that jetting becomes a bugger with any exhaust modifications. All my bikes have to be jetted differently as each of the exhaust arrangements are different. I believe the gearing also plays into this as well. The offroad 13/52 gearing revs quickly and does not strain the engine as much as the 13/46 gearing and higher speed of the street bike. The street 13/46 gearing does not feel quite as torquey down low so I tend to accelerate harder and use more throttle which uses the main jet. I've found that I use 1/4 or less throttle most of the time doing offroad technical riding but I use 1/4 to full throttle most of the time onroad.

I originally jetted this bike with a 52.5/140 which is slightly richer than stock. It had no low end pull and was lean on the main jet. You can see the discoloration on the inlet of my header pipe. It was glowing red. I put in a 145 jet and the pipe no longer glowed. It still bogged on the small jet but ran fine on the main jet. I put in the stock 50 small jet and set the fuel screw to 2.75 turns out. Now she runs smooth and is happy! I'll eventually do another spark plug check to verify if I need to tweak the jet needle position as it is in the stock (middle) position now.

KiwiJeff · Senior Member

Hi Jeff,
You are on for that/those beer/s. 🍻🍻
My Wife and I still have a dream to fly to the US and drive to New Orleans, then up to Memphis and then head west to California, along Route 66.
We are fully “jabbed up” so are ready to go but can’t see it happening for awhile yet.
Trouble is that we are not getting any younger while we wait and driving on the other side of the road and car, plus the big distances might be ...........

Are you still looking for some Rear Indicator Brackets ?
I’ve just had a rummage through my “excess to requirements” box and there are a pair in there.
I took the standard indicators off and fitted little ones that mount up on the rear guard (Motrax ?) on the advice of “Super Guru” Brian as we Old Fellas have trouble slinging a leg up and over (I know what you are thinking !) without whacking an Indicator Lamp.

I’m not clued enough to understand all the jetting talk but I can throw into the mix that I bought my TTR off Yamaha NZ’s expert on tuning and building of their racing machines and he had done the 263cc modification and a few other tweaks and it runs a NGK CR8E Spark Plug.
I have previously asked if he would disclose his tuning secrets but no.
The Sprockets are 14/44.

Cheers
Jeff (Where have I heard that name before ?)
PS good that your Parents could spell and you didn’t end up a Geoff.

PurpleWheels · Veteran Member

That's a nice collection of bikes! End result is a really nice and clean bike, and great pictures of the work!

PurpleWheels · Veteran Member

PurpleWheels wrote:
That's a nice collection of bikes! End result is a really nice and clean bike, and great pictures of the work!

BTW, we are almost identical in terms of height, weight and age, and I find my Raid very comfortable to ride. Last Sunday I did a 160 km ride, some 40 km on a sandy trail and the rest on roads.

I tend to sit quite far back on the seat where the foam is thinner and I am now modifying a spare seat I have with some extra foam. if it works out I'll share some pictures later in the modifications section.

/Simo

Dunes Mondoukou S.JPG

-- Edited by PurpleWheels on Friday 30th of July 2021 02:45:22 PM

Jeff B · Senior Member

Thanks Simo!

Your absolutely right about sitting farther back on the seat for longer rides. I am curious what you come up with.

Given the bike's attractive swooping fender to seat to tank design, this will be challenging for you.

I've seen other mods and they make the bike look out of proportion. Like this one...

Padded seat.jpg

I'm sure this is quite comfortable and many riders may like it but I guess I'm a bit of a purist with this bike. Prefer minimal mods as possible.

Keep us posted on your mods

PurpleWheels · Veteran Member

Hi Jeff,

Seat modification is done and mounted on my bike. I agree, it does look a little out of proportion, but then again, I won't see it while sitting on it and enjoying the comfort! biggrin

https://ttr250.activeboard.com/t67831218/comfort-seat-for-raid/?page=last#lastPostAnchor

/Simo

Jeff B · Senior Member

Udate - Uh oh...Engine Failure.

After putting about 1000km on the bike I had to tear down the engine due to a knocking sound and increasing amounts of aluminum and steel shavings in the oil. The knocking sound only occurred when beginning to release the clutch so I monitored the oil after each change. I found that the cause was due to the stator side crank bearing case sleeve (the steel race in the crankcase) spinning and wearing into the aluminum housing. This was similar to this post: https://ttr250.activeboard.com/t67273597/good-day-from-sunny-south-africa/.

Crank bearing case failure_20210821_04.jpg

Notice the shiney area circled in red on the crank flywheel side case bearing. I was able to rotate this about 4mm with the screwdriver.

The crankcase bearing race sleeve also spins with the bearing and has enlarged the opening to the point that the crankshaft has endplay. The flywheel was beginning to scrape against the stator but did not damage it.

Crank bearing case failure_20210823_6.jpg

Notice the worn area circled in red inside the stator case cover housing. That's where the flywheel bolt head and washer was hitting the stator case cover.

Fortunately, the stator still works fine. No noticeable damage. The bike ran fine before the teardown. The crankshaft piston rod and bearing is ok.

CAUSE?

This engine was from a non-running parts bike that I bought for this build. I found that the engine must have been running so lean that it dropped an exhaust valve and the piston and head were beating up pretty bad. I believe that was what caused the bearing case sleeve to become loose

Thanks goodness I was able to pick up another parts bike that smoked like a chimney. Other than that, it ran fine. I'll swap the engines and the top ends and I should be back on the road.

What about the Ebay SPRAG?

The sprag looks just fine and shows normal wear. No scoring at all. I'll be reusing it. I updated the original post with pictures: https://ttr250.activeboard.com/t66876362/new-sprag-clutch-assembly-on-ebay/