Published - Oct 7, 2021

Comments - 2

Bol d’Oregon 6 Hour Endurance Race

Bol d’Oregon 6 Hour Endurance Race.  Portland Oregon October 3, 2021. Awoke early in Portland, before my 6am alarm. I had packed my “race bag” with snacks and race required fire extinguisher the night before. Slipped into my race suit and pulled my hooded sweatshirt over the outside for a bit more comfort during the commute. Immediately […]

Published - Dec 8, 2020

Comments - 0

Someday you’ll own a Yamaha

Man, I still think the Yamaha IT is the best. Light enough to do all the tight nimble stuff you want. Powerful enough to keep up with modern dirt bikes. Can be pretty easily street legal. Can pretty much do it all except extended highway, def can’t do that. Can’t get enough of these old […]

Published - Jan 6, 2019

Comments - 2

1980 Yamaha IT250

I’m excited about picking up this trail boss. Should be a lot of fun.

Published - May 2, 2018

Comments - 3

XT BOIZ

I’ve been sweating XT500’s for a few years now.  Something about a bike that can go anywhere, do anything, and not look like a dadbike (no offense to the DadZ1000 crew, Harley Cosplayers, and the new Bumble BMW crew) just struck a cord with me.   When my boy Cooney sent me a bike that was 20 […]

Published - Mar 14, 2018

Comments - 0

IT250 trans fixed

There is a blog post I meant to make showing the engine cases split and trans all disassembled. Showing the new crank installed and me confused about what was wrong with the trans because everything looked perfect. I forgot to make that post oops. So… Turns out the it250 has a spring loaded pin inside […]

Published - Dec 11, 2017

Comments - 3

Dirt bike front suspension

Maybe I’m wrong in thinking this way; but I never put much effort into fine tuning the front suspension on my other bikes. For example, on my 74 Z1, I bought progressive suspension brand front springs, put them in with the pvc spacers… it was stiffer, so I thought, “cool, feels good, done”. I didn’t […]

Published - Nov 20, 2017

Comments - 6

IT250 conundrum

So things are getting weird. For clarity, other than popping out of gear which is the reason for the tear down, my it250 runs super crisp. Gobs of power. Compression is spot on. After taking the cylinder off, the piston looks perfect. Zero scoring on piston or cylinder. Rings also look perfect. So I didn’t […]

Published - Nov 14, 2017

Comments - 0

Your dirt bike is junk

I’m sure it is. Mine is. My IT250 suspension is clapped out like mikes moms squeeze box. It’s beat the F up. Since it’s the start of winter I’m taking some time to redo a couple things. My bike always pops out of gear so gonna sort the trans, but more importantly… do the suspension. […]

Published - May 17, 2016

Comments - 5

Old Toyota Truck Ads

While doing Yamahauler sticker research I fell into an internet hole of old toyota pickup advertisements. I love everything about the old Toyotas. I like that they were just called ‘pickup’ and were basic small trucks with great colors options and even better graphics. The new trucks just don’t have that same cool look as […]

Published - Dec 14, 2015

Comments - 2

Local Builder Bill Becker

In case you don’t follow BikeExif.com our friend and local Philly guy, Bill Becker, has yet another article about a recent XS650 build. If you attended a 2 Wheel Tuesday at The Abbaye this past summer you might have seen Bill stop by on the XS650. It looks great in the pictures but the up […]

Published - Jun 6, 2015

Comments - 4

Dirt bike weekend – May 2015

Trails up in Reading PA are pretty awesome. No rules, and a river to swim in once you’re tired and dirty. Some pics from Brian R, vids from Jake, and Instagram random. @chinonthetank hill climb #readingdirtbikegetaway A video posted by Nate King (@natemking) on May 30, 2015 at 5:06pm PDT Getting cocky on the IT […]

Published - May 14, 2015

Comments - 19

Big wheels

I know these big wheel bikes aren’t great in the woods and a normal dirt bike is better, but man… I want one. It’d still probably be a lot of fun. Does anyone know anything about these mid-1980s Yamaha big wheels?  It looks like they came in 80cc / 200cc / 350cc. They’re way cooler […]

Published - May 8, 2015

Comments - 8

Drinking The DT Kool-Aid

This week we added three more buddies to the COTT Vintage Enduro team. If you don’t have an old enduro you’re missing out. They need a little cleanup but are runners. The red DT actually has a wrangler jean jacket made into a cover with a serious fade. And if you needed any more reason […]

Published - Feb 16, 2015

Comments - 7

DT / MX Motor Swap Fail

Last year I met an older guy at Ride 2 Skate. Ed and I had rode our dirt bikes down to the show and this guy was pumped on them. He said he used to build and race flat track with the DT’s back in the day. He explained the hot setup was to use […]

Published - Sep 17, 2014

Comments - 42

Replace Yamaha 2 stroke crank seals

Since a lot of friends have been getting 70’s and 80’s Yamaha 2 stroke dirt bikes, and I’ve done this a couple times now on my CT1-175 due to the motor blowing up, I figured I’d do a basic write up on how to change the crank seals. First off… Why do you care and […]

Published - Sep 16, 2014

Comments - 11

79 IT250 – progress

The IT is coming along. Got the Vermont registration so I can actually ride the thing legally now Sorted out all the little missing bolts and retarded shit from the previous owner. Needs a different silencer. Looking for a good, used DG piece. Got it cleaned up. The blue and yellow is pretty wild looking. […]

Published - Aug 28, 2014

Comments - 6

79 Yamaha MX175 – Impulse Buy #2

Another good one popped up on craigslist for $350. Adam and I decided to buy it together. Drove 2.5 hours to the tip-top of hickville NJ. We ended up getting it for a fair price of $300. In case you didn’t know… Yamaha made “MX” versions of the DT. If you walked into a Yamaha […]

Published - Aug 26, 2014

Comments - 12

79 Yamaha IT250 – impulse buy #1

Ya know… I’ve always been impulsive with making decisions. Yesterday was one of those days. Someone in middle-north NJ put a Yamaha IT250 on craigslist. Within 2 hours I called him and decided to go check it out. The guy wanted $650. I bought it for $540. No title. Stuff like this goes quick, so […]

Published - Aug 5, 2014

Comments - 5

Cycle Mechanics | Yamaha 125/175 Hop-Up

I love the old performance modification articles. This guy Don Vesco looks like the man and apparently knows his shit when it comes to modifying 2-stroke bikes. If anyone reading this has any old enduro/dirt bike magazines from the 60’s or 70’s they want to sell, i’m interested.

Pit Stop 2

Published - Jun 30, 2014

Comments - 7

PHL to RDG

I went on a short trip this past weekend to Reading, where I grew up, for a friends Bachelor Party & to paint a couple signs for his wedding. I took my old Yamaha XS650 & my new Fuji X100. Avoided 76 & broke down once. These are the some of the photos… All Packed […]

Random
Blast
From Past

Published - Sep 2, 2012

get a real battery

It’s easy to overlook little shit. Ditch the shitty pep-boys battery. It’s going to eventually leak acid all over shit. Plus, they suck at holding a charge. Pick up a sealed gel or AGM (absorbed glass mat) battery. These come charged and ready to go, and for a good price. And, I think they look […]