This post 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 assembled 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.
