Classic Dirt Bike – August 2019

Afew pointers

Yo uneedanSC500

I’ve just become asubscriber

to your great magazine.

On opening issue 50Iwas

inte rested to see the piece on

the SC500 ‘widowmaker.’

As it isIhavejust bought

averygood conditionbike

fromthe US,that the seller

has beenracing in classic

motoevents.

I’dbeinterested to

understand what kind of

price they arelisted at in

Europe.Not that I’m selling

it. Anyinformationwouldbe

greatlyappreciated.

Garry Maidment

Email

Over toyou, readers...–Tim

Original DID rims –warning

Ihavejust read about the

IT465 update andthe sensible

decision tofitnew rims to

the bike.

Hereare photosofmy

CR250R original DIDrear rim

and what happenedwhen

Iremovedthe spokes. Allit

tookwasatap withahammer

and therim sprung apart

quite viciously.

The front rim lookedtobe

in excellent condition until

Iremovedthe tyreand rim

tape–fullofhairline cracks

onlyvisible fromthe inside and

if youlookclosely thehairline

cracks arevisible without

removing the tyre, although

theyare immediatel yvisible

from the inside onceyouhave

removedit.

Thereare sixcrack sinall

and twoofthemare exactly

opposite eachotherreadyto

join up inasimilarwaytothe

rear rim.Ireckon itwasthe

tyreand spokesthat held the

rims together,however theyare

all 40years oldnow and have

had ahardlife.

SteveParkins, email

Frightening imagesSteve.

As youfound on theinitial

inspection, the rims lookedfine.

Then Ihad acloser lookwhen

it came tofitting tyresand well,

the rest is asyousay –Tim

As aseasoned ITowner and
restorer/collector, (I've only
beenwithout an IT between
the ages of 21 and 24, I'm now
53!), Ican addafew poin tersto
the latest editionofyour build
in issue 51 ofClassic Dirtbike.
The 1981 465 didnothavea
boost bottle but the1981250
did.Then,in 1982boththe 250
and 465 had boostbottles.
Your bikelooks like itwas
‘endo’d’–ordone aforward
flip –asthe subframe loop
and rear fender lookslightly
curveddown.The sidesofthe
subframe shouldbe straight.
Thesidestand bracketlooks
home-made whichiswhy the
sidestandhasapoor closed
position.Ihave to sayyou will
almost certainlyneverfind a
centrestand... but goodluckif
youtry!
Lookingatthe alloytank you
have I’dsay it is a1981 tank
and, as far asIcan tell, from
an IT125.
Forreference I’ve sent a
photoof my 1982aloft in my
den. NOSbodyworkincluding
1981 tank. I’ve had the490 in

the corner since 1991, the other

is aUK1 980

IT425... and one of only50

imported backthen. Every

nut, boltwasher etc on the 465

were replacedwithgenuine/

NOS(plu smanyother bits).

Wheels on the bikewere

rebuiltwith Moradrims and

the biggestrear 17intyreI

couldfind –a5.60 Cheng Shin–

butoddlystillnot nearlyasbig

in profile as the original5.60in

tractortyre.

It neversat well withmeon

either the non-originalrims

or thetyreprofile,it’squite a

characteristic lookwhen you

studyanew 465 or brochurepic.

One daythe EnduroGods

looked down on me andIfound

apair of NOScomplete wheels,

in Germany. Theyweretaken

off acomplete,dismantled

NOS IT465, complete with the

original IRC tyres and 1981

Yamaha factoryair in the tubes.

Haven’tgot round tofitting

themyet though. All the best

with the project.

Dave Mountford

email



ThewinnerofStarLetterwill receive

aprizefromtheBel Raycatalogue

Dave,that’ salot of extra

information for the project and

thankyoufor takingthe time

topass it on.Your email landed

via Chris Claydon soIcan’t

actually get back to youasthe

returnwasn’ton. It wouldbe

interesting tocheckout agood

IT465. Ours appears to be a

mix of all sortsofyearsbut

havingsatdownwith engine

and frame number infoI’m

certain (ish)what we have is

probablya1982model. So,

boost bottle required. Aswe

said in the feature there have

been some hiccupswith the

project butwe’r eonwith it

nowand hope to have more

progress soon–Tim

72 |Dirt talk

DIRTTALK

Writetousat: ClassicDIRTbike,POBox 99 ,Horncastle,[email protected]