46 |AUTUMN 2019
The IT crowd
There Iwas in theworkshopwhen aflashbackto
myearlyworkingyears in thelast centuryhappened
thanks toaphrase spokenbyaladIservedmy
apprenticeship withalong timeago. Effectivelythe
wording is “You knowwhat it is...”butit wasa
catch-all phrase spoken as “y’knaaworri’tiz, Will...”
asthe oldblokehadahabit of callingeveryone
‘Will’ forsomereason.This phrase often came up in
exasperation as somethingwent wrong or instructions
to do withsomethingwere not as comprehensive
as theycould havebeen. Thiswasthe casewiththe
Yamaha IT465that will soon be persuaded into life...
or itwouldbe ifIcouldonlyrememberwhereall the
bitswent...
As detailed in last issue,thisprojecthasbeen on
hold forawhile for severalreasonsand therehas been
alonggapbetweenthelast hands-onepisode with
thebike and thisone. The problem is it’sbad enough
stripping somethingdownand leaving itovernight,
nevermindacoupleof years, so there’sbeenalot of
midnight oil burnt as partswere laidout, identified
and matched upagainst thenewbits that arrived
in the meantime.Thereare lotsof nuts andbolts in
genuineYamaha packaging and itwouldhavebeen
obvious whichones hadbeen ordered, but untilIfind
mynotes of that period and the associated pictures
then things will haveto staypackaged, plustheidea is
to usethe bike in someevents and then make it look
nice for displaysetc.
Rummaging throughthe boxes and laying stuff out
washelped considerablybythe acquisitionof afull
length of kitchenworktopandIhad thewelcome,but
unusual, opportunitytolaythings out on it beforeit
got cut up andfitted intoaspace.
During theemptying of theboxesafewthings
turned up thatIthoughtIhad lost,things suchas
the specialrear brakebarrel, shapedsothe brake
roddoesn’t need to be unscrewed toremoveit.As
the modelwasexpected to do duty in international
enduros, wherefixing things suchaspunctures
needed tobedoneas fastaspossible, thereare lotsof
handylittle tweaksto speed tasks up and the brake
rodbarrel is cutawaysopushingthespring up allows
it to liftout,saving precious seconds.This bitturned
up in withtheold clutchsprings.
Luckily, I’velearnt nevertothrowanythingaway
until a) the bike isfinished; b) the newbit is safely in
theworkshop; orc) no oneelse needs it andpreferably
all three. This iswhytheremains of theoriginal
throttle arestill kickingabout. I’vehadseveraloffersof
help fromreaders andtomyshame I’venotgot back
to themyet, butIwill.
VenhillEngineering doadual positiontwistgrip
that offers bothafastaction MX position andaslower
enduroone,depending onarider’sneeds.One ofthese
throttlesisnowsafelyinmyworkshop. It requires a
different cabletothe standardone,whichVenhill can
supplyorauniversal one so anowner canmakeone
up asrequired, butasit happened for us both types
were out of stock.Aboveleft:The
originalthrottleis
beyonduse, butthis
oneseemsbetter.
Aboveright:It has
dual positioningforfast
ormediumaction.Belowleft:Sorting
throughthebits in
boxesisalwaysfun.
Belowright:
Identifyingnewbitsis
evenmorefun.