Welcome Mitch. I have the same bike. For your headlamp, I suggest an ebay seller named Pobit. He sells after market bulbs that fit. An OEM Japanese bulb will be very expensive, if you can find one. About your tank, If the rust is internal, any "repair" has, at best, a 50/50 or less chance of lasting very long. That tank fits 74 and75. I would go shopping for a better tank. Lots of resources in the Tech section, check them out.

Hello my name is Wyatt. I'm from Wisconsin. I feel very young here with everyone else starting with these bikes in the 70's. I'm just an 18 year old who took interest in old bikes.

I have a 1978 DT175E which is turning into quite the money pit. At least for a broke college student. The bike was originally my grandfather's, who took it off an old rock pile and fixed it up. It then got passed through the family and ended up sitting in my brothers garage for a few years. I gave a generous offer of $1 for the bike.  He gladly accepted as long as I could get it home which was a 3 hour ride. I was 16 at the time and had never driven anything with less than 4 wheels. So, the next best option? How about tossing it in the back of a mini van. 

After it was home I decided to try and start it and take it for a ride around the field. This resulted in me kicking my hardest to try to start it, then a few attempts at role starts. Imagine my surprise when I found that you can turn the gas on and off. The only thing close to that I had driven was a 1963 Yamaha Grizzly which didn't have a clutch or a hidden neutral. So after starting the motorcycle I figure just shift up and give it some gas to go. I assume everyone here knows what happens when you do that. I quickly figure out what a clutch was but didn't have the technique of slowly releasing the clutch yet. I resulted to holding at 6000 RPM then dump the clutch and take off which lasted for a few rides slowly getting better. I now know that is not what your supposed to do but it took me a lot of trial and error to figure out how to get a smooth take off. 

At the age of 17 I was feeling pretty good about my abilities and started to go through the woods on some trails and down my long gravel road with a few sharp turns. I overcooked it one time and dropped the bike onto my left leg leaving a pretty gnarly scar, as well as scaring the poo out of me. Bike was leaking gas and was scraped almost as bad as me, didn't start so it was a long painful walk home. I didn't ride the bike on anything other than grass for months out of fear.

Finally got a probationary motorcycle license till I take my drivers test. Found out that the bike wasn't exactly "street legal". And of course that stopped me from taking it on the road Don't worry it street legal now and I even have collectors plates in the mail coming soon

I got around to replacing some of the damaged items from that gravel crash which led me to finding problem after problem. Starting with the left blinker that was currently broken off and quite literally holding on by a thread.  Next the headlight and taillight stopped working, finding a completely melted rectifier assembly at the base of the problem. Battery was original, which surprisingly didn't hold a charge, who needs lights anyway. Neutral light didn't work, just tested by slowly letting go of the clutch and seeing if the bike tried to run away from me, I was happy when I found out it was just the bulb.  Most recent was the horn, all that was left of the old one was the broken off mountings. I figured, "how hard could it be to find a 6 volt horn?"  every automotive place I checked just laughed at me and said good luck. Which luck I had when I found one on Ebay in Arizona. Now I am in search of some grips that match the original.

I seem to be rambling, thanks to anyone who has read this far. Hope to help people with their problems and find help for my own.

 from Salisbury, UK, Wyatt.

Looks like I missed your original post, or I would have replied then.

Places like HVC, Economy Cycle and Partzilla in the US, or CMSNL, Saxmoto, Yambits and Sumo Rubber in Europe/UK can sort you out for a lot of parts. I also use fleabay a lot, but you first need to do your research and find out exactly what a part looks like before buying from there - a lot of (innocently) mis-described parts on there.  

 from th UK.

Hi, another newbie checking in.  I'm in my 60's, retired, live in Lake Havasu City, AZ and I've been restoring a 69 AT1.  I've restored a few Hodakas, a few vintage mini bikes, and pretend I know my way around a 67 Coronet RT.  I greatly appreciate the work you all have done in creating and maintaining this site, and best of all, sharing the information.  

Here are (I hope) some photos of the AT1, and latest projects.  Thanks for having me.

 from th UK.
Lovely looking AT1, just getting towards the end of my restoration of my AT1-C, they're great bikes.

Welcome from Michigan!
looks like you will fit right in around here.

Welcome from Germantown Tennessee 

Hi to all from Queensland Australia.
My name is Tony Wilkinson and a proud new owner of a 1982 DT175!
I have been around bikes all my life. My father was a bike mechanic and still at age 70 restores and ridas classics 4 and 2 strokes.
My first road legal bike was a Yamaha MR50 enduro/trail bike.
not the quickest but back in the mid 80s it was enough for a skinny 15 year old
I have always loved 2ts and had many over the years.
My pride and joy ATM is my 1990 TZR250 3MA 3
Quite rare and a heap of fun on a track or the road.
I plan to restore the DT and use it as a fun get around town bike and hit a few trails from time to time.
Well best get on with stripping the carb down and pop in on the ultrasonic bath!
Thanks all and I look forward to reading up on these magic wee bikes   

 from Salisbury, UK.