Welcome from Santa Clarita California !

Hello all,

Dave here in Colorado. FF for 20 years. Rode minis in my formative (dumb) years then on to CR then cruisers when the knees couldn't take CR position. Then finally found the bike I learned to ride on, 78 DT175. Had to have it and now working to get it looking good. . Got the DT running and now just have a few ground problems to chase. Thank you all for the help.Hello all,

Dave here in Colorado. FF for 20 years. Rode minis in my formative (dumb) years then on to CR then cruisers when the knees couldn't take CR position. Then finally found the bike I learned to ride on, 78 DT175. Had to have it and now working to get it looking good. . Got the DT running and now just have a few ground problems to chase. Thank you all for the help.

from Salisbury, UK.

It's been well over a year, I do believe, since I last posted. MarkT checked in on me a while back, and I assured him I had neither died of Covid nor sold all my bikes. I took some serious time off to get ready to hike the Appalachian Trail, all 2300 miles of it. Spent some $2000 upgrading my camping/hiking/wearing gear, spent lots of time drying fruit and meat, and spent even more time walking (up to ten miles a day) instead of my usual bicycle riding (2000-4000 miles per year depending) to prepare the body. I stepped off March 5 from Amicalola State Park in GA. I made it 31 miles in 5 days before my left knee caused me to give it up. I did the approach trail which takes you up 604 steps on a steep staircase before the actual trail. That, I think, was what did me in. I spent only one of those days in sun; the rest were under overcast or rainy skies. One night it rained 18 straight hours. The last night I was at Windy Gap, and I thought I knew wind living in Casper, WY. When the knee dropped out, I was facing two days in the single digits and snowfall of 5" the next day. That would have been in a two-day length of wilderness. The potential for a fall under a heavy pack on what varied from loose rock to slanted rock to mossy rock to slippery rock as I climbed and descended 2000' just was not my idea of fun. In driving home to Casper, I thought a lot of Robin Williams' HBO show, the part about how the Scots invented golf: making it absolutely as hard as possible, and I started planning a parody of such to describe the opening of the Trail northbound.
So I was not supposed to finish until September, but I now find myself with 4 months (on top of the two I have already been awaiting Wyoming's warm weather) to work on Yammies.
So since I was out of touch for so long, I'll repost my original intro from 2015, and then I'll just resume being the guy with the long last name...

Well, after a long delay, here I is. Mothersbaugh is who I will be here, jim663 is who I is over on the other site. Got started in 2010 when the Enduro I wanted in high school/college appeared in the local classifieds: 1972 CT-2; make offer. And for $150, I was in. Up to my eyeballs. Have since acquired a pair of 1971 AT-1's, one of which is a 175 with a 74 jug, head and carb, a pair of 1971 CT-1's (one of the few Enduros with the factory close ratio transmission, and =0.6ema 1986 Harley Davidson FXRS. I have also added recently a pair of 69 AT-1's, a 75 DT125B, a 74 DT250A, a 74 DT175A, and a 75 Honda CT90. I have attended two Endurofest rides, famous in the Moab ride for breaking down in the rain right in front of a winery during a tasting event and waiting it out there while the posse rode back and got my car/trailer for me, and famous in the Ourey ride for falling over on my right side on my XT-350 (since sold) while at a dead standstill on some rocks, thus bunging up my knee.
I also restore and ride vintage bicycles, putting in 1200-2000 miles every summer on those. By trade I am a classical musician (violinist) and a retired public school music teacher, and I buy and sell, as well as work on, violins and bows, too. Summers, too, I was the man in the blue shirt and short-billed cap that you love to holler at when attending your kids' and grandkids' baseball games.
Probably won't be posting much here right away; looks like there is a lot to digest before I get comfortable again, even though I have met many of you. Thanks for having me back.

Hello, my name is David and I am brand new to motor cycles in general. I rebuilt a 1975 Triumph Spitfire when I was in high school but haven't had an opportunity to work on anything until just last week. My father in law was cleaning out one of his old barns and uncovered a 1970 DT1 that he had bought at a farm auction 15 years ago, fired up once, and never got around to fixing it up. I brought it home and have started tearing it down, getting the old gas and lacquer out of the tank, getting all of the fluids that used to be in the engine off of the outside of the block, the frame, and every other inch of the lower half of the bike. I figured like when I was working on my Spitfire it would be a good idea to go ahead and join the appropriate forum because there is generally a wealth of knowledge and resources for where to find parts.

I took a picture before I started tearing things down and I'll start a progress thread at some point and include pictures of the process. I've had some people tell me to keep the patina and just stop the rust but I think that with the condition the bike is in currently, I'm going to go the opposite route and fully clean it up, get the frame powder coated, and all of the parts repainted over the course of the next year or so.

I'm looking forward to getting this thing cleaned up and running.

What you have is actually a 1970 DT1 C .
Quite a different beast to a 74 DT 250 , which had a completely redesigned chassis and engine to yours .

 from the UK.

From the photo, the bike looks in good enough condition for just an "oily rag" restoration and a fitting of missing parts - it's only original once, as has been said here a few times! 

Compare the frame/engine number (they were originally the same) with those in the VIN tables in the Tech Library (see top toolbar) to determine which model you have. Once you know this, you can source the missing parts and download the correct manuals, also from the Tech Library.

You are totally right, I finally uncovered the Vin number and ran it against the lookup on here. My father in law had told me it was a 74 and just decoded it to a 70 DT1, thanks for the confirmation!

I’m Don, 66 in Toowoomba, Australia. Third bike I owned was an RT3 I bought new in 1973. Had some porting done to it and a Bassani chamber. Absolutely loved that bike. 50 years and 20 bikes later, I just bought a RT2 in original condition which I intend to get registered and slowly rejuvenate (as money permits).

Don