Hello everyone,

I'm Norman from Switzerland. I've been playing around motorbike for almost 20 years now (since I got the first one at the age of 16 in 2006), a bit of a constant evolution, from road bikes, like a RGV 250 for the track and a T250 for roaming around Switzerland and a GS500 for longer trips (All Suzukis, the brand was not a choice but purely random finds). 


Then as I grew up I started feeling that riding on the track was just like being an animal in a zoo cage: I discovered trial bikes and I roamed the prealps in the region where I was botrn:

The mountains became hills and I started wondering what's behind the mountains in the horizon, so after doing a 100+ km trial ride (14 hrs on the bike), I decide to start traveling with the motorbike. I did so in 2015 with a KLE 500 around the Balkans, beautiful but the bike was limiting me a lot, not enough dirt oriented. 
Back then, the new "Africa Twin" was not yet invented, so the old XRV 650 "Swiss version" with the big square light, were still sold for a bargain. 
I've bought one with 50'000 km on it at the end of the same year, then I went all around with it, in 2016 all the way to Georgia with a pretty standard bike.
In 2017 I went to Spain and again to the Balkans, the bike started getting into shape, here in Spain in some random mud, the home made fiberglass snorkel is visible and working very well:


Then 2018 was a big year, central Asia, Mongolia, Russia, etc. Here somehwere in Mongolia:

Then in 2019 something similar with a lot of stuff I couldn't see the year before, like some nuclear blast holes in Kazakhstan:

Then in 2020 I started discovery and appreciating the desert, so I went to Morocco:


Then the Africa Twin, fully modified and adapted to me, had around 200'000 km, was still going like a good two stroke engine (1 liter of oil every 2000 km). I've got a more offroad oriente bike, a Yamaha WR400, which accompained me for the last 4 years all around Europe and North Africa. Great bike, I love it and it's amazing to ride.

Now to the big deal:
a long time ago my father got a DT400B from the States, we dismounted it and started restoring it. 
Now I'm putting it back together, there is a lot of work and stuff missing, I've already found some answers on this forum, which is great!

Here the bike with the frame parts put back together:
Everything has been replated-repainted, the rear shock is still missing and undergoing (one of the answers I've found on this forum!)

The engine was in bad shape, the side magnesium covers were highly corroded. I've painted everything in 2k, I hope it will last:




And here the current status today:
The bike is missing multiple parts which are currently blocking me for moving it forwards:

The whole electric wiring is missing with the whole components (CDI, coil, blinker relays, etc). I have the rotor and stator.
I was wondering what to do for this as I'm not even sure if the stator is working:
Would you advise me to conver the bike to 12VDC?

I've seen online there is a plug and play kit for that with all the components. I feel like it's the best solution but I would like a feedback. The rotor should work with the kit.

Next question is about the auto decompression valve: everything is missing except the black rubber cover and the lever inside the engine.
Is it a must part for the bike?
I saw there are a couple for sale online but they are very expensive. What would you suggest?

These are my first two questions
Nice to meet you all!
Cheeryo,

Norman
 

 from near Salisbury, UK, Norman.

How on earth did a US bike find its way to Switzerland?! 

Some people have fitted Vape conversions and are happy with the results. Others have fitted the points set up from the equivalent DT250 - I guess it depends on your budget and what is available.

I would say that the decompression valve is a must although, being in Switzerland, there should be plenty of hills that you could bump start it down! 

Welcome from Minnesota,USA. I like your pictures. I’m a fan of the points/condensor. Many peeps on here with so much knowledge you’ll get ideas from.. More pictures to come?
Sneezles61

Greetings from Tennessee USA looks like you have had some great rides 

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome!

I'm not sure if the bike was purchased directly in the US or it landed somewhere else first.

Regarding the ignition and electrical system, I have only the stator rotor. I've found all the extra required components but it's around 200-300 $ for used parts (A new CDI alone iss almost 1G...).
The kit I've found is the 12 Volt roadster from rex-speedshop. The rotor on my bike is marked FOTO2173 so it should work.
Let's say my fear of sticking with the original stator is that I might end up spending more in used parts rather than buying a fixed price kit that works.
But I'm unsure as I don't know anything about the reliability of the original components.

I also have no knowledge of the bike history, for example I've realized that this bike has the same brake shoes front and rear, but online I've found the front ones should be bigger...
And by the way, the rear ones in the bike looked like the factory abestos one

I'll buy all the decompression parts. Any input on those? Like are these parts prone to breaking or if I buy whatever, I can clean them and they for sure work?

Here a couple of pictures of the renewal of the engine. Here the casing after soaking for years in paint strippers and some final mechanical paint removal.
My father said to use carboark to mask the surfaces, I've used standard masking tape. The masking tape worked much better.

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Here the casing being primed with a 2k red primer, sadly I couldn't find a 2k black glossy primer as it would have been perfect without any extra paint. 
Let's hope the red primer gives the parts the same strength of german tanks in WWII.



Here after the RAL 9005 paint (also 2K):


Here during the first assembly. I have learnt the hard way that the clutch push rod can not be inserted after the cases are joint totgether:


And a funny picture of a special tool that was perfect for inserting the right hand crank seal gently:



THanks everyone for the replies!
 

No recorded problems with decompression valve parts, just make sure that the hole is completely clear of carbon deposits - easy to do now you have the engine apart.

Regarding the front brake shoes, I think that the front wheel had a change of design during the bike's production run, so this might account for the conflicting information. Alternatively, someone might have fitted a wheel from an earlier model - what are the numbers/letters cast into the drum and brake plate of the front wheel?

Welcome from NZ.
Be sure to check the hole from valve down to the exhaust port outlet as well as can get totally blocked. Have to clean those from bottom to top with valve out as the factory original drilling in the top fin is blocked off at manufacture after drilling all the way down i guess.
Mind you any blocked ones i've done have been on RD400's or our farm AG175's that had a drilling open all the time to soften comp for kick starting. I actually drilled one on my YZ465G for enduro riding & could just about sit on the seat to start it but didn't noticeably affect the horses above idle.

schön Norman, semmer secher scho Zwoi =) ech be a minere dt250 dra, gli fertig!

Wellkomme im Forum, es hed sehr gueti Lüüt do met grossem Wösse! Es werd der schnell, guet und gärn gholfe esch mini Erfahrig!

Wiiterhin gutes Glinge, Gruess us Lozärn

Thank you everyone for the replies!

I've checked the front hub but I couldn't find any number (externally).

I'll clean the exhaust port today and I'll check to get the missing parts over the next weeks.

The identification will be on the inside.