Yamaha IT250 J Resto

[DeanMember]

Mr Blue wrote:

Quote:

Ollie the J was the third from last model wasn’t it, and the last with the early PDS with the shock under the tank and seat?

Reason I ask was I had a few IT125/175s as a young bloke and while the engines had some power the handling was “different” but the 250 was s’posed to be the best of the lot and i never got to ride on to find out, rode a 465 and a 490 and was not overly fussed on them either, thought the older PE400s turned better and had more usuable poke. But everyone raved about the IT250s so what’s your take?

BC

Bruce, The “J” was the 82 Model and the last of the Mono X suspension, the “k” 1983 came with the Mono cross suspension and handled a lot better. Weird how Yamaha realised that that the mono X suspension was inferior to the Monoshock back in 1983 but KTM have persisted with basicly the same setup for the last 13 or so years :laugh: The 465 was a very brutish thing to ride and the 490 basicly cleaned up every enduro worth entering. I had the PE400 “x” and as a 17 year old this thing was FRIGHTENING!! The PE was capable of 160 out of the box! and it handled.

If you can find another IT125 they are worth getting as they are appreciating through the roof.

Mick I reckon we should get Moose and Dan motivated as well,maybe one day we could have our very own Vinduro somewhere

Ollie

[GregMember]

Ollie wrote:

Quote:

The PE was capable of 160 out of the box! and it handled.

Handled, handled against what a wet bag of walruses :laugh: I had one and still have a RM370 to use and neither of them handle, the PE you could feel the frame flex. My old 490 of that era handled better then the PE or RM :laugh: :laugh:
Mate had a PE175 and it handled sweet as, no frame flex

TB

[PaulMember]

Ollie wrote:

Quote:

Weird how Yamaha realised that that the mono X suspension was inferior to the Monoshock back in 1983 but KTM have persisted with basicly the same setup for the last 13 or so years :laugh:

Ollie

BMW have now perfected it (with help from Ohlins) and indeed it works very well thank you very much.

I always wanted an IT 250, never got it though.
Where do you guys get all the parts for these things?

[DeanMember]

Ebay is a good source as well as the http://www.yamahait.com.au/index_1.html forum They must have made millions of the smurf blue beasts as the parts arnt to difficult to get. Strangley enough they were never that popular in the states.

Ollie

[Bruce CurtisMember]

Trailboss wrote:

Quote:

Ollie wrote:

Quote:

The PE was capable of 160 out of the box! and it handled.

Handled, handled against what a wet bag of walruses :laugh: I had one and still have a RM370 to use and neither of them handle, the PE you could feel the frame flex. My old 490 of that era handled better then the PE or RM :laugh: :laugh:
Mate had a PE175 and it handled sweet as, no frame flex

TB

That bag of wet walruses you rode TB, woulda been a beach ride wouldn’t it?

Yes the old RM370 was nightmare mid-turn, but was still fast around a flat paddock, the PE400 I must admit never tried it as an enduro bike, but was an awesome long-track mount, at 75 kilos wringing wet the forks where pretty supple and the rear was typical Zook, once it got hot it was slow bouncy and predictable, but way better than the dead fish rear the bloody ITs had that would take 3 minutes to react to anything, then compress your spine and the slow slow steering that pushed everywhere, at least they hasd (relatively) good brakes and the tank was the worst thing I’d ever tried to climb onto as I turned in, bloody wonder we don’t all sing soprano after riding the ITs, the suzuki tank was much easier to slide onto, which is I reckon why Yamaha got onto the safety seats before the others, necessity.
Having said that, apart from the Eurotrash of the time, they were the only decent enduro things on offer unless you liked the brittle Kawasaki snapperony Framed KDXs.

Anyone ever ride the Big KDX 420/450? I only ever saw one in the flesh had a real barking note to it and went well from what I saw.

BC

[Anonymous]

Good starting point for a resto there Ollie.

There is not to many of those big bore KDX’s around I know a few from my forum would like one, there seems to be a few floating around the US getting parts for one would be a nightmare even if you found one here more for the collector than the Vinduro’s,

I have owned both IT 490 & PE 400’s and if anyone is interested in Vinduro in Victoria I recommend 250 or less bikes as the tracks are just to tight, I own a IT 175 G pretty well restored and a PE 175 T which is just going to be a rider in the Vinduro’s but I am on the look out for a IT 250 G or J like Ollies here but finding a good one for a cheap price now is becoming a dream most need shit loads spent on them.

Cheers Mick.

[Mark BuntingMember]

I didn’t ride any of the big bore KDX’s but I used to ride enduros on a KDX 175 as a young bloke. Liked it better than my mates IT.

Good luck with the Resto Ollie. You’ve got me thinking about it myself. I like the sound of riding in the odd vinduro

[Steve WyethMember]

SO how did this one end up Ollie? You’ve had 2.5 years to finish it

[Author]

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