1979 DT100 Cafe build!

So I picked up a 1979 DT100 for a "winter project" a few weeks ago to keep me sane when the snow starts to fly. Let me start by saying that I am no bike builder but a guy who lives to "tinker" and build stuff. Not having a huge need for me having an enduro, I want to make it into an around town cafe style bike. I will be doing a complete tear down and rebuild and adding my changes and variations as they come to me.

Being a father of three, this will be a low budget build so don't expect too much. ;D It will be a complete teardown and rebuild. I do have some plans to make my own custom seat and a few extra mods up my sleeve. I have never been a guy who wants to be like everyone else when it comes to my bikes and vehicles, so it will be different. They say the 100cc will not make a great street bike, but I will disagree and say it will be a blast around town. My last bike was a 1200cc Yamaha Warrior so I am familiar with rear wheel HP.

We are all here for our passion of bikes and the way I look at it, it doesn't matter what you have or what it looks like as long as you are happy!

I would love the help with the inner workings of the DT from you all "when" the need arises. If you are interested, I will post the build up here. If not, I will not take the time. I would love to show off what I will be doing from beginning to end if anyone wants to check it out!

I say what I have, because I tried to post the build on another forum and got absolutely blasted by a bunch of narrow minded folks because my ideas did not conform to theirs!

I joined this forum because it seems like most folks are into whatever your project is as long as it's genuine. I've gotten some good advice too. Hoping to start my first build this winter as well. I'm interested to see where you take this one. Good luck!

Got any "before" pics?

I have a DT100 engine (was going to be a pit bike long ago) sitting on a shelf in my shop (somewhere - maybe you will be an inspiration to find it!). One-off crankshaft, AC cylinder from something else - (YZ I think) mostly TZ250 everything else. Lectron30mm carb - probably spent more than the little bike cost new! Collecting dust now (not really, it is sealed in an air tight box! - remember the end of Raiders of the lost Arc?)- yeah, I'll be watching - cool whatever direction you go!

Here are a couple before pictues. I know it is a sweet little enduro, but I have a need for something different. I sold my custom Yamaha Warrior (1200cc) when kiddo three arrived four years ago. I have been lost without a bike ever since. I need to get back into it, have something to ride around town and it had to be inexpensive build.

So it begins! Brought the bike into my "shop" which is actually my basement! No pretty pics in here.

Some before pics as I tear it down! The previous owner thought it would be a good idea to spray the entire bike with a flat black paint job. Shocks and all!

I am going to swap the hub over and change to 16" front and rear.

Tear down complete!

De-greasing to get ready for primer!

Nice little scoot!I'm in Sir.

Parts all clean and getting ready to sand blast! The benefits of working in a high school with a metal shop! ;D

Before and after on this piece!




All done!

Let's remove some unwanted tabs and clean the frame up!

Been working on making my first seat!

Seat is ready and almost time to try my hand at fiber glassing!

Looks good. I am assuming you are considering this as a mold for your finished part and not intending to leave it inside permanently. I suggest you coat the whole thing in wax or you may find you will be die grinding the whole thing out from inside your part. Just melt some candle wax and paint the whole thing. Your part will NOT pop off your form like a proper mold, but you should be able to warm it up with a heat gun and get it separated with out too much trouble.

Yes sir! It will be waxed up good before I give this a shot! Thank you!

Use packing tape instead of the painter's tape there. It creates a (mostly) non-porous surface so the epoxy will not bond as well as it would to a textured surface (like painters tape). I didn't do this my first time around and ended up melting the foam out with acetone.

Cool little project. I'm dying to get my hands on one of these old enduros next..

adventurco said:

Use packing tape instead of the painter's tape there. It creates a (mostly) non-porous surface so the epoxy will not bond as well as it would to a textured surface (like painters tape). I didn't do this my first time around and ended up melting the foam out with acetone.

Cool little project. I'm dying to get my hands on one of these old enduros next..

Click to expand...

Thankk you! I will wrap it again before I give it a shot!