1973 DT250 Cafe/Brat build

Those tires are the worst handling tires you can get. If you put a good set of avons, or shinkos or anything with proper rounded profile the bike would habdle 100x better. Thise firestones with rectangular profike sides are for cars, not bikes that lean over in turns.
 
1973 DT250 Cafe/Brat build

Yes- throw tires in garbage. Some idiot first did that and a few hole line of posers copied that wanker.

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Best for wooden spoked wheels in Sunday parades
 
Maritime said:
Those tires are the worst handling tires you can get. If you put a good set of avons, or shinkos or anything with proper rounded profile the bike would habdle 100x better. Thise firestones with rectangular profike sides are for cars, not bikes that lean over in turns.

Makes sense. I mostly just liked the aesthetic of them but I don't expect them to last long on my bike tbh. So when they are gone I'll get a real set of tires
 
Their actually dangerous. Get a proper sized set of sticky performance tires and then ride the bike the way it ahould be ridden. Try it with those and you'll end up in the ditch.
 
Maritime said:
Their actually dangerous. Get a proper sized set of sticky performance tires and then ride the bike the way it ahould be ridden. Try it with those and you'll end up in the ditch.

An old Yamaha mechanic told me to be careful with sticky tires cause these frames flex a lot. Not sure if it's true or not
 
That is utter bullshit. Traction will tell you the limits of the frame. Square profile tires will just stop gripping and dump you in a ditch before the limits of the frame are ever even close to showing themselves. You built a nice little 2 stroke fun machine put a goid set of tires on it and ride it.
 
Maritime said:
That is utter bullshit. Traction will tell you the limits of the frame. Square profile tires will just stop gripping and dump you in a ditch before the limits of the frame are ever even close to showing themselves. You built a nice little 2 stroke fun machine put a goid set of tires on it and ride it.

I really appreciate the Info man thanks for the tips of will definitely keep them in mind
 
Gorgeous! Great job man. Loving the headlight and the rear lights - are they combined blinkers/brake lights?

Have to agree on the tyres sadly. Maybe you could invest in two sets of wheels? One for show, one for performance. I recently switched to an Avon Road Rider up front on my daily and love it - the confidence you get from good grip is amazing. But above all, fun - way better lean angles etc. See how it rides and handles first though of coarse! Maybe it suits your style just fine :D
 
JadusMotorcycleParts said:
Gorgeous! Great job man. Loving the headlight and the rear lights - are they combined blinkers/brake lights?

Have to agree on the tyres sadly. Maybe you could invest in two sets of wheels? One for show, one for performance. I recently switched to an Avon Road Rider up front on my daily and love it - the confidence you get from good grip is amazing. But above all, fun - way better lean angles etc. See how it rides and handles first though of coarse! Maybe it suits your style just fine :D

Thank you! The rear lights are currently just two individual running and brake lights, eventually id like to figure out how to get turn signals in there.

Yea it seems like the Avons are the way to go, I definitely like the look of the firestones but as someone who also likes turning fast I can fully understand what you are saying. A second set of wheels sounds like a pretty good idea, wheels for this bike arent too expensive.
 
Just saw this thread and man I love it. You really turned that thing into an awesome looking machine. I am one of those that am really bummed that the firestones are such terrible tires, because honestly I think they look neat with the vintage look of the machine, but alas, they really are garbage (I know the dead horse has been beaten enough). I can though say first hand two thumbs up to avon roadriders. They grip beyond my ability as a rider. I think if you go that route after the firestones you will feel as though you have a whole different bike! (in a good way)

also, another dead horse that gets beaten a lot, watch that rear tire to seat clearance. I don't know your weight, but it looks a little close, and a good bump could make the seat contact it, "brake" the rear tire and cause a less than desirable effect aka "not keeping er' between the ditches"

Again great work. Not often someone pulls off the brat seat looking enduro-turned-café look like you have. Thanks for sharing it here
 
HURCO550 said:
Just saw this thread and man I love it. You really turned that thing into an awesome looking machine. I am one of those that am really bummed that the firestones are such terrible tires, because honestly I think they look neat with the vintage look of the machine, but alas, they really are garbage (I know the dead horse has been beaten enough). I can though say first hand two thumbs up to avon roadriders. They grip beyond my ability as a rider. I think if you go that route after the firestones you will feel as though you have a whole different bike! (in a good way)

also, another dead horse that gets beaten a lot, watch that rear tire to seat clearance. I don't know your weight, but it looks a little close, and a good bump could make the seat contact it, "brake" the rear tire and cause a less than desirable effect aka "not keeping er' between the ditches"

Again great work. Not often someone pulls off the brat seat looking enduro-turned-café look like you have. Thanks for sharing it here

Thanks for the great feedback! It was certainly a struggle turning an enduro into a "brat-cafe". as for the tire clearance fortunately I am only about 105 lbs so the bike doesnt even sag when I sit on it, So fortunately I dont think the tire will ever hit the seat but I understand the concern
 
So I'm gonna do a little post build update here. Been riding the bike for a bit now, tuning as I go.

So I changed the header length of the pipe to get the powerband in a more desirable rpm range. Bike is getting closer to running really well. It pulls pretty good when it gets on the power band.

I also swapped out the Firestone tires for some Avon road riders. The Firestones look very cool but do not perform very well.

I also found that the shift drum detent was non existent so I replaced that as well. Mad the shifter feel so much better.

And lastly in addition to the r5 triple clamps I already had on the bike I went and got the r5 forks and installed the 2ls front wheel that I had on the shelf. Stopping performance is way better. If anyone is interested in putting this font end on their bike keep in mind that the r5 forks will probably be too short for Enduro riding. But based on the construction I'm almost certain you could bolt the r5 fork lowers onto the DT fork tubes
 

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Little update, Just recently did some math and built a new pipe for the bike. Also installed a DT2MX top end. Bike absolutely rips now
 

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