1990 Yamaha DT200R – $8,000
Yamaha DT200R for sale
SELLER SAYS: Ground up restoration. 12 months NSW rego. Engine rebuilt. Gearbox rebuilt. New clutch. New bearings throughout. New plastics. Old plastics can go with it. Tank painted to match. Tank clean inside. New rims. New stainless spokes. Hubs painted. Rear shock rebuilt. Will also come with new YSS rear shock still in its box. Forks rebuilt. Stainless brake lines.Brake callipers rebuilt and painted. New brake reservoirs. New headlight. New bars. New exhaust (good condition old one can go with it). New switch gear. New levers. Frame repainted. Custom seat (original seat can go with it). New headlight. New tyres. YZ style mudguards. New indicators and so on. A massive amount of new parts. Recently tuned by Dudley Lister (ex Mick Doohan GP mechanic). It is as close to a new bike as possible. Showroom condition. Just 63kms since rebuild. I am moving on to a new project. Contact Jim on 0468 313 555 (Woongarrah, NSW).
EDITOR TERLICK SAYS: It was only a matter of time before Australia caught on to the rapidly-growing pastime of restoring dirt bikes. The Americans got in first, perhaps because, by sheer weight of numbers, they could find a good supply of suitable bikes to restore and to act as parts donors. But once it caught on, of course, the moto-entrepreneurs stepped in to provide aftermarket parts; the job then got easier, attracting more and more people to join the fun. The driving force behind restoring an old dirt bike is much the same as that which drives old blokes to restore a Triumph Bonneville or a Honda Four — because they owned one back in the day and loved it, or they never owned one, but wished they had. For anyone who wasn’t paying attention to dirt bikes in the late 1980s and early ’90s, the DT200R was a star. While earlier DTs were relatively soft off-roaders, leaving Yamaha’s IT range to handle serious enduro work, this one was very serious indeed. Based on the YZ125 motocrosser, it was dirt bike first and road bike second; a serious, powerful, lightweight enduro mount that would no doubt have outperformed its father, the much-loved IT200. Just like with road bikes, different buyers will treat their restored dirt bikes in one of three ways — ride its wheels off, ride it occasionally, or stick it in the man cave and admire its gorgeousness until the cows come home. This spotless bike of Jim’s looks ready to take on any of those three roles, with a very thorough restoration leading to a beautiful example of a marvellous piece of machinery. (Online, I found a reproduction of Australasian Dirt Bike’s article when the DT200R was first released. ADB were audacious enough to suggest the DT200R was “the first real dual-purpose motorcycle ever built”. Big call. Click here to read the article.)
