Beginner/Novice Learning About My Bike

[SouthpawYamaheezee]

First and foremost, I wanna say whats happenin to all my fellow two stroke yamaheezee riders.

I bought a bike yesterday to ride along with my son and I was wondering where I should start learning how to fix these things. I am completely clueless about engines, etc and that isnt gonna cut it. Mind you, I am starting from scratch (i understand gas, oil, filters, etc). I can't accept paying someone else to do what I can learn how to do. So... where do I get this knowledge about jets, carbs, pistons, you follow me right? Or how did you learn about your bike before it broke down and or after it did?

[crfjedi393]

Welcome to ATM. I am sure you will find some answers here. I can't help you with 2-strokes but I did edit a couple of your posts. Check this link for our language guidelines. Reading up on the GMB forums is pretty cool as well.

[bronc3]

Hopefully you won't have too many issues, but sooner or later you'll have to open 'er up. Maintenance will prevent premature failures, but wear and tear is inevitable. 2T top ends are relatively simple; much simpler than a 4T. There is a lot of good info here and elsewhere regarding jetting and tuning. Enjoy the ride! Feel free to PM me if you need some help.

[AV8R]

Buy a Clymer repair manual for your bike. It is pretty good about expaining jetting and baisic operation of a two stroke. It also has real pictures of components on your bike so when your working on it you know what they are referring to in the text. Believe me the repair manual is indispensable when doing maintenance on your bike.

[SouthpawYamaheezee]

thanks guys! i appreciate the input!

[bronc3]

Even if the bike is new, I suggest you tear down the rear suspension and steering head and thoroughly pack with good grease. I ripped my new YZ apart after 10 hours of dry riding and it was VERY dry; I would have hated to see it if I had ridden a lot of wet stuff. If I had waited much longer I probably would have been replacing bearings. If the bearings look dry in the rear suspension, do yourself a favor - don't pull the inner races/sleeves all the way out of the bearing until you've packed some grease in the needles. I push the race out half way and pack one side of the bearing to prevent the needles from falling out. If you allow them to fall out it is a pain to get them back in. Also make sure to grease the shanks of the bolts as well to prevent them from seizing inside the inner races.


I don't know why Yamaha is so stingy with grease upon initial assembly, guess they're trying to save wieght.