New Bike

[Ken Talbot]

I've been lusting after a bike like this since I was 16 years old, finally picked one up.

1974 Yamaha DT 360 with 5162 original miles. This bike's still got its original tires!

[remccool]

Nice ! reminds me of the Yamaha 250 Enduro I had when I was 15. They are a lot of fun ! Congrats on your find!

[cokeman]

Some guys sure are lucky. I have been looking for one just like that since last fall. Few and far between. Congrats.

BTW: If you want to part with it..........................

Darrell

[sixtysix]

Nice find...I see dirt in your future.

[webbcraft2150]

Nice find. Reminds me of the clan of DT and MX 400's I used to have in the garage. Still have a unused fork brace for the spindley forks in my garage. I think I still have a good cylinder and head for a DT400 in one of my junk boxes, would make for a good sleeper if you interested. If your gonna do anything to it to hop it up, just remember two words, Boysen Reeds. Makes em run like stink and keeps it streetable. As a side note, I had my new DT400b about week when we took it out and "went for top end". Stock sprockets and universal tires, layin on the tank, cleared a C-note on the CB750 hondas speedo that was following. Subsequent sprocket changes dropped top end to the high 80's/low 90's and the ability to wheelie in three gears. Turned out to be an killer "urban assault" bike despite not being steet legal after turning it into a capable desert racer. Both the 360 and 400 have killer low end torque and nice flat power band. Dont have to rev to 10k to wring out any horsepower. Not unlike our XS's, they are horribly outdated but cooler than hell and a absolute hoot to drive. Time to brush up on your power slides.

[Bob Falter]

Nice looking bike Ken. A long time ago I used to race a ‘70 DT360 (I was normally the oldest, and heaviest, rider in the race). Bought the bike new, it was a good bike. I would take it out in the winter, tie a ski rope to the back end, tie one of those round saucer sleds to other end of the rope, and drag my daughter through the snow. It was a blast for both of us.

Bob

[Ken Talbot]

Well, it has been an interesting few months trying to sort out the electrics on this little scooter. I've managed to track down a set of rear signals, a flasher, and enough 6 volt bulbs for everything on the bike except the headlight. I got the horn to work, the tail light to work, and both brake levers to actuate the brake light.

I found that I can plug in a 12 volt sealed beam and it throws enough light to be legal, even if it doesn't throw as much as it would in a normal 12 volt installation. The latest kink was when I plugged in a 12 volt unit, tweaked the throttle, and the light burned out instantly. I checked the plug with my multi tester and couldn't get a reading on anf of the DC scales. I thought I must have fried something bad. Then for some reason, I flipped over to AC volts and found it was putting out about 20 volts AC at idle. Blipping the throttle sent it to about 22 or 24 volts, and that's what killed the brand new 12 volt sealed beam.

Finally today, I figured out a couple of connectors under the seat so the AC supply from the alternator now in fact goes through the regulator/rectifier so it can charge the battery rather than being routed directly to the headlight circuit. If you think the Clymer's manual for the XS11 is a bit on the light side - you should see the electrical chapter and the wiring diagram in the Clymers manual for the DT360. And to top if off, there's nothing even close to resembling this forum.

[LoHo]

Nice find, Ken. I'd bet that a lot of the "bargains" we find are bikes that developed some fatal electrical flaw early on and then sat for long periods. Electrical problems are tricky to find and prevent running the bike into ruin. A bike with a burned valve or broken ring will still be ridden, if it starts, and the problems compounded. A nice, clean short somewhere will be hard to find and will keep most people off of the bike. Did the PO screw anything up trying to fix the problem?

Oh, and feel free to ask away on the "Other Bike" forum...you can keep me company as we shout our questions into the wind....

[Do Lee]

Sweet..... great bikes those enduros, I had a 75 DT250 & 77 street legal TT500. Those DT360 are strong bikes. A word of warning "careful" when kicking starting the DT360 can be tricky. Several of the customers that had the DT360 would complain about how hard it would kick back if they didn't set it up right to start it. One oustomer actually bent the handlebar and broke his leg right above the knee and on top of his broken leg he also shear off the kick starter shaft. Shearing the starter shaft is common on these bikes. Make sure the bike compression release works properly, anyways great find it brings back lots of fond memories of trail riding and hare & hound races.

[xswilly]

hey ken
nice bike you have there
chack out http://www.yamahaenduro.com/

I have a 75 dt400 that i bought new back in 76
two years before i bought my 78e