I Made a Catastrophic Mistake Rebuilding This $350 Three Wheeler 

It's brutal when dissimilar metals get bound up together as with those 2 screws on the valve cover. That's the worst feeling when a bolt / screw like that breaks off. Now the day got a lot longer possibly. Thank goodness for patience! Great work, as usual Joe!! I love these old 3 wheelers!

A little power washing before disassembly gos a long way, helps keep new parts clean.

I cant believe PB Blaster isnt already a sponser for your channel. I believe a little heat and some blaster would have helped this mission tremendously!

Bro I've been watching all of your three wheeler videos and more but this is hype when I just randomly get on and you uploaded another one. LETS GO!!!

Been watching you for at least a year now & never miss a show ! Love all you do Joe ! Great stuff buddy 👍!!!

Ahh, fresh tires! You gotta love it! I've gotta say, you make it look so easy. Totally hooked on your channel brother! From the oddities to the boat revivals and, of course, all the off road toys!! I'm envious as hell! I always look forward to see your next acquisition!!

Thanks for do what you do. I have been keeping up with your projects all these years. I enjoy watching. You have help me learn enough to try and fix some of my own project. Thanks again.

Hi from north Queensland Australia just finished watching your video on the Yellow Yamaha 225 trike wheeler I had the Yamaha 200c trike back in the 80'es loved it and yes wheel stand was very easy I later had a Honda 250R trike two stroke cost me $1000 to get it rebuilt.

As a car mechanic I'm impressed with you mechanic skills. People believe small engines are easier to work on because they're small. Yeah, in some cases, but most of the time they're not

Its never a "mistake". More broken things, need more fixing, but of course at the same time you also learn more. Im actually thankful, when I get challenging atv or bike to fix, because I learn so much and improve myself especially in cases like this one.

That dirty frame and wires drops crud into the engine. My OCD is kicking..

We had a yellow and white Yamaha DT100 when I was around 13 years old. My Dad bought it used and it was around 10 years old. We had to change the tires, the chain, the sprockets, the points, clean the air filter and the carburetor, clean the carbon out of the head, hone the cylinder, change the rings, get a new spark plug, get new gaskets, adjust the cables and the brakes, put new oil, and some other stuff which I forget. We started in the fall and then we fixed it all winter in the garage. My sister and I couldn't wait until spring. She used to hug it every night before bed time. Finally in March it started and we rode it up and down the driveway in the snow :-) It was an awesome little bike which we had for many years, and took turns riding it during summer vacation in the trails down to the creek behind our house. It had proper knobbies for the mud 👍

Love the old knobbie tires, classic awesome traction.coming along great!!!

Another great video, with many teaching moments, even what not to do. Keep up the hard work

Nice work buddy. I like it when you fix up old 3 wheelers! A guy can learn a thing or 2 from your videos so thank you for sharing!

Great project, with lots of learning moments. Keep up the hard work.

I've said this before, clean the outside before exposing the inside! Look at all that soil 😮. Use penetrating oil to aid in getting the screws out. Making me cringe lol.

Great find , those old Yamaha & Honda ATC's are nearly industrustable if maintained properly.

Congrats, you made exactly the same mistake I made on my 225 Moto4 a few years back! When I read the headline, I said to myself "I wonder if..." so... you are not alone. I had 1 bent valve.

That ride takes me back to when I owned one of those. So grateful that you took me back in time. Great channel

Those 225's are great. I have had a couple over the years and once dialed in they are super reliable.

Awesome rebuild. I want to start saving old cool stuff like this, i recently rebuild my 701 yamaha jet ski engine for my vxr pro, fun to work on.

Nice rebuild. Looks hella fun. We all make mistakes good thing you weren't riding when that happened probably be a different story. Love seeing this older machines coming back to life 👍🏼

I've seen a lot of vehicles slip timing and result in catastrophic damage. You are about the luckiest dude I've ever seen.

I bought my 1984 225dx about a year ago for $150. It's been fun working on to make it look and run great.

My 225dx is my go to machine. I put on custom exhuast, ported the intake a bit, ported polished the exhuast a little bit more of a clean up and polish. With a new top end, up a few jets sizes in the carb and yea.. she is pretty quick for 225, very reliable. Also put some banshee wheel hubs and 1.5in spacers and 20in wheels on the rear, that helped a bunch in the handling department. Great machines

The best penitrating fluid I have found is a 50/50 mix of acetone and Automatic Transmission Fluid. It works amazingly well on rusted fasteners and actually can see it bubbling as it works.

Nice! I got two 225 DX's. One black and one yellow exactly like this one. The yellow one is kinda my extra parts bike, its complete almost and runs but both were missing pullstarts and one was missing a carb so i just fixed up the black one because for one..i like black and two the black ones are kinda more rare. Take care of that pull start because there extremly hard to find, i bought the only one on ebay a couple years ago (150$!)😬. My electric start works but i just haven't got a battery for it yet.. i prefer just the simplicity of a pull start. These are solid old machines, it does kinda suck that they assembled them with ancient flat head screws though.. i just use one of the hammer impact screwdrivers. Only issue with mine is the clutch slips at high rpms at low speed. Ive been slacking on fixing it.. Theres other vidoes on this bike but you made a fantastic one here. Awesome to see some inner workings on this engine👌

Another GREAT vid,all the BEST from WALES UK 👍👍👍

Good shit man x

Never a mistake in resurrection of nostalgic vehicles. Much appreciate your work on this. If you really want a 3 wheeler to stop smoking maybe give it some nicotine gum?

Beautiful machine..awesome video

Heat , Kroil , repeat on those stubborn bolts. Love your channel!

Great video, it's a real miracle that the valves didn't bend.

thanks for bring back old school I miss 80 90s

I'm a Honda ATC guy, but that 225 was a good machine. It was very well balanced.

All you need is a little heat from a camp propane tank or MAP gas kit, save you some time on those bolts. Just 30 seconds of heat on the head or block will free those rusty things. I like MAP gas which I guess isn't MAP gas of old, but it works. Sounds fantastic. A favorite wheeler of mine when I was a kid.

I like these classic rebuilds are sweet.

44:35 oh man I forget to tighten a few things in my life. That kind of shit is what keeps professional mechanics like me awake at night. Someones life is riding on those bolts!!!

You should fix the exhuast leak from the header! Good video as always!

If you have stuck hardware going into aluminum, give them a light, but firm strike with a hammer. This should loosen any corrosion between the threads.

Use valve grinding compound on the screwdriver tips to help prevent slipping and damaging screw heads, also helps with bolts too.

A little heat goes a long way in freeing up stuck screws, bolts and nuts. Also some PB Blaster may help.

One of the biggest mistakes I ever made was selling my 225 DX. Sure do miss that trike!

Joe, invest in some left handed drill bits. You can get those stubborn broken boots out.👍🏻🇺🇸 Hoosier Wing

I really love your channel as much as I hate doing this kind of work...I lack the patience and sharp eyesight needed.

Heckyeaaaa. VINNIE!!!! ❤

My grandfather has a 225 Moto 4 I had a 200 Moto 4 in my teens only major thing I hat to repair was the drive shaft. Now I have a 250 ozark. A tip to help prevent the mistake of not torquing bolts, use a paint marker to show its been done. A good habit that prevents making an error like that. Great work tho it runs nice

Good job Joe 👍🏻

Super job!

So just wondering why is it so important to put everything back together all full of dirt and grease?

Great job mate.

Weld nuts on the broken bolts. Won’t hurt the aluminum and the heat of the weld will help. Usually works good. Sometimes takes a couple tries. Great build

Adapt and overcome. Admire your patience and knowledge. Congrats subs are up views up

cold hard facts Maybe you will learn to use heat and penetrating oil to loosen bolts and screws. Most of these engines were assembled with loctite in the threads and on a cold bolt you will break them off all the time. Especially if the bolt has already broken off once what you have left needs to be heated before you put vice grips on it and break it off again.

Sounds good!!

Guess you don't understand the meaning of catastrophic. There was not catastrophe just Joe and his clickbait

Firstly, the result looks and runs great. The decel pop is the exhaust sucking air. Do the vacuum, fuel lines, vent lines and do a carb kit. Spray the rims with silver spray bomb as they stick out. Great job.

Dude love your videos, but please invest in some PB BLASTER FOR THOSE STUCK BOLTS, and some heat will help also 👍🍻🍻

Awesome job joe we had those brand new in 83 or 84 .

Good job. Use penetrating fluid on rusty bolts. Hit the impact driver once, and work the tight bolts and screws slowly. Oil the he'll out of the piston, rings, and cylinder when assembling.

I had this exact machine growing up. The fact that it was shaft driven made it basically bullet proof. It was my favorite of all of the machines i had as far as fun factor goes. I also had a Moto4 225 that was a beast as well. Yamaha really did make some good stuff in the early to mid 80s. As an adult I bought a 350 Bruin a couple Blasters, a Raptor and never had any major issues with any Yamaha i have owned

...hovercraft. Any joy? Loving your channel. 🙂

Love the videos. Sabo just built one of these.

Are their any videos of how to replace the crankshaft bearings on these machines this video is very helpful for a top end rebuild

One thing I love having in the shop is a big can of liquid wrench. Idea courtesy Project Farm 👍🏻

Ive got a moto 4 225 same motor. When i did the top end, even after i tightened the timing gear it still managed to come off an bend the valves. Ended up with a new head an some blue lock tight on that bolt an its been good since. There not speed demons but nice machines overall.

When i was a kid in the 80's those 225dx machines would rip. Now you can buy 1000cc 4 wheelers. Crazy!

The front tire looks small and nice work !

Great skills with those seized screws. My pet hate is covers and engine cases secured with #2 Philips screws/bolts. The Japanese Phillips slots are never the same as the bits in my driver set, it's always a loose fit. Allen bolts or flange bolts are more practical. Did you notice the cockroaches bailing out when it first started?

Yay new video, def taking a long lunch haha

Wouldnt it help if you lubed those screws before trying to take them out?

Obviously the most important thing is to LEARN from our mistakes Just have to take your time What some people Fail To Realize you're not just fixing or rebuilding ,.. your also moving cameras for different angels then go back to being a mechanic

Plz get a JIS screwdriver, it will change your life 👍

Great that you are out there bringing these Gem’s back to life I still own a Honda 250x and a Honda 125 and a Kawasaki 110 all three wheelers my Grand Daughter’s love the little one’s they are working up to Graduation where I will let them ride the X…..🤘🏼🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

Good video, wish I had time to make videos, got small engines and atvs utvs line up all over yard, 20 customer calls on average aday....😢 what I want to know is we're to get that little slide hammer thingy you used..

Trying to get some advice, was taking the clutch basket off of my warrior, held the clutch basket so it would spin as I was taking the bolt off and heard something brake free, clutch basket stayed still but then as I would turn the nut in the clutch basket the chain sprocket would free spin, did something break or is it normal because no chain was on the bike

You sure make rebuilding a top end look easy.

Hey man! Really like your videos👍🏻👍🏻 sad to see idiots comment lots of shit, i like what you do! Keep it up😁 have a nice weekend.

Good video. I noticed that your garage is getting full with all your finished and unfinished projects, do you ever flip those that you fixed?

Use copper coat anti sirze compound to stop that stuck bolt stuff from happening. I don't on amy bolts I have to take out from frame or casings etc

Love these trikes! They last forever

I have a good friend of mine, that is so bullheaded on taking advice, that you literally have to tell him the wrong thing, to get him to do the right thing. Lol

I sent you a message on Facebook about a quad I have. I can’t figure a starting issue and all starting components were changed, valves are within spec. But does smoke a little, not much, so I am taking it apart to rebuild so nothing else happens

I had to fix the pull cord assembly on my 84 225 dx also same issue had happend😂😅 water

Stop breaking screws and use some heat!! Especially on these Yamaha motors, all the screws broken go into exposed raised bosses that could easily be heated with a propane torch if nothing else, MAPP torch will do it even quicker just be careful. The recoil and the cam cover are a real bugger on these usually because they used JIS screws for them, use some heat, get them out, if the threads get stripped get a M6 helicoil kit and repair them, they replace them with M6 bolts with 8mm hex heads, lots of sources for them online in the correct size. Bolt Motorcycle Hardware is a great source for these with the smaller head size.

For removing stuck screws there is a impact driver air driven "Shake N Break Air Impact Screw Remover"

Buddy there's no such thing of a "Catastrophic Mistake" if you're a master of the trade. Anything can be repaired and fixed.

Hey Joe, do you have a link for your slide hammer and attachments etc ? Much appreciated

Where did u get the piston kit I cannot figure out which one or where to find it mines an 83 and the only one I can find is for an 84-86

Bro, you have the tires off the rims why didn't you clean up the rims and paint them that was a waste of time. LOL

Joe, it’s time to get in the merch business…that’s where the money is…get some old looking prints of some of your vintage projects put you 2vintage tag with a RU-vid logo…get that money AND produce some cool merch!

spray stuck screws and bolts with a good penetrating oil then tap lightly with a hammer for a minute or so then try and remove stuck fastener with an impact driver going lightly on the trigger until it starts to come loose.. don't go full tilt with the gun, just go slow, don't be shy on repeating tapping with a hammer again if really stubborn... this trick works 9 times out of 10

yooooo, my wife's four-wheeler did the same dam thing. we have a 2003 Yamaha bear tracker, I rebuilt it, and it did the same thing, but the little alignment pin for the cam sprocket fell out. it went into the bottom end where the pull start is, I got it put it back in and then tried starting it and it bent one of the valves when bolt backed out and that pin came out. so you got very lucky. I put red thread locker on it, and it hasn't had a problem since.

Get some Kroil brother. Love your content.

Man you got lucky not bending a valve. I had the EXACT same thing happen on a 98 Warrior I re built 3yrs ago & bent a valve. I didn’t seat the sprocket completely flat on the cam & that bolt backed out on me. Had brand new kibble white valves in it I had to replace. I was soo pissed…but I got it fixed & eventually sold. Hard lesson to learn tho

someone got loc-tite happy with those screws, keep a propane torch handy and throw heat into stubborn screws

My dude.... go play the lottery!!! You DODGED A BULLET THERE!!! That could have been the end. Sooooooo lucky!!!!

This makes me want to get my YTM 200 going. The main tires I keep finding are Wanda, never heard of them but I may give them a go.

Wrong jetting / air screw setting also change the exhaust header gasket and I never see you repack any of your builds exhaust systems. You should always repack the exhaust on any rebuild. 🤘🤘