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Revell 1/12^th scale 250cc Yamaha MX bike

I built this kit as best I could to resemble Hakan Andersson’s 1973 works bike; the ‘twin shock’ version he rode in the first two rounds before the monoshock version replaced it.

For the additional black short cylinders attached to rear shocks I used parts (hand grips, I think) left over from the Honda Tamiya CR450R that I bought for parts originally to improve the Revell Suzuki.

The real thing had no chain guard, but it is moulded together with the chain and both sprockets, so is practically impossible to remove. The real thing had no sump guard either, so I omitted it.

To avoid having to use the trials tyre that came with the Yamaha kit, I used the Honda front wheel and tyre. It has a larger diameter and is thinner than was used in the 1970s, but I made the tyre look thicker by painting the outer rim black. Its hub looks more like the real one than does the one that came with the Yamaha kit and, fortunately, the Honda wheel fits the Yamaha fork perfectly.

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I needed to widen the fuel tank, for which I carved some balsa wood fillets glued in with Gorilla glue, which foams and hardens to a state ready for cutting down and filing. Similarly, the fuel filler cap is on a raised bit at the front, unlike that in production bikes, which the kit tank depicts, so I added one made from balsa, Gorilla glue, and plastic filler. The distinctive webbing straps are paper. It is OK as long as you don’t look too closely.

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Note the paper clamp and tape on the frame.

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These decals came with a Tamiya 1/12^th scale Honda motocross bike, but the numbers were the wrong color (black) so I over-painted them.

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For variety — bearing in mind that there are only two motocross riders available in this scale, one jumping and the other cornering — I bought a ‘jumping’ rider (which is the only one of the two that you can buy without a bike) and modified him extensively so he is in a cornering pose, but significantly different from that of the other cornering rider. (We do not do these things because they are easy…)

This decal sheet is, as far as I know, unique to the jumping rider kit. Which is to say that the other way you can buy this rider — combined with a Honda motocross bike — does not include these decals. Notice the small Suzuki logos. They are good for the Revell 1970s Suzuki I built, on which I initially hand-painted the tank logos because I did not know about this decal sheet.

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From forum posts I read, the rider of the production YZ250 in the photo on the kit box is either Murray Hoffman of El Cajon, CA, or DeWayne Jones.

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The instruction sheet stage 4 ‘Frame and rear wheel’ advises not gluing the front around the steering head. That is so that, in stage 7 ‘Fork and fender’, you can prise it apart to get the forks in. I overlooked that and I had to cut the top off the inner head tube (part of the fork moulding) so I could feed it up through the head tube.

Steps 3 and 4 of the instructions kind of show the engine and frame halves going together with the rear swing arms, suspension units, chain peice, a couple of hub sides (one with the brake rods) and rear wheel all coming together. When I tried that, it all fell apart again. The fit of the parts is good (way better than the Suzuki) but it is nevertheless a tricky kit to build. To hold it after gluing it, my paper clamps are not wide enough (I used one on the steering head) and, anyway, I think one would apply too much pressue, as did sellotape when I tried it (but OK on the frame around the engine) — see the photo. I held it with enough pressure for 15 minutes while watching an a 1970s motocross video on YouTube. See the photo. (Forget about the rear wheel turning if you do anything like that.)

The forks have two thick blade-like headlamp brackets (what?!) and you need to cut those off before assembly…

The exhaust should be bulkier and routed other side, but I could do that easily, so I used the kit parts. It is same way round as the monoshock version.

The seat is not all that accurate (I filed the sharp adges along the bottom sides) and the real thing did not have the frame loop visible behind the seat, but I left it in the interests of getting it done.

The footrests, which are a single unit on a tranverse bar (good for strength when a rider is on board, as here) have some flanges that must be removed to get the part to fit on the frame.

The brake lever, gear changer, and such like have various degrees of innacuracy, but the only thing i changed there was the kick starter, which was obviously too long.

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The left crank side of the real thing had an exposed sprocket area, so I cut the kit one down. I modified the right crank case side using a saw, a file, and filler.

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I broke the handlebar of the Suzuki in the outdoors photo shoot and have yet to repair it adequately. (The toolbox and piston come with the Husqvarna kit.)

The spare Husky is not a kit, but a fully pre-made ‘metal’ model. (Only the engine is metal, as far as I can tell.) I just did some repainting, including the number discs.

Related

Motocross in miniature — Building Joël Robert’s Suzuki motocross bike in 1/12^th scale

Mr Moto Cross — my Revell 1/12^th scale Husqvarna motocross bike

Off-road bikes