The Yamaha DT175 is one of those classic bikes that look ?just right.? With a small tank, fat seat and raised fenders, it?s a pint-sized enduro machine that screams fun.
The DT175 we?ve got here, however, was most definitely not looking good when it rolled into the workshop of Sabotage Motorcycles in Sydney, New South Wales. It was rough around the edges and very tired?as you?d expect of a two-stroke that?s almost half a century old.

This didn?t faze Giles Colliver and Andy Dorr, who have been running Sabotage for the past five years. It?s their bread and butter, because they focus on restorations and restomods, mostly on pre-80s Japanese bikes.
As well as engine work and metal fabrication, they?re happy to tackle electrics and wiring too?an aspect that many shops prefer to farm out.
?We were contacted by a guy who wanted his DT175 made road legal, and more exciting to look at,? says Giles. ?He loved the fact that we only do vintage motorcycle builds, and thought we had a slightly ?different? approach to things. So this 1978 Yamaha fitted that bill nicely.?
Sabotage?s client is ex-military, and had to leave the service due to PTSD. ?He has a very creative side to him,? Giles says. ?He now builds custom cruiser bicycles, and converts some of them to e-bikes.

?He knew what he wanted with the DT175, but still gave us plenty of freedom with the design. Which is very important to us, because our process for building bikes is quite fluid.?
With the Yamaha in the worksho...