YZ125 Rinaldi Build - Now Finished!

MXBen711
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MXBen711
Edited Date/Time 3/22/2022 1:44am
Hi,

I’m not very good at these build threads so might not ever update it, but thought I’d drop in what I have done so far and hopefully I’ll remember to take photos along the rest of the way!

It started off as a POS non running YZ125 that had been ‘rebuilt’ by someone with questionable mechanical skills. I threw more away than I kept of the original bike, and as you can see what I kept needed some work. Underneath all the crap and spray paint the frame and cases were solid, and pretty much all I kept.

Spec includes:

Rinaldi Kit from mastercross
Ohlins front and rear suspension
Emig clamps
Full ti bolt kit
Cerakote engine cases
Zeta hubs with STX rims and SKF low friction wheel kits
02 onwards rear brake carrier and caliper
Newer rear master
Aluminium tank
Raw finish frame
Ceramic main bearings
Every seal, bearing, moving part replaced with new genuine parts
New crank
Newer style front caliper and master cylinder

There’s a lot more I’ve probably forgotten but it’s been a labour of love so far, but I always loved these bikes. Check out the turd I started with










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romain524
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romain524 12/16/2020 12:39pm
12/16/2020 12:39pm
Nice! Is it gonna be a 1998 Claudio Federici sort of replica beside the raw frame? I love that bike! Can’t wait to see more
3
MXBen711
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MXBen711 12/16/2020 1:38pm
12/16/2020 1:38pm
romain524 wrote:
Nice! Is it gonna be a 1998 Claudio Federici sort of replica beside the raw frame? I love that bike! Can’t wait to see more
It is kind of, I have the factory chain guide and stuff they used, and I’ll be using a messico tail pipe. That 98 was an amazing looking bike!
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The Shop

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12/16/2020 6:14pm
Mi fa piacere di vedere appassionati di Yz anni '90
Sono gli anni d'oro dei piloti italiani e non solo
Tienici aggiornati con le tue novità
Io sono Daniele Zarantonello esperto professionale anche di quei tempi
Possedevo Yz e le ho riacquistate la nostalgia era troppa
Banana_oil
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Banana_oil 12/17/2020 7:11am
12/17/2020 7:11am Edited Date/Time 12/17/2020 7:13am
Interesting build! That cylinder and head are particularly interesting. All Rinaldi kits I have seen for that engine generation have consisted of a sand cast head and a ported and lowered stock cylinder. Yours is a special casting and billet head. Did Mastercross provide info on its origin?
worksmx
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worksmx 12/17/2020 10:35am
12/17/2020 10:35am
Banana_oil wrote:
Interesting build! That cylinder and head are particularly interesting. All Rinaldi kits I have seen for that engine generation have consisted of a sand cast head...
Interesting build! That cylinder and head are particularly interesting. All Rinaldi kits I have seen for that engine generation have consisted of a sand cast head and a ported and lowered stock cylinder. Yours is a special casting and billet head. Did Mastercross provide info on its origin?
They started using those ignition covers in 03. Head not sure but they def looked that way in 05. The silencer was also switched from carbon to ti in 03.
Banana_oil
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Banana_oil 12/17/2020 11:53am
12/17/2020 11:53am
Banana_oil wrote:
Interesting build! That cylinder and head are particularly interesting. All Rinaldi kits I have seen for that engine generation have consisted of a sand cast head...
Interesting build! That cylinder and head are particularly interesting. All Rinaldi kits I have seen for that engine generation have consisted of a sand cast head and a ported and lowered stock cylinder. Yours is a special casting and billet head. Did Mastercross provide info on its origin?
worksmx wrote:
They started using those ignition covers in 03. Head not sure but they def looked that way in 05. The silencer was also switched from carbon...
They started using those ignition covers in 03. Head not sure but they def looked that way in 05. The silencer was also switched from carbon to ti in 03.
Well my 2010 kit have a sand cast head 🙄, I haven't seen billtr heads pre the shift to Gytr.
Rickyisms
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Rickyisms 12/17/2020 12:20pm
12/17/2020 12:20pm
How is the quality on Zeta components? I see their stuff often, but have never heard much reviews on them.
MXBen711
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MXBen711 12/17/2020 12:47pm
12/17/2020 12:47pm
Banana_oil wrote:
Interesting build! That cylinder and head are particularly interesting. All Rinaldi kits I have seen for that engine generation have consisted of a sand cast head...
Interesting build! That cylinder and head are particularly interesting. All Rinaldi kits I have seen for that engine generation have consisted of a sand cast head and a ported and lowered stock cylinder. Yours is a special casting and billet head. Did Mastercross provide info on its origin?
I think from what I can gather it’s a kit made by Athena to Rinaldi specs for Mastercross. I think there is some kind of licensing agreement.

I was supposed to receive a sand cast head, the one with cooling fins, this one was apparently a head they used for developing domes but I preferred to keep this one as it looked cool
1
MXBen711
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MXBen711 12/17/2020 12:49pm
12/17/2020 12:49pm
Rickyisms wrote:
How is the quality on Zeta components? I see their stuff often, but have never heard much reviews on them.
Zeta is really good, the quality is quite impressive. I use a lot of their stuff as the fit and finish I never have a problem with. Most of the Ti in this bike is from them too
1
Banana_oil
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Banana_oil 12/17/2020 12:54pm
12/17/2020 12:54pm
Banana_oil wrote:
Interesting build! That cylinder and head are particularly interesting. All Rinaldi kits I have seen for that engine generation have consisted of a sand cast head...
Interesting build! That cylinder and head are particularly interesting. All Rinaldi kits I have seen for that engine generation have consisted of a sand cast head and a ported and lowered stock cylinder. Yours is a special casting and billet head. Did Mastercross provide info on its origin?
MXBen711 wrote:
I think from what I can gather it’s a kit made by Athena to Rinaldi specs for Mastercross. I think there is some kind of licensing...
I think from what I can gather it’s a kit made by Athena to Rinaldi specs for Mastercross. I think there is some kind of licensing agreement.

I was supposed to receive a sand cast head, the one with cooling fins, this one was apparently a head they used for developing domes but I preferred to keep this one as it looked cool
Ok, interesting! So it is 1mm lower cylinder than stock?
Banana_oil
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Banana_oil 12/19/2020 2:29am
12/19/2020 2:29am
Could this be of interest? If so, send me a message. It is for 01.
MXBen711
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MXBen711 12/19/2020 11:27am
12/19/2020 11:27am Edited Date/Time 12/19/2020 11:45am
Banana_oil wrote:
Could this be of interest? If so, send me a message. It is for 01.[img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/19/466709/s1200_DSC_0168.jpg[/img]
Could this be of interest? If so, send me a message. It is for 01.
DM sent

In case it doesn’t go through email me bencannings07@hotmail.co.uk
1
MXBen711
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MXBen711 12/22/2020 10:21am
12/22/2020 10:21am
Started cleaning up the Aluminium tank, was a bit rough but with some elbow grease it’s starting to come around


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BenC711
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BenC711 12/23/2020 2:36pm
12/23/2020 2:36pm
Muscle-Milk-KTM wrote:
Can’t wait to see this finished.

Docwobs has this 94 Rinaldi YZ125 for sale. Unbelievable what people can do.



https://www.instagram.com/p/CJHDPDogR9H/?igshid=1wo18rb8b2fy7
Wobs definitely builds some beautiful bikes!

It’s the attention to detail that I love to see, anyone can bolt some cool parts on but it’s the little parts that make the difference
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Pit Row

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FJ993
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FJ993 1/20/2021 11:02pm
1/20/2021 11:02pm
MXBen711 wrote:
And the build so far [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/16/466105/s1200_B60E8B08_7075_45FC_B079_A19E39819693.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/16/466102/s1200_D0ACD471_5514_452B_9594_3DC5165BDB23.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/16/466104/s1200_94F517C5_02F1_4EBE_9B69_60F72F0494DA.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/16/466101/s1200_5495BFC9_53FB_4622_82D5_B44A10DEBA95.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/16/466112/s1200_04DE8D4F_CF46_4C26_A1DA_728E877FA555.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/16/466107/s1200_776247CE_7AB8_4E4C_AAE1_5ABA4DBEBCD5.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/16/466108/s1200_B6E5DAAE_B6D6_48E2_B7AB_0B0EC480DF54.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/16/466113/s1200_D3DD5A79_D5C0_44E1_A7B0_1E7B6082EEFC.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/16/466111/s1200_4A64BA48_898E_41F5_B87B_61CE30AB0173.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/16/466110/s1200_0B521975_4B4C_4A04_BD91_1502F91F0363.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/16/466114/s1200_1727D85D_9A21_41F0_BE0C_DF12B388B416.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/16/466115/s1200_8955D2C0_A3B5_4247_B01F_A4DDED9E570E.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/16/466116/s1200_4F536F81_F615_45D2_8EC9_D14B9ED3189B.jpg[/img]
And the build so far













Hi
Great work. What color did you put on the engine? If Cerakote what color code is it?

Thanks
Fredrik
2
MXBen711
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MXBen711 1/21/2021 11:58am
1/21/2021 11:58am
MXBen711 wrote:
And the build so far [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/16/466105/s1200_B60E8B08_7075_45FC_B079_A19E39819693.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/16/466102/s1200_D0ACD471_5514_452B_9594_3DC5165BDB23.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/16/466104/s1200_94F517C5_02F1_4EBE_9B69_60F72F0494DA.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/16/466101/s1200_5495BFC9_53FB_4622_82D5_B44A10DEBA95.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/16/466112/s1200_04DE8D4F_CF46_4C26_A1DA_728E877FA555.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/16/466107/s1200_776247CE_7AB8_4E4C_AAE1_5ABA4DBEBCD5.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/16/466108/s1200_B6E5DAAE_B6D6_48E2_B7AB_0B0EC480DF54.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/16/466113/s1200_D3DD5A79_D5C0_44E1_A7B0_1E7B6082EEFC.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/16/466111/s1200_4A64BA48_898E_41F5_B87B_61CE30AB0173.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/16/466110/s1200_0B521975_4B4C_4A04_BD91_1502F91F0363.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/16/466114/s1200_1727D85D_9A21_41F0_BE0C_DF12B388B416.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/16/466115/s1200_8955D2C0_A3B5_4247_B01F_A4DDED9E570E.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/12/16/466116/s1200_4F536F81_F615_45D2_8EC9_D14B9ED3189B.jpg[/img]
And the build so far













FJ993 wrote:
Hi
Great work. What color did you put on the engine? If Cerakote what color code is it?

Thanks
Fredrik
Hi,

I think the colour was gun metal grey, I can maybe get the official colour if it’s helpful?
FJ993
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FJ993 1/21/2021 12:34pm
1/21/2021 12:34pm
MXBen711 wrote:
Hi,

I think the colour was gun metal grey, I can maybe get the official colour if it’s helpful?
Would appreciate it. Thanks
FJ993
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FJ993 2/22/2021 11:00am
2/22/2021 11:00am
Hi
Did you find the actual color?
worksmx
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worksmx 2/22/2021 12:09pm
2/22/2021 12:09pm Edited Date/Time 2/22/2021 12:10pm
FJ993 wrote:
Hi
Did you find the actual color?
Just go with the hard anodizing , that what they did back then. Some love to the cases and then hard anodized and they come out the mag color. Can't remember the name of the Italian gentleman here on vital but he had contact with the guys who did the engines for errezeta team etc. There's also some shops here in Sweden that will do it.
BenC711
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BenC711 10/20/2021 12:50pm
10/20/2021 12:50pm
So not many updates for a while, but it’s getting closer. Really hard work to try and get all the parts I need in the order I need them but it’s definitely starting to come together. The refurb on the forks was top notch! Everything has been dry fit so time for some zinc on a few areas and then final build. I found some de carli radiators which are being refurbished and the tank has gone for some love so I am expecting to have it wrapped up by mid November latest




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MXBen711
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MXBen711 11/8/2021 11:51am
11/8/2021 11:51am
Decarli radiators are now almost finished. I had new cores put in and had them cleaned up and the seams rewelded


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MXBen711
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MXBen711 11/20/2021 10:23am
11/20/2021 10:23am
This bike is coming together quite nicely now. Problems I have, the mounting of the CDI on the headstock and the radiator hoses for the decarli radiators. They have much bigger diameter spigots than stock on the top and bottom and very different routing so I have some straight tubing coming that will work. Almost done now, one thing that has blown my brain is axle blocks. No aftermarket and the stock ones are extortionate!




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MXBen711
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MXBen711 12/5/2021 9:17am
12/5/2021 9:17am
So things are getting closer now. This has been a really challenging build, some of the factory parts like the radiators have made me think but it’s all coming together now.

Spec so far is as follows:

Rinaldi kit from Mastercross
Full Ti bolt kit excluding axles
2002 rear brake caliper and mount
2005 rear master cylinder
2015 front brake caliper
2015 front brake master cylinder
Braided steel brake hoses
270mm front brake disc
245mm rear brake disc
SBS RSI Brake pads
Emig Racing Triple clamps
Ohlins forks and shock
Phil Denton complete linkage system
Complete new transmission
New complete crank
Ceramic main bearings
All bearings and seals replaced throughout
V Force reed block
Zeta hubs with DID STX rims
Raw finish frame
New subframe
Decarli radiators
Factory CDI and wiring loom
New inner and outer clutch covers
Rinaldi clutch basket
GYTR clutch hub
Guts phantom seat foam
Guts hardcore gripper seat cover

The only things I’ve reused from the original bike are the frame and the crankcases. Some things have taken some finding but there’s a light at the end of the tunnel finally!

And yes, I know my workshop is a mess there’s currently some work going on in there




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