Vintage Dirt Bike Q & A

I bought this pipe from good ole ebay and the seller said it was a Bassani, but ive also seen a very similar looking pipe thats been called a Hooker... so anyone know what it is?

Its very long in the tail and the silencer is rebuild-able. The guard cover is welded on and seems to be cut from perforated steel sheet.

All in all its a good looking pipe in nice condition, and im going to use it, but since my mum always told me not to use words that i didnt understand, I felt i should try and find out who made it! LOL

My other question.... The pipe does not have the upper/rear mount on it and doesnt look like it ever did. Should i add one?

_________________
MT250 with CR250 top end & Bassani pipe... almost fully restored.

See more of my motorbike builds at my Honda MT250 and Yamaha RD and RZ website, 2Smoked.com

If you like watches, check out my websites: DeskDivers.com & PloProf.com

Looks like bassani most hooker pipes i have seen had a heart cut-out in the heatshield

It looks like the bassani pipes ive seen on ebay sold for the mt250. Hooker did put a heart sticker on the fourstroke pipe from the 70's I have, its a nos chrome unit for my xl250.

Thanks guys, I hadnt noticed a heart cut out, but will check now you mention it. ta!

_________________
MT250 with CR250 top end & Bassani pipe... almost fully restored.

See more of my motorbike builds at my Honda MT250 and Yamaha RD and RZ website, 2Smoked.com

If you like watches, check out my websites: DeskDivers.com & PloProf.com

looks like a Moto Tec pipe, had one on my MT 125 back in the day
same type of heat shield, had a red tip on it

Ok, finally got two mins to look at this pipe... defo no heart in the mesh, so its not a Hooker I guess...

td125... when you say 'red tip' do you mean the end of the silencer / muffler was red?

Here are some more pics...

_________________
MT250 with CR250 top end & Bassani pipe... almost fully restored.

See more of my motorbike builds at my Honda MT250 and Yamaha RD and RZ website, 2Smoked.com

If you like watches, check out my websites: DeskDivers.com & PloProf.com

Jon,

Every one of your last set of photos could have been of my Bassani MR175 pipe, except for the first inlet/header pic (my spring hook is identical, but the inlet flange is a little different). If there's any evidence a 5" long by 1.5" high sticker was once on the silencer's side, I'd say it's a Bassani for sure.

Ray

_________________
'74 CR125M (175cc), '75 MR175, '82 RM250Z, '08 YZ250F, '14 Zero FX electric, '14 Zero MX electric, '18 Alta MXR electric

Thanks Ray!

I cant see any evidence of the sticker, tho the pipe has been repainted I think. Maybe i should see if anyone does one as a repro as it might be a good addition.

What you can see from the photo but I havent said, is that the silencer is really long, and the pipe is quite a bit longer than the standard MT250 pipe because of that, this goes past the turn signals on the MT!

_________________
MT250 with CR250 top end & Bassani pipe... almost fully restored.

See more of my motorbike builds at my Honda MT250 and Yamaha RD and RZ website, 2Smoked.com

If you like watches, check out my websites: DeskDivers.com & PloProf.com

Jon,

The straight part of my Bassani's silencer section is 16" long, and it appears to 'turn the corner' for a few more inches just like yours does. The Bassani was by far the quietest of the aftermarket MR pipes I tried.

I know what you mean about long pipes. I just converted a weld-on vintage SuperTrapp to clamp-on, and it's 18" long total (16.5" silencer, 1.5" mounting tube). It extends out to exactly the end of the rear fender, about 1/2" ahead of the tire. :>) It took a lot of work, but it flows great and is real quiet.

Ray

_________________
'74 CR125M (175cc), '75 MR175, '82 RM250Z, '08 YZ250F, '14 Zero FX electric, '14 Zero MX electric, '18 Alta MXR electric

the whole silencer / spark arrestor end of pipe was red, answ to " td125... when you say 'red tip' do you mean the end of the silencer / muffler was red?"

moto tec had small adverts in the back of the mags back then, pipes with bright colered tips or somthing like that red = honda and other colors for the rest

Put it on & ride it. See how it performs. Looks like a definite improvement over the OEM MT pipe.

~JM~

_________________
WWW.CADDY500.COM
The High Performance
Big Block Cadillac Forum

Thanks guys!

I wrote a huge response and the my computer crashed and i lost the words... I will redo it... sigh...

in the meantime.... JM, I cant just do that as im waiting for the last few parts for the CR250 top end and then i will fit that, im hoping i can use this pipe on that setup and that it wont be too restrictive.

_________________
MT250 with CR250 top end & Bassani pipe... almost fully restored.

See more of my motorbike builds at my Honda MT250 and Yamaha RD and RZ website, 2Smoked.com

If you like watches, check out my websites: DeskDivers.com & PloProf.com

Your doing the CR top end swap? What carb are you planning to use?

I don't know if that pipe will fit properly or not with the CR top-end. I suppose it should & it should be much quieter than the DG down-pipe. I'm looking forward to hearing about your end result. I need to get back to work on mine.

~JM~

_________________
WWW.CADDY500.COM
The High Performance
Big Block Cadillac Forum

cr topend + mt pipe.
you won´t get the power what a cr usually has.

_________________
80 CR250Ra
80 CR250Ra
78 CR250R
80 CR80
82 Bultaco Sherpa 340
78 Bultaco Pursang 250 MK12
76 Bultaco Frontera 370 MK10
76 Bultaco Alpina 250
73 Bultaco Lobito 125 MK6
76 Suzuki RM125A
90 Kawasaki KX250

No the power wont be the same as a cr but its going to be better than the mt and he wont have to worry about the pipe getting beat to hell. I love the looks of the down pipe its what I use on my mt250 but I hate the fact that they are just hanging there in the wind. It also makes two up riding a real chore with the down pipe, my girlfriend had to use the pipe as a foot rest, lol shes affraid of the bike tho its got too much power and shes affraid shes going to fall off the back.