Hi all, I'm from New Zealand, Waikato area. Have always been interested in motorcycles and rode plenty of them on farms, finally got my license a couple of years ago and started on a XSR700 and got the 2022 XSR900 earlier this year. I have got my hands on my first project, a 1989 Yamaha FZR250R and have been lurking around here gathering info for the work to come. It's a runner which is great but hasn't aged well, going to strip it down (excluding the engine at this point) and reassemble inspecting along the way. I will also be documenting my rebuild on my youtube channel, not sure of the rules around posting the channel details here so I will leave that for the moment. Looking forward to the journey and hope I'm up to the task ( I have been taking vast notes from here for reference). Cheers. Sent from my SM-N986B using Tapatalk
That actually looks fairly tidy all told. You may be able to get the OEM front fairing set to match if you're patient. Depending on kms, worn emulsion tubes in the carbs will likely/potentially be an issue [Keyster kits are the solution] and valve clearances are a typical service check and adjustment.
21,000km on the clock, I didn't think it was to bad condition either, was quite surprised actually after my 5 hour drive to check it out. Noticed the keyster kits is something people are talking about and will get it disassembled and start ordering the various parts when I can check its all original or if there has been anything swapped out. Pretty much thinking if it's a bearing or a seal of some kind, even with low km it's probably best to replace while I'm in there. Also looking at the litetek stuff aswell. Thinking of getting another tank and Chinese fairings to do a custom paint job in reference to 80s race bikes and keeping the current stuff to the side until I hopefully find originals to redo in the original paint scheme so I have a couple of options. Sent from my SM-N986B using Tapatalk
Mine, which is coincidentally the exact same paint scheme had ~35K kms and emulsion tube wear when I got it, so yours may be OK. The emulsion tube wear is a symptom of the size of the hole for the needle in the slide. One solution is to get some 3mm brass tube [thin wall from a hobby store], cut a small length and press it into the slide from the top - it's a tight fit, then it needs to be reamed to ~2.6mm There is no substitute for Litetek kits for carbs, @maelstrom is fastidious and the perfection shows. One easy clue re: previous maintenance will be damaged heads on JIS screws if they've been mangled with a philips screwdriver. Note all of the screws are JIS, a decent set of posidrive screwdrivers can be successfully used as a substitute. In my travels across the net I've seen ads either on gumtree.com.au with pics of that specific bodywork, or perhaps it was facebook marketplace. If I come across them again, I'll post links. I don't know for certain if any other forum members have purchased Chinese 3LN fairings, but I like the race bike replica paint scheme idea. Many great colour schemes from that period to choose from. EDIT - BTW I'm an advocate for not messing with carbs if they're not problematic, stepwise I would check the fuel level first and foremost and take it from there.
definitely in the plan, I'm just going to start with sitting the engine to the side and get the frame etc stripped and rebuilt, then look at the carbs and engine when the confidence is a bit higher to tackle that, failing that there is a great motorcycle restoration mechanics shop in my little town by great chance if I start feeling out of depth with the engine itself. Sent from my SM-N986B using Tapatalk
