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Project Kawasaki EL250

Discussion in 'Your 250cc Projects' started by murdman87, Aug 25, 2019.

  1. murdman87

    murdman87 Well-Known Member

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    Well, I got another 250.

    I know nothing about these bikes, but the internet tells me it's a ninja 250 engine in a cruiser frame.

    Sounds like a perfect beginner bike.
    It's about as rough as I've ever seen a bike, but it was only $100 and just for something to fiddle with on weekends.

    Plan is to do it up and give it to the missus to learn on.
    I also got a free ninja 250, so might end up swapping engine and harness from that onto this bike. Although the ninja is actually in pretty good shape for a crashed bike so may end up fixing and selling cheap to fund this project bike.

    Here's what it looks like:
    Screenshot_20190821-165044_Gumtree.jpg
    20190825_123917.jpg

    If anyone has any info I might find useful about these bikes, please share. I'm pretty clueless on it! But will be a fun project.
     
  2. 2valve

    2valve Well-Known Member

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    Wow , poor old thing. The first pic is how you found it ?.
     
  3. murdman87

    murdman87 Well-Known Member

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    That's the pic from the Gumtree ad.

    It's pretty rough. But I always wanted to do a frame up rebuild on a bike and this was cheap enough for me to try and not worry if I brake anything
     
  4. 2valve

    2valve Well-Known Member

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    At'least for $100.00 and look's like most of is there.Did you get the instrument's / headlight ?.
     
  5. murdman87

    murdman87 Well-Known Member

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    Nope. Headlight and Speedo are gone. Wiring at the front is mostly butchered. I think he had started parting it out and gave up.
    But I'm not scared of wiring anything in. I'll get a standard universal headlight off eBay and potentially use the instruments off the ninja. I'll have to look into fabricating mounts and stuff.
    It's also missing the cowl around the radiator and the top engine mounts appear to be missing. But they look identical to the ninja ones from what I can see. Would be an interesting swap to get the ninja wheels and engine into this frame.
    Hydraulic rear brake from the ninja would be a nice update.
     
  6. murdman87

    murdman87 Well-Known Member

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    Sitting under the carport for now. Hosed off all the bugs and spiders. But geez it's rough.

    20190826_161021.jpg
     
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  7. 2valve

    2valve Well-Known Member

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    I do hope your going to cover it over with a tarp , sun /weather may damage the bike :D.
     
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  8. 2valve

    2valve Well-Known Member

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    Look's like Kiffsta and Phil @ MotoREcycle has a EL 250 listed for wrecking.
    Ad is a bit old though , see what he has left.
     
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  9. my67xr

    my67xr Bike Enthusiast Staff Member Premium Member Contributing Member

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    Nice work, look's like a fun project

    What year and model is it ?
    I just found and uploaded an owner's manual for the Kawsasaki EL250 in the resource's section
    And a 1991 1992 EL250E wiring diagram
     
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    Last edited: Aug 27, 2019
  10. murdman87

    murdman87 Well-Known Member

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    Tha ks mate I'll have a look

    It's a 93.

    Cheers guys. Will be fun when I get time to start tearing into it.
     
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  11. murdman87

    murdman87 Well-Known Member

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  12. murdman87

    murdman87 Well-Known Member

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    I'd love to say these are progress shots, but it's another bike.
    Picked this one up for $500.
    Between the two I should end up with a nice bike for the Mrs to ride.
    20191021_173345.jpg 20191021_173401.jpg 20191021_170635.jpg
     
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  13. murdman87

    murdman87 Well-Known Member

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    Update.
    This bike started and idled first whack of the button. Not bad for sitting since 2011.
    Has a very noisy valve that I'll look into hopefully this weekend, and a nasty fuel leak from the carbs.

    I'm on the hunt for a complete key set if anyone has something laying around pm me.
    If I absolutely have to have a seperate key for the tank then that's what I'll do but would love a 1 key fits all deal.
     
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  14. my67xr

    my67xr Bike Enthusiast Staff Member Premium Member Contributing Member

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  15. murdman87

    murdman87 Well-Known Member

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    That might come in handy. Thanks mate
     
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  16. murdman87

    murdman87 Well-Known Member

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    Well with the help of that video I managed to rekey the helmet lock on the good bike while retaining the helmet lock barrel from the parts bike. I had hoped to use that barrel in the fuel lid but unfortunately I can't make it work. So I'll be buying a new fuel lid, but hopefully will be able to use what I've learner to rekey it to accept the bike key and be able to have my "1 key fits all" deal I'm after.
    Thanks again for the video
     
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  17. murdman87

    murdman87 Well-Known Member

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    Spent my day working on the carbs attempting to repair the leak. It seems like I've managed to fix it.
    Someone had definitely been in there before. The bowl screws were stripped to crap. Luckily the parts bike carbs had been unmolested and I swapped parts over as needed.

    Cleaned everything out and reset the float height. Pressure tested with a big syringe and no leaks. Happy days.

    20191110_171753.jpg

    Side note.... I thought getting the carbs out on the across was tough. This thing is much harder. It's a tight fit in there!
    20191110_172200.jpg
     
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  18. Murdo

    Murdo The Good Doctor Staff Member Contributing Member Ride and Events Crew

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    I found the only way to get the carbs out was to remove the airbox bolts to allow it to move back to get the carbs past the rubber boots. Don't forget to vacuum balance the carbs after refitting them.
     
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  19. murdman87

    murdman87 Well-Known Member

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    That's something I've never actually attempted. I'll have to YouTube it and save a few jars to make a gauge.
     
  20. murdman87

    murdman87 Well-Known Member

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    @Murdo ,
    Any tips for getting the airbox boots back on the carbs? Can't for the life of me get it. They seem to push back into the airbox and there's no room to get my hand in behind and push them on.
     

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