Bought a project SRX about a month ago as a non runner. Had been sitting about 10 years but was in fairly decent shape. Cosmetically, minor dent in the tank, missing windscreen, cracks in the side covers/tail panel, and basically no seat (only pan). Initial mechanical inspection discovered a frozen clutch cable, seized front brakes, badly rusted chain, and dead battery. The gas tank looked good on initial inspection, other than missing the tap and sender. I decided to acid wash it just because and kind of glad I did because there ended up being a small bad section that was only holding together with the paint. Was only a matter of time there. Cut that out and welded a new piece of metal in. Went to pull the carbs to clean out and the rubber part of the manifolds came off with the carbs. Got new manifolds and Sonic cleaned the carbs. Time to try and start and no spark. Turned out there was a bad connection in the plug from the pickup coil. So now I have fuel and spark but no fire. Previously, I had simply put a finger over the plug hole and felt there was compression, but when I put an actual gauge on, it was not good. Only 30 psi. Leak down told me most likely stuck rings. Pulled the engine out and tore the top end off and sure enough, stuck rings. Exhaust valves were also leaking a bit so getting a valve job in addition to new rings, since the piston and bore looked good. Since I have it apart, figured it was a good time to clean the cases and repaint them. Staying black but going to add some matte gold accents.
I spotted your post on Facebook. Good to see that your bringing the poor old bike back to life , have to admit , the USA colour scheme is the best i think. It's a shame OZ supplied bike's didn't get the same style of fuel tank filler cap set up as the USA model. There was a wrecker over your way , he had a fuel tank , but he was closing down his business though. If you need a hand looking for part's reach out , as this model was supplied here for many year's. Some part's are hard to find though. I do hope you can supply update picture's when time allow's.
That’s funny you mention the color scheme on our bikes because I really don’t care much for it. I much prefer the solid colors. If the paint and body were in good shape I would keep it that way, but since it’s not, I’m going to eventually change it. Not sure yet but thinking a black/gold scheme. Thanks for the parts offer. I’m sure at some point I will need some help. So far I did get a gasket set from there and found a set of nice clocks for a fair price in the UK. I should have took a picture of the bike when I got it, but it really wasn’t much to look at. Should have something soon as I am putting the top end together then back in the bike.
Comparing all of the SRX 250 colour schemes , the USA is my first pick and then the Silky white , which I have. I was never aware that there where a few different colours supplied via the factory. I was gifted a O.E catalog that has the colour schemes shown , just in case you'd like to have a look. No problems to help looking for parts , been all through that when mine was being ," buffed up ". I don't mind chasing parts , I enjoy it actually , keeps my old brain fired up. What gasket set did you get in the end , I prefer to use O.E stuff when possible. My parts supplier had a fair few N.O.S parts to suit , it took a while time wise to gradually get the $ together , but i scored most of what I could afford.
The gaskets were Forseti. I would prefer OE also, but this top end set was less than a OE head gasket and the valve cover is shown nla here.. These seem to be of a good quality. I got the top end put together today enough to check the valve clearance so I can get new shims ordered. Here is a pic.
IMHO, the early Aussie SRX250 had a nice paint job. Simple, but classic small sports bike look and feel. Hard to believe they're over 40 years old.
That is kinda the direction I’m going to head. Thinking a dark blue for the paint and using a TZ race tail.
if you're going to do a race tail why not black and yellow? era appropriate and it looks awesome (imho).
Look at the 1978 is SR500 paint scheme. I had three of them and used to race a couple at Willow Springs in the 90s.
Always wanted to race at Willow, but never made it there. Raced various small twins for a number of years at Sears and Buttonwillow. Sears was not a real safe track in the mid to late 90’s. Lots of riders took helicopter rides.
Great Bike; Excellent sound. Still pissed I sold mine. Flip seat was like a lounge chair. That Blue was a popular colour too.
