Hi All, Just joined as I am starting the restoration of my HD Cagiva SS250, which I have had in my back garden/shed for around 25 years. Last year I part-ex'ed my 1998 Suzuki GSXR600 SRAD for a Honda CBR600RR, a bike I have wanted since they first came out. Riding it through winter proved that it is not a good bike to ride in poor weather conditions, so I looked around for a winter bike I could build/restore. Then I remembered I had a frame and engine from a H-D Cagiva SS250 in the back of the shed, which I had bought around 25 years ago and had done nothing with. Looking on eBay, I found that parts weren't too rare, so decided to rebuild/restore/complete this bike. Luckily, I just picked up a SS175 for repairs or spares, which will give me just about all the parts I need to get my 250 complete and on the road. I will be building the bike as the trials/enduro version (not sure of the model name) which I saw pictured on the interweb. So anyway, I am thinking of doing the bike up in 2 stages, firstly doing the minimum necessary to get it up and working and on the road for this winter, then next year doing a full restoration and remodelling as a trials/enduro version. I'll keep posting, and add photos as I get on. Cheers
welcome along mate and happy posting! looking forward in watching your project take shape. coming from Ireland originally i can feel your pain about winter riding all the best!
Oops, I meant to put text in that last post too, also maybe I should have put the image up as a thumbnail, looks a bit big on the page. Anyway, just wanted to say I have made a start on painting the frame, took about 5 or 6 hours with a wire brush, and wire brush attachments on a drill and angle grinder to get all the loose rust off, painting the frame should take another day or so. In the meantime I'll get the swinging arm off the spare bike, and clean and paint that too. I managed to get a rear knobbly tyre and a new set of shocks from a mate for a reasonable price, so contrary to my previous post, I'll be building it to look like the SX250 now
Been a while since I posted, got a fair bit more done now. I have finished painting the frame and swinging arm, got the frame and swinging arm assembled with the rear shocks (photos later). If you look at the photo above, you may notice that at some point in the past, I had sawn off the footpeg mounts - when I originally got the bike, I was planning on making it into a cafe racer with clip on bars and rear sets, with possibly a large (400cc or so) 4 stroke single engine fitted. So I had to saw off the footpeg mountings from the spare frame I have, and get them welded on to this frame. I am in the process of getting the front wheel rebuilt with a 21" rim, as the SX version has a 21" front wheel. The rear wheel has an alloy rim, which is not standard, but I will be keeping it like that, hence I am getting the front wheel rebuilt with an alloy rim and stainless steel spokes. The rear wheel has a steel hub painted silver, which is a bit rusty and the paintwork is starting to flake off, but it is not too bad so I have cleaned it up as best I could, and will use it as is for now, possibly getting it re-spoked next summer, which will give me chance to clean and repaint the hub. I also managed to buy an SX260 exhaust from eBay (£190! Ouch and a motocross style handlebars which looks close to the original. Hopefully I will get the rear tyre on and the rear wheel fitted this weekend, then the next job is to make a start on the front end. I need to get the stanchions re-chromed, so I'll be stripping the forks this weekend too. I'll post some more pics later to show work in progress. Cheers Gixxer
Pic of my bike as it was about a week ago, with the frame and swinging arm painted and fitted, and with the new shocks fitted.
