New Member 1989 FZR250R

I wasnt completely happy with the fuel tank so got it acid dipped yesterday, it came up nicely and all clean inside with no rust remnants.

Got the wheels out and stripped too, they are away to get the front rim damage repaired and both painted. Should have them back early next week.

Then to fit mirrors, get it all back together and new chain and sprockets and ready for its first test ride.

 

I got the rims back all completed. The damage on the front one had to be built up by welding it and then turned back down in a lathe. They were blasted and painted. Got all the bearings and seals replaced with nice new ones, new brake discs and fresh rubber and tyre valves. Spent some time today getting them built back up and in the bike and new chain and sprockets fitted. One step closer to completion. Am really pleased with how it is looking so far.

It was very difficult to get a paint match for the chinese fairing kit. Tried a few suppliers who used a paint scanner on one of the panels and it showed nothing anywhere near close in their database. Eventually found another one who used a different scanner and found a very close match that was available either as 2k or waterbase. End result was it cost a lot more to get the paint mixed but it looks pretty good and I got enough to do the darker blue portion of the fuel tank as well.

Have a bend in the gear linkage to straighten out next and clean up all those parts before refitting them to the bike, and the mirrors when they arrive. Got some m6 vacuum adaptors as well so I can balance the carbs properly. I should be able to run it on a temporary plastic pitbike tank for a while to get a few test runs in and iron out any issues that may come up while the tank is being painted.

 

bike got its maiden voyage today! was having some issues with the gear lever not returning properly on gear changes. it had a very slight bend on it where it exits the engine and was binding where it runs through the sprocket cover. took the cover off for now and it's shifting okay once the engine is run in will change the oil and filter and replace the shift shaft at the same time.

did about 100 miles so far keeping it below 9000rpm. feels super smooth and responsive and sounds awesome. handles really well too my earlier worries about the super soft suspension were unfounded, it's only really noticeable with the fork dive under heavy braking.
it will be about s month before anyone is available to get the tank painted so just have to run it like this for a while.

 

Engine has just been overhauled with new big end bearings, pistons and rings, cylinders have been honed etc. And never got to ride the bike before I rebuilt it so like to take it easy for a while to let everything bed in and keep a good ear and eye out for anything not as it should be. Another 50 miles covered now taking it up to 11k or so. Want to give it around 300 to bed in gradually increasing the rpm range throughout before thrashing it.

 

A 300 mile break in is about 2 tanks of fuel!
When I say going easy on it I mean frequently accelerating at a light to moderate throttle opening to a given rpm and avoiding holding it at a set rpm for long periods of time. And every 50 miles or so increasing that rpm limit a little higher.
Thats whats worked very well for me in the past.