Project 1998 ZZR250

Just creating a project for the little ZZR250 I picked up this afternoon.

Full background story is it was owned from new by a guy in Injune. He put just under 28,000 kms on the clock then had a bit of an accident so the bike sat in a shed for 6 years. From there it passed through the hands of two brothers (one in Injune, the other in Toowoomba) whom I purchased it from. The brother in Toowoomba got it for his partner but then found out she wanted a cruiser. Saw it on Facebook marketplace this morning, put in an offer of $500, and picked it up this afternoon!

It's fairly tidy but has a bit of cosmetic damage from the drop but nothing major. I haven't had a good look at it yet but hopefully I can get it on the road without a huge effort/expense.

Observations so far:
- Tyres are old
- No rear brake pads
- No headlight bulb
- No choke cable (still managed to get it started with just a bit of throttle)
- Clutch lever is slightly bent
- Right fork seal leaking
- Chain looks a bit rusty but might be salvageable
- Probably have to get a new indicator for the left side where it was dropped
- Minor crack in front fairing and quite a few scrapes along left side to be tidied up

I'll keep this thread up to date as I fix things.

Without further ado here are the photos just before I took it off the trailer.
I'll get some better pics and video of it running on the weekend.





[IMGhttp://i.imgur.com/63xGfvQ.jpg[/IMG]

 

I paid $250 for that trailer and it has earned its money back many times over.

 

Quick video of a cold start this afternoon. Choke cable does look like it's there but does absolutely nothing. Revs also don't drop after giving it a bit of throttle. Probably have to look for an air leak somewhere but overall it sounds alright and doesn't blow any smoke.

 

The investigation begins! This is actually my favourite part of a project. Stripping everything down and finding out if you actually got a bargain or a massive money pit.

After stripping all the fairings off and pulling the tank, fuel started going everywhere. The main fuel line is perished and cracked so that needs to be replaced. In the background you can also see why the choke isn't working.


That's right! It has been zip tied so you can't move it. Seems to have been done because there is a spring missing and once you pull the choke on it won't go off again. I'll pull this off at some stage and investigate. Has anyone got a carb diagram?


Also found my air leak. The air box has been pulled at some stage and never connected to the carbs again correctly.


Inside the air box note the hi flow filter and bonus random bolt.


The only bad surprise with the frame was a snapped off bolt that holds the bracket that the tank mounts to. Have tried WD40, heat, and a punch but it's being a bit stubborn. Will probably have to drill it out.


What's left of the rear brake pads. Yes there was only one.


Front and rear sprockets look like they still have a bit of life left in them. The front sprocket seems to move around a bit. Is there supposed to be a spacer or something behind it?




How she's sitting at the moment. Should be many parts arriving next week so only cleaning and checking this weekend. I also haven't touched the front end yet. Need to pull the forks to do the seals and I'll also take the wheels in to get some new rubber on them. Was really impressed with the Pirelli Sport Demons on the CBX so will probably go with them again.

 

Yeah I had noticed that. I'm guessing they weren't used as indicators in Australia because they're not far enough apart?

Once it was registered I was actually going to get some bulbs and swap them back over as the indicators.

 

Got the front end sorted out today, no photos as my hands were either covered in fork oil or bearing grease. New headlight, fork seals done, flushed the radiator and new pads on the front.

When flushing the radiator I found a small crack in the bottom of the coolant tank, which explained why it was empty. Found a wrecker with a spare and have a replacement on the way.

There was a lot of cleaning involved with the front end. When they brought it in from Injune they had the forks completely compressed and everything on the front was saturated in fork oil.They're supposed to have 350mL of oil in each fork, I emptied both of them into the same container and was only 250mL in both forks combined.

I managed to get some new rubber on the tyres as well. Ended up with Michelin Pilots as they didn't have a Sport Demon rear in stock and I wanted matching tyres due to my OCD.

Only major thing left to do is pull the carbies and sort the choke cable out. Once that's done and the few other small bits sorted it should be ready for a roadworthy.

 

Not as much done this weekend as hoped but I've sorted the choke cable out and did the valve clearances. First time doing valve clearances so I hope it still starts. I double and triple checked after adjusting, went and had lunch, then double checked again. Wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be, probably a bit more involved if you had the shim and bucket style.

After I pulled the carbies it became apparent that someone has 'rebuilt' them at some stage.... badly.

The main reason the choke wasn't working (apart from the zip tie) is the fact someone has installed a random spring to hold the choke open. I'm not sure if this was done for a particular reason or they just had a random spring left over when putting it back together and decided it should go there. There was also a missing nylon washer causing the slide to catch.



I also had to make another clamp that holds the choke cable to the carbs as the one used wasn't the right size and the cable just slid in and out of it.


After getting the choke working again I reinstalled the carbs and started investigating why the throttle cable kept sticking and not closing by itself. I pulled the throttle apart and found one of the cables is frayed on the end causing it to bind.


So the weekend wasn't too bad. Solved a couple of problems and found another one. Thankfully parts for this bike are reasonably cheap and easy to find so another throttle cable is already on its way.

 

The fight continues with the airbox. I ended up pulling the carbs completely out of the bike to try and attach the airbox. First thing to fix was replace the useless springs that hold the boots on to the carbs with proper hose clamps. This should enable me to get the airbox on without the boots constantly slipping off the carbs.


There is no way to put your hand in the airbox to push from behind so I ended up using a blunt, flat blade screwdriver to push the boots into the airbox. After multiple tries, finally... success.


Wait a minute... I can no longer get the airbox back in to the bike because the carbs are in the way... Plan B, pull parts off the carbs until they fit. (I only ended up pulling the throttle cable bracket off to get them to fit.)



So the airbox is finally back in and connected to the carbs. I understand why these weren't put together properly in the first place now. No picture of everything back together because I got distracted by the clutch cable. I thought the hard clutch lever was just because it was bent but it was actually because the cable was frayed. So new clutch lever and cable are now on the bike.


More updates tomorrow... hopefully it will be running!

 

Didn't quite get it running today as I have been distracted with other duties such as building a new fence.

Things achieved today:
- Filled up the coolant after radiator flush and new coolant overflow tank
- Oil and filter change
- Gave the chain a good scrub and cleaned the front sprocket and surrounding area
- Rear wheel is back on
- Oiled and installed new air filter
- New pads for rear brake and also new brake fluid
- Cut new fuel hose and installed on carbs with proper hose clamp
- Attempted to drill out broken off bolt for the front of the fuel tank but both batteries for my drill went flat
- Gave the CBR600 a wash

Doesn't sound like much but it kept me busy most of the day. I reckon it will be on the road in 2-3 weeks. One more weekend for the last few bits and testing, then I'll get it in the next weekend for a roadworthy.

I did discover I'm missing the top chain guard. I'm guessing this is probably required for roadworthy so I've got one on the way. Total build cost is nearing $1500 now so I don't want to spend too much more on it. Everything I've found so far was minor but replacing so many small parts is starting to build up.

How it sits at the moment: