Hamz's Across GSX250F (Purple Rain)

first, pics to get you all wet....



Shes Kindof mine, but i will be the owener eventually (Mwahaha) my work mate got it off his mate for free, the mate had given up after botching up the wireing and couldnt get it to work anymore. alas it is now in my hands, has been sitting for a couple of years. so here we are, a single man with his fellow colleague, spending easter to fix an old bike (Purple Rain).

So heres how we started, Fairings off, body naked. bolts missing ofcourse.............. (Not Impressed).


Naturally we fix the starter circuit First, these bike looms are soo simple! its Great!! undid the deborturay (i dont know how you spell that??). the old starter switch had crapped out so PO tried to resolve it.... by making the loom shorter from what i can tell (wtf??). re extended loom, pluged it back in, hooked up a battery and shorted wires on the handle.
Turning over O.K
Fireing Not O.K, infact non existant
Then BOOM, big flame out the arse haha, scared the S#!@ outta us, then had a good laugh.

So stage one works atleast, its turning over well. next up, lets check the Carb.
Me thinks, Great i know nothing about carbs other than how to rip them apart, fiddle with screws that seem to do nothing, and get lucky with vacuum lines. Luckily there were no vacuum lines to get lucky with... hmm.
so, airbox out, drained excess oil that i realised after it dumped on me there is a drain bung at the bottom by the petcock thing.... OHH well. Pulled off the carbs then realized after there were clamps that needed loosening OPPS! there were a lot of realizations on this haha.
Pulled them apart and cleaned the already pretty clean carbs, float sumps, pick ups, poked wire strands in the jets to clear them, broke a couple of the flat head tips on the pilot jets, ignored them (shell be right!). Back in and clean as a whistle that has been fondled by me.

Cranked her over again and ALAS!..... nothing. hmmmmm
Pulled the plugs and HEllo, very wet and black plugs, with large gaps

Soo down to the shop i got, get a new switch from Jaycar for the starter, and other bits and bobs, 2 plugs from SCA, 2 from Repco, then in. a hard crank with no choke, then a bit of throttle then shes away! (After 2 days). but sounding a bit sick, lots of white smoke! ah crap, maybe the head gasket. pop the rad cap and cranked her, no sudden gushes so that's ok!. flushed the fuel and new fuel, still very white smokey! water black crap coming out the exhaust. so ummmm, i don't know?
i top up the oil (1 Liter!!), adjust the idle screw and let her warm up a little, then drop the oil. coming out a bit brown but remember new oil in there too, its coming out oil, oil, oil, oil, water... gross, it was clear not green so that's good i guess?
New Oil in, semi syn, 10w-40. shes still smoking a bit but better, let her warm right up see if any excess water can be eveaporated. still smokey

Next day, after i had joined this forum (Which i should have done first!) i had done some homework. black sooty water is just residue in the exhaust, and hard start with no choke is too rich, which apparently suzuki do from factory with these. so do the needle notch #2 thing, fiddle with the mixture screws a little, all the way in then 4 turns out. Crank her over and PRESTO, instantly into life, still a wee bit smokey, but a heck of alot smoother! flushed and Bled the brakes, discovered there a 2 master cylinders! who woulda thought? haha. pumped up the tyres and put the indicators on, and half the fairings (Need more bolts!) checked the rear ture and seems it was made in Feb 97 0.0 so had a slow ride down a couple of blocks in the suburbs only got into 3rd, but all feels smooth and great! and thats it for now!

In the coming week:
- Get License
- Will get bolts for fairings
- Try fix front fairing as its a bit cracked
- Look at replacing Rear Tyre
- Don't recall seeing mirrors, may need to address that.
- Address chain rust and lube chain.
- fix fuel tank door opener and switch, solinoid works but nothing activating it?
- Give a once over and book an inspection for in a couple of weeks

And a couple of questions, as i am new to the motor bike world don't scold me for silly questions (But feel free to laugh!):
1. Does anyone know what the deal is with the fuel cap popper thing, is it run of a relay via the switch thats on the front fairing? if yes any info would be sweet as!
2. Bike tyres, i forgot to look at the size of the rear tyre, can someone tell me what size it is (If not i can google it ) and where to get tyres on the cheap, i.e 2nd hand but ok. This is just going to be a DD not a track bike.
3. Where other than ebay can you get air filter, oil filter, fuel filter? took me a while to get part number for oil off ebay, and repco has to order them in, rather can a motorbike wholesale or shop be recommended. and the battery too, been using a 7ah alarm panel battery lol.
4. On the needle slides, i noticed black crap around the spring and top of needle, i cleaned on one carb but not the other, not sure if the said black crap was lube? should i reopen the sliders and put some greese in there?

And finally, to end the post, i would like to invite any and all to comment, tell me im stupid, give advice, answer my silly questions that Google could probably answer and any advice on how to get ready for a inspection would be appreciated too!

Thanks in advance!

Hamz

 

Thats good to know about the tyre, for me expensive is 600+, i am an avid 4 wheeler and my tyres cost about 490 fitted each! so thats good to know!

The black stuff did look like build up of something?..... ill get into that 2nd carb and blast it! thanks. the #2 notch on the needle was to make it run leaner, HERE is where i got the info. And I'm sure the bloke with the Ironman pic mentioned it somewhere!?

Also, i saw someone mention Drilling holes in the baffle? but i dont know what that is and im about to look it up.

It was a great weekend, and i am loving working on the bike, soo much easier than all my cars and trucks haha!

 

@Moo tyres specs are:
Front tyre size: 110 170 17 54H
Rear tyre size: 140 170 17 66H

According to the internet.

@Grasshopper Lets pull the trigger on a couple of oil filters!

@GreyImport Cheers for the info, really appreciate it!

 

@MCiN7 i will wait till its road legal to try that. but will probably just leave it, i have never been one for loud exhausts.

Quick update, sneaked away at lunch and got my RE Learners permit, now i can ride bikes apparently! Picked up a battery from batteryworld Cheers @GreyImport for the websites, turned out to be real easy to find lol. and some bolts to get the fairings back on!



Its know Motobatt i know! but les be honest, its a free bike, and the battery wont be doing anything special!

Just need new tyres now, oh and a helmet! then off to get the OK (Hopefully!)

Cheers for the info guys, keep it comin!

 

Cheers! some how i doubt the Aspect Ratio would be 170, but the width and rim size are there

 

Ok, the 1 in 170 must have meant to be a '/' aspect ratiio is 70 for both

 

HAH! i JUST read through the owners manual. a bunch of useful info on there!

 

Hey guys, quick update. Got the wheels off and ordered new tyres. They should be here next week. I got bridgestones, 320 for the set plus fitting 20 bucks a wheel. Quick question is the current rear wheel is 130/70 and hand book says stock is 140/70. Will this matter much.

And second off, I NEED HELP!, i know im spesh, but need to source some mirrors, as this accross has none, had a quick look on ebay and they are 50$ a side, want to go a bit cheaper but will see, if anyone has some they want to part with, by all means contact me! i will upload photos later tonight!

Chow