My GSX250 project

Hello 2fiftycc folk!

So I bought this old girl back in May. My first motorcycle! 1983 model. $800 rego'd for four months, and running OK. The only obvious problems were a very loose chain, and an oil leak around the front sprocket somewhere. Exhaust sounds like **** too.

So since then I have been re-learning how to ride a motorcycle; I got my licence in Perth in 2003 but then returned to London and didn't ride a bike at all since. AND trying to learn how to maintain a bike.

Somehow I found this forum back in May, and signed up. But then forgot about it, doh! I just found it again and am happy to note there at least two other folk working on GSX250 cafe projects. Awesome! If only I had contacted you fold in the months since I would have no doubt saved a ton of time and effort. So far I have replaced the tacho and clutch cables, replaced the chain and rear sprocket, replaced the front brake piston and seals, and replaced the master cylinder, and renewed the front pads. Plus fixed a few dodgy electrical connections here and there. The mechanic who did my rego inspection fixed the fork seals and fitted a new rear tyre.

In my dreams I'd like to make her into something like this:

http://www.pipeburn.com/home/2012/5/31/1983-suzuki-gsx250-lil-brat.html

However, I only have one bike and its my main mode of transport, so that may not be entirely practical. I'm working on the principle of one self contained job at a time. That totally didn't happen with the front brakes - I was off the road for weeks. I won't even go into how much time I wasted by being ignorant and having so few mechanical skills, knowledge and tools. Lessons learned.

So - I have a ton of questions. But first I'll post some photos, lemme know what you think. She has obviously seen better days. Hopefully with your help we can make her beautiful again

 

Thanks. So next job is to take off the carbies and give them a good clean. I reckon the bike doesn't have as much power as it should (guess), but judging by the state of the other bits I've taken apart so far, they are going to be full of gunk and in need of some care and attention. Plus adjusting the choke lever currently has no effect, so something needs work there. I've read the manual entry. What I'd like to do is get all the parts I'm going to need before taking it off the bike, so I can hopefully be back on the road pretty quick. Unfortunately there isn't a 'kit' you can buy with all the bits. So what does the collective wisdom of the group think I should order? The manual says O-rings and gaskets for sure. Floats? Seatings/needles? Diaphragm? Pistons?
Any other tips?

 

I don't know what happened there... the girl I bought it from said she went into the back of a car. quite gently I think. it doesn't explain why the paint came off so completely. The shape of the guard is distorted a little. it looks like a very close match to the colour on the tank and side panels so I guess its original.
whats the best way to get the rest of the paint off?

 

Hi Ben

I saw your thread; I'm keen to see how you get on

My original master cylinder was working ok, but it had silicon (or something) all over the little fluid level window, so you couldn't see anything through it. I guess it must have been leaking. I found a guy breaking up a similar model for parts in the UK on ebay. I was heading over there for a holiday in August so I ordered a few bits from him, and got them delivered to a friend. One was the master cylinder, which included the brake handle, and leads to the brake light. He sent photos first. His cover was all scraped up and his brake lever was a mess (must have been a bad crash!), but mine was ok so I figured I could mix and match. I also ordered a cheap 'piston kit' from a chinese parts site.
When I got back to Australia I just took the best bits of each. The second hand master cylinder and diaphragm, my cover and brake lever switch and electrics. The cheap piston kit was rubbish. The actual piston piece was a joke; it was clearly cheap metal, much lighter, and you could see the edges where it had been cast. I used the one from the second hand set, but with the seals and spring from the kit. They seemed ok.
The circlip on the piston was a nightmare to get out, it took me around an hour of fiddling around. Would be quicker next time though you'll need some good long thin nosed circlip pliers.

Maybe I would have been better off buying completely new bits? Dunno. It didn't even occur to me at the time that that was possible. But I'd probably do that now.

I hope that helps, let me know how you go

 

Lust

http://www.pipeburn.com/home/2013/10/28/1987-suzuki-gsx400-s-dented-brat.html

OK its a 400, but its basically the same model. I like what he's done with the side panels

 

So I've had the carbies off this week. A lot more work and trouble than I expected. Internally everything was pretty clean, no blocked jets etc. One of the pistons was blackened, kinda charred. The other completely clean. See below. Anyone knows what that means?!


All the small internal parts were in pretty good shape, nothing needs replacing. The choke rod was all seized though, and the mounting for its cable was loose. Fixed that. Its weird, the Haynes manual doesn't mention the choke parts at all. Doesn't even label them in the diagram.
The petrol tank was tricky. The book says just leave tap in 'ON' position and unhook the pipe, fuel won't flow as its not being sucked by the carbies. However mine spat petrol all over the place. I guess its because there is not a good seal at the cap? Will know to drain the tank fully next time
Anyone know what the third pipe is coming off the bottom of the tank? First is fuel line, goes from tap on tank to T-pipe between carbies. Second is vacuum, also goes from tap to front of right hand carbie. Third goes from just near fuel gauge mechanism and doesn't connect to anything. What is that?

Air filter box was a massive pain. I couldn't get it out of the bike! Even after taking the battery box etc out. I think you'd have to cut it in half to get it out! Pods are the way to go obviously. Someone told me me have to get your bike retuned if you go with pods, whats the story there? How hard is it to do?

All wiring is a total mess. None of it looks original. All held together with insulation tape.

Anyway all back on the bike now. Will tune and ride tomorrow!

 

Update on my project:

So I put the carbies back on the bike, but it runs worse than before... I tried adjusting the pilot screws as detailed in the manual but got nowhere. My exhaust is non standard, it has a custom pipe from the cylinder heads that make it go two into one, plus it has a totally different silencer, brand is Formula1. So I'm now aware that the carbies could have been setup with different jets, needle position etc.... Bugger.
So now I'm doing what I should have probably done before: change the oil, oil filter, spark plugs, check the valve clearances, and check the timing. Having trouble finding someone with a strobe thingo so far though...

Its not all bad news though. A colleague at work lent me this to run around on for a few weeks while I'm picking up parts