Suzuki GSX250 Cafe Project

Hello, I have been lurking around the forums a while. I figured it was time to post up my current project. It's an 83 Suzuki GSX250 cafe. My friend and I are trying to do as much of the work ourselves, with the help of some friends.

At this point, the bike has been torn down to a rolling frame. The frame has mostly been de-tabbed of extraneous mounts. A new seat has been started and just about ready to be fiberglassed, just waiting on the weather to cool down.

The motor needs some work. I need to pull the clutch out and check the friction plates, clean or replace as needed. Unfortunately, I found a hole in the gearbox side of the crank case; probably from a thrown chain. However, there is an experienced aluminum welder in town that should be able to patch it up. The fork seals and dust boots need to be replaced. The wheels are going to be torn down polished up and re-laced. The frame and lower forks will be blasted and powder coated.

I am also working on buying up some parts I will need to put the electronics together, as I am going to try and rewire the bike myself. Still deciding on a speedo and tach.

Here are some pictures of my bike in various stages.

 

Here are some pictures of the seat.

 

Ok, I am trying to get the motor prepped and ready to go. I know when I bought the bike, it had some clutch issues. I want to inspect the friction plates. However, I don't know how, or what tool, to remove the ATU unit. If anyone has some advice, I would appreciate it.

 

Thanks for that. I was having a hard time locating the information in the manual; I happen to already have that manual. However, after another look, I found the information.

Anyway, today was spent dismantling the carb and cleaning all the jets. Working on cleaning all the crud off the carb to get it looking good again. I did have to replace the o-rings on the float needle seat. Apparently they had gone bad, and was causing some fuel to leak into the crank case.

 

Well, I started working on the bottom end of the motor. Pulled the clutch plates, and had a motor guy look at them. The plates are still in good shape. I believe the clutch problems it was having are due to a bent short clutch push rod (probably from the thrown chain). I was trying to pull it out, and bent it even more. However, I found a replacement on ebay for pretty cheap. I'm working on getting the gearbox side apart. Just need a bigger spanner to have a look behind the alternator rotor.

I have been looking for some new switches, but haven't found anything I liked. I decided that I will clean up the original and get them looking decent again. They should work.

I am still racking my brain on how the best way to build a battery/electronics box for this bike. Now that it's pretty much all torn down, it's easy to see how little room it has. I have decided to go with a SHORAI LFX Lithium battery, which is a bit smaller and much lighter than the original. Plus it will handle the higher voltage of the stock charging system.

 

Well, today was a bit productive. I tried to get the alternator rotor off, but the nut is stuck on tight. I will probably have to take it to someone to have it removed. So, I decided to to some cleaning of some parts lying around. I disassembled the front caliper and gave it a pretty good clean. There is some rust on the inside of the piston, but I don't think that should be a problem. The piston boot looks good and is still in tact. However, the two axle boots have tears in them and will need to be replaced. I will most likely give the caliper a paint job down the road. I decided to stay with the stock handle bar switches. Gave them a good clean, and trying to decide if I should try and paint them.

I am trying to figure out what to do about the not so attractive rear peg brackets. I would just remove them, but then I have no where to attach the spring for the rear brake. I will most likely have to make new mounts.

I also made up a list of bits and bobs I still need to buy.

Headlight
Tail light
Speedo
Battery - SHORAI LFX Lithium
Caliper axle boots
New Throttle cable
New pod filters
Front Fender from GS250T

I am sure there will be more to buy down the road.

 

I appreciate it. I am sure I will have some questions in the future. Did you do your wiring yourself?

 

Cool. I want to try and rewire the bike with the help of some friends. I want a clean and tidy loom, with only the wires needed to run the bike and additional accessories.

 

Well, today I tried to tackle the teardown of the motor. I finally figured out how to get the alternator rotor off. But, when I moved onto the clutch side I am having a crappy time removing the external gear shifter parts. I appears the screws are extremely soft and torqued way to tight. They have all pretty much stripped out, even by hand. I am not sure how to get these screws out. Here are some pictures. Any help on how to remove these stripped screws would be appreciated.

I did get some more fabrication done this past week. My friend drew the shape we wanted on the ugly rear foot peg brackets. I was thinking about removing them altogether, but the right side is needed to hold the rear brake spring. So Here is how it came out.

 

Some of the screws may be too far gone. I may need to go see my local motor guy. Now that the screws are pretty much shot, I am having a hard time locating replacements.

 

I am going to give the center punch a go. If that doesn't work, I will take it to the local small motor guy and see if he can get them out. It's just frustrating.