Yamaha SR250, brit build cafe

Hi all, this is my first build. Im not mechanic, just a poor student about to graduate with nothing but a broke bank :

Only just joined the forum so ill try get everyone up to scratch with how far im on, since iv been working on and off the bike since May.

The bikes inspired by the classic brit iron and the gods over at WrenchMonkees 8)

anyway..
Brought the bike from a fella who was using it to commute, right until the back drum froze (easy fix i thought) so i brought it for a wopping £250.
Heres the bike when i got it home:


Got it back, immediately started tear it down:



realised it was so rusty i had to strip the paint just to see the extent of the damage. Good job i did cos i noticed the swing arm had rusted thru. I patched that up and started looking for a tank.

found a decent GSX400 tank for about £20..bargin right?!
Sat that on the frame:


Chopped up the original bars to make some lugs for it to sit on.. (told you im on a tight budget)


Welded them on..

then the bike looked like this:


Got the orignal seat on (minus leather and padding)

Gave me a nice impression of the bike.

Then went on the hunt for a seat and cone silencer, found both so reasonably priced.
£35 for the seat..£25 for the silencer, i had started to fab my own seat with the idea of trying my hand at molds and fiberglass but thought i was biting off more than i could chew!

Heres how it looked then just placed on and mocked up..



.... continued...

continued...

Once i mocked up, i knew i had to chop the rear frame down so i could drop the rear seat and cowl.

did that and the seat sat so much better:


Wanted to make sure the rear wouldnt bend so i added some support at the back:
like so..


also supported the fiberglass seat by fiberglassing some very thick wood into the base, this will enabled me to drill into it, haveing it directly onto the frame:



finally made up a bracket for the whole exhaust system to secure on and bolted down both the seat and frame.

and tada! This is where im up to now:
oh also forgot to mention the bars are for a Royal Enfield

My todo list goes as follows (no necessarily in order):

Properly rebuilt wheels, checking spacers and bearings. Greese 'em!
Cover the whole seat
Try to attached stupid british oversided and horrible yellow reg plate on the back
Sort out lights
Fab,buy or steal something i can use as a battery box
buy air filter
Do aaalll the electrics
MOT the bugger and hope to god that it paseses

The tank is very nice it will work well with the overall look of the bike. I keep my eye out for them at the right price, good choice. You'll have a cool cafe soon keep up the work, congrats on the graduation.
Cheers, 50gary

Glad to see the build thread up. Looks like you're handling the budget nicely, and still turning out nice work. Good on ya. Love the RE bars by the way.

Nice work dude. Keep it comin

That tank looks great on that bike, that frame is hard to get straight line on and you've done it really well. Is the controls going to interfere with the tank once they are on there?

Love those little 250 thumpers rock solid. If you need to do anything with the piston it uses the same piston as the xs650.

Thanks for the kind words guys. Iv looked at the bars and theres a few mill before they hit the bar so its close but it should be ok

Progress has slowed down again, just looking for the right tail light.
Did get the chain replaced and set up the rear wheel tho.

Anyone got at any good solutions for a battery box? thats stumped me from day one

Cheers folks

I mentioned this to another builder use a lithium battery, they are very small in relation to their output. They are costly but you're buying precious real estate and can put it low behind the engine. They really are small and light weight.
Cheers, 50gary

I was considering a GSX tank for my SR250... Now I'm sure. That thing looks tits! I'm gonna buy that tank as soon as I find one locally. I can't believe you picked it up for £20, the cheapest one I can find is $125.

[font=arial, sans-serif][/size]Good luck with your build, it's looking great so far.[size=small][/font]

this is a great looking build so far. keep it up and keep us posted

50gary said:

I mentioned this to another builder use a lithium battery, they are very small in relation to their output. They are costly but you're buying precious real estate and can put it low behind the engine. They really are small and light weight.
Cheers, 50gary

Click to expand...

Thanks Gary. Iv done some research and reckon they would set me back almost a couple hundred. I would consider one if it was for a larger bike, but seeing as its only a 250 and i doubt ill hang onto the bike long (always looking for a new project)

flat_out_fury said:

I was considering a GSX tank for my SR250... Now I'm sure. That thing looks tits! I'm gonna buy that tank as soon as I find one locally. I can't believe you picked it up for £20, the cheapest one I can find is $125.

Good luck with your build, it's looking great so far.

Click to expand...

$125?! I dont know if its just being the uk, might be worth buying one from over here and try get it shipped?
This ones £60
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SUZUKI-GSX250-GSX-250-TANK-1982-/370444880328?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item56403c49c8

Also trying searching GSX400 tho because i believe they are the same tank

Hope that helps

Hi everyone, not had chance to put many hours in on the bike recently but have started to work on the seat briefly this week.
Want to run a full covered seat and using the seat and cowl that iv already got.

Also dont know if this should be under another topic in Help area or anything (so if anyone thinks it might help anyone ill happily repost there )

Cheap being my middle name I was wondering around a local store looking for cup head bolts (you can never have enough right?!) and i came across this foam, i immediately thought of my seat.

The foam is a 'knee cushion' for ol' dears to kneel on while they prim their roses, it came for the pricely sum of 99p

Checking out the thickenss:



looks perfect, even has an arch so i can line it up to the cowl.


Using 'fast tack' glue (a sort of strong spray glue for those of you who have never been an art student) I glued it to the seat base, it fitted perfectly.



I used some duck tape to hold it over night, and by some form of magic it stuck to it.. i mean REALLY stuck, you cannot move it a tiny bit:


(next day)





once i had that sorted out i went on to think about the seat, dragged out a ol leather jacket and laid it over the seat..


Then it dawned on me.... I have no idea how to sew... honestly not a clue...
SO...
What does every 20 something year old do when they cant do simple domestic dutys...thats right..rang my mum..
and yeah...
shes taking it from there.... ???

So once I get it back from her ill be sure to update this.
Hope this has entertained
;D

Making some great progress, keep it up!
I'm working on an SR250 myself at the moment, and was just wondering what you've done with the body panel which covers the battery? I'm having real difficulty trying to hunt one down, and was just wondering if you could offer any help?

Well done so far, and keep it coming!!

benarmour said:

I'm working on an SR250 myself at the moment, and was just wondering what you've done with the body panel which covers the battery? I'm having real difficulty trying to hunt one down, and was just wondering if you could offer any help?

Well done so far, and keep it coming!!

Click to expand...

Yeah I believe iv still got the covers somewhere at my dads workshop where i stripped it. want me to give him a ring and see if hes got them still?

I'll be visiting Wilko's tomorrow! Sweet!
Did it cut/shape easily? I've got quite a gentle curve on my seat so I'm hoping foam won't pukker up.
99p is my kind of budget!

Erskine said:

I'll be visiting Wilko's tomorrow! Sweet!
Did it cut/shape easily? I've got quite a gentle curve on my seat so I'm hoping foam won't pukker up.
99p is my kind of budget!

Click to expand...

I only cut a few cm's off the sides on mine and it cut fine, best using a stanley knife with a good long blade, mine wasnt quite long enough and i had to do some ripping.. no bigy seeing as im covering it anyway.
I cant really say i shaped it, just pushed it right into the curve and quickly taped it there for the glue to set, hope this helps.

Also its got a big hole in it but i put that at the top where I hoped it wont create to much weakness. Could always buy 2 for that price tho

Use a bread knife to cut the foam and it can be sanded into shape easily with sandpaper.

I picked one up today from wilko's. Unfortunately where it dips in in the middle kidney shape is just that bit too narrow for my seat.
However now I have something to kneel on.