1980 Yamaha SR250 - Work in progress

wardlarson

I like to keep quiet.
Bought this single cylinder yamaha about a month ago for $700. I know, too much to spend on this bike but when the sun is shining and you have money in your pocket, irrational things happen ;)


I got it basically how it looks now, engine was knocking around a bit and the turn signals dont work, didn't have mirrors, and the paint is what you see in the pictures. A little rough around the edges, but ran and drove and was definitely more my style than my first bike (83 yamaha xj750).


Got her home and over night things took started looking worse: Rear tire definitely was on it's last leg. Engine had issues idling. Front brake began to fade rapidly the next day. I had a good size puddle of oil under the bike and when I went to ride it, it stuttered big time after 1st gear, and would eventually die on me. The issue ended up being a fissure in the fuel hose which I replaced, and an oil seal that was worn out was the culprit of the oil leak.


Took it down to the local shop to get her checked out and they got me a new rear sprocket, new chain, valve adjustment, new rear tire, new oil seals, and a new front brake cable. $468 later, and I now possess a mechanically-perfect bike.


A side note about the oil seal- the kid i bought it from had jury-rigged the worn seal with a piece of copper wire to hold it in lieu of the two bolts which he had, presumably, misplaced. This was super dangerous and the guy at the shop said I was lucky to have my ankle intact, because if that thing had failed it would have been ugly!


So anyway, here she sits now, $1200 invested, oil-leak-free, strong running, and with straight handlebars. Plans for the next week include painting tank and side covers black, and using a yellow spray-stain on the headlight. Going for a brat/cafe style. Also need to figure out my blinker issues and buy some bar-end mirrors. Sorry for the novel here, I just wanted to lay down some history to begin with! Now onto the pics:



<img src="http://ward-larson.com/bike/IMG_0687.jpg">
<img src="http://ward-larson.com/bike/IMG_0688.jpg">
<img src="http://ward-larson.com/bike/IMG_0689.jpg">
<img src="http://ward-larson.com/bike/IMG_0691.jpg">
 
Those flat bars look great on it. Tidy little bike as it is. I love tanks with off set fillers.
Great little power plant too.
 
hey man! always good to see another sr250 on here :)
seems like it had some problems for the $700 you paid to get it! but heck, at least you got a complete bike :p
when i got mine (granted i paid nothing for it) it was missing roughly half of it's things: no handlebars or controls, no CDI, ignition coil, spark plug, battery, chain, sprocket, rear wheel, etc... i think once i've located all those bits (proving really difficult actually) and got the bike finished, the $700 you paid for what you got will look like a good deal to me!!
 
We've had 3. One was crushed by a transport at work last year. Replaced the same week and wife rides it. I bought another one for $200 needed a tank and forks. Used parts off the crushed one and selling this year at the Paris Rally. Trying to convience the wife that I need the one I saw on kijiji for $500.

These little guys are bulletproof.

if you need piston rings. the xs650 has the same part number. cheaper to get from MikesXs than ebay. Plus a fella here did a kickstart mod using parts from the tt250
 
Erskine said:
Those flat bars look great on it. Tidy little bike as it is. I love tanks with off set fillers.
Great little power plant too.


thanks man, previous owner threw the flatbars on it, I was considering clubmans but I think I like the flat bars too much to justify buying clubmans just yet. And this motor is awesome. going from a 4cyl xj750 to this 1cyl sr250, I was pretty surprised at how much of a rudimentary, simple motor it really is.


benarmour said:
hey man! always good to see another sr250 on here :)
seems like it had some problems for the $700 you paid to get it! but heck, at least you got a complete bike :p
when i got mine (granted i paid nothing for it) it was missing roughly half of it's things: no handlebars or controls, no CDI, ignition coil, spark plug, battery, chain, sprocket, rear wheel, etc... i think once i've located all those bits (proving really difficult actually) and got the bike finished, the $700 you paid for what you got will look like a good deal to me!!


haha yeah i know bluebook value for this bike in mint condition is $800 but to me it was worth it. I paid for it entirely with the money i got for my xj750 so it wasn't a huge deal financially anyway.


jay_kent said:
We've had 3. One was crushed by a transport at work last year. Replaced the same week and wife rides it. I bought another one for $200 needed a tank and forks. Used parts off the crushed one and selling this year at the Paris Rally. Trying to convience the wife that I need the one I saw on kijiji for $500.


These little guys are bulletproof.


if you need piston rings. the xs650 has the same part number. cheaper to get from MikesXs than ebay. Plus a fella here did a kickstart mod using parts from the tt250


That's great information. I'm definitely interested in getting a kickstarter working on this bike. I've read the kickstart from the xt's can swap right over as well. not sure on the legitimacy of that but it's on the list to check out.
 
also, anyone with bondo experience, how effective would bondo be at filling the gaps left from the tank badges? I know if a gap/dent is too deep it will crack.
 
Can be done. The badges aren't too bad plus that metal strap that in there where the screws go help on the bondo on.

As for the kickstart swap. the TT250, sr250, and xt250 are the same engine. Carbs are a bs34 mikuni so parts are super plentiful for them.



Look for a guy on here in the chop and bobber section with a sweet green bobbed 250. Amazing
 
Yeah I figured the strap might help me out a bit. and that's great to know that the tt250 and xt250 use the same engine. Kick starter is sounding like a plan, It would be great to ditch the electronics as much as I can. I also read that the bw350 engine swaps right in... basically a 350cc version of the same engine. how nice it is to dream. If i ever see one on craigslist I'll have to check it out.

couldn't find that bobbed 250, mind finding a link if you get a chance?
 
Thats really clean man, if you ask me it was worth the $700 even with what was wrong with it. I paid $400 for mine with a lot of the same problems, but mine looks like crap....
 
awesome thanks for the links. Beersnchicken's bobber is too cool! and Lunar C's sr250 is out of this world. Super inspirational build right there.
 
Okay, with mechanics in working order, it was time to move on to aesthetics. The bike is already in pretty good shape with the newly upholstered seat (although it's pretty fat and I have zero need for two-up riding), so I decided to get to painting. I'm using all Rustoleum brand spray paint products as I've had good luck with them in the past with other projects.

I'm going with a black and chrome scheme on this bike because I think it's a classic look and it will never go out of style. I toyed with the idea of doing flat black but the impossibility of doing it right with spray cans kind of deterred me. That, and gloss black is cleaner looking in my opinion.


Side covers halfway through the sand-down process:

250221_1702204206689_1585470104_31340583_1790136_n.jpg



Tank removed and (mostly) drained, lol. Cap and petcock removed. Sanded it down after this photo, it's ready for bondo tomorrow.
248726_1702204326692_1585470104_31340584_3823783_n.jpg



Side covers after being sanded with 200 grit wet/dry and primed with 3 coats of black rustoleum primer.
252503_1702204606699_1585470104_31340586_8203094_n.jpg



My work area, complete with my 14 year old deaf/blind dog :)
248219_1702204766703_1585470104_31340587_6868351_n.jpg

249921_1702204846705_1585470104_31340588_7868727_n.jpg



My super sophisticated paint drying booth (dont tell my mother) ;D
252266_1702204926707_1585470104_31340589_6086315_n.jpg



Looking at bar end mirrors, blinkers, tail light/license plate bracket, and clubman bars soon. Also going to wrap my header. I have a can of 1200 degree gloss black paint ready to shoot some engine components soon as well. Perhaps tomorrow!
 
Sanded and ground down to bare metal with the dremel, ready for bondo then paint. Used the same paint and process on the tank as I did on the side panels. Didn't take photos of any of that process as it's really uninteresting.
<img src="http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/252697_1704580866104_1585470104_31343723_7832359_n.jpg"/>

Finished up. Fender removed, License plate relocated and the tail light I made for it installed.
<img src="http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/247435_1704580986107_1585470104_31343724_8067289_n.jpg"/>

Removed the kickstand as I only ever use the center stand anyway. Also removed the rear pegs as nobody ever rides two-up with me.
<img src="http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/252542_1704581066109_1585470104_31343725_7475457_n.jpg"/>

Chain guard removed, rear fender removed, blinkers removed. I removed over 10lbs of material (That's a lot on a bike that weighs 260lbs to begin with). I decided to keep the seat as-is for now. It's newly upholstered anyway and I don't have the time or money to build a seat pan and fiberglass mold for a new seat. Some day...
<img src="http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/253726_1704581186112_1585470104_31343726_2771961_n.jpg"/>

Next up I will be wrapping my header with insulation fabric and installing fork gaiters on the front suspension. Clubman bars and black engine paint come after that.
<img src="http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/254450_1704581426118_1585470104_31343728_594335_n.jpg"/>

Custom (gorilla taped) license plate location. Much cleaner without the gaudy rear fender.
<img src="http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/249504_1704581586122_1585470104_31343729_7056839_n.jpg"/>

My tail light. Took me 2 hours and several dremel bits to make the tail light (dual filament) bulb fit into the casing (this was one of my rear blinkers before- it didn't function so I recycled it into a more classic looking tail light).
<img src="http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/248264_1704581666124_1585470104_31343730_5377692_n.jpg"/>
 
Also, admittedly, I did an awful job with the bondo. I tried three times and basically gave up when I had something decent. Definitely noticeable but it is better than it was, and will look better if I get some silver yamaha badges to go on the sides.
 
thanks! I stared at it all night last night to no avail, then this morning I went down and figured it out almost right away. I really wanted to mount it centered under the seat, but the holes that are drilled there would put it too low... tire rub on the tail light = bad news.
 
Staring always works for me too.
I find I stare best when I'm intoxicated.

Are you going slide the forks up in the trees at all?
 
I'm sure intoxication helps hah. And I haven't thought about it. That would lower the front end right? Sounds good if so, I'll have to find a guide
 
Most peops drop them down on these to quicken up the handling, The steering head angle is set for a really slow and easy feel with long forks. If you search on line for a manual or design specification it'll give you the travel of you front forks ..... probably around 4 1/2 - 5 ". The rest of the length between the top of the legs and the bottom of the lower triple tree is just for stance. You can experiment by sliding the forks upwards in the clamps by 1/4 to a 1/2" at time and see how it improves the handling.
I'd put a question on the 0800 CAFE HELP section and some one will help you out.
 
Back
Top Bottom