paddyshepherd
Active Member
Hi I'm Paddy & I'm from the North East, UK.
New member here and a new build too.
I'm currently building an old Honda into either a brat or a cafe racer, probably the latter, but since the base will be the same for both, I'm not stressing too much on it yet.
The base bike is a 1980 CB250 RS - this was the single-cylinder, 4 valve version that they did. I picked the bike up from a guy that works at my local MOT garage. He'd mentioned a few years ago that he had a few bikes that would be ideal for what I'm after. Fast forward a couple of years and I went to his house to have a look. It's been sat since around 2006, outside but with a cover over - so rust wise it's not the best but it's not too bad either. I gave the old bloke £300 and the result was he now only has 36 motorcycles.
First things first, we needed to see if that old engine ran. Quick check of the bores, some oil down them, some fresh fuel, carb cleaned and a battery - to our amazement it started on the 3rd kick! The best part was, it didn't just start but it ran - beautifully. No coughs, no splutters, it just ran.
Knowing that the engine was sound, the strip down began. The bike was completely stripped to a rolling chassis. Many parts will never see the bike again so a pile of bits now needs sorting through as to what's worth selling and what's straight to scrap.
This is the end result:
I decided that the stock 250RS fuel tank was too modern looking for what I was after, so a tank from a CB400/4 was sourced from good old eBay. Apologies, but it's not the best photo, lighting is difficult in our garage!
Next up, I decided that I wanted upside down forks, so I've decided to go with Aprilia RS125 units. After a bit of a cock up on eBay, I ended up winning two auctions, the first for a set of forks, yokes and wheels - the second for a job lot, which includes fairings, frames, swingarms, suspension, wheels and various other spares too. I now have a garage full of Aprilia parts. However, not all bad, as having paid only £58 for the job lot and £66 for the first set of bits, I'll easily be able to make more than my money back which can then go back into the build.
Next on my list is to drop the Aprilia front end in loosely so that I can begin to get an idea of my riding position before cutting the frame - being 6'3" this bit might take a bit of playing around with.
New member here and a new build too.
I'm currently building an old Honda into either a brat or a cafe racer, probably the latter, but since the base will be the same for both, I'm not stressing too much on it yet.
The base bike is a 1980 CB250 RS - this was the single-cylinder, 4 valve version that they did. I picked the bike up from a guy that works at my local MOT garage. He'd mentioned a few years ago that he had a few bikes that would be ideal for what I'm after. Fast forward a couple of years and I went to his house to have a look. It's been sat since around 2006, outside but with a cover over - so rust wise it's not the best but it's not too bad either. I gave the old bloke £300 and the result was he now only has 36 motorcycles.
First things first, we needed to see if that old engine ran. Quick check of the bores, some oil down them, some fresh fuel, carb cleaned and a battery - to our amazement it started on the 3rd kick! The best part was, it didn't just start but it ran - beautifully. No coughs, no splutters, it just ran.
Knowing that the engine was sound, the strip down began. The bike was completely stripped to a rolling chassis. Many parts will never see the bike again so a pile of bits now needs sorting through as to what's worth selling and what's straight to scrap.
This is the end result:
I decided that the stock 250RS fuel tank was too modern looking for what I was after, so a tank from a CB400/4 was sourced from good old eBay. Apologies, but it's not the best photo, lighting is difficult in our garage!
Next up, I decided that I wanted upside down forks, so I've decided to go with Aprilia RS125 units. After a bit of a cock up on eBay, I ended up winning two auctions, the first for a set of forks, yokes and wheels - the second for a job lot, which includes fairings, frames, swingarms, suspension, wheels and various other spares too. I now have a garage full of Aprilia parts. However, not all bad, as having paid only £58 for the job lot and £66 for the first set of bits, I'll easily be able to make more than my money back which can then go back into the build.
Next on my list is to drop the Aprilia front end in loosely so that I can begin to get an idea of my riding position before cutting the frame - being 6'3" this bit might take a bit of playing around with.