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VNP249L

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Just bought a Honda CJ250 - plan is to modify it to a brat style. Just entering Buyer's Regret phase - should come out of that soon. :-\ Father and son project number 4 - but previous 3 have all been motocrossers. First road bike project.
Bike been sat for a while but runs and sounds nice. Low miles. Tank and panels all good.
Plan is to weld in seat loop, new flat seat, on/ off road tyres/ short exhaust, raised bars ( renthal ??) Not sure about pod filters - I like the look but seems that they cause a lot of running problems? Wheels will need refurb I suspect as some rust on them. Not sure if I can change wheels to cast ones?
Any advice on above gratefully received. :)
 
Welcome to the DTT/UK fella. You'll get loads of advice here from knowledgeable friendly people.

Pix always gets the juices flowing.
 
Welcome from Georgia USA, remorse will go away quickly.

Pix are the sh1t man.......
 
By the looks the CJ250 would brat with a few minor mods to the overall style. I turned my CBX550 into an urban scrambler (I'd not take it off road tbh) with tyre, tank, guards, seat changes. I chose to leave the engine/carbs alone as the diaphragm carbs don't like pod filters too much. I didn't fancy dicking with x4 when I knew the bike ran well enough with the stock airbox. As I had no plans for a skeletal frame, I stuck with what Mr Honda decided would work....and it works, yay. Not seen another one ;)

Here's an image or two to maybe give you some ideas. You can see I disguised the airbox with a scrambler roundel and attache case (very handy).

skBYsPU.jpg


FqcW01a.jpg
 
I like it. Back end is similar to what I'm after. What tyres are they - they look good.
The more I think about it the more I think I'll stick with standard air box. I'm a bit worried now it will be too short as I'm 6ft. With a flat seat I may need to do something with foot pegs.
 
VNP249L said:
I like it. Back end is similar to what I'm after. What tyres are they - they look good.
The more I think about it the more I think I'll stick with standard air box. I'm a bit worried now it will be too short as I'm 6ft. With a flat seat I may need to do something with foot pegs.

I notice pin n needles as the seat is at least 2" lower and I'm a short 31" legged 5'9". Lowering footpegs will also mean altering the brake and gear lever angles too :/

Tyres are Mefo Sports from Zenoverland, web: https://www.zenoverland.com/tyres_tubes/mefo_explorer.html

The rear guard was a used alloy thing off something or other, the light unit is a cheap trials/scrambler unit with optional rubber numberplate £10 the lot.
The plastic letter/numbers came from a swap meet and are scooter sized, nice find I reckon.

The only mod I did was to bore a few 22mm holes in the filterbox to aid airflow into the intake system, the rest is stock and cleaned up a little.
 
A fine and noble steed!! Picture as promised.
She runs and drives ok except for a sticking float on one side.
Noticed that the rear foot pegs are wrong / odd on one side. Need to find some pics to see which side is correct. Forks and wheels need re furbishing.
I need to get tape measure out to size up the frame hoop. Bit of end float on gear change input shaft. Selects gears ok though with no nasty noises.
I think a to do list is in order.
Thanks for guidance on tyres will look them up.
 

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VNP249L said:
A fine and noble steed!! Picture as promised.
She runs and drives ok except for a sticking float on one side.
Noticed that the rear foot pegs are wrong / odd on one side. Need to find some pics to see which side is correct. Forks and wheels need re furbishing.
I need to get tape measure out to size up the frame hoop. Bit of end float on gear change input shaft. Selects gears ok though with no nasty noises.
I think a to do list is in order.
Thanks for guidance on tyres will look them up.

Here's a link for the seat hoops, this is for the flat version there's also a 20* bent version too (I have that one).
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CAFE-RACER-SEAT-FRAME-LOOP-HOOP-HONDA-XBR500-CB500T-CB450-CB350-/182798208517?hash=item2a8f9f4e05:g:GWwAAOSwKOJYIZQH
They ship with two internal fillets but I had to slice them down and squeeze to make them fit the internal tube on the CBX., no great issue.

Getting it running right is paramount, so a carb strip n clean will help. If you're bratting it maybe rear pegs will be surplus to requirement?

Can't beat Mr Silver for spares: http://www.davidsilverspares.co.uk/parts/
 
Well I've started now.
Other than wheel bearings being a git to remove ( found a neat trick with a rawlbolt - God Bless YouTube )
Calliper and wheels are off for refurb.
Forks are next job.
Then hope that my welding is up to scratch for frame hoop.
 

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VNP249L said:
Well I've started now.
Other than wheel bearings being a git to remove ( found a neat trick with a rawlbolt - God Bless YouTube )
Calliper and wheels are off for refurb.
Forks are next job.
Then hope that my welding is up to scratch for frame hoop.

Top tip. re seat/subframe hoop. Resist final welding until you have the seat made/supplied so you get the best fit of both.

Will you be going for the flat or angled hoop?

Carry on...:)
 
Bit of delay since last post. Been side tracked on a 125 project for my son plus a bout of illness.
Anyway - all welding on frame done now so she’s ready for powder coating.
Am making a seat base from a sheet of ABS and heat formed it to wrap over the frame. Bit tricky but with some help from son it looks ok So far ( see picture ). Need to trim edges using a Dremmel cutter then that can go for upholstering.
That will mean I have some space to reassemble front end and wheels.
 

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welcome young man,nice little project ...

Not sure if I can change wheels to cast ones?......wrong move stay with spokes 10/10 oppose to cast,mag or comstars ,just relace into flanged alloy rims for a super cool bike ,but at the end of the day its your bike

get hold of my good friend tony Call: 01142 508 421
Email: completecaferacer@gmail.com
he stocks a massive range of brat seats plus allsorts of goodies to transform your bike ,check him out


cheers miffa
 
Miffa
Thanks - I’ll give your mate a call.
Have stuck with spokes- just coated rims and hubs. Really pleased with them.
 
Coating the rims and spokes is a good choice....it's a relatively cheap alternative, and looks good. As one of the other guys said, spokes are definitely the better look. My pal built a little Honda 125 cafe that had wheels needing a refurb, and he went the same way.......
 

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Definitely a get out of jail card having wheels powder coated ! Mine cost £50 the pair and well pleased. Saved an absolute fortune over new rims /spokes/rebuild !
 

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