SR250 Brat/Street Tracker - First Build (aka Little Trouble Kid)

Man this was a really fun build thread to read. Such a nice build.

I really like what you did with the wiring... Is that fabric cable wrap of some kind? And where did you buy your wire harness wire from - even the ones with the two colours?

Cheers!
 
Thanks Jadus!

I ordered my cables online from Rick Donkers (from The Netherlands). He has a lot of choice, pretty cheap and doesn't have to ship too far (to Belgium). I know he ships through Europe for 15€, but you will only know for sure once you make your account. Nice quality stuff, and a lot of options. I also ordered my connectors and tools there.

http://www.rdae.nl/en/wire-and-cable/single-core-wire/


When building my harness i wrapped my cables in 3m wiring harness tape (cloth like) before i covered them in a woven wiring sleeve and used shrink tubing to clean up the ends.

Tape was available in my local car- and hobbyshop. Any heavy duty fabric/harness tape will do. The woven sleeving i ordered was nylon multi from techflex (http://www.techflex.nl/specialty-nylon-multi-c-45_73.html), but they have all sorts of sleeving.


You have a nice build yourself. I really like what you did with the front tire. Very beefy.
Might have to try something like that in the future.






So, after buying a house, moving, and getting things in order i finally managed to have a look at my wiring last weekend.
1 year after finishing the build. Better late than never i guess ::)

The electrical problem was quite simple actually. The original harness used 1 ground to the frame, via a bolt from the coil. My harness used 5 grounds, and attached to both bolts from the coil. Only problem was, since powdercoating, i removed the paint where both bolts touched the frame, but apparently i didn't remove enough paint on one of the two holes. So half of my wiring was grounded, the other half wasn't. Simple fix, just remove some extra paint around the bolt holes and voila!

Put her back together, filled her up with oil and gas, pressed the button, and she was running great. Almost couldn't believe it, after one year without fluids or turning over she started on the first push of the button. I tried to film it, but my mobile has pretty crappy sound.

(i cant seem to embed instagram video's, so here are the links)

https://instagram.com/p/7A4YaoyBjz/

https://instagram.com/p/7A4tc4yBkq/

I still have to fix the brake light, turn signals and inspect the valve clearance and idle of the carburator, but this is looking promising.
 
Maybe someone can help my with my brake light.
I ordered this type of light:

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/28-LEDs-3W-12V-Motorcycle-Rear-Light-Led-Bike-Rear-Tail-Stop-Brake-Light-Number-Plate/1453866_32228023677.html

And wired it accordingly. Green to ground, yellow to running and brown to brake. When installed on the bike, there is no difference in light output between running and braking. The manufacturer told me this would be fixed when i installed my turn signals since they would act as a resistor. This doesn't sound right to me, also since my turn signals have very little to no resistance.

I would like to dim the running light by installing a resistor between the yellow wire and running wire from my harness, limiting the current.
Is this a correct way of thinking?
 
There should be no difference in tail light operation regardless if the turn signals are installed or not. I would disconnect the tail light from the harness and do some testing to see if the wire colors actually provide those functions. It looks like an LED unit in the photos and there should be a visible difference between "running" and "brake" functions, so you need to investigate 2 things: do the wiring harness wires actually provide those functions (test with a 12V test light between the black wire and blue (running) then the yellow (brake) wires to see if it lights), if not - check your wiring harness/connections; does the tail light provide those functions (test with two auxiliary wires running to a 12VDC source; connect the negative wire to the green (looks blue to me) wire and the positive to the yellow wire (should be lower light level) and then to the brown wire (should be higher light level); if not - use other combinations to see what the wires illuminate (I'd probably try the brown as ground first).
 
chiel said:
Thanks Jadus!

I ordered my cables online from Rick Donkers (from The Netherlands). He has a lot of choice, pretty cheap and doesn't have to ship too far (to Belgium). I know he ships through Europe for 15€, but you will only know for sure once you make your account. Nice quality stuff, and a lot of options. I also ordered my connectors and tools there.

http://www.rdae.nl/en/wire-and-cable/single-core-wire/

When building my harness i wrapped my cables in 3m wiring harness tape (cloth like) before i covered them in a woven wiring sleeve and used shrink tubing to clean up the ends.

Tape was available in my local car- and hobbyshop. Any heavy duty fabric/harness tape will do. The woven sleeving i ordered was nylon multi from techflex (http://www.techflex.nl/specialty-nylon-multi-c-45_73.html), but they have all sorts of sleeving.

Thanks for the info man, really invaluable. I have been searching far and wide for a wire resource like that and was just about to buy a whole 50m roll of blue/red wire because I couldn't find it anywhere else by the meter.

I checked the vids too, looks like its running sweet after a long sleep!
 
Thanks for the info zap, was thinking along the same lines and tested every wire combination, but still no luck.
It only works with the green (blue) as ground, but no difference in light output between yellow or brown.
Running light is still as bright as the brake light. Wire harness works ok, so i guess it's a faulty led-light. But what can you expect for 6$.
The vendor keeps telling me the turn signals will help, but i can't for the life of me see this working.

Any other suggestions? Build my own dimmer with a voltage regulator or pulse modulator?
Or is there some simple solution that i'm missing?



@Jadus: No problem, it's not always easy to find the right stuff in Europe, so every tip helps.
I still have to check the cam chain tension, rockers, valve clearance and dial in the carburetor, but for now she's running fine.
 
chiel said:
It only works with the green (blue) as ground, but no difference in light output between yellow or brown.
Running light is still as bright as the brake light. Wire harness works ok, so i guess it's a faulty led-light. But what can you expect for 6$.
The vendor keeps telling me the turn signals will help, but i can't for the life of me see this working.

Any other suggestions? Build my own dimmer with a voltage regulator or pulse modulator?
Or is there some simple solution that i'm missing?
I don't think it's going to be anything simple. Since it definitely is the tail light, check to see if all the LEDs illuminate (some designs have 1/2 the total number illuminating on "run" and the total number on "brake" with an internal diode connecting each grouping). If so, then you might try a low-resistance resistor (you will need to experiment) in-line with the "tail light" harness wire but it might be so low a voltage that the LED won't fire. You could see if you can cut apart the red lens from the body and check the internal wiring to see if it has that diode (and if the diode is shorted), then re-seal the lens with clear silicone. Or just get a similar inexpensive tail light that uses an 1157 bulb (lots available). Or a better LED tail light from someone who knows how lights are supposed to work :eek:.
Edit: Just took another look at your light link and saw this "Color: 23 LED red as running & brake light, 5 white LED as license plate light. LED's can be hooked up for both tail lights and brake lights." It may be this way by (bad) design. I think I'd just get another light.
 
I bought a $3 relay from ebay that works with LEDs. Is is the same as the resistor but in a neat little box that will probably fail in no time lol.
 
I thought he was trying to get a running light and brake light, not get indicators working?
Putting a resistor in tail light circuit will drop voltage and give dimmer light.
Use online LED resistor calculator, you'll probably need a 0.2 cent resistor, just a couple of ohm's (except radio shack can't sell just one from a pack)
Red 5mm LED average about 2.1v each nominal voltage (1.9v~2.3v), going at lowest will give less bright light but longer life, highest voltage will be much brighter but intermittent use as brake should keep lifespan in the 100,000 hrs range
Either send light back where you got it or open it up and 'fix' it
Remember the old adage, 'If it ain't broke, keep fixin it 'til it is'
 
Fantastic build. I'm new to bikes and Am hoping my sr250 ends up looking half as awesome as yours.

I've got a similar goal, using the little buggar to teach myself about bikes.

I had the same issue with brake light (I'm currently in the wiring battle...terrible). Mine was a faulty front brake switch. Brake lever wasn't depressing the plug, simulating a brake pull. Ordered a new brake switch and all fixed up.

Looking amazing. Thanks for the inspiration and education!
 
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