'88 Suzuki GSX-R 250 - Micro Gixxer Restoration

Rear swingarm too.

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Got the new brake rotors in the mail yesterday, and for the price I am not chuffed.. Normally EBC rotors are nice quality but this time. The rear is OK but the front rotors look like bare pieceses of stainless, punched into a basic rotor shape and heated to give it a goldish finish. Will deffinetly be redoing those!
 
Let it snow let it snow let it snow ♪♬
What better time to work in the shed than during a snowstorm.

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Still need a few bits back from powdercoat and the wheels back from tire changing, but this is looking more and more like a complete bike.
Got the bike down on 'stands' and got into propper assembly, the original shock is gone, a new Hagon unit in snazzy red took its place. ;)

Stay tuned.
 
Down on two wheels and with parts fresh from the powdercoaters, best part is that the powder was free! All the better as the shop charged big bucks in changin the tires..

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Next up, a bit of elbow grease and a lick of paint.
 
A little holyday cheer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rX5Wji1v3s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_Ow1XKwVB0

If you ever wondered what that DIC exhaust sounds like. ;)
 
About high time I got this pass-time rounded off.

After the bike became a roller once more there where only cosmetical things to do so took my time nudging at them in between moving into my new flat and helping out my mom.

The plastics had some bad cracks in several places so went at em with ABS putty (just abs shavings disolved in acetone) If you want to use this repair I recommend prepairing the part very well exposing the surrounding plastic to get good penetration, also you might want some good ventilation. ::)

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While the plasics where out a few other cosmetics where handled.

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Which lazy-assed industrial worker in his right mind thinks a heattarnished finish is appropriate for a finished product?! :mad:
 
Plastics took a quick visit to get some decals.

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As you might have guessed, the red and white finish didn't quite do it for me in the end.
 
This brings us up to yesterday. Got the plastics back from clearcoating and wasted no time getting them on the bike as the sun was finally out and temperatures above freezing basically the first time this year, winter has been tough on these parts.

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And a few detail shots.

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Sorry about the colors, the sun is very bright this time of year at this longditude and my camera sucks big bull bullocks.. Hope you enjoy the finished result still, I know I do. 8)
 
Wow, that turned out great! Nice work! Time to ride the piss out of it now, huh?

As someone who is also fixing plastic farings, could you talk a bit about your ABS putty? Was it really as simple as grinding up some ABS plastic, mixing in acetone, spreading it on, and waiting for the acetone to evaporate? I've been using Devcon Plastic Welder epoxy plus either screen door cloth or fiberglass cloth to reattach and reinforce cracked and broken fairings, but am always looking for a better way!
 
Well.. Yes. Here in DK it is known as Lego-glue as Lego's have been around forever, every household which has ever seen children has some and their made of ABS plastic.
ABS has been used for just about everything since the 70's and fortunetly for us it is a chemically reactive polymer, several solvents will dissolve it but acetone is by far the most common.
I've before used aluminium mesh to strengthen the back of seams before, but you could add fiberglass fibers to your putty as I've seen this done in the industry before.

Chop up whatever ABS you have (the finer the quicker it will dissolve, shavings dissolve almost instantly) add to a non-reactive closed container (old jam jars are perfect) and pour over a douse of acetone and let it sit at least over night, ideally stirring every few hours. You want to make the putty as thick as you dare adding as little acetone as possible as this is what needs to evaporate for the glue to set, a thin body-filler like consistency works for me.
Chamfer the edges of the break you are applying it to ideally removing the surrounding inch of paint to let the surrounding plastic breathe out the acetone vapor. If repairing a crack drill a whole at the end to keep it from cracking further.
Let it set for at least 48 hours at room temperature (keep it out of the sun as the heat will make it bubble) and you are good to sand the seam down, leave the plastic free to breathe at least another 48 hours before painting it over.

Works great and is dirt cheap. :)
 
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