Hi guys and girls,
This is my bike, a 1981 Yamaha SR250. It was basically given to me, and when I dragged it home, it was a pretty sorry sight ..
Initially I didn't have any grand plans for the bike, I intended just to clean it up and use it to get my license as I've always ridden offroad since I was a kid, but have never had my road license.
Then, as I got into cleaning it up I was inspired by some of the amazing work Deus Ex Machina (www.deus.com.au) in the eastern states (I live in Western Australia) do with the humble Yamaha SR and decided since I have always loved 60's race bikes such as the Manx Norton's and British cafe racers, that I'd turn it into a cafe racer.
I played around with the stance of the bike by slipping the forks through the stanchions 2 inches, raising the rear shocks, lowering the bars and removed the seat in order to measure it up and fabricate a cafe seat, I also repainted the tank and shaved the badges (what a mission that was, that tank has so much filler in it, it was junk, but my "budget" dictated I save it!) and the bike began to look like this ..
And here's a couple of photo's of the tank before and after painting, I shaved the badges also hence all the filler ..
After about a zillion coats of high build primer it finally started to look straight ..
I had a friend who is a spray painter paint the tank for me (but still using rattle cans) and I think we made a pretty good purse out of a sows ear..
I then decided to clean up the rear end of the bike, so I gutted the middle section by removing the side panels, airbox, battery box, inner guard and tool box (for want of a better description, you could probably only fit a 10mm spanner and some loose change in there) deciding to relocate the battery, run a pod filter on the carburettor, and hide the electrics. At this point I stripped the bike ..
I then decided to go solo, and remove the loops that mount the pillion pegs, sidestand and muffler from the rear downtubes. I also removed any superfluous mounting tabs and brackets for a cleaner look, and welded plates over the holes where the loops were.
Here's the frame before modifications ..
And after a lengthy session with the grinder (actually 3, two of the ones I borrowed from the workshop died on me before I bought a good one!) and wire wheeling the paint off ..
And after all the grinding, cutting and welding here it is with a coat of paint and the rubbers back on. As you can see I still need to fabricate a clamp/bolt on muffler mount and sidestand, but I am waiting until the bike is a rolling chassis again ..
This is my bike, a 1981 Yamaha SR250. It was basically given to me, and when I dragged it home, it was a pretty sorry sight ..
Initially I didn't have any grand plans for the bike, I intended just to clean it up and use it to get my license as I've always ridden offroad since I was a kid, but have never had my road license.
Then, as I got into cleaning it up I was inspired by some of the amazing work Deus Ex Machina (www.deus.com.au) in the eastern states (I live in Western Australia) do with the humble Yamaha SR and decided since I have always loved 60's race bikes such as the Manx Norton's and British cafe racers, that I'd turn it into a cafe racer.
I played around with the stance of the bike by slipping the forks through the stanchions 2 inches, raising the rear shocks, lowering the bars and removed the seat in order to measure it up and fabricate a cafe seat, I also repainted the tank and shaved the badges (what a mission that was, that tank has so much filler in it, it was junk, but my "budget" dictated I save it!) and the bike began to look like this ..
And here's a couple of photo's of the tank before and after painting, I shaved the badges also hence all the filler ..
After about a zillion coats of high build primer it finally started to look straight ..
I had a friend who is a spray painter paint the tank for me (but still using rattle cans) and I think we made a pretty good purse out of a sows ear..
I then decided to clean up the rear end of the bike, so I gutted the middle section by removing the side panels, airbox, battery box, inner guard and tool box (for want of a better description, you could probably only fit a 10mm spanner and some loose change in there) deciding to relocate the battery, run a pod filter on the carburettor, and hide the electrics. At this point I stripped the bike ..
I then decided to go solo, and remove the loops that mount the pillion pegs, sidestand and muffler from the rear downtubes. I also removed any superfluous mounting tabs and brackets for a cleaner look, and welded plates over the holes where the loops were.
Here's the frame before modifications ..
And after a lengthy session with the grinder (actually 3, two of the ones I borrowed from the workshop died on me before I bought a good one!) and wire wheeling the paint off ..
And after all the grinding, cutting and welding here it is with a coat of paint and the rubbers back on. As you can see I still need to fabricate a clamp/bolt on muffler mount and sidestand, but I am waiting until the bike is a rolling chassis again ..