1981 Yamaha SR250 Cafe Racer

Just went through this thread and I love this build! Nice work dude. I love the seat and I agree that the way to go is black below the line, thereby keeping the nice straight line from tank to tail. The gold logo on the red tank is going to be sweet as well. Great job man. I can't wait to see the final product here. This bike ought to be a lot of fun to throw around corners!
 
I had an idea for the underseat area. I had previously made up a tray and battery box to house all the electrics out of folded aluminium sheet. This was fine and nice and light, but it dropped down below the curves of the frame's subframe and I didn't like that.
Then I thought .. maybe I could make one from fiberglass, in one piece .. that followed the curves of the frame, so from the side, it was all but invisible .. so I took some cardboard and traced the lines of the frame onto it .. cut it out, and stuck it to a bottom piece (which I scored with a stanley knife so it would curve nicely) and made a tray .. shaped a bit like a sleigh!

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I test fitted this, and it fit nicely and will have enough room for the relays, fuse box and battery. I will build a divider to keep the battery seperate (in case of leaks) and I might be able to squeeze in a couple of spanners and a screw driver behind it.

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Viewed from the side, it's all but invisible as the bottom of the box now follows the lines of the frame.

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Jingle bells.. Ahem.

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I then covered the cardboard in clear selotape so the fiberglass wouldn't stick to it, and layed it up with resin and glass.

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Released from the mould and ready for cleaning up. It turned out really well .. except the bottom didn't release so well, so I'll have to sand the cardboard off. No big deal, just a bit more time consuming.

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i hope you checked tire clearance... on the cb350 the tire could scrape that.

just watch out for it ;)
 
Hey guys,
Yesterday afternoon my tail light came from Trojan Classics. It's an alloy body Lucas 525 replica. It's shape matches the profile of my cut down rear fender nicely, so all I had to do was drill a hole to fit it. I reckon it looks mint. I can't wait to have it on the bike for the final mock up before I send the tank and seat off to get painted.

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A little bit of progress today.
Got the seat in primer .. it still has a few bits that need filling (fiberglass is a bitch to get smooth as you can sometimes get little bubbles in it, even when you roll it) but I think I'll leave that to the painter now, I've done the best I can.

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Also I have nearly finished the upholstery pan. I just need a thin sheet of that thin stretchy foam stuff to lay over the top to make everything smooth before it gets covered.

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And finally, I got the curved fiberglass electronics tray finished, mounted and painted. I'll work on mounting the electronics and battery inside it soon.

Here's a top down view :

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And not much of a view from the side :

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I'm still working on mounting the rear guard. I welded up a top mount this afternoon and I'm working on the side mounts.

Regards,
Ben
 
I fitted a piston-style steering damper this evening. I drilled a hole into the heavy-gauge bracing gusseted under the head stem of the frame to attach the damper bracket ..

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And drilled and tapped an m8x1.25 hole in the lower triple clamp to accept the threaded rod end of the damper. Simple and it works.

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So now that's done, I no longer need the tank on the bike to work out clearances .. so it can finally go to the painter. Browncow! I'll be needing you now, dude!

Thanks to Chris and Caz for donating the damper! You two are so cool it's a wonder you don't need defrosting.
 
Hello all!

Just found this forum and thread. Huge thumbs up on the bike. And I'm blaming you for me not being able to look at my bone stock SR250 anymore :D Something has to be done...
 
great inspiration!! i'm doing something very similar with my GN250 once i've got it re-vinned, that rd400 tank looks just perfect! i may have to find one too. keep up the good work, i'm looking forward to seeing more!!!!
 
The painted parts arrived this evening. Thanks to Matt for driving up with them. They're not polished yet so they need to go back to have their final polish and a blemish fixed up on the tank but I have them here for a week or so to finish off mocking up the rear of the bike.

I also got the stainless exhaust Matt's been making to test fit. It was a win first time.

Here's a pic with the tank and seat back on the bike .. as you can see I need to make up the seat cushion and cover it in black vinyl. I also really need a shot in the daylight to show the actual colour so I'll try and get one tomorrow .. here's a teaser for now.

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And here is a couple of the new 38mm stainless exhaust being offered up for a test fit ..

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I hope to finish up the bike with the standard SR wheel sizes and brakes in the next month or two .. and get it registered, then work on rebuilding the wheels and the other motor.
 
This is my rough idea for the rear guard. Substitute the cardboard for polished aluminium sheet.

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The tail light will be mounted on this just below the hump .. and the indicators just below the brake light either side .. and the number plate just below the brake light. I hope this meets the legal requirements because there's bugger all room to fit anything else!

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Now for some shots in daylight to show the colour properly. There's a few. It's gratuitious, I know. But it's my bike and I like it. So there.

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The black vinyl of the seat pad should be just enough to break up the colour, and some little yamaha logo's on either side of the tank, and the chrome tank cap will finish it off. Simple and clean.

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Matt called it "I'm over here" red.. I think that's quite apt.

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So tomorrow to bend and cut that guard up .. and mount all my electrics .. and work out what to do about mounting my ignition coil, because I screwed up and forgot to put it on when I mounted the tank and it fouls on it .. D'oh!
 
That is one sick little bike, Quite the difference than its normal cruiser stance it first sported. Wouldn't recognize it as a sr250

I love this little bike
 
As I welded the mounts on for the tank without the ignition coil .. I got a bit of a shock when I got the tank back and it wouldn't go on with the coil in place. Oops!
So I made up some little brackets to mount the coil in between the spine of the frame and the horizontal bracing tube that runs between it and the down tube. It fits perfectly now but I need to relocate the CDI box - swings and roundabouts ..

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Tucked up inside the frame rails it's no longer an issue clearing the tank.

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I also got the electronics tray bolted on so all the major bits and pieces are squared away. I need to make a battery tray from aluminium angle to secure it with and will probably mount the CDI to the front of that under the hump. The regulator will go somewhere under the seat near the crankcase breather filter out in the airflow.

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I also stuck my cut down front fender back on .. I like the look of it with the paint now. I only wish it was done properly with a rolled-back edge.

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And finally here's a photo my mate Gareth (who was my helper for this evening, thanks mate!) took of me sitting on the bike. I am a little big, I'll admit.

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Great job on the bike mate, looks fantastic.

Just wondering how much you raised the rear shocks by. I'm thinking of getting new (longer) shocks for mine.
 
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