2001 Yamaha SR250 - Cafe Racer (Sydney)

2001 Yamaha SR250 - Cafe Racer (Sydney)





After paint stripping tank + Some polishing + Inverted handles


This is my first bike. I did my Pre-Learner Rider course 3 months ago. Although I was only riding a Honda CB250 I was addicted. Riding is just liberating!

One day I popped into DEUS EX MACHINA, and got blown away by their bikes. Now I'm inspired to replicate a similar design on my bike.

I chose the SR250 because it is small and nimble enough to manage through traffic. It's half the price of an SR400/500. The seat height difference is only a few centimeters. It hits about 120-140 km/hr, which is enough for me. It has spoked wheels (19 front, 17 rear), and a clean tank. The engine is relatively new and starting is a breeze. The down side to me is the measly 20hp and the bike overall looks a bit daggy.

I plan turn this ride into a cafe racer over the next 12 months. Just really simple stuff that I can manage.

1. Clean bike
2. Paint strip tank, polish and buff
3. Paint engine
4. Angle grind off pillion pegs
5. Paint Wheels and fit Firestone tyres
6. Paint frame
7. Buy a small headlight - 4"-5.5"
8. Buy mini gauges. Hopefully mount them on frame, below the controls.
9. Buy new pegs (or perhaps 'rear sets' if I can get welding done)
10. Fabricate a fibreglass seat and upholster it with leather (or buy a seat, depending which is more cost efficient)
11. Mount indicators below exhaust pipe
12. Buy alloy rear fender
13. Buy a new tail light for rear fender
14. Buy a straight through exhaust - Deep sound VS torque? Hmm...
15. Buy mini switches for controls
16. Re-wire the entire bike - Tuck and hide
17. Shorten Front Forks
18. Buy mini rectangle mirrors VS round ones
19. Paint Tank - Reveal parts of the polished steel


This is my first bike, so I have no idea how a bike works. This is all EXPERIMENTAL!

But I hope I can learn as much as possible from everyone on this forum. I hope you guys enjoy reading about my build!

Cheers,
Damo

P.S. This SR250 Blog is also on PSB (Perth Street Bikes) which I update more often - http://www.perthstreetbikes.com/forum/f61/2001-yamaha-sr250-deus-inspired-cafe-racer-sydney-88379/

Re: 2001 Yamaha SR250 - Deus inspired Cafe Racer

I agree that deus are too expensive.

But they do have some great starting point bikes like original triumphs and yamaha 500's but fuck you could so the same mods at home.

They have a really great image for both marketing and snaring us bike lovers aswell. They really do have some cool stuff.

The clothes they sell are way overpriced too.

I think one of the guys that established the Mambo clothing company also established Deus Ex Machina - so there is alot of business sense and marketing savvy.




Your bike is cool too. Havent seen many 2001sr250's cafed but it sounds like you have the bug so i cant see why yours cant be as cool as the deus stuff.


the easiest and cheapest mod you could do is by a new set of clubmans and they would change the look dramatically.

take it easy on those sydney roads...

Re: 2001 Yamaha SR250 - Deus inspired Cafe Racer

how much did you bought it?

in Greece an sr 250 is like 1000-2000 euro

you think it worths the time and money? or can any body tell us? im asking cause i love this bike as well but its expencive for me at 1500 and then spend an other 2000 on it.

Re: 2001 Yamaha SR250 - Deus inspired Cafe Racer

Hey Guys,

Metaltriumph and Roiber,

Thanks for the criticism and compliments. I reminds me why I am bothering with this bike which just motivates me more so.

The original owner purchased it for AU$5600, which looks pretty close to the Greek price. I bought it for AU$2500, which I consider a bargain.

I wouldn't recommend anyone embark upon cafe'n up a little SR250 especially if you buy the bike for $1500 Euros , it just isn't really feasible. But in my case I love what custom builders have done with SR400/500 and this is the closest base bike I can start with to source similar parts and expertise etc. After all I am on my learner licence and I want to keep everything as budget as possible so that hopefully I can get through my 3 years of Learners (new Aus. laws) and enjoy building my own work of art in my garage. I suppose it all comes down to opportunity cost and your own situation. If you love the bike enough and don't mind spending twice it's value customising it, then I say, 'DO IT'.

I agree, Deus's marketing and sales really hits the target market. Yeah, I read somewhere that they are owned by Action Motorcycles and Deus is like a side gig. I heard from one of the staff that their workshop department has such a long waiting list of bike projects they don't bother taking your business unless you are willing to have 'serious' work done. That really disapoints me because they advocate themselves to be a custom bike haven that helps anyone interested in bikes, even you needed some help fitting a new tank. I suppose in this day and age 'serious' means expensive.

I love Trimuphs especially Bonnevilles. I drool every time I drive past a Bonny bobber. I've seen in Just Bikes Magazine that they can get as cheap as $5000 for a T100. Speaking to a few mechanics, they all seem to recommend triumphs as a great bike to work on. This bike being my first bike, I don't want to have mechanical issues that I have no idea how to fix. I want to really get to know the bike and understand every functioning part without the issue of wear and tear. Besides that, I like bobbers, which means I need custom welded frames... and English parts are more expensive than Japanese...

Clubmans are Clip ons? or... like Ace bars? I like the low profile look, but I don't dig the heavy concave.

So far, I have spent hours wire wheeling my exhaust pipe which is covered in rust speckles. I used 'Blue Job' chrome powder which I bought from a motorcycle accessories warehouse for $16. It cleaned up the really measly rusted parts and those bluish copperish burn marks and made them shiny like a mirror, but I was still left with half the rust. So, I alternated a few different wire wheels with some 80 grit wet/dry sand after each wheeling session and now its pretty much all gone. Now I need to buy some buffing equipment to polish it up. I used some K&N Hi temp crinkle engine enamel to paint the silencer or filter thing that extends from the exhaust pipe underneath the swing arm. I'll post pics when my hands are clean enough to touch the digital camera.

Cheers,
Damo

A few pics that are currently really inspiring me.



http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/7998/img0294t.jpg[img]

[img width=320 height=240]http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/7677/cd250heiwa.jpg[img]

[img width=320 height=240]http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/2236/1979cb400t.jpg



First one was at the Deus shop. Built by Brat Style. Next two are bratstyle and heiwa. Last is someones CB400 build (forgot their name and link). If you want links, I'll find them for you.

Re: 2001 Yamaha SR250 - Deus inspired Cafe Racer

ha ha ha the last one is a fella on here!

Re: 2001 Yamaha SR250 - Deus inspired Cafe Racer

Hey,

Haha of course! Do The Ton has some great builds. I love the Honda-Triumph custom welded exhaust.

I have spent the afternoon dismantling parts on the front end. I have just taken the fuel tank off, and drained it. Within the next couple of hours I will be stripping the tank with 'Diggers' paint stripper... If anyone has any tips or advice I would appreciate it!

I'll be back on here soon to show and tell or complain... Hopefully the stripper will work fine...

Cheers,
Damo

Re: 2001 Yamaha SR250 - Deus inspired Cafe Racer

Hi Guys,

I have no idea what this bike will end up looking like. Just really little things like the frame's angles could make it look deranged.



Here's and update and some more pics:


Took apart the whole bike

Re-wiring is a nightmare

Removed all the wiring. Took about 2 hours. Slowly removed, labelled, used permanent marker to draw symbols on the connectors like A, B, C, so I remember how they re-connect. Learnt that about 50 individual wires cling to each other behind the headlight.










Painted Exhaust - Experimentally
- Wire Wheel
- No Primer
- 5 x VHT Wrinkle Plus Paint
- Left it for 2 days untouched

Wrinkle turned out awesome. 2 mm tight crinkles.
Problem: It chipped off almost instantly, when I mounted the exhaust back on... Definately need Primer! I supposed paint just doesnt chrome OR it needed some heat fixing...



Painted Swing Arm - Experimentally.
- Got some cardboard boxes from Franklins and masking taped together a little booth.
- Used coat hangers bent into hooks with string to hand the swing arm up.
- 400 Grit Wet/Dry sanded it down in a # pattern
- Pine-o-Clean Detergent
- Preen Degreaser
- 5 x 'K&H Etch Primer' - White - But would probably go with black next time! As you can't see it white blotches when the paint chips off. Ideally it shouldn't but just in case! Sprayed in # pattern following can instructions.
- Pine-o-Clean Detergent
- Preen Degreaser
- 3 x 'K&H Gloss Black Finish' - Enamel













Prime coat looks awesome. Smooth, even. roughed it up with sand paper. The black... massive nightmare.... I sprayed the rear of the swing arm first, sprayed just enough so you can still see the white speckled through. Then sprayed another coat to seal it all in black. It looked great. Then sprayed the front, omfg. First shot, I drenched it in black, thinking it would be fine... It started to bubble like chicken pox all over the place.

Sanded it the bubbles down, thinking it was the paint's problem. Then shot another coat. Same thing. Looked fine first 3 secs, then it started to bubble and drool. I assume I didnt degrease it properly on the prime layer...

Does anyone have any clues to why the paint bubbled and drooled?


Tank - Stripped, Sanded, Polished and buff

- 1L - Diggers Paint stripper
- Glad wrap to seal the stripper in and get the most out of it. Apparently you can double the use of it.
- The paint is pretty thin... probably about 5 coats I can imagine, because it came off pretty easily.

PHOTOS SOON


Removed the engine ready to paint.

Started unscrewing some of the cross head screws on the side covers and because my drill is cheap (Ozito $35 - 12V), its pathetic low RPMs ruided the screw heads... Not to mention it's NiCd battery takes forever to recharge, so I get impatient and use it before it fully recharges. Turns out the battery is now permanently flat. Like I mentioned at the start of this blog - I have no idea...

So, now I have about 3 screws that I can't remove... I bought a screw extractor from Bunnings for about $30 and it drilled in about 3mm, gripped on to the inside of the screw, but it still would budge. Now I have a new drill...







Angle grinded off pillion pegs.
- $70 - Ozito Angel Grinder - 100mm, 850 Watt
- $3 - 100mm Steel Cutting Disc - Bought the thinnest one available from Bunnings
- PICTURES COMING SOON

This was pretty cool to see the sparks flying in all directions. Scared the crap out of me at first. It's quite threatening when your supporting hand is so close to a blade when you know it can easily cut off steel frames... Make sure you wear long pants, shoes, gloves and long sleeves that cover your wrist area... the sparks singed my skin...


Removed Tyre from Rear Wheel
- 3 Screw drivers
- 1 long pole with a flattened end
- My mate made a 20min video of me doing it (because apparently I looked like a monkey on Discovery Channel). If your interested let me know and I'll post it.

Once about 15cm of the tyre pops over the rim you can start sliding the screwdrivers down the edge of the rim and the tyre pops out (half anyway). Then you need to the same on the other side of the tyre. Spent about 2 hours prying the tyre off the wheel's rim. In the process I may have bent the rim. About a 1 inch area has lifted slightly revealing crackled chrome. Definately not going to bother with the front tyre... I'll just take it to a tyre shop.




NEW TYRES
Ordered some new tyres from Deus Ex Machina, which they will fit for me at the shop. I'm not 100% about sizing, as I want the largest possible rear and a slim front without compromising the stance too much into a forward leaning bike. Originally I wanted to fit a rear 450-18, but the tyre will rub the chain. I also wanted a 300-19 front, but the apparently slim tyres feel dents in the road. However you don't want to go too big otherwise you can't steer at all!

Current Tyres - Stock
- Front: Pirelli - 90/90-19 - 3.65" Wide, 26" Diameter
- Rear: Pirelli - 350-18 - 4" Wide, 25" Diameter

New Tyres
- Front: Avon Speedmasters - 325-19 - 3.4" Wide, 25.9" Diameter
- Rear: Firestone 400-18 - 4.25 Wide, 26.57 Diameter

So, in essence I will keep the front just as tall (0.1" lower), but raise the rear (1.57" higher) due to the wider rear tyre. There's about 0.45" before the rear tyre's diameter rubs the inside of the swing arm. Swing arm is 8" wide (at the centre of the wheel), which leaves about 1.87" each side of the tyre for turns. Apparently tyres balloon out when you ride. Not sure what will happen then... Hopefully that will work fine. What do you guys think?


De-Spoked Rear Front Wheel
- WD40
- Drill with Flat Screw Tip
- Slowly unscrew
- Twist the Drill so it is positioned to hit the spoke nipple. So, if the nipple is positioned this way (|), I will position the Screw driver tip in this position (/) while being inside the nipple. Do that about 5 times and the nipple starts to freely twist off. This is so that when the WD40 soaks in through the stubborn rusted nipples, it twists the nipple with a millimeter's worth of impact... It seemed to work better than doing it normally, which actually ruined one of the nipple heads.








Some rusted parts where the nipples attached to the spokes...
Parts of the rim WERE cleaned (so I thought, but rust slowly built up over the past few days...). It's still about 10ish degrees in the evening in Sydney, so I supposed there's been a bit of humidity in my garage. Lucky I didn't prime those wheels impulsively!


Paint stripped the frame

- 1/4 tin of paint stripper...
- Wire wheel
- Be careful of the chassis plates. Maybe mask them off prior...
- Paint on the frame was REALLY thin, you could scratch it off lightly with a screw driver. I imagine it would only have been about 1 or 2 coats... Then again, the swing arm seemed quite tough to not scratch on the brake light spring... Or perhaps it was just many coats of thinned out paint, so it made even coverage without having to look thick (or scratch off noticeably).


Shopping for a small headlight - 4"-5.5"

I'm looking for something small, slightly bell shaped, chrome rim and ideally black.
Something slightly narrower than the forks, but not so disproportionately tiny... And, include a bottom mount. So far Posh seems to have a nice one. I assume it will be atleast $120-200.

Ebay has lots, but they don't come with bottom mounts...

Anyone know where to find these kind of headlights for cheap?


Thinking about the seat...

Fabricate a fibreglass seat and upholster it with leather (or buy a seat, depending which is more cost efficient)

Thinking about tearing up an old leather couch (like the ones you see thrown on the street) and use the leather to get a rustic vintage look since it already has distress marks from being sat on. I really don't dig the shiny new leather on some after market seats...

- Buy some neoprene from Clark Rubber
- Mark out the stitch pattern (pleats and edges)
- Use a thick needle and thick thread
- Hand stitch it through
- Staple gun it to the bottom of the seat I end up making...


Buy mini switches for controls

Jay Car has little toggle switches On-off-on and push to start buttons! Which I will need to drill holes into the handle bars to wire through... Will the bars snap??? Hopefully not a big deal... The thought is scary though.

An internal throttle would be nice to have. The cheapest was $134 but unfortunately they're pretty much all for 1" handle bars.

Does anyone know where I can find an internal throttle for 7/8" bars?


Shorten Front Forks

To lower the front end, I loosened the triple trees. Bottom first, then VERY slowly loosened the top. I let them come up as much as possible (about 1") and then tightened them back up.

I suppose this is only short term, as I would like to angle grind the forks shorter. Apparently inside the fork there is an pole. And that pole is what needs to be shortened.

Does anyone know how I get to those poles inside the fork?


Paint Tank

I'm digging the whole polished steel look of the tank that I probably won't paint it just yet. After watching the bike start to rust when I hosed down the just paint stripped frame, I realise that steel rusts like a motherf*cker. Within 1 hour it had patches of brown oxidisation appear in patches where the water didn't drain off. I toweled it off straight away, WD40's and wire wheeled those parts! *Phew....*

I like VHT paint very much so. It's got a great nozzle, and when you make a mistake and go too close, you just can't notice! Even when you have over spray and it sprinkles onto the 1 minute dried paint, it just blends right in! Bear in mind, I am comparing to K&H, which I found was not very forgiving. I can't find a VHT Clear Coat

Could anyone recommend a good clear coat that they have used on a steel tank before?


Thanks for reading!

Best wishes,
Damo

Re: 2001 Yamaha SR250 - Deus inspired Cafe Racer

Hey, I like your style...It should turn out to be an awesome project!

I'll try to lend some advice, take what you can use and disregard the rest.

As for the paint wrinkling, there could be several reasons (That I've encountered, anyway) that it is doing this.
I'll list the ones I can think of.

1 - What are you wiping it down with between coats, if anything? If you're not wiping it down, it could be caused by handling it and the grease from your hands transferring to the part. If you are wiping it down, make sure it is with a clean cloth because if it has any chemical residue (Oil, grease, WD40...especially WD40) it can transfer to the part and cause the fresh paint to lift.


2 - How long are you waiting between coats? Some paint requires you to spray the second coat within 30 minutes, or if you miss that time period you may have to wait up to a week before you can re-coat. If you miss your time period, and try to paint the 2nd coat before your week curing time is up, your paint will lift right off, much like what is occurring.

Check the spray can, it should give you the specs for wait times on the back.

For your headlight, you might try to find someone parting a CL175 in your area. I know there are other bikes with small headlights, but I know for a fact that the early 70's CL175s had the headlights like you are wanting.
I have one that I am willing to sell, but I imagine shipping would be a large expense.

As for the bare tank...I have heard several horror stories of clear coats over bare metal flaking, peeling, etc. and making a huge mess. I know mysta2 (One of your reference bikes...The one with the bare tank and Japanese flag on the tank) tried the clear coat and it didn't work. I believe he oils his tank (With regular motor oil, I believe?) on a regular basis which helps to prolong the rusting process. Although, I'm fairly certain there has been mention of getting oil all over yourself with that method.

For your exhaust, I would reccommend the use of a high-heat primer, then after you have painted your wrinkle coat on you may try baking it.

Also, just a note. Make sure to steer clear of having WD40 anywhere near parts that will be painted. I know a lot of hot rod/classic car guys won't use WD40 on anything. There are horror stories of individuals spraying it onto bare metal and never being able to paint it. I guess it penetrates the surface somehow and will haunt you for a long while.

Hopefully I was of some assistance...
-Garrett

Re: 2001 Yamaha SR250 - Deus inspired Cafe Racer

I will not even let WD 40 in my shop! i had a buddy that had a powder coating and paint shop a shelf broke and popped a few cans of WD in his shop... they had to close the doors from it and relocate... it was a mess

take it down to bare metal... then wipe it all down with acitone, after that hit it with a tourch to get all the fibers off and then prime and paint... should help you out, i wipe with denature alchole after the paint/powder has one or 2 coats already on it

Re: 2001 Yamaha SR250 - Deus inspired Cafe Racer

Yep - as the others have said, don't use WD40 anywhere near your paint.

You can buy Prep Wash from your local auto shop - it's designed for this. Also, get yourself a heat gun and heat up your parts before painting. This helps dry any solvents and helps the paint to cure on contact. You can also sit your spray cans in hot water for a few minutes to warm them up (thins the paint, helps the spraying). And make sure you shake the cans for a good few minutes before spraying (and occasionally during your spraying)

As for the internal throttle - the Honda Z50 monkey bikes ran a 7/8 internal throttle. Search ebay / google for them.

Jaycar mini switches? More than likely NOT waterproof and will no doubt cause more trouble than they're worth IMO.

For shortening your front forks, have a look at this:



Although the internals will probably be different, so you might need a manual for your bike to work it out .

Good luck with it

Re: 2001 Yamaha SR250 - Deus inspired Cafe Racer

I read you are using Preen Degreaser and Pine-O-Clean to prep before paint, do you mean the stuff that is used on cloths and laundry?? If you do that could be the paint problem right there, while fine for cloths I dont think it will do a good enough job on metal and engine grease etc. Go buy some engine degreaser and prepsol to prep before paint.

Cheers
Steve

Re: 2001 Yamaha SR250 - Deus inspired Cafe Racer

Good to see you on this website too mate Keep up the good work.

Re: 2001 Yamaha SR250 - Deus inspired Cafe Racer

Which switches from Jay Car are you using?

Re: 2001 Yamaha SR250 - Deus inspired Cafe Racer

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the feedback once again. I haven't done much of late, so not much to post. Here's some photos I had lying around.

Tank + Partly painted frame.

Tank: 95% Polished
Frame: VHT Bar and Chassis Paint - Gloss Black

N.B. VHT Rocks! Smooth, even coats, true colour... But not very strong.


I'm yet to try Rust Kill Epoxy Enamel though... Maybe next time I'm in Bunnings... Anyone got any experience with Rust Kill?









Posted by: Big-D
Not sure yet, probably some toggle switches with the rubber cover. However I am tempted to spend a bit and buy a aluminum cover for them...

HotelBushranger - G'DAY!

Steve F - Bought some K&H Wax and grease remover - put it into a spray bottle and it works a wonder! CHEERS!

hillsy - Thanks for the diagram... Still can't work out how to pop the caps at the top of the fork. After the plastic cap comes off, its just a black metal cap like object.... I REALLY WANT TO GET IT OFF!!!! lol

Ninetyeight - Legend, great tips. Still digesting it all....

Re: 2001 Yamaha SR250 - Deus inspired Cafe Racer

the vht paint is really good. they have the roll bar/chassis paint which you used and also an epoxy paint. keep in mind it takes about 7-10 days for this stuff to fully harden. when I used it the first couple of days I was able to scrap it off with my fingernails, after it fully cures that won't be the case.

Re: 2001 Yamaha SR250 - Deus inspired Cafe Racer

Tank looks AMAZING!!!!!!!!!

Re: 2001 Yamaha SR250 - Deus inspired Cafe Racer

Hummingbird said:

hillsy - Thanks for the diagram... Still can't work out how to pop the caps at the top of the fork. After the plastic cap comes off, its just a black metal cap like object.... I REALLY WANT TO GET IT OFF!!!! lol

Click to expand...

It's probably a push-on cap with a circlip. You'll need to push down on the cap and prise out the circlip to allow the cap to release. Be careful - the fork springs will be pre-loaded and the cap will want to shoot out after you get the clip out.

And yeah - sharp looking tank

Re: 2001 Yamaha SR250 - Deus inspired Cafe Racer

Very nice work!
-KR

Re: 2001 Yamaha SR250 - Deus inspired Cafe Racer

Going in a similar direction with my cb450... How bout an update?

Re: 2001 Yamaha SR250 - Deus inspired Cafe Racer

as far as protected the polished tank goes - i've looked at both POR-15 "Glisten PC" and Everbrite Protectaclear - From what I've read, the Glisten-PC can come up a bit dull and isn't all that easy to apply, whereas the protectaclear is cheaper, can be brushed on and comes up really well apparently.
Unsure if where to get it in australia (if you find out, let me know) but you can order off their website and they seem to ship to australia.