project "No Love" new panels for mind change... again

[beachbumberry]

so i picked this up on ebay for $193 after taxes and currency conversion from gbp-$. plan is a cafe build! i'm calling it project flea cause i'm gonna buy as much of it as i can on ebay! looking at a benelli tank right now, but if that falls through im going to use a kawasaki z400 tank... love the lines on it. wheels are going to be swapped to wire spoked, going to work up some rear sets, and going to build the seat out of aluminum (i've been plotting on that on!) havn't really seen it on here, but i think i'm going to make this bike a little bit patina'd... well see how that goes. question for any cb250/400 guys, i've heard its possible to swap the top end (pistons, buckets, etc.) from a cb400n onto my cb250, any truth in this? i cant find part numbers for the block to check it out. any folks in the uk?

ebay picture

 

[jeff4uk]

Re: project flea cb250

Hi i found David silvers really helpful tell them what you want to do and they can check
part numbers for compatability, there only in Suffolk so postage is cheep to,Hope this helps!

 

[Erskine]

Re: project flea cb250

Hi,
What a bargain!
The Z250/400 tanks are a really nicely sculpted design.
It would be interesting to see what other heads and barrels may fit, i.e. 350, and whether you could get a head that was already more 'lively' for the same price.
I'm only saying this because I was watching a hill climb in South Wales last weekend and was completely blown away but the performance a 350 twin was capable of.
Keep us posted?

 

[beachbumberry]

Re: project flea cb250

absolutly will keep you all posted! pulled the seat and mirrors off while it was sitting in the bed of the truck today while waiting for friends that were at asda. started looking around to see if i could kick it over... no kick start. it's not just missing the lever, but as far as i can find, there is no place for the kickstart to go on the engine!

 

[beachbumberry]

Re: project flea cb250

oh, btw, i'm in suffolk

 

[Erskine]

Re: project flea cb250

started looking around to see if i could kick it over... no kick start. it's not just missing the lever, but as far as i can find, there is no place for the kickstart to go on the engine!

That'll be the model that starts by osmosis then.

 

[teazer]

Re: project flea cb250

The old CB250N Dream or CB400N Superdream. Remarkably good bikes but somewhat lacking in character. Styled to look like the Euro model CB750/900/1100 range.

The top end isn't a 100% straight drop on IIRC. Motorcycle Mechanics did a number on one years ago to bump up the engine size. It turned out to be less responsive to tuning than they expected, but it was interesting. I may even still have a copy of that article here somewhere.

 

[beachbumberry]

Re: project flea cb250

That'll be the model that starts by osmosis then.

hahaha honda has always been the type to expirament... it does have an electric starter and i have a battery sitting in the toolbox of my truck. gonna give it a bump and see if she'll start

 

[Erskine]

Re: project flea cb250

The old CB250N Dream or CB400N Superdream. Remarkably good bikes but somewhat lacking in character. Styled to look like the Euro model CB750/900/1100 range.

The top end isn't a 100% straight drop on IIRC. Motorcycle Mechanics did a number on one years ago to bump up the engine size. It turned out to be less responsive to tuning than they expected, but it was interesting. I may even still have a copy of that article here somewhere.

Is the 'N' lump a different engine from the 'T' series then?

 

[beachbumberry]

Re: project flea cb250

so spent today stripping the flea down... 3 hours and $12 dollars of auto hobby shop use later, bike is bare framed. i had planned on getting clip ons, but i flipped the factory bars, and really like the look of them! will definitly fit the style of the bike and best of all, they're free! got the engine out and upstairs into my dorm room for it's tear down and rebuild. stay tuned!

i have my priorities straight!

some cool shots of the frame

 

[beachbumberry]

Re: project flea cb250

just pulled the heads off the engine... holy cow, i've never seen so much carbon buildup on 1 engine! pistons look mighty small too, especially for how much block there is, though it does house the gearbox too, so i understand. i was hoping i wouldnt have to split the case on this, but there is too much junk in there for me to not pull it apart and clean it extreamly good. plus side is it had real tight compression and the cylinder walls didnt look too terribly bad! hopefully she wont need machine work. i'll check to see how true the head and buckets are and go from there

 

[beachbumberry]

Re: project flea cb250

picked up a mig welder today! gonna cut the back of my frame off soon and weld it up. also found out it is able to weld aluminum with the right tips and argon gas. i am sure it wont be anything like if i tigged it, but i'll end up buying the stuff to weld the seat up. need to buy my tank so i can start tinkering with that

 

[beachbumberry]

Re: project flea cb250

so should i (A) finish rebuilding the 250 engine i have now or (B) front the $300ish bucks to get a 400 engine and rebuild that? either way i'd like to put a 400 in it at some point

 

[Erskine]

Re: project flea cb250

Lets face it, the 250 dream dosen't have enough power to pull your cock out of your trousers
I'd personally go straight for the 400 or see if there are any tuned 350 lumps for sale.
If the engine change is the ultimate goal, why not just go for it and off set the cost by flogging the 250 lump?

 

[beachbumberry]

Re: project flea cb250

flogging? i figured i'd keep it for parts or atleast the usable parts for me (alternator, engine covers, carbs, etc.)

 

[beachbumberry]

Re: project flea cb250

spent $35 shipped for something today, i'll post pics of it when it gets here, but its definitly an important part of the bike! grand total is now up to $242

 

[beachbumberry]

Re: project flea cb250

pickedup a new (for me) cb400n engine today! 100gbp and a trip to wales later my grand total it at roughly $460. the last purchase i made (that i didn't end up posting pics of) was a kawasaki z400 tank, but i've changed my mind and am thinking i want a cg125 tank now. very similar lines to the z400 tank, but it has a deeper bottom (instead of a flat bottom) and SHOULD fit the frame with minimal modification. i'm also thinking of sectioning a second tank to make my seat bubble, but i'm going to build a mock up of a seat out of poster board to see if i can make one out of sheet metal that will fit what i want. i'm going to try to strip the frame down tomorrow and cut the center stand and rear brace off so i can shave a little bit of weight (every bit counts) and we;ld in my new supports.

 

[beachbumberry]

Re: project flea cb250

new tank i just bought today that's on its way

new engine i picked up saturday. it has sat awhile with a spark plug out and one of the cooling fins is chipped on the corner (you can see it in the picture) but the guy i got it from said he pulled it from a running bike, so i'll rebuild it with new buckets and paint it up. in the mean time, i'm on the look out for a set of carbs from a cb400n, cb400t, cm400, or cm450... anyone have a set they'd part with?

 

[beachbumberry]

Re: project "No Love" formerly flea... new tank!

well, spent the evening messing with the frame to try to make the tank fit. the frame is a little bit too wide for no obvious reason in 1 spot, so i cut it out and narrowed it. got the tank sitting on it and am starting to think the frame is more suited to being a brat/bobber style bike than a cafe racer. it has no triangle in the frame, and goes from bent tubes to pressed sheetmetal (where the shock mounts are). if i cut the sheet off, moved the shock mounts to the tubes, and streched the swingarm (perfect for it, it has a long straight piece of round tube) it's look great. any thoughts?

 

[Erskine]

Re: project "No Love" formerly flea... new tank!

well, spent the evening messing with the frame to try to make the tank fit. the frame is a little bit too wide for no obvious reason in 1 spot, so i cut it out and narrowed it. got the tank sitting on it and am starting to think the frame is more suited to being a brat/bobber style bike than a cafe racer. it has no triangle in the frame, and goes from bent tubes to pressed sheetmetal (where the shock mounts are). if i cut the sheet off, moved the shock mounts to the tubes, and streched the swingarm (perfect for it, it has a long straight piece of round tube) it's look great. any thoughts?

Any photos? Would love to see what you are up to here.