1976 Honda CB250G - Project far far away in Lithuania...

[Justinas]

Hi guys,
so few days after asking in DO THE TON forums about which bike to choose for my first build and as my first by at all, I got myself a thing. Thank you all guys for advices and here is the thing.

It's a HONDA CB250g from 1976.

It looked like this in the add:

It looked like this when I got it:

It looked like this after several hours spent:

As you may have noticed, that's a funny looking seat in the back. There were other smaller interesting elements on this bike too. The reason for this is the land the bike and I come from - Lithuania. As it's a Baltic state, 1980 bikes are quite rare here. The market of older bikes is dominated by Russian and Chezh bikes. I think you can count pre 1980 honda's on fingers of several hands. So as you may have understood, this bike has the headlamp from JAWA bike, the seat is from IZ and so on...

So here is my thing, and here comes my plan. As this is my first bike and my first build, nothing too fancy. I just wish to have an everyday commuter with classic cafe looks to put an everyday smile on my face.
Talking about the looks, I hope to go with white/black theme. The frame will be power coated in cream white and all the other details in solid black, with some small white and red details.

So this is where I ask for your help. As this is my first build and my first bike, and i have spent only several hours driving a bike at all, I really don't know a lot about the mechanics of a bike. I have a lot on practice on restoring older bicycles, a little bit on cars and such jobs as welding is no problem for me, but i really don't want to mess with the engine. The previous owner assured me that the engine is in tip top condition and the carbs have just been cleaned and adjusted. And I want to keep it that way for know.
But from the outside it doesn't look good. It's all oxidized and some bolts are quite rusted. I want to clean it up a bit and give it a little bit of shine, change the bolts. What chemicals would you suggest for this, as I will be doing everything from the outside ?

My other question/request is, that if you notice anything strange or unconventional in the process, please give me a notice. As I said, I really do not have any experience and I may not doing that on purpose.
Sorry for me being a little bit paranoiac, but as this is a rare bike in our lands, every mistake I make, will cost me a lot, as i won't get any cheap replacements for anything.

So thank you all in advance for any help and suggestions. I'm going to fight expanding foam, while trying to make the rear seat mold :]

Oh, and my inspiration comes from this wonderful bike (if anyone have some bigger pictures, please share :]):

 

[L4NE4]

Re: "The Jack" 1976 Honda CB250g

now thats some good inspiration!

Sweet photography too!

 

[IndieSol]

Re: "The Jack" 1976 Honda CB250g

It may be easier to paint the engine than to try and restore it. The side covers can be polished with wet sanding (coarse to fine) followed by some buffing and metal polish. The case and cylinders, if they're very bad, may need to be professionally blasted if you want them to look good.

Do you have access to an air compressor of decent size? If so, you could make your own soda blaster (uses baking soda and is environmentally friendly). It's cheap and works pretty well. Instructions on how to do so are here.

Glad to see you picked up the bike. I hope you enjoy it.

 

[Swapmeet Louie]

Re: "The Jack" 1976 Honda CB250g

I want the seat that was on it.....

 

[Justinas]

Re: "The Jack" 1976 Honda CB250g

Thanks, that baking soda method should work just fine! I have a decent size compressor which will be more than enough.
One more question about making engine look fine. I still want to change or at least repaint bolts, as some of them are quite rusted. Is it necessary to change the gaskets when re screwing all the bolts ?

and one more, when this model was in original shape, was this a place for ignition key ? What's that other hole ?

Started working on a seat. As I got the original seat too, but it had no cover and was all torn apart, I'm going to make the centrer section out of it. The rear section mold is done from florist foam. Nothing drastic over here, but it will be enough to fit all the electrics and gloves.

 

[gpreciado]

Re: "The Jack" 1976 Honda CB250g

that bracket is for the seat and helmet lock, you can get rid of that if you are making your own seat pan and not using the original one.

 

[bikeboy]

Re: "The Jack" 1976 Honda CB250g

Bike is looking better already

If you remove and clean/paint engine bolts a couple at a time, you shouldn't disturb the seal/gasket. To save time, you could take out every second bolt, work on them, put them back, then do the remaining ones. If you're taking the covers off to clean them as well, then I'd be inclined to replace the gaskets, and get a set of stainless allen-head bolts as replacements. They're all over ebay.

Have fun.
ian

 

[Justinas]

Re: "The Jack" 1976 Honda CB250g

Thanks. I got the engine completely out and yeah, I think i will need a new gasket set, as it's really not looking as well as i wish it would.
By the way, the engine has a marking as CB250E. Although the model of the bike is 250G and in eBay, only gaskets for 250G could be found. May this be a replacement engine from some other model ?

All the disassemble is done...

Now I'm getting everything ready for sand blasting and power-coating. And here comes some questions:
1. How do you remove those inserts (damn, I don't know English term for them) from the rear fork ?2. How do you remove headset cups ? Or maybe you don't need to do that ? :]

Thanks in advance ! :]

 

[kookie31]

Re: "The Jack" 1976 Honda CB250g

I have a feeling this is going to be a great looking bike. I like the direction this scoot is going. Keep us posted I will be watching this one

 

[bikeboy]

Re: "The Jack" 1976 Honda CB250g

By the way, the engine has a marking as CB250E. Although the model of the bike is 250G and in eBay, only gaskets for 250G could be found.

The "E" just denotes an engine number, as opposed to the frame number. All honda motors have the E suffix.

Now I'm getting everything ready for sand blasting and power-coating. And here comes some questions:
1. How do you remove those inserts (damn, I don't know English term for them) from the rear fork ?

The 'bushes' are pressed in, so you have to press them out. Or you could make up a 'puller' that will draw the bush out using a long bolt, a snug-fitting socket, and some washers.

2. How do you remove headset cups ? Or maybe you don't need to do that ? :]

Thanks in advance ! :]

By the looks of those, I'd replace them You can drive them out from the opposite end with a long screwdriver/punch. They're a tight fit, but should pop out with a bit of persuasion. A lot of people replace them with tapered bearings.

cheers
ian

 

[Justinas]

Re: "The Jack" 1976 Honda CB250g

Thanks for detailed info. Everything is getting clearer in my head already :]

I think I will only remove shock absorber bushings and just cover those in front of the fork, as they don't have any rubber parts and shouldn't be damaged by sanding or power-coating.

I tried to remove cups with screwdriver before, but was afraid to damage them. It seems they will need more persuading then :] I would love to change them with tapered bearings, but they are just so damn pricey... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Honda-CB250-CB-250-G5-75-76-Steering-Head-Bearings-Kit-/290474649606?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item43a1a36806
For now I'm just going to clean them up as much as possible and use ball bearings... maybe one day... :]

 

[jackstraw650]

Re: "The Jack" 1976 Honda CB250g

Hi Justinus,
Welcome and I like what you are doing with your bike.....take care of the basics first! The pictures you posted are of the swing arm or rear fork......The link you had talking about the high price was for steering head bearings which replace those in the front fork. What you need are either copper swing arm bushings or a needle bearing kit for your swing arm. After pressing the old ones out, you just press the new ones in, after lubing well, of course! You might want to think about tapping a couple of holes in your swing arm and installing lubrication fittings so you can pump grease into your swing arm bushings or bearings when needed. Hope this helps a little................

 

[Justinas]

Re: "The Jack" 1976 Honda CB250g

While the frame and some parts are at sandblasting, I started working on other issues. And here again are some questions.. :]


This time - broken bolts...grrr....


Front brake bleeding nipple is broken, but I it's just a straight forward drill it out, and get a bigger one in ?

The bigger problem is, that when I was removing engine head one of the nuts broke. It broke just ahead of the case, so I dont have enough room for good grip. I would really hate to drill anywhere in the engine, so what may be the solutions here ? Maybe welding a metal bar to the top and with a little heat it should get out of there ?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Justinas]

Re: "The Jack" 1976 Honda CB250g

Got the broken nuts situation solved. Just waiting for a small extractor and I hope to get them out in no time.

Today the frame arrived from power coating. As it's a cheapish practical build, I had to go with black (instead of a planned cream white) and a super strength epoxy varnish. Painter were doing some job on other object with the same color, so I got a discount.

I also covered the seat mold to start applying glass-fiber. Never worked with it before and actually not very exited about that after reading all the comments on the net bout sanding and etc.
Any suggestions about work on the seat to get the best result are more than welcome :]

 

[Justinas]

Re: "The Jack" 1976 Honda CB250g

An interesting package came today. As I can't afford buying an original CB250g or similar headlamp, I had to go with an old school Russian one. It will need some work, but i kinda dig the look (although would prefer a shorter original one). The nice thing about these is that they are fitted with a horn.

Sadly, I'm still having problems with broken bolts. I bought a set of extractors, but while extracting the nut from brake caliper two of them broke ! Ant then a drill got stuck on the and broke too ! that was a pretty shitty day. I don't think there is any other way to remove that hole mess...

Can a brake caliper from a newer, more popular bike be fitted on the same disc and wheel. I understand that would probably require some spacers ant etc., but maybe anyone knows a link with examples ?
Or maybe you know magic and have an idea how to fix that unlucky caliper...

 

[Ringo]

Re: "The Jack" 1976 Honda CB250g

You may want to wait until someone who knows for sure pipes up, but that looks identical to any cb350, 400, 550 etc caliper. Pick up one for cheap from ebay. As far as the glass work, not hard at all! Just make sure to precut your glass. And using a little 4" foam roller (made for paint) helps immensely to get bubbles and high spots out. Good luck!

 

[Erskine]

Re: "The Jack" 1976 Honda CB250g

I really like your headlight mate. Class!
i can't understand why those taper race head bearings are so expensive, I got CG125 ones from the same seller for 22 quid.

 

[Bobbed_out]

Re: "The Jack" 1976 Honda CB250g

I really like your headlight...You wouldn't happen to know where I could find something like that?

 

[Justinas]

Re: "The Jack" 1976 Honda CB250g

Thanks !
I did install taper bearings a week ago. Although they are pricey, I do hope they will last forever. Will have to make cuts somewhere else...

Damn, that caliper is my biggest trouble now.

Ass we do not have any old Honda's here, spare parts are pain in the ass. And even eBay is no offering anything for a decent price Thanks for the info about the same caliper for cb250/350/400. They do look very alike and I think fitting is the same, so that widens my field.

Bobbed_out> This particular headlamp is from an old URAL or Dnepr Russian motorcycle. I don't think they are easy to find anywhere else but in eastern Europe. Here (Lithuania) we have quite a lot of those and the price vary between 10-40$ for a used one. Unfortunately most of them are incomplete nowadays, but one can work it out and get a very sweet look from it.

 

[bikeboy]

Re: "The Jack" 1976 Honda CB250g

that is the coolest light/speedo combo I've seen for a long time. Gotta love that Cyrillic speedo


If you can get your hands on more of them, I'm sure you'd sell a few here (hint )


looking good.


ian