Kawasaki EL250 - $800 budget

[Brodie]

During the last few days I have managed to get myself into a tight build spot. My best friends younger brother has been wanting a bike for quite some time. He was after a small cc parallel twin that would do highway speeds without struggling. He also wants it to look like the bike from "Girl with the dragon tattoo" on a budget of 800 bucks, including the bike.

Recently a good friend of mine who deals in vintage bikes sent me a message about a Kawasaki EL250 as he knows I was looking for a bike to replace the SR250 while I build by GS. Lucky for me I get the best of both worlds, a new bike to build and funding to do so (albeit very limited)

The EL250 seems perfect for the small cc and highway speeds bike considering its 6 speed box, match that with a smaller rear sprocket and we might just get a comfy cruiser.

So the challange lays ahead, turn a $400 EL250 into a CL350 with $400. This won't be a proud build for me considering the target bike, but it will teach my best mate (new owner of the SR250) a thing or two about bikes. Ohh and it is my first water cooled bike.

 

[obtaniac]

Curious to hear of any progress you've made since October. I purchased a '91 EL250 for $300 in October, same plans with just a slightly higher budget. Found a decent EX250 motor with low miles for a very reasonable cost, came across an original belly pan / air scoop (hard to find without spending $400), bubble fairing, drag bars, custom seat pan, Muzzy muffler, etc... (all used parts) I'm still under a grand, but just barely. Looking to keep bike and materials under $1500. I'm a bit hung up on a good choice for the tank. There's the popular NitroYouki EL250 build with what looks like a Sportster peanut tank, nice hump to it but the tank/seat transition looks a bit off. What are your tank considerations?

 

[xb33bsa]

this will be interesting what kind of frame will you use ? or are you building a frame from scratch ?
because that low stretched out kawi is as far away from a cl as you could possibly be
maybe just cut out 12" from the middle

 

[Brodie]

Nothing has happened with this bike yet. The owner is still in the air about what he wants done. He is away on deployment at the moment and won't be back until the new year.

If we were to head for the CL look still I would go with a CB tank and weld in a new subframe to level the seat out. The space underneath would be turned into storage for all the electronics.

As for building a frame from scratch... my welding skills are no where near that trustworthy yet. Maybe for me but not for a friend.