'73 CB250 - Doing it right this time round.

[Green199]

Nice work, carry on.

Thanks Maritime.

I got one side of the exhaust system on before I ran into some minor issues. Just got to cut down the mounting bolt to gain some clearance to the swingarm.

I cleaned up a couple of points on the frame for the earthing point for the coils. I can now get the loom tweaked and back on the bike, got to modify it slightly as I got a good deal on a Koehler reg/rec which was too good to pass up.

I tapped the powder out of the threads for the caliper, and mounted it on to the bike. Before I put the pads in, I pushed the piston in as far as I could get it to go, and then installed the pads. When I mounted it back on the bike the pads were dragging a lot! Was very hard to push the bike around. Is this normal with new pads til they wear in, or is something still wrong?

Just to help me move it around while its in the garage I loosed the mounting bolts about half a turn, which reduced some of the dragging.

 

[Green199]

Fixed the dragging issue. I took apart the caliper and cleaned the bore out slightly so that the piston slid in and out easier enough. This was to ensure I had the piston in as far is it would go. Then on reassembly I left out the nylon washer supplied to stop break squeel. This gave me enough clearance to set the gap to the stationary pad to spec and have minimal dragging. ;D

 

[Habanero52]

Nice.

 

[Green199]

Cleaned and resprayed the master cylinder. All the ports were pretty damn clean, but gave everything a blast with compressed air. Installed it back on the bike with the stainless braided hose. I'll bleed the brake system tomorrow morning.

I also put a guide coat of primer on all the bodywork. It helped to show up any of the imperfections more than the black paint I had on previously. There's a couple small dings I didn't repair good enough last time. I have to redo the bodywork because it got all scratched up when I last relocated, and the petrol proof lacquer was not as fuel resistant as I had hoped and the whole top of the tank had gone milky white. So bodywork will be completed when it warms up a bit in early spring!

I still have to position the bars so that they are even, but I will do that after I have mounted all my switches.

I should be making my loom up on the weekend, then just need to shorten my clutch and throttle cables and she'll be back up and running.

 

[Green199]

Managed to luck out and find a rubber battery strap for a 50cc ATV that fit my tray and battery perfectly! ;D

I've also come to a bit of a standstill while I wait to sort out my rear brake bellcrank and get some solder to shorten the cables. I made a quick speedometer mount today out off some steel plate. It fits in nicely but the speedo sitting where it does ruins the whole lines of the bike. I will take some more pictures in the light tomorrow to show what I mean.

Because of this, Im now considering something like the bottom picture? Thoughts?

 

[treitz]

1 - The bracket looks great. From that one picture, it looks like it sits low enough that it wouldn't ruin the lines, but I'll take your word for it.

2 - That fairing is sick.

 

[Green199]

I personally don't like the look of where it sits anyway, but it needed to be so far forward from the triple tree as I plan to run a small digital LED voltmeter just behind it in order to check while riding so I don't fry my ballistic battery.

However, all of this will be solved with the fairing .....let me think it over, but I'm pretty sure I know what the answer is gonna be....

 

[Erskine]

That particular fairing, colour coded and lined up tidy, would look the dogs bollocks.

 

[Green199]

Well, that was probably the easiest decision I have made for this bike ;D

 

[treitz]

That particular fairing, colour coded and lined up tidy, would look the dogs bollocks.

+1

 

[Erskine]

Who is it made by?

 

[Green199]

I found it on ebay being sold by quite a few vendors who sell generic, universal 'cafe racer' stuff. We'll see what the quality is like and how well it fits when it gets here.

Got it coming in gloss black so when I correct my paint, all it will need is a bit of gold pinstriping to match.

 

[DohcBikes]

The fairing takes this bike to another level.

Lookin for a strong finish on this one.

 

[Weasel]

Excellent. I've looked at those eBay fairings, looking forward to hearing what you think about it.

 

[Green199]

The fairing takes this bike to another level.

Lookin for a strong finish on this one.

Thanks Dohc, I'm sure as hell looking for the same thing haha

Excellent. I've looked at those eBay fairings, looking forward to hearing what you think about it.

Check back in about a week and I should have got my hands on it by then.

No matter how long I have spent on this project, and its many iterations, I am still learning the importance of a structured build plan. I never intended to have another fairing fitted, but finding one which was reasonably priced and quality which seems good enough made me change that view. Unfortunately, the frame was powdercoated before I stumbled upon this, which will obviously be affected if I weld fairing mounts on, again shpwing the importance of leaving finishing til the end! :-\ A lesson I have definitely learned and will take on in to any future projects.

Still, I am sure I will be able to fabricate a few bolts on mounts.

 

[Erskine]

I can't quite work out if that is a headlamp/forks fairing or a frame mounted one?

 

[Green199]

I can't quite work out if that is a headlamp/forks fairing or a frame mounted one?

The examples I've seen have been mounted on sportsters so far and have been headlamp mounted. I am hoping it is a good size for the cb250/350 and I can frame mount it.

 

[Green199]

It would appear a similar fairing (minus the headlight cover) has been mounted on a few Deus Ex machina builds, where they were fork/headlight mounted.

What are the benefits of either of these? All I have known has been frame mounted, hence my initial reaction to figure out mounts for that. But it will be substantially easier to mounts to the forks....

I can imagine the wind affect on a fork mounted fairing would be substantially worse due to the direct input into steering.

 

[irk miller]

Frame mounted fairings don't turn with the forks. So, the headlight trajectory is behind the turn. You can get a lot bigger and more down the frame with a frame mounted fairing, since you don't have to worry about the fairing interfering with the tank or frame when turning. You can get a lot closer to the handlebars with a fork mounted fairing, since you don't have to accommodate their turning radius. It's easier to hide wiring and such with a fork mounted fairing.

Also, that Deux fairing looks like a frame mounted fairing, even if it's mounted to the forks. The forward position and the wide open sides for handlebar clearance makes it look that way to me.

 

[Erskine]

+1 on go frame mounted.