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Project Tony's ZXR250s

Discussion in 'Your 250cc Projects' started by TonyZXR, Apr 28, 2018.

  1. TonyZXR

    TonyZXR Well-Known Member

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    Well well time to start working on my new bike now that my mates one is all sorted out its time to start on mine
    IMG_20180325_220109_760.jpg

    It came with a newish battery and was "running at one point in their ownership" Story goes that it was bought off an asian lady in Liverpool as a parts bike 3 years ago but ended up being the bike they were going to fix as the c was far worse . A quick rego check revealed it hadn't been registered in more than 6 years and it absolutely reeked of stale fuel. It also has flat tyres and seized brakes , partly disassembled. 20180422_194828.jpg
    the kms are quite high unfortunately and it definitely shows in the things like hand grips , gear shift mechnism and footpegs, also after having a better look it was originally a blue bike like my mates (and blue is supposed to be the rarest colour lol) then someone has painted it green and finally a really ugly dark grey. a few fairing have been changed but for the most part they are decent condition and are all there. 20180424_195952.jpg
    someones dog had some chewing fun on these covers so they are on the buy list

    20180424_195750.jpg
    And someone has replaced the front brake lever with one off a C model so i gotta track down a A one too. A charge of the battery reveals the electricals mostly work except for the high beams , both forks are leaking but the tubes aren't rusty which is good, brakes don't work , thottle doesn't open. A bit of fuel down the carbs and she roared into life.....with a nasty rattling sound...
     
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  2. tarmacsurfer

    tarmacsurfer Well-Known Member

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    Good find. Likely to be the camchain.
     
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  3. sharky

    sharky Well-Known Member

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    Ill be watching this thread with interest after nearly buying those bikes myself. The "A" model inner fairing pieces are NLA & were quite hard to find at the time when I needed some. The levers have different part numbers, but I cant see any difference between the two except "A" model were black & "C" model silver.
     
  4. TonyZXR

    TonyZXR Well-Known Member

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    Theres a few sets on ebay for 50 bucks. The levers are different shapes aswell. The c adjuster is roundish where as the a is flat . The whole lever is slightly roundish too
     
  5. Linkin

    Linkin The Mechanic Premium Member Contributing Member Dirty Wheel Club

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    Last edited: Apr 29, 2018
  6. TonyZXR

    TonyZXR Well-Known Member

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    Isn't postage more than the part though haha
     
  7. Linkin

    Linkin The Mechanic Premium Member Contributing Member Dirty Wheel Club

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    Usually, but cheaper when you buy a whole bunch of stuff and get it consolidated into 1 package, which I am doing
     
  8. TonyZXR

    TonyZXR Well-Known Member

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    that's heaps better then , i spotted a owners manual on there a few weeks back
     
  9. TonyZXR

    TonyZXR Well-Known Member

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    UPDATE. So I've made alot of progress on the bike but just haven't posted so here we go
    20180429_182548.jpg
    I've removed all of the fairing so i can work on the bike easier . Was pretty easy considering nearly all the pieces were half off haha. On to removing the carbs ... 20180422_194811.jpg
    well that explains why the throttle was getting jammed , all of the clamps were loose and 3 screws were missing , luckily i found 2 in the parts container i was given with it and the other was sitting in between the carb boots and cylinder head. I'll reuse them as they are still in good condition and clamp up well. 20180422_194423.jpg 20180422_195853.jpg 20180422_200423.jpg
    carbs off and pulled apart , MY GOD WHAT A SMELL ,I didn't realise it was still full of fuel , as you can see it's made the carbs extremely dirty but luckily all the screws came out although a few were missing (unlike my mates that had jelly and rust with every single screw snapping off and the carbs needing redrilling and tapping). The floats and needles are in great condition and didn't look that old just dirty so i won't change them . The tips are nice and soft with no wear groove. Every single o ring is screwed which is expected . And then i tried to remove the idle jets... one was so gunked in there it took 10 mins of scraping to get it out and the emulsion tube was even worse. 20180422_194418.jpg
    yea can't say that was gonna run with that lol 20180422_194514.jpg
    (yes my workbench is filthy i know ) 3 of 4 idle jets were blocked , i could only unblock 2 of them so the 3rd one i salvaged out of a spare set of carbs
    20180424_134303.jpg
    came out nice with a wash in petrol and a good scrub with a toothbrush
    20180422_195658.jpg
    original carbs aswell which is good, the jet needles in this one are n76b and all 4 are the same
    20180424_191124.jpg
    All back together with new float bowl o-rings , idle jet o-rings , fuel tube o-rings , seat o-rings , and air tube o rings. Also replaced the 2 missing choke mechanism screws , missing top cover screws , float bowl screws and also the idle adjustment knob as it was missing the plastic sheath .I've just re-used the fuel line and vacuum line for now until i get some. Float heights were pretty spot on already,only 1 needed adjusting, the idle jets are at factory spec and they are bench balanced . (red stuff you see is just rubber grease ) All ready to go back on the bike :D 20180424_191133.jpg
     
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  10. TonyZXR

    TonyZXR Well-Known Member

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    2 days later
    A few fairings were sat back on along with the seat because of my lack of space to store them currently. Carbs are back on but the throttle was shitty:( , it was all hard and wouldn't return. carbs back off time!:mad:, throttle mechanism and cables out .
    Problem #1 someone had greased up the hand grip but overtime it has now turned to a glue like consistency so I've cleaned that right up.
    Problem #2 someone had greased up the switch block where the hand grip turns and the cables go through. It had also gone like glue .
    Problem #3 This .... 20180424_193625.jpg
    can't see it too well but it was covered in corrosion and grease. A good clean and lube and they're smooth as silk now. So i put the carbs back on and perfection, very nice action. So with that all done I pinched the fuel tank off my mates zxr and put a freshly charged battery in it, turned the fuel tap to prime and then fuel started pouring out of the cylinder 1 fuel bowl vent. A few wacks on the carb didn't do a thing so it was time to take them off once again:confused: . When I pulled it apart I found a small spec on the needle seat. Cleaned it off and put the carbs back on and presto no overflowing:). With that all done it was time to fire it up for the 1st time with working carbs . It was a bit smokey at first but is cleared up . Guessing the rings were probably stuck. Off the bat it idles pretty nicely . Haven't balanced them yet but my god what a noise it was making from the engine . It's was alot louder in real life and sounded like rod knock.
     
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  11. TonyZXR

    TonyZXR Well-Known Member

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    So with it running fairly well for a first attempt and nice and warm i decided it was time to change the oil with some new cheap stuff to flush out the crap . Upon removing the oil cap i noticed it was clean but had moisture on it which is fairly normal for something sitting so long . I then drained the oil which was actually very clean (maybe it was changed just before it was take off the road?) refilled it with some cheap 10-40 . I then moved on to the cam chain tensioner and guess what... 20180425_135557.jpg Mr grease man strikes again:headbang:Well i hope that's old grease and not old engine oil that's turned to grease. After giving it a good clean i have concluded i desperately need a new one and most likely a new chain as well. 20180425_135838.jpg the shaft has very deep, very flat and pretty long wear marks on it , it also looks like it's worn at the end of its travel so the chain is probably very stretched. I've given it a light sanding to remove the rough spots that have burrs (only for now . it definitely needs replacement)Moving onto the bearing . 20180425_140147.jpg
    this is even worse . The balls have massive flats on them as well as the housing itself having grooves worn into it . I wonder if it's the original tensioner and chain . So after giving it a light coat of oil and removing the phillips screw with vice grips it's all back in and tensioned .

    Well it's GREATLY improved it . Now it just sounds like a worn chain phew, lucky the engine is ok
     
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  12. GreyImport

    GreyImport Administrator Staff Member The Chief Contributing Member

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    Nice work ... u have made good progress

    carbs on , carbs off , carbs on , carbs off ..... sounds familiar :D

    Put a smear of rubber grease on the inside of the rubber manifold boots ... lets the carbys slide in and out much easier
     
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  13. TonyZXR

    TonyZXR Well-Known Member

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    soo with coming to the conclusion that the engine is good I decided to drop the radiator and sus out some dodgey stuff i saw when putting the carbs on
    20180424_195712.jpg duct tape and another boot that doesn't seal now that can't be good. I went to pull the leads off and it separated from the boots haha . the end of the wires were verrryyyy green too so it's time to change them. upon taking the boots out i discovered this 20180425_151046.jpg
    whaaaatt the hell are they from . 2 are genuine just bad. So i stole 4 good ones off the c, cleaned the coils , measured them, put new leads on it and the new boots. I also cleaned the contacts and resistors. I thought i should change the sparkplugs
    while i was there and found that someone had put cr8e's in it :headbang:. The plugs had a nice golden colour which is good atleast.
    Next thing was to fix the high beam issue. With a schematic i found out the problem was the ignition switch. 20180430_210016.jpg
    4 of 6 pins were so badly corroded also 1 was totally broken off, explained why the regulator plug looks partly melted aswell . Repined it and hooray the high beams now work. So with that out of the way I have now pulled apart every single switch and plug , cleaned them and put lithium grease to protect it from moisture .
    next thing I did was to clean up the front area of the bike . headlights and gauges out , thoroughly cleaned and bulbs replaced . it appears the gauges used to have foam dampeners but they have disintegrated 20180427_200553.jpg Cleaned all the remaining off and repainted the bracket . I'll have to replace the foam at some point but for now cable ties do the job fine with just the rubber bit for aesthetics
    20180429_182517.jpg white specks are inside the speedometer unfortunately .
    20180502_185508.jpg
    Also it looks like someone has made a stainless steel sheath for the muffler?
    20180429_182722.jpg
    Brakes time , pull the entire front brakes off as a unit , was not a fun job . They were jammed on which explains why it was so hard to push . Master cylinder looked perfect so i just cleaned it and reassembled, brake lines also looked very good. brake pads have plenty left and the discs look good too but the calipers however were rooted. slides were seized aswell . Sacrificed 1 piston because it was seized in there (lucky i have one spare) the dust seals were trash and piston seals also trash , looks like it was sitting with water in them , had to give the bores a light sand just to remove the corrosion. Paint stripped the outside and gave it a coat of caliper paint
    20180429_182646.jpg 20180429_182650.jpg 20180429_182256.jpg
    waiting on seals now so I removed the top of the triple clamp because it looked horrible . Gave it a light wire brushing and surprisingly most of the anodising is still intact just dulled and a little corroded . So I hit it with the buffing wheel as well as the handle bar mounts and they came out nice, coat of clear to protect it and it's done , they're not perfect but that's the look i want . Not bad but also not new . just trying to preserve it but also paint the things that are badly rusty like the horn
    20180502_122509.jpg 20180502_185527.jpg 20180502_185515.jpg
    It's still gotta come back off again when I do the head bearing and fork seals so I'll repaint the rusty bottom later.
    And lastly I was sick of the choke not holding . The rubber piece inside the housing is always disintegrated so i made a new one out a piece of wood dowl, something durable enough to be used many times but also provide the necessary friction. 20180502_203635.jpg
     
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  14. TonyZXR

    TonyZXR Well-Known Member

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    Long time no update. So much progress i don't know where to start .
    ok so I'll start with the engine . Drained the coolant and overflow tank. Gave the overflow a good wash because it had alot of crud inside it . Unblocked the hose as well. Found out one of the coolant hoses is a bit past its use by date so i think i'll be getting liteteks hose kit when it's for sale . Took the extremely rust exhaust off and sand blasted it with the gerni and then painted it with high heat exhaust paint. Noticed the radiator bracket was very bent so I straightened it while i was there . I also decided to take the stainless steel cover off the muffler someone had put on . Turns out it was on there for a very good reason so back on it went haha, it was full of bad dents and scrapes so I ended up panelbeating the also dented covering and then gave it a good sand with 240 grit sand paper to give it the brushed look as polishing it would've taken forever. I then sanded and polished the ends of the muffler and the strap. I think it looks decent enough. 20180609_144704.jpg 20180609_144711.jpg 20180609_144721.jpg
    As you can see I've also painted the rear guard,indicators,number plate bracket,rear disk as well as cleaned the rear wheel and sprocket. Both sprockets looked near new so they're being reused . The chain was filthy and a few links had some surface rust but a good clean and soak in heavy weight oil and it's good to go,orings looked good and the chain wasn't stretched.Then I pulled all the footpegs and brackets off as well as the gearshifter and brake master cylinder. Removed all the corrosion and gave them a polish.The shifter was sloppy but a bit of filing and shimming removed most of the slop.Need to order a new rubber for it .Next I took the whole rear suspension out . Gave the swing-arm a fresh coat of paint because it looks like battery acid leaked on it at some point .Then lubricated all the bearings which were in great condition surprisingly.The rear shock also looked in good condition with no leaks.
    Onto the engine , put the airbox on with new gaskets, made an air filter for it. It runs very well from what i can see and hear without riding it yet. Starts first go and has a nice healthy bit of water coming out of the exhaust till it warms (fuel mixtures must be spot on).The oil burning has completely stopped after it running at normal temp 3 times (i suspect it may of had stuck rings from sitting so long ) throttle responds nice and crisp and it doesn't leak any fluids what so ever. Not bad for 56k kms . Still needs a timing chain, tensioner and valve adjustment though.
    I have also been painting things here and there that are in bad condition.Managed to get some nice high density foam so i remade the gauge damper and glued the rubber piece back onto it . The gauges don't flop around now ,and speaking of gauges I did a little modifications. Small t junction and a bit of fabrication and i now have a oil pressure gauge . (not a fan of the oil light ) Works great and the engine is showing nice oil pressure within spec.
    20180605_173009.jpg 20180605_172545.jpg 20180605_172656.jpg
     
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  15. TonyZXR

    TonyZXR Well-Known Member

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    Got the caliper seals in the mail the other day . Fitted the freshly painted calipers back together and bleed it with some new Dot 5.1 fluid . No leak and a nice firm feel. So with that I couldn't resist taking for its first ride down the street and mann what a bike:dance2:, completely different bike to my mates . Engine revs very cleanly up to 19k and doesn't blow any smoke. It has no flatspots at all surprisingly even though the centre carbs are leaking air and probably upsetting the balance. Front brakes work very nicely and don't shudder which is a nice surprise. clutch feels very good , doesn't slip and is easy to take off, gearbox shifts effortlessly.

    Still gotta do the forks when the kit comes, head stem bearings , front wheel bearing as it sounds noisy , paint the discs gold .

    Now comes the disappointing part.... it more than likely has a blown headgasket :(. Probably why it was parked in the first place.:idk: When running it has a constant air bubble stream into the overflow bottle which does not go away, upon opening the cap i noticed a verry small amount of oil ontop of the coolant , It also smells like burnt fuel. Pulled the oil cap off and sure enough its a bit milky so it's time for a headgasket. I still need to do valve clearances, timing chain, valve cover gasket and coolant hoses so it's not too bad . Contemplating if i should buy a new set of piston rings while i have it apart?
     
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  16. Linkin

    Linkin The Mechanic Premium Member Contributing Member Dirty Wheel Club

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    Rings in aliexpress are cheap. I'm doing a top end refresh as soon as all my bits arrive.

    I would get the head fixed ASAP. As for oil/water mixing, check o-rings under the barrels. I had one on an FZR that was broken and leaked coolant into the oil.
     
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  17. TonyZXR

    TonyZXR Well-Known Member

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    Yeah it dont plan on riding it till its fixed . still has a long way till rego . would the rings be the same ? I think i read somewhere that the a an c were different . they don`t mix when the engines off though?
     
  18. Linkin

    Linkin The Mechanic Premium Member Contributing Member Dirty Wheel Club

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    A models are 48x34.5mm and C models are 49x33.1mm off the top of my head
     
  19. Frankster

    Frankster Grey Pride...Adventure before Dementia Staff Member Premium Member Ride and Events Crew

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    The early Balius is also 49x33.1

    Be interesting to see if the barrels from a Balius fit onto a ZXR250A engine. ZXR250A pistons and rings are no longer available other than Chinesium units. You can still get Japanese pistons and rings (Std and O/S) for the ZXR250C, so a 49mm bore is a good start.
     
  20. TonyZXR

    TonyZXR Well-Known Member

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