Hi Guys, It looks like I have acquired another 250. A Spada this time. I purchased it as a project. It is a high mileage unit that has been involved in a small accident. It is basically complete but has a few bent and broken bits that need attention, as well has rectification of some not so flash aftermarket accessories. It is Toscana green in colour (at least the tank is) with white wheels. Not the best looking colour scheme. I intend to totally strip the bike and give it a good refresh. Including an engine refresh. It has a periodic rattle that comes and goes. Possibly cam chain or tensioners. It doesn't blow any smoke and generally sounds healthy but a little tired. What is the generaly thought on colour schemes? I am currently thinking about maintaining the Toscana green but changing to black wheels and possibly a few black/charcoal highlights to the frame. I recall seeing a video of another bike with a similar colour scheme that looked quite good. I do also like black with gold wheels, but this will be a quite a bit more time painting. What are the most popular features that people look for in these little bikes? It currently has aftermarket clip ons that I intend to change back to original. I like the slightly higher stance of the bars for touring. Are rearsets easy to get? I have a broken one on the left. From images I have seen, it appears that many owners run the origanal muffler can. Mine is a bit grazed from accident damage. Are there any recommendations on good sounding aftermarket ones? I would like a bit more emphasis of that V twin sound. I do like the look of Gizziracers Spada, but I think I have enough red machines. Any thoughts/words of wisdom would be appreciated.
Mine has a similar rattle that comes and goes as well. Might be the high mileage. I haven’t even thought about pulling it down to investigate yet. If yours is the color scheme that Kiffsta put up it is interesting lol Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Mine has getting on to 78,000km on the clock. Appearance is not quite as pure as the one Kiffsta posted, but it should be a good base to start from. .
I like the slight variation to the colour scheme of the bike depicted in this video. I believe it tames the INTERESTING colour scheme of the original. I seriously dislike the seat modification though. It would have been better left untouched.
Yours looks to be in pretty good nick.. Yep... Black wheels and the blacked out section on the frame make that more of a standout colour than "interesting" Mine has 98K on the clock and the paint on the tank is now Pink and the gauges have faded... really needs a good spruce up... probably top end overhaul, engine paint, etc etc... as you would expect from a 30 year old bike. it will be interesting to see what you find on the noise front.
As soon as you start doing too much of the black the green looks wrong/out of place. With the white and alloy it 'hides' it a bit. I like white wheels myself (the glossy powdercoating makes them easy to clean) and the green looks ok with them. Your side panels and front guard need to be colour matched so really you can do what ever colour you want. JMO.
Yep. Intend to colour match the guard and rear tail to the tank. I have a set of black wheels, so I can play around with white and black options.
Andych, 98k is a fair old innings. At 78k, mine is still just being run in. Condition is a bit shaby, but not as bad as some. At least it is complete and running. I will be trying to limit how much I spend on sprucing the little machine up. High mileage ones don't seem to fetch a lot of money at present. On club plates, I will not be putting huge amounts of additional kms on it. So should hold its value. I will let you know what I find engine wise. Bearings and rings are cheap, so it will get a new set. I will check and clean up the cam chain tensioners, inspect/replace the cam chains as well as perform a valve clearance adjustment. I am hopeful this get rid of the noises. Ooh, and check the clutch basket bolts.
There's one in this colour that parks up the street from my office quite often... I love it! Couldn't be more of the period if you ask me, and the white wheels realy do stand out
Hi mw76, congratulations on your purchase. I think I have "Monza Red", black, "Big Bad orange", silver, "samoan blue" and possibly yellow VTs and VTRs in the Garage. I find removing the cam chain tensioners and cleaning them thoroughly often relieves the rattle, to the extent it may still be audible at startup but disappears to an acceptable level once the oil circulates after a minute or two.
Awesome, little bit jealous. Was looking for a teal one but I couldn't find any. Absolutely love how it pops with the subtle red graphics and white wheels.
Hmmm. Maybe I will just focus on bringing it back to as close to original condition and colour scheme as possible. Seems to be a bit of sentiment that the original colour scheme would maintain the period, authentic look. Also likely to be less work for me.
Has anyone had any experience refurbishing the switches on the handle bars? Mine are badly weathered. I was thinking about cleaning them up and painting them. The main issue would be trying to reproduce the white printed lettering on the left switch block. Does anyone know if these are available as spare parts? If so, I suspect that might be unreasonably expensive.
Most of them I have seen on there have been really badly weathered... There is currently this one which looks to be really nice but no RH side ones I would even consider buying. https://zenmarket.jp/auction.aspx?itemCode=h434718991 Be careful which Buying house you use... some have higher fees than others.. I have found Zenmarket yo be the cheapest of the bunch but each to their own.
Hi Andy, Thanks for that, but the link you have referenced doesn't look like the right part. It is missing the choke mechanism. I think I will look a bit more at trying to refurb what I have. Cheers Peter.
Inox is a good 'restorer' .... with switchgear I pull them apart and put them in a tray and soak them inside and out and leave them for a week ... Inox is good for electricals and cleaning also , so good all round ... rubbing it into the plastic with your fingers helps also ..... the white printing Ive never attempted to redo My ZXR recently ....