Help 1998 Kawasaki Balius ZR250 (A) Cosmetic restoration

Hi all,

Having never owned or really worked on a motorcycle much at all I decided to buy a cheap 4cyl 250cc as a project to learn more and hopefully have a running, registered bike at the end of it all.

So I bought a solid runner, unregistered, not entirely unroadworthy. http://2fiftycc.com/index.php?showcase/kawasaki-zr250.111 And immediately got to work ripping it apart. The tank needed some love and was the first thing to be worked on, came out pretty good imo. Then I made the somewhat drastic decision of ripping it down to the bare frame and repainting it. I'm at a bit of a loss as to scrubbing it down and painting it myself as I did the tank (which worked out ok) or finding a shop in my local area (Melbourne) that do this sort of thing on the daily and getting them to coat, dip, paint, etc. Any suggestions from people who might have done it or what I should expect to pay to get the bare frame restored to a black of some finish?

Other things on my short list are:

• shine up the exhaust from header to muffler (half done)
• clean up/sand back a lot of the silver/grey/chrome parts (pegs,cluster,handlebar mounts)
• clean up the radiator/repaint/restore
• paint the rocker cover red
• paint the brake calipers red
  
• repaint the engine cover and fins black
• paint the front forks (lower part attached to the front wheel) black
• reupholster the seat
• possibly paint or coat the wheels
• get new Tyres
• put it ALL back together and have most of it function again
• Get a mechanic to check over the bike and RWC

Any and all pitfalls/suggestions would be most welcome. I'm hoping to have it back on the road within 3 months (time permitting, I do have a full time job and no life haha).

Thanks
James

P.S. I simply bought this bike because of the way it sounds, incredible even with stock exhaust. I'm not a very experienced rider so I want to be loud and slow.

 

Link to HQ build photos
https://plus.google.com/photos/1060...ms/6102584857819238305?authkey=CJaH3_KF4sbBYQ
^currently mostly the fuel tank restore. Which reminds me I still have something rattling around in the tank does anyone know how I might get it out? sounds like loose change possibly.

 

I've tried the first one. I'll see if I can get a magnet suitable for the job. I know the float for fuel level is in there, but it sounds like something else as well that can't fit through the fuel release. Thanks

 

photos have been updated inc the new look tank, which I'm pretty proud of for a first attempt. I'll be painting some of the fairings the same colour and other fairings black.

 

RE: The frame.

What do people think is a good option?

 

$150 seems cheap for drop off and pick up job, I'd likely go down that road (especially for the sandblasting) if I got a quote in that region. Any chance you still remember the name of the place that did it?

 

Sorry Phil, I just realized you said Sunshine COAST not Sunshine (which is a suburb of Melb). I'll keep searching. Any benefits going for powdercoat over paint?

 

I've only gotten one powdercoating quote so far, $250. Not sure I want to pay that much for a first time doing this. I will ask around about sand blasting because I'm definitely not sanding the frame down myself. Thanks

 

The bike is almost entirely apart ready to send off to sandblasting/powder coating on Friday. I found a guy in Melbourne that specializes in powdercoating motorbike parts. 'Arvex Powder Coating Services' in Huntingdale. Not sure entirely what it's going to cost at the moment but I'm going to try and get the rims done at the same time. ~$200-$250 with the rims was guesstimate.

While I have everything out and the engine separated. Is there anything I should be doing to the engine/carbs, parts in general? I had planned to clean the carb and take a look at the spark plugs at least. Apart from that I'm not too sure. I might take some close up shots of the sprockets to see what you guys think as I have little clue what is new and what is very used.

I did end up taking apart the water pump while trying to get the motor out and noticed that the gasket is pretty shot. I can't seem to find a replacement and thought I'd just see how it went once running again, then put a very small amount of sealant in there if it became an issue (the bike wasn't leaking anything when I got it).

 

I've only got access to the service manual for the ZXR250 (similar engine). I'll run by those and post the results.

I've added some more pictures to the Google Photos album.

 

Thanks for the tips, the chain got replaced just before I purchased the bike and hasn't done many kms. I hadn't planned on replacing the wheels bearings. Is this something I should look into? Maybe take them out and post some more pictures?