Hi all, new member here and new to the Motor bike scene. I have alway wanted to have a bike to play around with and of course ride so I bit the bullet and did it. Was always looking at something late 70s early 80s for simplicity and I think they have a cool look. So here I am with not one but two early 80s Suzuki GSX 250 sitting in the shed. 1st bike '81 more complete but with a seized motor. The 2nd bike '84, motor out of bike, bits and pieces hanging off of it all over the place but with the all important local (sa) walk in rego! Now the fun begins!!!!!! First of all I wanted to get the motor running so I knew if it was worth spending more money on so I bolted the beast in got a battery plugged in the loom and nothing. Long story short ditched the loom rewired the basics and got her fired up. Now trying to work out where to next. Got a tank seal kit in the mail so I can sort out the tank and so I can ditch the very dodgy fuel system I'm using now. Then brakes, clutch, all new wiring, exhaust, oil filter the list goes on and on Will try to keep this updated as the build progresses Her she is. Fairly rough but hopefully some potential I sure I will be hitting up the vast experience and expertise of all the members here so thanks in advance.
Yea that seat isn't the most comfy thing in the world. Just chucked it on to get a feel for what I'm going for and makes a great spot for tools!! Small amout of progress going on. Picked up the KBS sealer kit from the post office this arvo so will have a crack at this in the coming week. I have put in a 1 litre of vinegar in the tank and drained and then repeted the process. There was lots of surface rust in the tank and this is starting to clean it up. Will do this a couple more times to clean it out a bit more before I run the kit through it Also removed the fuel tap and gadge and made up some plates out of a bit of sheet metal I had laying around. Should do the trick. Has anyone used this seal kit before? Any tips?
Follow instructions to the letter. The manufacturer has spent heaps of time getting it right before putting it on sale, so don't try to out guess them.
So not much to update on. Was going to have a crack at the tank but thought I should remove the 2 x tabs for the fairings as I'm not going to be putting them back on. This left a couple of small holes on each side of the tank. I will have to get these welded up now. Got a few bits in the mail last week and picking up a few more from a local wreckers. Rear lights, indicators, switch blocks, speedo cable, tacho cable, throttle and cable, oil filter I'm sure there are a few other bits. Also about to start looking at gauges. Does anyone know the ratio for the tacho? Think I read on someone else's project thread that it was 4:1. Correct? As for speedos are these universal or are these a ratio as well?
Hey Mate, welcome to the GSX club. Yeah speedos are pretty standard at this age. The Tacho was 4:1 that I purchased. I can let you know if its accurate when I start the bike. For the tank I can recommend getting a good o-ring and cork seal for the petcock on the tank, mine leaked a lot because of age. I got mine from peter stevens spares for about $6 and $8 respectively Have you got a look in mind? It helps to draw it all up and follow the style. I reckon you'd stick with the 80's theme and go some serious fluro ;-) jks
Cool thanks for info on tacho and speedo. Now just need to pick the ones I want Was going to go with a speedo with the warning lights included but are thinking again after the issues that someone else had (sorry can't remember names) here. As for the look, 80s Fluro is a cracker of an idea. At this stage think I might just clean it up a bit. Steel wool on the ally bits, very light wet rub on the frame, de-tab, keep the tank as is. Nothing flash, nothing shiny. Only major thing I will do is the seat and tail. Might go for something like this (seat only)
So it's been a while. Been very slowly plugging away. Did not end up sealing the tank. Took off the tabs at the rear of the tank and got the 4x small holes welded up. Cleaned it out with vinegar, washed it out with water, heat guned it dry and came up a treat. Started the rewire and mostly done bar instruments and a few other bits and pieces. Made up a gear tray like most of the other GSX's on here. This has cleaned it all up nicely Still currently running from a very makeshift fuel tank as there is no flow from the tank. Can't seem to get any flow. Thinking it might be the vacuum line from the carbs as I can't feel anything on the line when the bike is running. Should I be able to feel anything? Any thoughts? Think I need to do a bit of research! So next on the list brakes, at both ends, oil and filter change, sort out the clutch and of course the fuel issue
Should flow if set to the 'prime' setting. May need a rebuild of swap for a standard tap (non vacuum type).
Mate of mine built a Burnout Bike from a GSX450 produced consistant tyre smoke for about 5min before he was forced to stop as some oil that was leaking on the headers caught fire....he was keen to keep going! Probably not what you're planning, but a bit of a testament to their ability and reliability.
So I managed to spend a few hours this weekend working on the bike First up changed the rear brake shoes and adjusted. All seem to be good. Also put in new clutch plates and refitted the cover. Clutch is working soooo much better now the old plates were very gunked up. It still needs some adjustment but is working like it should. Also threw in new oil filter and oil. I also swapped out the fuel tap with one off the spare bike I also have and it does sort of work on "prime" only but seems to rev higher and can adjust the revs by turning the tap off slightly to drop the RPM. Next was to put some exhaust repair tape on the exhaust. There was a fairly large hole so I cut up a Coke can as a bit of a patch, wired it on then wrapped and heated the tape. Very temporary but it will do for now. Then I couldn't resist. I had to have the thing move under its own steam. So threw the leg over, started her up, put it in first and stalled!!!! Started it up again gave it a few more revs and went for a cruze down the drive Went OK. Not quite right but im sure that coz I'm running pod filters so will have to look into that. Now to make a list of what I have to do next!!!
So after lots of thinking and research on this CV carb issue. I decided to refit the air box and see how it ran as it was designed. The result........... It ran awful. So ripped it out again and back to the Internet for some more searching. I ended up going back through a few old posts on here and seeing what others have done. There was one member on here that had put a "6sigma" kit into there GSX250 and through private msg he seemed happy with it. So after a few emails back and forth with 6sigma I was checking the mail box every day for two and a half weeks. So this "kit" is nothing special, all it is is 3x main jets. 1x pilot jet nylon shims, metal shims and information and instruction. So long story short I gave the carbys a really good clean changed the main from 117 to 127.5 and the pilot from 17.5 to 22.5. Put them back on and to my shock started up, ideled, and revved fine. I'm certain there is going to be more adjustments to make but I'm happy with the progress I have made. Will try to put up the Video I took at some stage.
Here's the video of the bike with the jets changed and pods. This is ideling with with the throttle screw all the way out having zero effect. I have since screwed it in a little and is now ideling a lot smoother.
Check your plugs how rich/lean is it running with those new idles? Also does it open up all the way to 8 or flat spot around 4k?