Project "get it licensed" gpx 250

[Brendonv]

Alrighty so i picked up a 1990 gpx250 unlicensed on the weekend. It runs, has no mirrors, some fairings need plastic welding (hopefully getting them done next week, tabs have broken off on belly and the bottom fairing is cracked) and just a few little things. When i got the bike it had a chain ticking/slapping sound on deacceleration. The guy i bought it off said its probably the cam chain so i tensioned that up and its good as gold!

I then stripped the bike down and checked everything. I emptied the cooling system and in the process of re filling it. I just got some coolant and some brake fluid so ill do that now. The back brake reservoir is a little low for my liking so im going to bleed new fluid through. I also have to top up the oil a bit.

Ok so as i was going over the bike i came across some wires (gahh i hate wiring!!) which werent connected to anything. My right indicators arent working (yes i checked the globes and fuses) so i think that these wires are my problem (i hope).

I made a video showing my problem, hopefully someone can help me out.



Cheers.

[Azuras]

as i posted on youtube the lights were goin before sale so its managed to stop somewhere in transit, check the plugs and bulbs (some bikes dont indicate when a bulb is blown others indicate fast

good to see you are actually working on it as opposed to me losing motivation as soon as i got a jetski, which i in turn lost motivation when i got other toys, visious cycle...

and the lose wires are (joined ones: kick stand kill switch. fine to leave as is or if your anal and doing a full resore you will need a switch for that as i dont remember the gpx having one) (loose one: i remeber it vaugely being unimportant, possibly related to the kick stand also.)
your gonna need to get yourself a service manual as that has everything you ever need to know about this bike. (another reason i stopped working on this bike)

keep going with it, and i am so envious of you and your shed....
and i knew that was a cam chain rattle.... should of gotten motivated fixed it and asked for more lmao. enjoy it mate

[Brendonv]

Cheers, yer i found out the wires are for the neutral light. When the two join together the neutral light comes on. However it doesnt turn off when out of neutral. Ill have a look in the manual since i wanna get it working.

[darkfibre]

Good to see someone taking on a project as their first bike
You will get to know your bike better after doing some work on it up front. The only advice I can give right now
is to only repair whats needed, don't do a full strip down or you will get frustrated not being able to ride it.

Your open post shows the sort of attitude that will get results, see you on a ride sometime!

[Brendonv]

One of my mufflers has a few holes in it. I want to try MIG welding them and then grinding them back before i go out and by new ones. Its pretty dam thin stuff so it might need the TIG but ill give it a shot tomorrow. Now i dont want to weld them while there on the bike so i want to take the tips off. It has a sort of hose clamp around it holding the tips on however i cant seem to get it off. Its not the "slip on pipe" i thought it was. 20 years of rust does that i guess. Do they come off? Dont want to go crazy with the hammer just yet. If worst comes to worst ill take the whole lot off but that means getting new exhaust gaskets am i right? It all equals money.

Alrighty so so far i have done:
New radiator coolant
Bled old brake fluid out and put new stuff in
The oil is already done from the previous owner
Has a new filter

It needs:
Plastic welding to fairings
Muffler needs welding
Indicator needs fixing
Needs mirrors
Some new bolts/nuts (only 2, the belly fairing mounting screws. Luckily i have a spare roller i scabbed some bolts off. A wire brushing and there good as new!)
New tires
Chain lubed
A bit of painting here and there (speaking of paint, what colour is on these? Is it some special 'kawasaki black" crap?)
And then just a general clean and shes ready

So all up its only going to cost me around 400 to get to licensing stage. Not bad. Its cheaper when your handy with welding and tools.

After licensing and rego it will owe me about 1200-1500.

Not a bad lil project.

[upg]

good work mate

if you need to check wiring and stuff i could take some photos of the particular area on my bike (totally stock 91 gpx)

cheers

[Brendonv]

I got a spare roller i can look at. Wiring and me just dont go. Luckily my dads a sparky so ill get him to look over it when he has a spare 5 seconds (hard to find).
Cheers anyway.

[Mikoi]

Hey mate, I have a PDF GPX250 Manual laying around here (31mb's Zipped), I just finished my own Project bike what was a old "88 GPX250 and used the manual for a lot of things.

[Brendonv]

Yer i got a gpx250 manual in pdf, it just sucks trying to hunt through it all.

[Mikoi]

yeah, I thought the same thing. Was a pain in the arse really.

[Brendonv]

The ignition is a bit dicky on the bike. When i put the key in it doesnt lock or return back so i can turn the bike on, take the key out and it will still be in the on position. Any ideas? I dont particularly want to replace it, any fixes i can do to it?

[Mikoi]

The ignition is a bit dicky on the bike. When i put the key in it doesnt lock or return back so i can turn the bike on, take the key out and it will still be in the on position. Any ideas? I dont particularly want to replace it, any fixes i can do to it?

The GPX I did up also had the same issue, I could turn the bike on, take the key out, and everything was still fine. Told the guy that got mine off me about it, so hope he doesn't leave the key in and got for a ride and once at the point he stops, figures out his key is missing out of the ignition (Could turn it off with a screwdriver, another key just slightly in, anything really that would fit into the hole)

I also asked at the Kawa shop around here about it, and they told me to just replace the ignintion itself, don't know if it was a money grab or might just be something wrong with them in general

[Brendonv]

Yer its not real good for security. I was thinking that the spring in the barrel (if there is one, im just guessing) has lost its spring. I was also thinking that this spring would hold tension on the pins which thus holds the key in. I dunno just taking a guess here. Hopefully someone has a resolution to this problem that doesnt require buying a new ignition.

[Mikoi]

Yer its not real good for security. I was thinking that the spring in the barrel (if there is one, im just guessing) has lost its spring. I was also thinking that this spring would hold tension on the pins which thus holds the key in. I dunno just taking a guess here. Hopefully someone has a resolution to this problem that doesnt require buying a new ignition.

May I ask, does it sometimes jam? like when you try and turn the bike from the Off Postion to the On, does it sometimes just refuse to turn? cause the one I was playing around with did that a lot, and just wondered if it was just that ignintion or one fault in general. (At first I thought it might of been a electric issue as some things don't let you turn the key unless you have power or something along them lines)

[Brendonv]

Well to get it from ON to OFF you have to push it in and turn. The weird thing is it doesnt stop at OFF and doesnt really click in with much punch to lock into ON, you can turn the key like 1/4 turn past OFF. The return spring has def gone in this thing. Might have to bite the bullet and buy a new one. Ill just hang the other key off the ring so i can still get the seat off haha. Anyone no prices on a new ignition? The one on there now is only on with one bolt anyway since the other half is snapped off so i guess it wouldnt hurt to buy a new one. At least then i know no one can nick my pride and joy.

[upg]

it is meant to turn anticlockwise past off
that is how you engage the wheel lock

[Mikoi]

Well to get it from ON to OFF you have to push it in and turn. The weird thing is it doesnt stop at OFF and doesnt really click in with much punch to lock into ON, you can turn the key like 1/4 turn past OFF. The return spring has def gone in this thing. Might have to bite the bullet and buy a new one. Ill just hang the other key off the ring so i can still get the seat off haha. Anyone no prices on a new ignition? The one on there now is only on with one bolt anyway since the other half is snapped off so i guess it wouldnt hurt to buy a new one. At least then i know no one can nick my pride and joy.

Yeah, might be the best option to get a new one, down side is, I remember that I coudln't get one for my GPX250 around her cause of the year model (88"), the guys at Kawa told me to go to a 2nd hand place, and try my luck. I'm heading to my Mechanic tomorrow so I'll ask him about if there is any way to repair it, and find out the cost for a new one while i'm there.

[Brendonv]

it is meant to turn anticlockwise past off
that is how you engage the wheel lock

ahhh thanks.

[D.J]

do you have the base GPZ manual?

[Brendonv]

do you have the base GPZ manual?

Nope, i have the kawasaki gpx250/ ex250 service manual.