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Tyson's Turbo Busa build up is a tough act to follow!
So 'im not going to even try! Ha.
I've been meaning for AGES to post up a few pics of the old Honda Jake and I restored as a project.
The Busa Job has inspired me to get posting with it!
Some people might remember when, a couple of years ago now, i found a busted up, rusted out trainwreck of a bike in my neighbours back yard. It sat there for years in the rain, it had a nest of white ants living in its cooling fins and the whole thing was covered in rust. Weeds growing in it, chickens living on it sorta thing, basically it was fucked.
After having a good look at it one day i noticed that the dial on this bike only read something like 30000km, for a 26 year old bike i thought it too be a bit wierd. The bike had been crashed and all the tank was stoved in and one side all scratched up so after a bit of reflecting on it i took a punt that it had been dropped at 30K and sat there ever since!
Amazingly the bike was STILL rego'd, the owner had been paying it up in the deluded hope that he may one day restore it. He didnt even have a shed.
Anyway. so after paying the last rego fee on it i took it off his hands just for a laugh and something to do.
The first thing i did was blast it clean with a HP hose, got out the white ants! Then i took the cam cover off and nearly fell over, the inside of the engine was shiny as the day it was built in Japan in 1982.
So, after 2 and half years of tinkering on it and months of doing fuck all she rolled out of my shed as good as new.
I did get some before shots but ive lost em and they were on film anyway.
Heres a few random sort of shots of Charlie, The 1982 Honda CM250 Custom, 26years old, 35K Km recently resurrected and back on the road.
You cant keep a good Honda down. (except its brakes..)
This guy was my original inspiration for undertaking this marathon restoration:
This is not the bike i rebuilt, its one I spotted at Uni one day that looked the same, blue and slightly fucked up.
Luckily i had a boat job on which required a TRUCK LOAD of re-chroming to be done, what's another box or 2 of motorbike parts hey?
Everything, re-chromed and repainted. I pulled the dents out of the tank and resprayed it metallic black. Plastic Wielded the two side fairings where they were all spit and some more paint. The stickers were the original design but i fucked up the tank one just slightly...cant really telll..too much. It looks ok. (never clear coat until you have a 3rd opinion)
Powdercoated the frame black and sprayed the tired old engine alloy black as well.
Polished up the engine, cam and clutch covers.
There is not a lot of plastic parts on this old bike, steel mud guards, chain protectors, indicators and everything else! She's pretty heavy for a 250, i reckon my 900 prolly weighs about the same. The chrome looks pretty good tho, however, Its a bitch to keep clean!
SO after:
* New Chrome, paint and stickers.
* Top end rebuild just for the hell of it. The gaskets were a pain in the arse because it had CB250 motor in a CM250 frame and they were not paper gaskets but old steel type ones. Anyway, 3 gaskets and 3 topend lifts later!
* powder coated frame
* resprayed rims
* Painted Engine
* two new gauges, the old ones were FUBAR.
* New set of pipes, the old ones rusted away.
* A shit load of new fasteners
* New bits n pieces, like grips.
* And hours and hours of polishing and general fucking around
Say hello to Charlie, a cool little 250 to play on. She runs perfectly, rides quite nicely for a 26yo bike and brakes like the discs are greased. Its the perfect beginners bike, heavy and slow to stop. But i like it, its got character. (See the Brochure Pics, nobody could ever be that cool)
Apologies for the shitty pics, i know ive got some better ones somewhere....
Pics from the original brochure.
For anyone who is interested, this bike is somewhat of a factory hybrid.
It is Badged a 1982 CM250 Custom, she should have been belt drive according to the manuals. The 1983 ones were.
This bike is chain driven, has the alloy rims as seen on the CM450's and above, front disc brake it also has a CB250 engine. I guess that's the "Custom" bit. I suppose also that Honda Japan were moving from the CM250's and splitting them into the Rebel 250's and the CB class. This bike sits squarely in the middle of that evolution, its very much half a rebel and half a CB. They must of being saying,
"chuck this engine in that frame with those rims over there and sell it to the Aussies. We'll call it a Custom."
I'd even go as far to say that the frame in this bike was from the 450's. Its very different from the pics of the 250's. Anyway, for the Honda spotters amongst us, there it is.
She sounds good too, for a 250!
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Originally Posted by RICO 
trust me 
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