Suzy 2

[2 pot screamer]

Hi everyone, First time reader fisrt time builder. Just read through lunars project thread and just had to start one of my own. If my bike finishes up half as good as his I'll be pretty happy.
My project is a 82 gsx250e that I bought off ebay for $315 not going. Got it home and worked out what was wrong with it. Fuel tap was not letting through fuel so fixed that and it startted pretty much first go, ran it through all the gears pulled off the mufflers and give it a huge rev to piss off the nieghbour. after that went through all the electrics and stuff to see whwt worked and what didn't, rear brake light switch only thing not working. After that stripped it to the frame and got to cleaning it. After cleaning the hard part of what to keep and what to lose started, The original tank was no good style wise and the seat and duck tail where no good as well. The first thing I got was an early model gs450 tank but when I got it home the mounts where different so out came the grinder and off came the mounts a few calculations later and new front mounts where welded into the right position and a new rear mount made up and welded into position. Once the tank was right then cutting off the unwanted brackets etc was next.
More to come.
2 pot Screamer.

[Arwon]

another fun project to keep track of. how long have yopu spent so far on the project?

[Jamathi]

Yet another nice project, well done and thank you for posting it.
Please open photobucket account, and load up pics on there (you can make a separate section of your build), and load them from there, makes your tread easier to view. ***after loading, bottom bar under pic, left click, then 'righ tclick' copy. Back to your post here blue arrow in lhtop corner and rightclick "paste"*** picture will appear.
Your original tank etc was a Katana style model of the suzi, pretty indestructable 250cc donk.

[brethren22]

looks like a good starting point for a cool rig. what's your background? you look pretty comfortable with the welder

[2 pot screamer]

Thanks guys been working on it since about August. got most of the parts and most of the ideas worked out. (yeah right!!). motor mechanic by trade but gave it up a couple of years ago to work in civil construction, electrical. As far as posting out the photos on the thread you'll have to bear with me on that as I'm about as computor savvy as my granny, but I will work that out.
When I get a bit of time I'll post a heap of pictures and update my build story
Thanks, geoff.

[lunar_c]

Hey dude,
Cheers for the ego boost. I need it right now (wiring headaches).

I have a friend with a GSX250 he's part-restored (mike-s) in Sydney. He has a bit of experience with these, so he might be worth PM'ing. He says it's a fun little bike .. his other bike is an RF900.

Regards,
Ben

[mike-s]

*feels ears burning*
They are a good little bike indeed. The mods i have planned for mine are a little different to you guys in that i intend on extending the suspension and heading towards "motard" instead of shortening/minimising it all like for cafe racers. I have the rear shocks (from a quad) and just need to be a patient mofo and get a pair of front forks that are 7-10cm longer!!

As to things to watch out for, no real suggestions other than keep an eye on your maintenence schedule (the nimrod i bought mine off bought it as a project bike and gave up when he realised the compression was shot, thanks to what i discovered was zero clearance & a burnt out valve).

Also you should probably give your electrical circuits a good once over, the stock fusing is pretty woeful, and the headlight needs something with a lot more umph as the stock 30/35watter is crap in anyones language. I still haven't had luck in sourcing a direct-swap replacement that will work with H4 bulbs).

And Lunar-c is right, it is a hell fun little bike to throw around, and my aim of raising everything a few cm is to aid in the "throwability" and silliness that you can do on it!

[Weapon_X]

Also the owner of one of these plus probably 2 in parts let me know if you are chasing anything and also if you want any info from the manual as I can scan it and email as a PDF

[2 pot screamer]

Tried on the handle bars , bar clamps where too large for the forks so used piece that I cut off the headlight bracket tubes for a spacer, worked better than I expected, made 1 mistake though, I forgot about the dress cover that goes on the bottom tripple clamp and cut around 2mm too much off the headlight bracket tubes but there are nice little dress rings and seals that go under the brackets and seal the brackets to prevent water from getting between the forks and head light bracket just have to add another one between headlight bracket and bars. Still a good part # but none in Oz. Will work that problem out later.. Good thing about adjustable bars is that if there is not enough clearance to the tank then just move them around abit. With the clip ons mounted I cut the bar risers off the top tree.Major reshaping of the top tree will need to be done and then polished, wish I had of taken a picture of the tree before I started.
Next what type of seat? Manx Norton was always the original idea but with the tank I used I didn't think it would suit so have gone for Ducati type but will make it myself, The battery will be going under the bum stop so the extra height will be an advantage. While talking about the electrics I have tack welded a plate under the top rails of the frame and will mount regulator end stuff on that. Paint/wheel colour will always be the hardest thing to work out so far the bike has been green/gold, orange/white, black/black but have finally settled on metallic dark blue (subaru or holden) tank, seat and front guard with a white stripe or checkered stripe down tank and seat with holden gun metal grey wheels.
Anyway guys and girls wishing everyone who reads this a very merry and safe Xmas.
may your music be loud, your beer be cold, your bikes be fun and your god to go with you.
cheers geoff.

[Weapon_X]

Check out the project affogatto thread in here somewhere (posting fromphone) but I built something similar to you. But in yellow. There are also some good links to eBay stores for gear. I used the German one and it was great service.

[2 pot screamer]

Hi to anyone thats reading, hope your xmas and new year was safe and Santa was good to you.
Been reasonably busy over the break with the kids and stuff but I have managed to get a bit done on the bike, most of it polishing and painting the engine but I did manage to start the major mods on the frame. I made myself a seat mould out of wood and fibreglassed a base, first time I've ever tried to fibreglass so it didnt work out fantastic to say the least!. The mould wouldn't release around the hump no matter what I did so in the end I cut the hump from the seat part and seperated it in two pieces and the bastard of a thing still broke the mould!! I hate fibreglass. Anyway Its still salvageable so out come the body filler and away we went.
After I got the length of the seat worked out I started on the frame mods which comprise of changing the rear rails to suit the new seat, trimming off the ends of the rails and bending them to suit the seat profile, this was all wonderfull until I bought her out of the shed and stood back and looked at her from a distance and decided that the seat hump is too short. The seat finished level with the rear wheel axle and from a distance that is way too short. What I've decided to do is make a new seat part and make that 50mm longer, this will serve 2 perposes, it will look better and I wont have to run such a long rear mudguard. Speaking of which I got hold of a chrome rear guard that is unmarked,no idea of what its off but only cost $30 and will fit like a beaut. More updates and pictures to come
Cheers 4 now, Geoff.

[2 pot screamer]

Hi again. just a quick one this time and more photos, 1st pic is seat base it,s still attached to the seat thats going to be trashed in favour of a longer one. You can also see the rear guard which is being held on with vise grips.
2nd pic is the top tripple clamp after being polished I swear that took about 4 hours to reshape and polish.
3rd & 4th pics are rear wheel after a quick clean up and the brake backing plate and cush drive after polishing.
5th pic is the bar end mirrors that my sis gave to me for xmas, they come from a ebay shop from Honkers and are all metal chromed mirrors that cost $23.80. My carb filters come from the same place around $15 The shop is called dormousesleep and is very good they dont even charge frieght!

[2 pot screamer]

Hi everyone, it's been a fair while since my last post, excessive laziness on my behalf. Rest assured Iv'e not been slack on the bike, It's been a lot of painting, polishing and fabricating. Also a donor bike was given to me that is 90% complete with later model enkei wheels that will suit heaps better than the prostars. The second picture shows the Prostar rear and the Enkie front
The seat base didn't work, after extending it 50mm I noticed while sanding it smooth that it wasn't straight, the extended bit was crooked to the rest. was I pissed!!. After a bit of soul serching I borrowed a seat base off a Mike Hailwood and checked it's fit, it fitted pretty well so I bought a seat base off a 70's 900SS
The tank seat and front guard is now at the painters. I've reassembled the bike to running stage with only small amounts of wiring to fix up. The first and third pictures show the new dash which is the original speed and 4 LED warning lights and the ign switch in the original spot. The other picture is the donor.
The exhaust and appholstery are now my only real problems but they will work be worked out in due course.
Hope to keep updating sooner than the last time
Cheers Geoff.

[Tbird tracker]

Hi Geoff, looking good so far, I like the instrument cluster, it's very tidy looking.
Why didn't you get a AGM or a Gel battery instead of the lead acid one? It would have been easier to position as it can be laid on it's side etc: and it would have been smaller to. I am putting a small one in my old Triumph because of the electronic ignition, it is very compact as I don't have electric start so I can put it almost anyware.
I think you'r right about the later wheels to, a much cleaner look that the originals.
Looking forward to more updates and I'll be interested to see how the seat hump looks with that tank.

[2 pot screamer]

Hi Tbird, gld you like it. The battery was just a cost thing, $65 for a battery and originally I was gonna put it under the seat but when I reassmbled the bike I had no rear wheel travel, (around 25mm) so now the battery is tucked in behind the engine , this was a problem because I had cut off all the mounts foe the battery carrier. I had to make a new carrier and mounts.
Any thoughts on exhaust? single can or twin reverse cone megas like the new norton commander 961?
Cheers Geoff.

[2 pot screamer]

Got the body work back from the painter, no decals or clear coat yet but I couldn't help myself I had to put them on and take a pic. The exhaust is only a mock up.

[Geeza]

Very nice! well done! and you did a burn out too! sweeeet

[Tbird tracker]

Looking real nice Geoff, definatly go the reverse cones, it will set it off necely, the engine breather to the bottle is a nice touch, it sort of looks like a Nos bottle at first glance and it sits nicely on your battery carrier. Your alternate wheels are a better look than the originals to, great work man, are you mig/tig welding or arc, it looks a very neat gob in the battery carrier. Looking forward to the final product.

[lunar_c]

Looks mint dude!

[El Skitzo]

Yeah love it!