Does it count if I am thinking about working on it?

Right now my Garage doesn't look nearly this clean.  We took on a house remodel last January and I still have about 25% remaining to finish then I can resume the bike project.  Granted I wont have any money left to buy much needed parts for the project.

All the parts are still shelved and ready to be worked over. recently have been looking for parts here and there. I am not finding anything that I need but I know that part takes time.

CR250 SubFrame

Just when I thought I was all done with the Yellow paint on this frame I turned around and found more.


So out comes the torch and 30 minutes later or so I had a nice clean Subframe to work with.

I decided to go ahead and paint it as well since the shop is nice and warm tonight, so on went the self etching primer. I set the subframe on the wood stove for a while to get a quick cure on it.

I happened to have some left over Flash Red from the 125 project so I went ahead with the finish on the Subframe, It turned out great! Now I need to get another batch of Flash Red. That stuff is not cheap at $25 a can plus shipping.

CR250 Paint removal

The last three bikes I stripped down and restored for me the worst part is taking the old paint off.  I have tried just sanding, that is extremely time consuming and not very thorough, I have tried wire wheel on my drill, it works good but can scratch the frame pretty deeply if you're not careful as well as sending paint chips all over the workshop. I have tried some different types of solvent and paint removers which can work but are also spendy as well as messy and smelly.  This time I have found the way I will probably do any other bikes I restore.

FLAMES!!!

It was sort of an accident while fixing the mashed bottom rails. I wire brushed the paint off after heating the tubes and it came off clean and easy, so when I was done with the patch work I just used the torch to heat the rest of the frame and wire brush the paint right off.  I know sounds toxic but its ventilated with ceiling fans and open doors. If I am missing more brain cells than when I started I haven't noticed yet.

 It really came of pretty fast, maybe over an hour of work and it is down to bare metal as well as into the hard to get at corners.

I went for it after that and painted it with a self etching Primer. I think the drab green is better than the yellow.

CR250 Frame Work

The camera I was using doesn't
 focus close up very well.

Today is another rainy day in the NorthWest, we get a lot of those. So I decided to work on the frame for a while.

My plan:

 was to drill a couple of holes in the top of the frame then heat the dents and push them out with a blunt punch.  It was a good plan.
Step one Drill holes.....
Step two add Heat....

another blurry photo.

Step three hit punch with hammer. ( I really could have used a third hand at this point).

Sealed up the hole on top that
I drilled.

It worked pretty well. The tube came out a little bumpy but the dent was not as deep as when I started.  The problem I found with this is that now that the metal has been bent in and stretched back out it is much thinner than original.  I tried to weld a pass along one of the dents to give it some reinforcement and blew right through. It was paper thin.  This plan is not a good one.

NEXT PLAN.

It just happens that I had some 16g metal in a 1 inch wide strip. Perfect for reinforcing a mashed tube. I tacked it in place, heated and bent it to the shape of the frame and welded it in. 

This turned out pretty good. Should have just done it this way to start. Its all good though, a little patch work and its ready for the paint to come off.

CR250 Strip down

 As  I continue with the strip down of the CR250 there are lots of things that will need replaced, repaired, cleaned, greased and painted. The exhaust pipe is marginal. On the one hand it is an original 1987 Pro Circuit works pipe. On the other hand it is not in the greatest condition, no huge dents but it is a little wrinkly. Time will tell on this one weather it makes the cut to the final bike or not.

 The shock is again not great but not in really bad condition. I will have to rebuild it even though it functions the way it is, there is no telling how long the fluid has been in that thing. Three other items just on visual inspection. Bottom stop bumper is done, missing the adjustment knob and top bearing is a little loose.

 Here is the frame empty.  Bottom of the frame has seen better days.  I am contemplating the possibilities for fixing the mashed rails on the bottom.  There will be  a write up on it for sure.  It will be one of the first things I do cause really you can't put it back together until the frame is done.
The good is that there was not a single stripped bolt or bolt changed to SAE on the bike.  I know it hardly seems like a project bike if you don't run across some messed up bolts.

 There you have day one, all the parts stripped and put on the shelves and work tables ready to be taken apart even farther.  Cleaned and massaged back into as close to new serviceable condition as possible.

Leave comments, I do like to share what I can about project bikes and restorations.
Thanks for reading.

ITS GO TIME!!!

I have put this project on the shelf for far too long.  I had an accident last summer (July 2013) that put me in a mood that I didn't want to work on my bikes for quite some time.  Well Im feeling more like working on something now and since this 250 has just been sitting and waiting it seems its time to get after it. Now I have spent all my bike money that I had saved up so I will have to work on funding the project again but that to me is part of the fun of the project so I will be looking for spare bikes and parts and donor bikes in the coming months.

Today I took most of the afternoon to strip it all down and take a few photos along the way.

 Ill point out some of my findings. Like in this first photo, the rivets holding the seat cover on.  Too bad really it was a pretty nice seat cover, just a little too short..  Thats ok though it will find an original to replace it with.

Then there is the RED paint over the top of the Flash Red Tank and shrouds.  This is going to be tough to remove.  If anyone knows any good way to remove paint like this please share. Either use the comments or send me an email. robmx29@gmail.com 

 Next up is the partially clogged radiators. They do flow water, enough to ride the bike some but I would be worried about doing motos with it.  I took the water pump off before I rode the bike last year and it is in decent shape however the water inlet on the pump is pretty corroded.

 One of my favorite things that the previous owners did to this bike was to change the frame color. Yellow is NOT a good Honda color.  I guess they were looking for something different. FOUND IT. ick, that will be going back to Flash Red.

It is coming soon ish. Probably start the process this winter 2013, I may get ambitious and start the tear down early. I have bike in the shop and have actually done a little pre work to it but have not even taken any photos of it yet. I will get to it. feel free to contact me and nudge me along but I have six bikes in the shop that mostly need work in some fashion or another all the time. Especially since it is race season once again. Until that time that I start posting in this space enjoy some of my other projects that I have done with the links to the right. Thanks for stopping by.

I just found some Photos of the CR250 from the day I brought it home. Have a look.

There is a lot wrong with this bike but there is also a lot good about it. The seat cover is riveted at the back of it cause it didn't reach well enough to stretch over the pan.

 The plastic is the wrong color for the year, it should be Flash Red, (kind of orange red) so the side panels and fenders were ordered a different color aftermarket stock so what does a person do about the tank and shrouds not matching? Paint them of coarse....with really thick paint!! That will be and interesting process to take care of. I hope that I can fix that mess cause the parts are actually in pretty nice shape.  OH! yea the frame might be the wrong color also in case you didn't notice that. haha.

The rear wheel is not the correct unit that is mounted on the bike right now, it has a disc hub with only four bolts in it and the stock 87 unit had six. Also has the wrong rims front and rear. I did get the original rims with the purchase of the bike and both units had been welded from cracks. The welds were surprisingly good and the rear one was usable for a spare runner. The front one even though the weld was good was so warped I think you would have gotten head shake riding in a straight line. What ever though, I have two good original hubs to build some nice wheels with.

I does have a Pro Circuit pipe that is in pretty decent shape for the age, it has a little bend to it so the alignment to the cylinder is off a touch and the opening that connects to the exhaust port on the cylinder was messed up. That is one of the things I already tinkered with, I welded a new sheet metal band around it and made a new metal gasket to fix the fit and seal of the unit. Worked really good, didn't take any before photos  of it but I will take some of the after at some point.

 Well that is what I have for now, a lot of worn out parts to go through but the motor runs really well and it is a great base for a project build. Stay Tuned.