Quite a bit of progress this weekend…. While this monkey carefully tagged all the wiring and removed the loom, the other monkey was busy pannel-beating the under-belly of our pre-loved 250Z tank into a shape that will fit onto the Honda frame. With the wiring loom removed, we were also able to lower the front shocks through the tripple-clamp about 5cm. Enough to fit those (disappointingly cheap and nasty) clip-ons that I’d bought for $50 on eBay. You get what you pay for – even on eBay, and there’s no escaping the fact that we’re going to have to shell out for some better quality bars some time down the track, but these’ll do for now and it certainly changes the bikes profile for the better.
6 replies on “A busy weekend…”
Hello,
Have you made any progress since?
I’m thinking of using the same model CB250 for a cafe-racer-ish custom.
Have you Worked out what your going to do about the seat yet?
Cheers,
Big Edd.
hi guys erm you have inspired me to do something extremely similar, maybe with my own twist at the end just got a cb250 with gold mags and looking to replicate your progress. i ma relatively new to bikes and this is my first project.
i was wondering what clip ons you used, like which bike they come from, i found one today and am looking for a match for it,. i m guessing the gas tank is from a gn 250 but unsure.
apart from this thanks for the inspiration and looking forward to seeing your next steps and the finished bike
gracias tbob
Hi Monkeys,
I am in the same boat as the above to posters, and live in the same area that this bike shop you refer to is. I may have even got my CB250 serviced by Jay. I was wondering how your project went?
Cheers
Hi there … and thanks for your interest!
The project stagnated for many months because we seemed to reach a “catch 22” stage. There were lots of things to finish – and several still to start, but there just seemed to be too many co-dependencies. We can’t do A until we’ve sorted out B … but C needs to be completed before B and we can’t start C till we’ve got a definite plan for A … and so on!
One big issue was seat placement (we want to experiment with different styles) and of course we couldn’t agree between us exactly where/how to mount it onto the frame! We’ve finally agreed to wield a flat steel plate (3mm) to the top of frame, completely covering the area between the two horizontal tubular members under the seat area. That way, whatever seat(s) we choose can be fixed to a separate smaller steel plate that can be simply bolted to the larger fixed plate. This strategy means we don’t have to worry too much about the exact placement of the seat and we can get on with painting the frame and re-assembling the running-gear.
I can tell you that we’ve already painted the engine and exhausts with hi temp paint in a beautiful low-sheen black enamel that’s supposed to be rated to 650C. They look fantastic, but only time will tell if the finish holds up to the environment. I shall finish painting the frame this weekend – I’m doing it in a subtle metallic charcoal/anthracite colour. I’m trying to keep the palate subdued so that the tank and seat can be the “hero elements” when it finally all comes together. Well, that’s the theory, anyway!
I do feel guilty that I’m woefully behind with the blog so I’ll try to find time to upload a couple of snaps to show progress in the coming days.
good stuff looking frward to some new and recent pics
i got some old cb handlebars for mine, some grey renthal grips looks okayish