My name is aj, I know, not a very creative nickname, but hey, I'm in love with my bike, and bikes in general.
I'm 19 and studying my first year of mechanical engineering, got my first bike at 17 completely against my parent's wishes, my old man rode all his life but refused to let me, so one day he found me rolling my Hyosung GT250r off a trailer in front of the house. (Controversial I know!)
Needless to say, I was kinda sick of the pretty plastics on the hyo, especially since it really didn't have the go to match the show. So I trawled gumtree for about 6 months and saved up a bit of cash, and on the 20th of June an ad for a zxr250 in poor condition for $900 came up. 10 minutes after the ad was posted, I was on my way to seeing the bike. The next day, she was in my garage. I've named her Oak, and she's my lovely zxr250a in desperate need of attention. Now I'm interested in this forum because I'm very keen on giving myself a go at racing, and don't really know anyone well who does it, so I thought I'd make some new mates!
I'll show you what I've done so far.
Excerpt from the 19th of June, the day before I picked up the bike, and co-incidently 2 days before my physics exam, which I ended up failing (Who would've guessed! I devoted 100% of that day to searching for every part I could require lol)
Bike has 37,000kms. Mechanically it's good but a bit old and rusty, carbies could use a clean.
This is my first project bike and I'm going to try do most of the work myself, I'll keep you guys updated with a play by play on this project, so expect to see a lot of how-to's
I'll start next week by pulling the bike apart, any recommendations for a newbie on how to support the frame so I can get everything apart?
I'm armed with a service manual for a zxr250c, I have no experience with this sort of thing, and I really want to learn how to rebuild a bike. Worst comes to worst, I'll sell it on, I bought it for $750.
Hope you guys can give me some advice if you're experienced in this field!
TO DO LIST
1. Pull bike apart, full service --> try to get engine running (Engine turns over easily with a battery connected, however I have not tried it with fuel, tank is disconnected right now) [anyone have a trickle charger they would be willing to lend me while I try to get her running? I have a feeling I'm going to kill multiple batteries unless I get one...]
SUCCESS, BIKE STARTED FIRST GO AND IDLES VERY WELL! Have noticed that carbies do need a clean though, when I pull off parts of the bike I may do this. On a more serious note, gears above neutral don't like engaging, however I think this is due to really shitty oil stuck in there, so I'll give it another shot when I change the oil!
2. The project
1. drain oil/ remove filter and drain radiator and brake fluid
2. pull off headers and remove all exhaust brackets etc
3.remove rear subframe and all related components
4. remove engine
5. remove wheels and all related components
6. remove forks and swing arm + all electrical components off the frame
7. take frame, wheels and triple clamps to powder coater
8. service engine while off the frame, (no oil at this stage) clean out carbies thoroughly
9. do the minor plastic repairs required and paint rest of bike (tank, fairings, engine) <--- up to this stage as of 13/07/2011
10. thoroughly clean out brake system and other important bits
11. put bike back together / replace most wear and tear items on the way
3. Get it registered.
4. Butcher her, then build a street fighter.
Budget plan
$2500
- 750 (Principal)
- 29.08 (1xHeavy duty degreaser, 1x WD40, 1x StartYaBastard, 4x Regular degreaser)
- 5.80 (1x Kawasaki key blank - Ebay)
- 33.26 (1x Oil filter, 1x Oil filter wrench)
- 65.00 (1x Katana conventional motorcycle battery)
- 36.37 (4x NGK CR9E-IX Spark plugs)
- 8.80 (Kwikasfuki decals)
- 67.73 (560 piece stainless allen head bolt set for ZXR250)
-100.00 (Cast alum welding for the steering stop)
(700 quote for powder coating frame, rear subframe, swing arm, wheels and various little bits.) - not paid
(325 so far at the mechanics for some help with pulling bearings and doing valve clearances and cleaning out the carbies) - not paid
_________
+$1403.96
Here's some media:
First day:
Next day:
About a week and a bit later:
About a week after above:
New weld:
So right now, the engine is at the mechanic getting the carbies cleaned out, I didn't want to chance messing this up as parts for the carby are like hen's teeth. The frame, rear subframe, triple clamps, wheels, swing arm, kick stand and pegs etc etc are at the powder coaters, should be done next week sometime in a gold with silver sparkle. Yeah that's right, everything on that list except the foot pegs are getting done in gold with a silver sparkle.
This is roughly what I want the bike to turn out like:
so anyway, enough about me, I'm just a newbie.
Enjoy yourselves!
Aj
not sure what happened here 
