Aj's zxr250a project

So here we go, I got a lot more done then I thought I would today! Both axles are firmly in and set correctly, now only to torque up all the bolts to the completely correct settings and move onto electricals and ancilliaries!










If you notice, the engine is actually black now, not grey! And yeah, I realised, satin is going to be a bitch to keep clean... even fingerprints have marked it!

Engine colour looks like it's been in a fire!

Or stored out of bike/naked for 5 years in the back corner of a shed full of all kinds of shit.

She looks good, great progress, although it looks like a lot of work for a two fiddy.

I'm following this with great interest, hope it comes up the way you want.

Nice work!

Looks like it Damon, but Mike is right, she was stored in a shed in a backyard somewhere in south sydney for 2 years, and the fairings were off. I'll post up a pic of the original ad on gumtree tonight when I get home.

Thanks Stu, she's taking up all my time now, I'm falling behind on uni work already...
She's a great way to procrastinate... Yesterday, I sorted out all the cabling and torquing up all the frame and suspension bolts to spec, tomorrow comes the wiring harness, then I should be able to start and run the bike sometime this week. Looking at the photo's there's a massive overkill of gold right now, but it's not going to stay like this, the gold is actually just to break up the black that's going to come on later... I agree, it is a lot of work for a 2 fiddy, but being 19 and not having any mechanical experience, I'd rather f$%k up on a 2 fiddy then a thou or a 6... not to mention I would have to ride this for the next 2 and a bit years left on my P's.

Quick update guys:

So far, I've got the chain and sprockets on and tightened up, all bolts torqued up to spec and I changed the spark plugs, filter and put the carburators back on and have run the cabling for clutch,throttle,decelerator and choke.I noticed that the sump is actually stripped ( ) I need to tap and die it and run an oversize bolt... Anyone have any recommendations for any mechanic in sydney that can come out to my place and do it for me? I don't want to risk stuffing this up, getting a sump will just be complicated. Sadly, I tried to fix this with thread seal tape, and it worked perfectly, but the next day I found drops of oil on the floor, and the bolt is loose again I went out and bought a new bolt, but I need to spend time on this as I'll have to drain the oil AGAIN, and this is new oil so I don't want to put another batch of oil in because this batch is going to be run for 1000km's (it's Motul 3000) and then I'm changing to 5100 and will run that for 4000km intervals.

I'm all ready to run then wiring loom and get the airbox on, followed by getting the tank on and starting the bike, however this stripped sump has made me hit a wall and stop, so I will be proceeding slowly from here.

Any recommendations guys? This was unexpected and upsetting Whoever worked on this bike previously overtorqued the sump bolt to oblivion


Here's that ad by the way:

Decided I'm definitely not going to do it myself... will leave it to the professionals because one wrong move and the sump is finished, and getting another sump for this bike will just be irritating.. I'll just let it sit with a little bit of a leak, no fairings on anyway, and when I take it for a blue slip I'll leave it with the mechanic to balance the carbies, go over the bike and do the sump bolt then as well, at the moment this is what the bike looks like. I managed with help from the missus to get the wiring loom in and mostly connected up and mount the airbox. Managed to completely strip one bolt in the process, however, there's still another 7 holding it in and this made no difference so I've left it so far.

The leak over about 5-6 hours: (roughly 3-4 small drops)






Couple of nicer images I forgot to upload of the frame:

Hey guys, today I managed to get all the ancillaries connected up, I turned the bike on, HEADLIGHTS WORK! WOOOO! Know something has been done right, however, the bike doesn't turn over at all, I connected up the throttle case to try turn it on....

1. put key in ignition and turn it
2. success, lights come on and neutral indicator and oil light are on, things are going well
3. flip the kill switch to on
4. expecting it to turn over on the starter
5. press starter
6. nothing but silence
7. DAMN IT!

Anyone have any point of reference? What should I be checking, in order? [battery is fine, but the starter isn't even turning over, and I'm pretty sure everything is connected up...

AJ you will have to trace the fault...... sometimes stuff like this is simple, double check the kill switch, sidestand / clutch switches if its got them, Kill switch would be my first check as you have power for lights etc
I have had a bike that was left for dead by its previous owner.... turned out that the kill switch was faulty... I just checked by bypassing it at the connector

Thanks Rob, I will do that today, My thoughts is the clutch switch, I didn't realise I needed it, and it's not connected, so I'm going to have to connect it up, apparently you have to clutch in these bikes even if it's in neutral to start it. If I connect the clutch, hopefully it will at least turn over, then I can connect the tank and run it!

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! turns out the clutch lever does have a switch! I connected it up and she turned over easily!!!! YEAHHH!!!!!!! Will get a video today and upload!

Good result mate

Damn it, got it running well and everything, came out this morning and there are two new oil leaks, one from just above the stator cover and one from just above two of the extractors... wtf! Managed to fix the extractor one mostly (my shoddy job of putting the rocker cover back on, I left one bolt loose, but now instead of seeping over the gasket, it's coming out of a hole just above the extractor, possibly because the gasket that surrounds the spark plug hole is off???), but the one from the stator cover is brand new and I have no idea where it's coming from! ( I spent 5 mins on it making sure the bolts around it were tight, but still nothing, it just keeps leaking from behind, I think it's the head gasket)

the worst thing is, the only part I haven't worked on for this bike, is giving me problems... all I did to the engine was paint it and replace oil filter/sparks and oil, the mechanic did the valve clearances, think they didn't put the head on correctly? I think this is ridiculous, 3 leaks from this engine, and I haven't done anything, and this new leak above the stator cover is just seeping oil constantly and I have no idea why

First time she started:

Well guys, all things aside, I think the bike is turning out pretty good, I'm just getting upset over small things, that mechanic just let me down, and this is just making me distrust them even more. Here's some media, what do you reckon, do you like it?
















The fruits of my labour are starting to bloom, I'm pretty happy with the progress now