Cr 250 1985 complete resto

Mateaton
Posts
270
Joined
2/8/2013
Location
GB
10/3/2013 11:55am Edited Date/Time 4/10/2015 8:30pm
After reading some amazing threads on here by some stupid talented guys I thought I'd start my own post on here and share my build in the hope of getting more tips along the way. Having started a few 'help' posts on here previously I thought I'd pass on what I have learned from members on here.

It all started on valentines day earlier this year when I turned to my wife and said I'd like a project!!! Being impulsive I jumped straight in and bought this pile of s**t off eBay.





The eagle eye ones amongst you may spot the wrong year swingarm and a few other wrong parts but I just wanted something to start me off and this was it.

Like a child at Christmas I started stripping everything down and filing it away




|
Mateaton
Posts
270
Joined
2/8/2013
Location
GB
10/3/2013 12:00pm




Rims were knackered but hubs were cut out and saved for later rebuild.

Having a good friend at JCB I sent the frame off to him to weld up a few bits on the frame and do his best with the frame rails



Mateaton
Posts
270
Joined
2/8/2013
Location
GB
10/3/2013 12:01pm


Frame was then mocked up to check everything roughly fitted together
Mateaton
Posts
270
Joined
2/8/2013
Location
GB
10/3/2013 12:03pm
Everything was then broken down and sent out to be powdercoated

Mateaton
Posts
270
Joined
2/8/2013
Location
GB
10/3/2013 12:08pm
Not wanting to expose the frame just yet I set about work on something that I could do without spending too much money, restoring the airbox which looking at initially looked a tall order. After following some great advise from you guys I followed this and it came out very impressive.

How it looked to start with:






Stripped down:

The Shop

Mateaton
Posts
270
Joined
2/8/2013
Location
GB
10/3/2013 12:12pm
Next up it got thrown in the dishwasher.....hope the wife doesn't read this!!!!!!



Next my wife got involved and did me proud. First she sanded any rough patches and deep scratches out with her nail sanding drill finishing off with various grades of nail sanding blocks. She then warmed up some black Rit dye in a pan on the stove and painted it on



Mateaton
Posts
270
Joined
2/8/2013
Location
GB
10/3/2013 12:19pm
Once this was left to soak in and dry any excess was wiped off and shined up then Vaseline was rubbed in to totally finish it off



While she had her sanding kit out she set about tidying the seat pan

Before




After




Once the new seat cover is fitted all those old holes will be covered up, just need to find some cash to replace the too far gone original foam but that's not a priority right now
Mateaton
Posts
270
Joined
2/8/2013
Location
GB
10/3/2013 12:28pm
Back to the airbox all rubbers were refitted with new rivets and I managed to source a NOS outer ring which finishes it off nicely. Inner ring was cleaned up nicely and a new splash guard fitted from I believe an 89 cr sourced from MD racing over here

Frame was then opened up and airbox fitted all with NOS bolts















Mateaton
Posts
270
Joined
2/8/2013
Location
GB
10/3/2013 12:32pm
New swingarm was sourced and sent away to the local metal polishers to polish out all the years of gauges and scars along with the triple trees and linkage knuckle etc



Mateaton
Posts
270
Joined
2/8/2013
Location
GB
10/3/2013 12:37pm
In the meantime realising the shock body wasn't going to give me the look I wanted as it was quite rough I was luckily enough to source one from Keith (jtracing member) he bought my a nice example over from Spain and then very kindly mailed it to me. I would like to thank him for his help along the way as well as many others. If I can get mine looking half as good as his DB replica then ill be very happy.


Cheekily I also found a NOS sub tank on eBay and put it in the wife's watched items. A week later it arrived and is awaiting mating to my new shock body.



As soon as I find a powdercoaters locally with the correct RAL to do my spring ill have everything bolted together and fitted.
Mateaton
Posts
270
Joined
2/8/2013
Location
GB
10/3/2013 12:42pm
Next up new head bearings were fitted and newly polished triple trees were refitted along with all NOS hardware







Mateaton
Posts
270
Joined
2/8/2013
Location
GB
10/3/2013 12:46pm
Next on my hit list were a pair of NOS footpegs including springs and pins that I spotted on eBay. The old trick of adding them to my wife's watched items worked yet again and I am the proud owner of NOS pegs for the amazing price of £31.....!!!!!!! Bargain!!!





Mateaton
Posts
270
Joined
2/8/2013
Location
GB
10/3/2013 12:48pm
Even though I still need swingarm and linkage bearing kit I couldn't resist a mock up to see what I can expect. Coming together nicely



Mateaton
Posts
270
Joined
2/8/2013
Location
GB
10/3/2013 12:59pm


Now unfortunately this is where I'm at with things, with new businesses and 4 kids I can't justify spending massive amounts at a time but its nice to just chip away with small pieces as I go. So far its taken me best part of 7 months but as a hobby other than getting out there in the mud i have to say I've been bitten by the bug. Forgot to say earlier this bike won't be ridden it will be a dedication to my aunts and uncle who have sadly passed who got me into racing during my schoolboy days and it will be coming into the house once completed and mounted on a wall somewhere :-)
Mateaton
Posts
270
Joined
2/8/2013
Location
GB
10/3/2013 1:06pm


Next up I'm turning my attentions to the forks. Don't particularly want to go down the polished route but more of a factory finish like pics below. Seeing as it won't be ridden I'm thinking of cleaning them up smooth then maybe powdercoating satin black or grey????



Mateaton
Posts
270
Joined
2/8/2013
Location
GB
10/3/2013 1:07pm
Anyone got any thoughts????
MT MX
Posts
1551
Joined
3/5/2011
Location
Great Falls, MT US
10/3/2013 1:08pm
Good Job! Keep us up to date please!!
gamakona
Posts
48
Joined
9/2/2013
Location
CA
10/3/2013 7:42pm
May I ask how you got the swing arm so nice? I'm in the middle of restoring a 87 cr 250 too.
Mateaton
Posts
270
Joined
2/8/2013
Location
GB
10/3/2013 11:41pm
Regarding the swingarm I read many threads about polishing it up but in the end I was impatient and sent it out to a local company which specialises in polishing up small items and he did my swing arm brake arm linkage knuckle etc and triple trees. Charged me £80 which I thought wasn't too bad and he put a brushed look back on the swingarm. It was all done on his polishing wheel with various grades of polishing wheels until we agreed on which finished looked ok. My problem is that originally the factory have it an anodised finish I believe and now that this has gone it is prone to finger prints and marks which seem a lot harder to clean off. Ill probably end up having this re anodised but to be honest its never going to see dirt so ill see how I get on with it for now
jtracing6
Posts
587
Joined
11/26/2009
Location
Dundalk IE
10/5/2013 1:43pm
Mat
Regarding the fork finish. I de-seamed mine, cleaned them up with emery and wet & dry then had them aqua/vapour blasted and finally hard anodised. Speak to you anodiser and ask if he can replicate the factory brown/grey colour. That's what I did with mine.
Mateaton
Posts
270
Joined
2/8/2013
Location
GB
10/5/2013 3:21pm
Process is great Keith thanks I'm just not sure about the colour. I love the factory brown/grey finish but there's something about the black like in pic below that I'd like to look at day in day out!!!!! Having never seen this finish close up would you say it is a satin black finish?
Mateaton
Posts
270
Joined
2/8/2013
Location
GB
10/5/2013 3:23pm
Or again quite nice but a touch more grey/blue

Spoilt for choice as I like this also :-)
jtracing6
Posts
587
Joined
11/26/2009
Location
Dundalk IE
10/6/2013 4:10am
Mat
I've seen a couple of Factory Showa forks close up and they definitely are not black. They are brown/grey/bronze colour, very hard to describe. On my 1986 CR250 I soaked them overnight in Vanish/Oxyclean solution. They came out looking exactly like the Factory Showas. I haven't had a problem with them. They will need aqua blasting first to clean them and remove dirt and anodising or lacquer.
Great work, keep the story rolling.
gamakona
Posts
48
Joined
9/2/2013
Location
CA
10/6/2013 6:16am
When you say aqua blasting , do you mean simply pressure washing them? would you soda blast them first to remove the old look the lower forks get?
jtracing6
Posts
587
Joined
11/26/2009
Location
Dundalk IE
10/6/2013 6:39am
Aqua or vapour blasting as I understand it is high pressure water with try fine glass beads mixed in. The glass beads feel almost like talcum powder. They will clean the aluminium but are not abrasive. I understand soda blasting is very similar. Simply pressure washing them won't do much.
Mateaton
Posts
270
Joined
2/8/2013
Location
GB
10/6/2013 1:45pm
Hi Keith that sounds a great trick thanks ill give it a try. My only issue now is more and more polishing lol as my tubes are heavily scratched and anodising does not mask any imperfections but no pain no gain and it would have been easy to simply powder/spray but the look you have on yours is worth the effort. Ill post my results very soon cheers Keith. Sorry I missed you at farleigh was gutted I couldn't get down there my dad broke his leg so the baby sitters were out of action :-( always next year and I'm in the hunt for a decent twinshick racer for next season so who knows I may be on the track next year fingers crossed
10/8/2013 5:36pm
Nice. Very nice. I'd have to ride it though. I just couldn't resist. Keep at it, because you're off to hitting a home run!
Mateaton
Posts
270
Joined
2/8/2013
Location
GB
10/8/2013 11:37pm
Thanks Harry. I couldn't bring myself to get it dirty!!!! I'd rather buy another bike for my racer. Originally I wanted to race it but then when you start to appreciate how rare some parts are getting its hard to want to trash them. Plus my wife would never let me bring it in the house if it was dirty :-)
MXM
Posts
603
Joined
7/9/2013
Location
pickstick BD
10/9/2013 9:30am
I agree Mateaton! I finished a 87 KX 125 total restore this last spring and I also was going to race it until I learned how hard it is to make them new again! The time and effort is just not worth seeing it get dirty again, I would rather just look at it for the next 20-30 years. I am starting on a 87 CR 125 to go with the KX now, here we go again...hehe



Mateaton
Posts
270
Joined
2/8/2013
Location
GB
10/9/2013 9:41am
Haha yeh they're like tattoos once you have one you want to get another one. I keep seeing bikes id like for my next project but I think ill take my time deciding what to do next. Personally I'd like a collection of cr's through the ages but I love the 1980 yz's. bit of a personal thing but I'd love to recreate my old Paul malin yz 125 I had off Steve Dickson back in 96 on my profile page or even a bob Moore replica!!
MXM
Posts
603
Joined
7/9/2013
Location
pickstick BD
10/9/2013 9:46am
If you are a 1980 YZ fan you may recognize these, and I do have a few left to sell if you want one.

Post a reply to: Cr 250 1985 complete resto

The Latest