Posts
208
Joined
6/2/2015
Location
Lancashire
GB
Edited Date/Time
5/18/2022 7:44pm
Hi all new member here welcome to my rebuild thread for my 1987 Y250T
This restoration has been going on for a long time and has cost a small fortune but i am finally starting to get somewhere with it
The bike was originally purchased off ebay a few years ago, not costing to much but still a reasonable amount the seller pulled the trick of posting his original photo's of when he bought the bike not the updated photo's of the bike in its current condition, but i drove a few hundred hundred miles to collect the bike and like i say i did not pay a massive amount, so i bought it anyway
The bike served me well for a year or two but then the gearbox started to fail and the piston seized up, but it was a lot of fun while it lasted
This is my first proper go at a full nut and bolt restoration from the ground up, so please go easy on me although any criticism is still welcome
The engine was originally sent to a local bike shop in the Uk but eventually after a long time of him messing about (i can't find the parts i need, i am busy with my road bikes etc) i lost my temper took it back from him and decided to rebuild the engine myself from the jigsaw puzzle he left me with (the engine was sent him as a complete unit)
The pictures below are the condition he returned it to me in
Anyway that's enough backstory on the bike,sadly i only have 1 one picture of the bike before the tear down and that's a picture of when the previous owner bought it not what it was like when i bought it, it was very used and abused by the time i purchased it
This restoration has been going on for a long time and has cost a small fortune but i am finally starting to get somewhere with it
The bike was originally purchased off ebay a few years ago, not costing to much but still a reasonable amount the seller pulled the trick of posting his original photo's of when he bought the bike not the updated photo's of the bike in its current condition, but i drove a few hundred hundred miles to collect the bike and like i say i did not pay a massive amount, so i bought it anyway
The bike served me well for a year or two but then the gearbox started to fail and the piston seized up, but it was a lot of fun while it lasted
This is my first proper go at a full nut and bolt restoration from the ground up, so please go easy on me although any criticism is still welcome
The engine was originally sent to a local bike shop in the Uk but eventually after a long time of him messing about (i can't find the parts i need, i am busy with my road bikes etc) i lost my temper took it back from him and decided to rebuild the engine myself from the jigsaw puzzle he left me with (the engine was sent him as a complete unit)
The pictures below are the condition he returned it to me in
Anyway that's enough backstory on the bike,sadly i only have 1 one picture of the bike before the tear down and that's a picture of when the previous owner bought it not what it was like when i bought it, it was very used and abused by the time i purchased it
Casings cleaned and degreased, new bearings fitted,outer clutch cover repainted in high temp gloss black and also the cylinder barrel stripped cleaned and ready to go of for a new sleeve to be fitted
But i must warn you when its finished i am not going for the original showroom look, i am going for the custom modern look as far as paintwork, wheels, brakes, color scheme goes etc hope you will still like it though only time will tell
I plan to keep the bike and ride her when she's finished, she will not go up for sale when finished, if i made it to be as clean tidy and original looking as your example i would probably not want to ride her, hence why I am going for the custom look
I like you, have a thing for the overall look and feel of these bikes i have used some of your photo's as inspiration for my build
Did you manage to buy the 87 Yz80 to complete your 87 collection?
Had to buy a new talon billet basket as the original one was very badly grooved and also had a finger missing, my friend snapped a couple more fingers off it when drilling the rivets off the old drive gear, it grabbed in his pillar drill and flew off across his garage almost hitting one of his restored RD350's , it missed it by inches phew!
Also sourced a new nos inner hub boss along with a barnett dirt digger clutch kit, the outer pressure plate was in good condition
Also some gearbox components new nos mainshaft and countershaft the majority of the gears were replaced for nos one's also along with all the washer's circlip's and spacers etc
3 new shift forks along with shift shaft were replaced, the original shift shaft was badly chewed up in the spline area
The Shop
Also replaced the mainshaft clutch hub bushing, the two thrust washers and the the locking washer and retaining nut for all new nos parts
Also a new nos clutch actuator arm
A lot of rubbing down a few coat's of grey primer and to finish a couple of coat's of high temperature gloss black
Look how thin the liner was on the underside and also the massive score on the wall of the bore (due to a seizure)
Plus the very bad pitting in the combustion squish area of the cylinder head
And also they managed to clean the combustion area of the cylinder head quite nicely
I am very happy with pjme's work, fast turn around nice cross hatch on the barrel, transfer port edge's dressed very well etc and reasonable price at £200 with collection and return postage fee included in the price
And also cleaned up the radiator mounting brace at the same time
If the rads don't hold water i will get a set of the aftermarket one's from ebay, but hopefully they should be ok they looked clean enough inside, no signs of radweld etc
Cannot decide which spring to use the one with shock next to it or the darker purple one (the dark purple is the red spring repainted) the last pic on its own, any preference's guys?
I think i am just going to leave the B.A.S.S cable disconnected
but its my favourite part of the project so far
Its custom chromaflair flip paint much like the TVR colours it was very expensive, while it may not be to everyone's taste
I love it and that's all that matters to me
Usually anyone who see's it in person loves it, but camera's do not do the colour justice at all
Got some via cmsnl, some via fowlers and the rest via ebay
Bits include a new nos front spoke kit, all 3 exhaust nos mounts, all the bearings and seals i have used, the new chain buffer and chain guide
An aftermarket set of oversize wide footpegs and clevis pins, a clutch actuator extension arm(billet trick bit) plus a venhill f/light clutch cable
A new swingarm pivot shaft and nut plus a new rear wheel axle shaft and nut, also the middle lower engine mount bolt
A gunnar gasser throttle, plus a front brake caliper rebuild kit
I went with the pivot works kit for the swingarm kit because its an exact copy of oem i was not that keen on the allballs kit due to thrust washers etc, i heard a few people saying the allballs swingarm kits were not very good
And also a neochrome fender washer kit i picked up, i thought it matched my paintwork quite nicely
I just wanted to put my own touch on it, i find it quite boring to make it look the same as everyone else's bike
Each to their own i guess, i am just not a purist i like to be different
Anyway now a few pictures of the swingarm after having all of the bearings bushings and seals changed in the arm itself and all the linkage needle bearings and oil seals
Finally managed to paint the frame which was holding things up a lot and also managed to find the the time to paint the topend overall made some really good progress
Still waiting for the rear shock to come back (then the swingarm is finished) and also the wheels still need sending to paul at sid's wheels and then that's the majority of the major jobs done
Anyway a few pics of the top end after paint and also a mock up of some radiator hoses i am fabricating
Pit Row
Also some more nos powervalve component's and a teaser mock up of the custom hoses fitted to the bike
Ordered a set of genuine footpeg clevis pins as the one's i sourced from a local fastener shop were to long and also ordered a new ball race cover for the steering bearings i had painted the original cover but i was not happy with the look of it so i ordered the new one from fowlers parts
Also sourced a new nos center nut for the steering top yoke, waiting for it to be delivered from america so i am just using the old one for now
I just tried my best for a full restoration, considering its my first attempt at a project like this i think i have done ok
I think if i ever restored another bike i would go down the powder coating route instead
The new top yoke centre nut arrived, so that's been fitted, and also test fitted the apico kill switch i bought, it fits perfectly and again a massive saving over oem costing £8
I also fitted the trick billet aluminium clutch actuator extension arm, and fitted all the powervalve retainer in place along with the outer clutch cover etc
A few pictures below
Rear brake torque arm fitted a new nos special bearing (notice the old original bearing i pushed out it was just the outer shell with no inner bit whatsoever lol) and the two dust seals to go with it, £30 just for the little bearing and seals ouch
Fitted the clarke tank and also the UFO side panels and also fitted the seat loose as a mock up for picture purposes but i am waiting on a new cover for the seat and also need to to do some clean up work on the plastic tray part of the seat
Fitted up the the newly restored airbox i did, i purchased it from ebay as the old one was split and had also been bodged by the previous owner around the side panel airbox cover mating area and also fitted the new nos airbox to carb intake boot
The billet gas caps look trick but i was shocked how heavy they are. You put a lot of work into this bike to get it to this point
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