Posts
49
Joined
3/17/2014
Location
Saint Joseph, IL
US
Edited Date/Time
4/6/2014 7:12pm
Hello everyone, I'm new to Vital MX... I've always looked through at others posts and read through the site but never bothered to sign up. Until now, I have built my 3rd Yamaha YZ250 2 stroke and this one I think will really shock some people. Again, I'm new here so I don't know how you "vital folks" do this, but I'll show you my build, I don't care to read any smart ass, or disrespectful comments so save that junk for someone else's post.
Day 1: this is what I began with
The bike was pretty good looking. I put a few small parts on it like a pipe and graphics/plastic, but decided it was time to build a full blown race bike.
Day 2: I tore apart the current bike, and used a home-made soda blaster to clean parts
Day 3: I stripped the frame bare and cleaned it up for powder coating
Day 4: Sent my frame, swing arm, and subframe to Kalvin Kauffmann in Ogden, IL for powder coating. He did an excellent job, no runs or blemishes in the finish, also clear coated over the black. Turned out great!
Day 5: I started ordering parts, I made a list and had around $5,000 worth of parts I wanted so it took me a few weeks to get everything I needed to finish the bike.
Day 6: I sent my suspension to Pro-Action of Illinois. I have known Jason Donegan for a long time and knew he'd be the best man for the job. We also decided to have my forks anodized black to really make the frame stand out.
Day 1: this is what I began with
The bike was pretty good looking. I put a few small parts on it like a pipe and graphics/plastic, but decided it was time to build a full blown race bike.
Day 2: I tore apart the current bike, and used a home-made soda blaster to clean parts
Day 3: I stripped the frame bare and cleaned it up for powder coating
Day 4: Sent my frame, swing arm, and subframe to Kalvin Kauffmann in Ogden, IL for powder coating. He did an excellent job, no runs or blemishes in the finish, also clear coated over the black. Turned out great!
Day 5: I started ordering parts, I made a list and had around $5,000 worth of parts I wanted so it took me a few weeks to get everything I needed to finish the bike.
Day 6: I sent my suspension to Pro-Action of Illinois. I have known Jason Donegan for a long time and knew he'd be the best man for the job. We also decided to have my forks anodized black to really make the frame stand out.
Day 8: I received my forks and shock back from Pro-Action of Illinois. Jason really took care of me and was a huge help to my build!
Day 9: I took apart the pair of wheels I had received from my friend in Ohio. I decided to re-use the spokes and nipples considering they were close to brand new. I took scotch bright and WD-40 to each spoke and then used a wire wheel on a dremel tool to clean up and polish the nipples. Here's the end result
The dirty set on the left, polished set on the right
The nipples and spokes all together after polishing both.
Day 10: I had spoke with my graphics guy a few days prior to the build about possibly doing a bike and he was on top of the case. Fred Slickmeyer with Renegade Designs is your man for the best graphics for the most fair price. I originally planned to use the UFO Restyle kit but the more I looked at it the more I did not like the side number plates. So I decided to use the stock style plastic with an updated front end.
This is the base that Fred started with. Neat, but the restyle kit was not for me.
Another idea we played around with, I really liked the colors but wanted something more basic for color.
This is the kit that Fred and I decided on. Absolutely perfect for what I wanted and really complimented the black frame and forks.
Day 11: I ordered a pair of DID Dirt Star black wheels. I figured they would look great with the blue hub and polished spokes and nipples. I did not have a truing stand so Ty Tyrrell helped me out with the wheels.
There's the finished product, wrapped in a Michellin star-cross tire.... Lets be honest they're the best tires around haha.
Day 12: a few more parts arrived, I ordered plastic... The polisport mix and match kit. I wanted all blue but ended up with a black front plate and fork guards. I got a vforce, and then the outlaw racing full bike anodized parts package. I also got new levers, a blue cycra guide plate, as well as a lot of other small parts.
Day 13: my order through my sponsor MIKA metals arrived, I used their handlebars, brake pads, sprockets, chain, and new bar pad.
Day 14: I ordered a new clutch for the bike. Used the stock Yamaha clutch... So instead of pretending to have something expensive inside with a Hinson or boyesen clutch cover, I used my stock one and polished it.
Day 16: I have all parts and the motor is ready to be placed in the bike. So the rebuild begins
Day 17-31: I will just post some pictures of the process I went through rebuilding the bike. This way not a 31 day project but it's easier to explain what I did by "days" haha. This bike took me a total of 4 months to complete, so again here's just a few pictures of my progress through a week of putting the bike together.
My dad and I decided to take my fmf factory fatty pipe and sand it down with scotch bright and wd40 and then take a torch to all the welds to "retemper them"
I then decided to dye my transmission cover and my front brake line holder with black rit dye
At this point this bike is basically built it was just piecing together some of the small parts and adding my plastic and other "trick parts"
A few pictures of the bike almost completed in my garage.
Well that's it, thank you for checking out my bike! Hope you guys like it! It looks even better on the track than it does sitting in the garage haha.
The Shop
I like how the powder coating looks thin and even, almost like anodizing. not all thick and chunky like it usually is.
Pit Row
I thought it looked really nice at the start!.....But what you have reworked there is one of the finest specimen of YZ that I have ever seen!!!
Best of luck at those nationals and let that 2 smoker sing!!!
And people always told me how small the racing world is. I am starting to see evidence of that after only riding for 2 years. My girlfriend rode with Cade Clason 5-6 years ago in the northeast Ohio area. We now watch every race and cheer for him to qualify for a main. He is getting closer every race. We almost saw him qualify in person in Detroit. Would have been pretty cool.
I read everyones comments just so I wasn't repeating the fork sticker thing. Sounds like maybe you did it, that'd be a major fail from a professional suspension tuner to not catch...
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