There was a thread in the main forum about a week ago discussing things to stay away from when buying a used bike.
I think I violated every single one of those suggestions with this purchase.
I’m going to try to bring this severely abused 2000 YZ250 back from the graveyard. I honestly have never seen a bike in worse shape. I actually felt bad for it. I’m going to try to get it as close to new condition as possible.
I’m going to try to keep as many parts on the bike as possible, but some parts have to be replaced. Check out the YZ125 kickstarter, the broken subframe, the broken front brake caliper mount! Turn away if you are eating, but check out the airbox and the subframe being held on by a few wire clothes hanger.
The transmission is toast. 2nd and 3rd can’t be found and the shifting is incredibly hard. The engine does run, but I turned it off as soon as the previous owner started it. I didn’t want to inflict any more pain.
The suspension was revalved by Factory Connection. This may be the one piece of the bike that is salvageable, but I’m going to swamp them out with The more modern SSS KYBs. They are in really bad shape and haven’t had a drop of oil in a decade from the looks.
Remove the fuel cap, roll a new project underneath it.
Only if the fuel cap is functional.
Well the fuel cap isn’t very good either. It’s a non fitting IMS cap that’s cross threaded.
Do you plan to keep or sell? I rebuilt a 05 yz250 from the ground up a few years back. Did a complete rebuild on the motor, transmission needed a few new gears, threw SSS as well as full PC exhaust on it, all new bearings in all parts of the chassis, rebuilt carb, cleaned up the entire frame, chassis, exterior of the motor, etc.
Unfortunately ended up coming out negative on the thing when I sold it, but I learned a lot
The Shop
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
I’m keeping it. I’d feel guilty selling it to someone.
I would have backed out on the sale, but I had given my word that I would buy it if the seller waited a few days for me to be off work so that I could see it.
I’m going to take it as a challenge.
Wow, can't wait to see what's under the chain slider on the swingarm. I was so busy looking at that, I didn't notice the subframe in your hand! I know that's just one of the many things. You definitely have your work cut out for yourself!
I have been through this scenario… I learned to find the best condition used bike to restore….much easier on the wallet. I looked long & hard for a clean 2001 YZ250, finally found a good one last summer… look forward to your build👍
The Suzuki front rim is a good start. I hear those things are fast 😁
Plus the spoke savors! Those things are so crusty! Especially with the dry rotted tires
How can anybody with any self respect, do that to a bike?
You are lucky , your Bike is in a Bad shape but in one piece and it’s possible to Rebuild or sell in pieces
To restore that kind of Bikes it cost tons of Money and Time
That is my latest Rebuild Projekt a 1988 KTM MX 540 i would say that is a Bad condition
Yeah, you may have me beat with that one.
I have one more ( the worst bike i could find )
Last Year i bought a KTM 300 1993 just for the Engine to Upgrade my MX250 to 300cc
When i dissasemble the Bike i found a Mouse Hotel in the Airbox and a Mouse 🐹 Toilette in the Engine, the Mouse piss eats up the complete Crank and Engine Cases and Carburator
Yeah, I know you felt like that was a waste of money? Did you salvage anything?
Here’s a full shot of my bike. I had to move the Kawi out of the way and I was tired last night.
I rebuilt two YZ250's in similar condition, maybe slightly better but not much.Very rewarding to fix them, labor of love as it was also very expensive to do it right. Probably 4-6k depending on how nice you want to make it.
Does the bike have a front brake at all?
Been there, but won't happen again
. The kick starter looks as the stock 250 to me. I would recommend to take everything apart for inspection before buying any new parts. In worst case just part it out. Good luck!
This will morph from roach to Rolls. 🤣
Pit Row
Right. That’s the ball park I’ve been looking at with this one from what I’ve totaled up.
Throwing that much cash at it means that it will take a while for me to get her done as well. It will force myself to have some patience which is not something I’m great at.
Nope. Not even a master cylinder. The back brake exists but there are no pads. It was a chore to unload it from the truck by myself when I got her home.
I put her in third, which was a chore, and used what little clutch it has to feather her down the ramp.
The kick starter is stock. I had forgotten how they looked and was thinking it looked more like the YZ450s.
I woke up this morning to a large oil slick on my garage floor where she dribbled all night. Then pressure washed as much of the caked on goodness as I could. Followed by the tear down.
The linkage had never been apart. There were no wrench marks. No grease either, just rusted and decaying bearings. That took the most time.
I’m down to the frame and the engine before I stopped today. Shockingly, the exhaust and silencer are the best parts of the bike. Few dents in the pipe and the silencer looks maybe only 6 months old. The rest is hideous. The engine has oil seeping from every gasket and there is a good bit of dirt in the carb when I pulled what resembled the air box off of her.
Exactly what I was thinking. It was a young kid that owned it, but man at least clean the filter and wash it off.
Like I said, it was kind of like going to the pound and wanting to save all the dogs. I really felt bad for the bike.
So many used parts are on ebay. I thought I bought a roach a few weeks ago, turned out not to be so bad. Power wash it, pull the jug, see if the bottom end is toast and how notched the clutch basket is. Pretty good indicator how the motor was treated. I got really lucky with two 96's I picked up. Hopefully you get lucky, too. The chassis doesnt tell the whole story.
That coat hanger work is amazing though! Good luck man
Are you going for OEM/stock or performance. If you need new brakes I would highly recommend a Honda setup. MC and caliper. If not, I might be able to help you with some of it. I have left over parts from my two builds.
That kick start lever looks like the one from the previous generation.
Really trashed but that’s going to be interesting!
I’m sure 3rd gear is toasted? 🥲
Did you see why the subframe is held by the wires? Hopefully the mounts aren’t broken, it’s those kind of parts that adds up on a build unless you find one on marketplace for less than $100.
what is your overall budget on this? Hopefully you paid less than $1000.
You can find so many parts for those bikes on marketplace, eBay and OfferUp so hopefully it doesn’t come out as so much.
The mounts are broken off of the subframe on both sides. I’ve found a few in decent shape for about $100. There isn’t a shortage of any parts that I’ve seen for the steel framed yz’s.
I am deeply ashamed to say that I paid $1300 for this hunk of junk. The guy was about 4 hours away to boot.
I’m in the Atlanta area. There appears to be a lot of people trying to find bikes like this to rebuild. I’ve missed out on more than a few over the past six months.
I happened to be looking when the guy posted it. I gave him a $300 deposit to hold it and I promised him that I would buy it.
When I saw this boat anchor, I wanted to cry, but I kept to my word and paid up. I’ve been thrashing myself for a few days over it.
It looks like it’s going to take about 4k to 5k to get it in the kind of shape that I’m satisfied with. I could have bought a year or two old YZ250 for that price, but I guess that isn’t the point of a rebuild.
I’m going for performance. I’ve been looking at CR front brake parts too.
I haven’t fully committed, but I was always a huge MC fan so I’m thinking of going in that direction with it.
WOW
$1300
He saw you coming from a long way away.
But i am in for the follow.
2019+ CRF450 master cylinder is the way to go. An older Yamaha caliper would work well. They still had the larger pistons that pair well with the newer Honda master cylinder. 2004 YZ250 triple clamps will fit the two stroke SSS forks if you don't want to modify your steering stops.
Good to know! Thanks brother!
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