Suzuki Gn250 cafe racer/Tracker project Story

dizzymenace · 26-07-2019 10:38pm #1

Just sharing my project bike story.
Attached are the before and after pictures.

BUYING THE BIKE -
I bought the bike from a guy who bought it with the intent of riding it around Ireland but never did. He used it as a farm bike for 5 years and kept it in a shed for 5 years after that. It was last taxed in 2007. It was listed for 500e but we negotiated 250e over the phone as it didn't have a battery and wasn't in great shape.

when I saw the bike it required way more work than I thought it would. Everything was rusted and dirty. The wheels barely turned. All the fixings and screws were siezed pretty badly, the tank was dinged quite a bit and petrol sat in the tank for years causing serious rust. It felt like too much work and I was ready to walk away so I offered the owner 150 euro. He was offended and said he'd rather leave the bike in the shed. As I put out my hand to thank him for letting me look at the bike he came down in price to 200. I still didn't know if I could get it running so was firm in 150 and we agreed.

THE PLANNING -
I made a detailed Excel spreadsheet of parts I wanted to get and work I wanted to do. This allowed me schedule the work of the bike and order parts as needed as well as keep tabs on costs. I spent 500e on parts and materials in total.

If I could salvage and restore something on the bike I opted to do it, even if it was cost efficient to replace, such as the petrol tank as I wanted to challenge my ability.

THE REBUILD -
I began by taking excess parts off the bike; the backrest, the chain gaurd, fairings, fenders (badly damaged and unreusable), rear lights.

I took the petrol tank off and derusted the inside best I could, poly-filled the dents and primed, I waited until the bike was more finished to select appropriate finish coat.

The seat I order didn't fit very well with the tank and left the tank bolts exposed. I used a Dremel on the seat to take a section away to get a more seamless fit. The hoop I got with the seat fitted within the frame diameter with a very tight fit so I didn't feel the need to weld it.

I cut the pipe from the exhaust headers and insulation wrapped the headers (They were rusted so it was wise) and fitted an aftermarket pipe. I am happy with the outcome but in retrospect it may have been wiser to paint the original pipe to save on costs and not interfere with the bikes back pressure.

I used PJ1 fast black paint to paint the wheels, swing arm, frame, forks and brake caliper. I didn't drop the engine out of the frame or take the electrics out. I only took off the rear wheel assembly including swingarm and the petrol tank and airbox. I spent a lot of prep work preparing the frame for painting, masking taping a lot of components. I was quite happy with the results. I didn't paint the drum brake as I like the contrast between it and the wheel.

Replacing the shocks was very easy and added a lot to the bike.

I flipped the original bars upside down and really liked the look but I knew it wouldn't have been comfortable opted for drag bars as I read a lot of negative things about clip ons. The cables needed to be shortened after the bar swap. I also got bar end mirrors and new grips but even thought they were 7/8" bar end mirrors and the bar was 7/8", they wouldn't fit. The grip didn't fit the throttle switch housing, either. I also had a new more modern speedo ordered.

I white texted the rear wheel to make it stand out and not the front wheel as it was cracked and would likely be replaced.

I got a racer number plate and painted it black. I attached it to the frame using rubberised pipe mounts. This hid the battery compartment in a very stylish way.

I put in a new battery and the bike lights lit up and ignition fired but the bike wouldn't start. I found out that it would only work on the choke without throttle and in neutral with the wheel off the ground. The carb was goosed. I planned for a mechanic to take care of it and possibly put in a pod filter too so meaning the carb would be rejetted. I also wanted a mechanic to rebuild the brake caliper as the gaskets were torn and the pads were rusted and perished.

SELLING
There was bits still left to do to the bike that I was planning to get a mechanic to do as I wasn't qualified - carb, brakes fork seals, electrics etc. I was waiting on parts before doing this so I put the bike online for sale to see if there was any interest. I listed the bike for 1200e and sold it for 850e. As I was getting the bike ready to show a potential buyer, I was filling the tank up and petrol started pouring out every which way from the carb and all over the bike and it wouldn't run.

The buyer bought, repaired and sold motorcross bikes so knew what he was getting into.

It was definitely a learning experience and my eyes are peeled for the next one.