1983 GSX250S Build

[Flyboy]

Nice work there Josh, +1 on the fairing, I like it, looks good on that bike.
Your paint is really nice, I agree one more colour just to break the black will really bring it out nicely. Red is good, or maybe a silver for a greater contrast, I think a light blue will also work very well on the black.+

[Guest]

Hmmm... you could continue with the single white stripe down the length of the bike and put a red pin stripe either side of it.

Then you could run some thin red rim tape around both rims as well... maybe even white and red rim tape for some contrast? That could be a bit much with both colours though...

[Woodsy]

Took it for a ride this morning was fine around town but once i got up to 80kph it would cough and splutter a little, might have a small leak at one of my manifolds which i will sort out, but unfortunately it looks like the little 250 will be up for sale once its finished, with the girlfriend looking like she will be getting a new job she will need her car and its just to hard for me to ride my bike to work every morning, get changed at work, store my gear ( no where safe to store it ) etc so the 250 will be sold / swapped for 4 wheels until i can find alternative employment when i will buy another bike.

I'm a little sad to see it go as i think i've put alot of work into it and i've taught myself ( plus you guys have taught me too ) how to fix things on it and fault finding plus i've learnt how to ride and always give other riders 'the nod' or a wave, but it wont be the end of bikes for me, that 1100 Katana i've been talking about still needs to be fixed up and hopefully will be in my garage within afew months but realistically a bike, right at this point in time just isnt do able. I still have to finish it though, so still abit more fun to come yet! Then once its finished i'll give it a photo shoot and move it onto someone else.

On a side note, looks like the tank will need repainting, its got some pitting in afew places on the tank which i cant compound out so will sand it back and give it afew more coats of black.

[Guest]

Bugger! You can't just get a car and keep the bike as well? Even if it just becomes a weekend rider for the moment?

[Woodsy]

nah cant afford the rego + insurance on a car and a bike at this stage, so looks like i'll be putting around in a little 4 cyl buzz box for a while

[Guest]

Bummer, but yeah I can understand that... one of the reasons the 450 went off the road in the first place all those years ago...

[Woodsy]

Still got to finish it yet, so wont be till the new year i would say. Unless i get offered good money for it sooner.

[Guest]

Cool, so at least you get some good riding time first

[Woodsy]

What engine paint should i use? All the ones i find are suited to water cooled engines to 300c, wasnt sure how hot the air cooled engines get?

[Guest]

Mine's got POR 15 Black Velvet, but that's a matte black finish and to be honest isn't really what I was looking for. Fortunately I've got enough other shiny bits around that you don't notice

As much as I hate to say try Z Power, they do I believe carry VHT or PJ1 engine paint which I'm pretty sure heaps of guys on here use...

[Woodsy]

bought some vht engine paint in satin black, thought that would be a nice change to the gloss black, pulled the carbs off the bike again i swear i could do it blind folded now as it still had a miss in it, thought ok... must be my metal manifolds so i pulled them off and put the originals back on after giving them a good look over, problem is now worse and what annoys me even more is that boulevard suzuki have taken 3 weeks to send me a payment notice for my parts.......

Exhaust will come off this afternoon and get painted and i guess i'm just going to have to keep contacting boulevard, i cant sell the bike in its current state.

[oohsam]

Don't use engine.paint.on the exhaust u need flame proof paint.

[Woodsy]

well... that stops me from painting them this afternoon then...... lol thanks oohsam i'll save it for the engine.

[Guest]

Yeah have a look at the POR 15 stuff (www.por15.com.au), they have some paints that are suitable for manifolds etc. Their Brilliant Aluminium is the best stuff apparently, rated up to 760 degrees Celsius. The Black Velvet I used on the cases is only good for 650 in comparison...

[Woodsy]

more playing on it today, up early so may as well! The inlet manifolds i made will be going back on the bike for now so i can atleast ride it, i really want to pull the engine from the frame to paint it but doubt i will get that done today, might wait till i get the new inlet rubbers and do it all in one hit then i can give the frame a spray while i'm at it.