Project: Garage Find

[squirrel_hunter]

So about 18 months ago I decided what I really needed was another bike in the garage and set about finding a project. I had heard the words "Barn Find" a lot, its something that I think would be interesting to do. When I was living in the countryside I did ask around a bit but with no luck. Looking for a bit of a fixer-up project I found an interesting Italian and an old Brit that hadn't been used for a while "Garage Finds". Negotiations began but ultimately someone else beat me to them.

I was chatting to friend at work, a RC8 rider (not of this parish) about my search and he told me he had a mate that used to ride and might still have a bike somewhere, it would be a crashed but original model Fireblade. So a few emails went back and forth between them about the bike and then I was introduced. The bike in question was not a Fireblade, that went to the great scrapyard in the sky. The bike in his garage was the bike he used before the Fireblade and before he gave up biking. He always intended to do something with it, but never got round to it.

The information I had on it was basic. A Yamaha TZR250 on a R reg. Now I've always had a soft spot for the TZR and a quick calculation with my limited knowledge put it at a 3XV or at worse a 3MA model. In my opinion the 3XV model, the VTwin, is one of the best looking bikes ever made. The 3MA is a reverse cylinder engined model and is also quite good looking. They also made the 2MA and 1KT models the 2MA is the official UK import, the 1KT being the same but the Japanese home market model. Both are ugly.

So me and Stretchie (not of this parish) turn up with a trailer and the garage door is opened. Now when I said the information was basic, it was also slightly wrong. Yes it was a Yamaha TZR250 but it was on a F reg and it was a 2MA. Disappointing. But the bike was duly loaded and driven down the M4 to BaP's (not of this parish) for temporary storage.



The story of the bike was it was the previous owners first bike and had been well used. The front fairings were lost after he found the bulkhead of a transit van. Though thats not the only time it had found the floor, it had been repaired and continued service until the rider upgraded to a Fireblade. He parked the TZR in the garage with the intention of doing something with it at a future date, but as the years rolled on nothing happened but the occasional start up. He eventually wrote the Blade off and decided not to ride anymore, and interest in the old TZR faded so that the occasional start stopped and it sat there never to see the light of day.



It was a couple of months before I saw it again due to housing issues but when I did I could see its potential. I decided that a bit of fresh petrol and some air in the tyres would have it though an MOT in a flash. No not really, the bike hadn't been used since 1994 or at least that was its last tax disc. It had crash damage on both sides an interesting alarm was adorning the rear of the loom and the fairing that was on it was held together with wood screws. The brakes surprisingly still operated slightly but the forks are pitted. Sitting on it the suspension at the rear feels non existent.



So my plan is simple. Restore it, reuse what I can, replace what I can't. Get it back on the road. I'm going to make a few subtle modifications to it but nothing serious, I don't plan on a big bore or changing the swing arm or covering the fairings in fur. I want it to be a restored TZR250 2MA and any help or advise would be gratefully received. Let just hope I haven't taken on to big a project...

[squirrel_hunter]

While it was sitting in my garage for months on end the more I looked at it the more I wanted to ride it. So I spent some time tracking down parts. It took me 4 months to get a set of plastics. Traveled to London one night to pick them up, a full set, no real damage but in need of paint. I even bought two "rust free" tanks on eBay, but more on that later.


Occasionally I would move it around a bit to see what I could spot on it that was in need. Basically the obvious missing fairings needed sorting. The handlebars, leavers and switch gear had crash damage, plus there was a nice dent in the tank. The wiring was a mess the more I looked at it. The throttle was stuck as was the fuel tap and the chain would flap in the wind. Forks were pitted so I presume the seals are gone, and the brakes need a strip and rebuild. Other than that it would be consumables.


There were two keys for the bike, the seat and ignition were on one, the tank on the other. Putting the key in the ignition was much like throwing a pasty up Park Street so for that reason and the fact I feel two keys would let the bike down a replacement lockset went on the list. The list was getting longer.


Anyway at some point and I don't know when exactly I made the decision to go the full distance on it and fully strip it down to powdercoat the frame and build it back up from there.


So the strip down begins.





Tank off reviled the dirt on the inside of the frame and on the engine, plus the overall condition of the bike. It also showed how small the bike is. the amount of space under there is amazing.





Next it was the air box. The screws holding the lid on did their best to delay me and at one point thought that I wouldn't get them to cooperate. But in the end they relented and I was presented with a very clean air filter.





That promptly disintegrated as soon as I touched it... Is this an omen?

[casal-fan]

Great project.
Rescuing a stroker from a slow death in a cold, moisty barn is a very nobel thing to do

Good luck with the rebuild!

[squirrel_hunter]

Well it is worrying when the first thing you touch falls apart in you hands. But having cleared off the filer (new one going on the list) the inside of the air box looks quite clean.





Can't say the rest of the bike is that clean once the box was removed. It actually took me 5 minutes to locate the screws for the air box clips under that amount of dirt and grime.





The plan now is to drop the engine out. So first remove the exhausts. Fearing the worse from my experience with SV front down pipes I was expecting the header mounting bolts to be seized or worse. Imagine my surprise when they came off so easily. I think it might have something to do with the tar that was coating them. I suspect the exhaust gaskets may have been leaking.





However the rear mounting bolt did complain and that had to be cut off. The exhaust is only actually held on with 3 bolts 2 in the front 1 in the rear. And the rear mount is also a rubber damper. I expect that they didn't look like mine do now back in 1987. A pair are also now on the list.





Once the exhausts were off I could get a better look at them. They are standard exhausts. But I think they have had a hard time. The cans have been wrapped in metal that has been tack welded on. I presume this was to hide crash damage. As for the header section, it has been repaired at some point.





Now as I am aiming for a standard machine I need to think about what to do with these pipes. If they are still available from Yamaha I think they might be a little on the expensive side. As are some aftermarket pipes I've seen, though they will need rejeting no doubt. But these pipes might also be expensive to repair. Alas I have some time to decide what to do with them as they are near the last things that need putting back on the bike, but if anyone has any suggestions feel free.

[eyrey1]

i had martin or kenny make me some headers more modern with the springs ,slip fit type and the pipe was about 6 inches long
so i cut the rotten top 6inch 's off and gas welded the new parts on ,then wire brush the rest down and paint the same colour !
i think i paid 50 quid for both pipes and springs and the other bits for the springs.
or just get some pipes froim kenny or martin on here ! they are a good price and look ace
hth Gary

[rvt2002]

Thats a filthy engine

[Crank]

Thats a filthy engine

yup, looks like that bike was never cleaned and had a hard life!!

[Russ B]

Nice project. Be good to see it all come back to a fresh condition. Keep up with the pics as it progresses 

[squirrel_hunter]

i had martin or kenny make me some headers more modern with the springs ,slip fit type and the pipe was about 6 inches long
so i cut the rotten top 6inch 's off and gas welded the new parts on ,then wire brush the rest down and paint the same colour !
i think i paid 50 quid for both pipes and springs and the other bits for the springs.
or just get some pipes froim kenny or martin on here ! they are a good price and look ace
hth Gary

I think its more then the headers that need looking at, overall the pipes don't look very good, not sure if trying to save them will be worth it. So Kenny or Martin, is that their usernames, might be worth having a chat with them?

Thats a filthy engine

yup, looks like that bike was never cleaned and had a hard life!!

Yeah not sure if it has ever seen a bucket of water. Now don't get me wrong I've never been one for spending my time washing a bike when I can be riding but none of my bikes look that bad, I think its about an inch thick in some places.

As for a hard life, possibly. The clocks show a tad over 18,000 miles.

[Paul]

i've never see it that bad, at least its all preserved in a layer of what looks like greasy gunk

[epa police]

If its any consolation a mate of mine does vapour blasting and says that when the parts are that bad they clean up beautiful. All the crap protects the alloy. I gave him a YL1 motor that was a disgrace and never even washed it first, it came back like new with little effort on his part.

[squirrel_hunter]

Will save you some of hundreds of pictures I'm taking to assist on reassembly but here are some highlights as it were:


To take the engine out which is the next target it is time to remove anything that connects to the engine. And in this case its the power valve pulleys first on the list. The cables were seized but replacements are to be sourced. Under the cover the seal looks good but like the rest of the bike there is a bit of dirt and rust in there.





However not all is bad under the covers as this is a very clean looking oil pump.





Drained the gear box oil which actually looked overfilled in the sight glass. Maybe this was intentional before it was parked up. Then it was draining the coolant. The coolant looked ok actually, so I think the water pump seals are still intact or at least were when the engine was last used. However the expansion tank was empty bar some sludge. Taking the radiator off was fairly straight forward. It looks in good condition however so far no joy in removing the guard. Might look at getting it cleaned up or painted before it goes back on, so I'm open to suggestions on the approach here?





Then the carbs. Took the throttle cable off of the throttle tube and traced it back to a junction box that feeds the two carbs, the power valve, and the oil pump. Taking the the cables off of the power valve servo looked like it was going to be a bit of a pain so I just removed the servo. Well it needs to come off anyway. And then it was taking the carbs off.





They don't look to bad a first but then you get to have a closer look at them.





Hopefully these will clean up. But I'm not disassembling them any further at the moment. I think the plan is to take the engine out next then strip the frame down. Get that painted and reassembled before working on the engine and the carbs before doing the final assembly with the fairings. Well thats the plan anyway...

[jcsnook]

Get 'er done Squirrly!  Nice work!

[zoomzoom]

Looks pretty bad now. but once cleaned and sorted will look good again. nice one squirrel..

[Paul]

go down your local nut and bolt shop and get stainless cap screw for your carbs, soda blast them and take it from there