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Classic Bike Trackdays

My RG250 Gamma MK1
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steezin_and_wheezin



Joined: 07 Jul 2015
Posts: 68
Location: Radford, VA(USA)

PostPosted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 6:51 pm    Post subject: My RG250 Gamma MK1 Reply with quote

Greetings, figured I'd start a project thread here. Always enjoy documenting my projects to look back on after they come and go. This one however will likely only leave my collection if a 500cc is taking her place.






Photos from looking at it for the first time, knew she had to be mine.

1983 RG250 WD Gamma MK-1. Japanese import E-00(km/h clock and dual front disc). It has the optional lower fairing and appears to be complete as she sits. Came with a nice clean FL title

Needs a little tlc, has some history showing, but that's the way I like em! Interior of the tank is nearly spotless and overall bike is in good shape. Previous owner has had it for ~6 years, although it hasn't been stored in a climate controlled environment as I would prefer. It has been kept neatly tucked in the back corner if a covered shelter out of the direct weather/sun light. Previous owner bought it off ebay, but hasn't ridden it in some time(~2 years). Had it freshened up when he first bought it, but then saw some oil in the coolant so he took it off the road and she's been sitting since.. Hoping it's just a water pump seal, but I'm not taking any chances. I'll be giving her new fluids and inspecting everything I can before a fresh gas test start.

I'm absolutely in love with her style, history of this specifc bike, and the legendary path suzuki laid out with the technology in the RG! I had been working with the PO for a few months trying to hammer out a deal. I about gave up on it, but after searching for another candidate, I realized this was going to scratch my itch in a way many other bikes can not. To find such a rare(for over here) Suzuki street 2 stroke was dream come true. Too bad I'm not a yama guy, PO also has a couple rd's and a gorgeous rv5 he's willing to let go out of his collection.

Pulled her and the nice cam out for a quick photo



So far I've:
-Dropped the battery(PO bought it new a couple years back) on my trickle charger to find it has a dead cell.
-Drained the coolant to find only a bit of residue in the top of the rad. Not much at all though so that's a good sign.
-Drained the oil, which was clean(looked brand new) and free of any coolant! Good news for me

Next step is to get a new waterpump seal kit on order, pull the cover and replace the mech and oil seals. While I'm waiting for the seals I'll probably pull the carbs for a spit shine and give the bike a general clean/tlc.

I did pick up this little unit. Actually found the right model and dress so I had to jump on it!


Waterpump seals and Tamiya kit came in-
Was excited to see both the packages arrived pretty quickly from across the pond. Going to hold off on the model until the real deal is road worthy.





Pulled the cover, broke the waterpump down and pulled the seals. Saw something suspect when pulling the the mechanical seal, confirmed when I set it side by side with the new one.. Mechanical and oil seal are too large of a diameter. Was listed for an '83, but I was lazy and didn't pull the part number to confirm..









Clutch gasket and new seals on order. Also noticed the clutch was sticking, so I'll pull that, hopefully only needs a good cleaning. I don't mind paying for shipping to get parts for her, but damn the waiting game is killing me! So I trekked down to my local Suzuki dealer and had a chat with the owner. He was a younger guy with a wealth of knowledge. Even found a 83 MK1 parts book. Got my correct seal ordered and should be in any day now!
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Top-shaggy
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Joined: 05 Mar 2011
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Location: Derbyshire

PostPosted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 9:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm not generally a Suzuki fan but hell .. That's a mighty classic 250 you have there. Gorgeous Smile
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StrokerBoy
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Joined: 15 Nov 2006
Posts: 1293
Location: Oop North, UK

PostPosted: Wed Jul 08, 2015 8:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Love the Mk.1 Gamma, especially with the seat cowl, full fairing and J-spec indicators. Not sure how I've never bought one really. Confused
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bobbyboy
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Joined: 31 Jan 2008
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Location: UK

PostPosted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 5:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Looks great in the rarer red colour scheme.
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Bitacticus



Joined: 13 Apr 2009
Posts: 276
Location: Netherlands

PostPosted: Sat Jul 11, 2015 6:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

looks very good.

you won't be disapointed with it

its a great little bike

love the genuine JDM red color scheme

Regards Erik
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vestanpance



Joined: 20 Oct 2012
Posts: 73
Location: Birmingham

PostPosted: Sat Jul 11, 2015 5:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That does look nice, cool colour/color scheme. Cool
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steezin_and_wheezin



Joined: 07 Jul 2015
Posts: 68
Location: Radford, VA(USA)

PostPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2015 2:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

'Preciate it fellas! I'm over the moon having her in my collection. I'm sure I'll have the fattest grin on my face when I finally get to kick her up and roll around.

I got my correct sized waterpump seals, going to drop them in, clean up the clutch and clutch cover gasket surface. Should be ready to button her up once my clutch side gasket gets in! Also ordered my paints and cement for the Tamiya model.

More to come!
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steezin_and_wheezin



Joined: 07 Jul 2015
Posts: 68
Location: Radford, VA(USA)

PostPosted: Tue Jul 21, 2015 1:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sorry for the cellie photos, hands were too filthy to pull out the nice cam..

After missing my clutch side gasket delivery Saturday I was miffed I had to wait until Monday to move forward. USPS mang showed up Monday with no redelivery! So I hopped on my other moto and went to scoop the gasket. Got home and had a couple mintues to spare before heading out on the river for some floating/fishing. Managed to get the waterpump rebuilt and the covers/engine mating surfaces cleaned up. I did have 1 concern - After assembling the water pump gears, I noticed they weren't spinning as freely as I would have assumed. Not sure how freely they are suppose to spin though.. Anyone have any first hand experience? They gear's aren't binding and there's no bearing noise, but just feels there's a little bit of drag when turning the impeller.





That was a good stopping point so we grabbed our tubes and fishing poles and headed to the river. Not much sun, but it was nice and hot and the small mouth bass were biting!

Got home and unloaded the river rat gear. After some dinner I was right back down in the shop. Got the sticky clutch pulled and cleaned up. Not much meat left on it, but it's now free and functioning. I'll replace the plates and get some new springs after I give her a clean bill of health. Buttoned the cover back up and moved to the carbs.





True to normal Suzuki, they started with an airbox and built the damn bike around it!! Tank, covers, and batt box removed and I still couldn't find a hole big enough to squeeze it through. So I did a little wiggling and cussing and ended up with 2 free carbs! And man they are beauts!



Will pull and clean the carbs next chance I get. Then new fluids all around, fresh battery, and the first true kick!! I'm ecstatic to bring her back to life, and hear her first breath in too many years of hibernation!

Tamiya paints and cement came in over the weekend for the scaled model. Should start building it's engine here in the next few weeks.
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mavesyn



Joined: 02 Jun 2009
Posts: 29
Location: staffordshire

PostPosted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 10:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice looking bike, loving that colour scheme.......
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nick69
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Joined: 18 Jan 2007
Posts: 108
Location: Pontefract West Yorks

PostPosted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 9:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fantastic bike mate,never seen that colour Cool
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steezin_and_wheezin



Joined: 07 Jul 2015
Posts: 68
Location: Radford, VA(USA)

PostPosted: Fri Jul 24, 2015 3:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Many thanks! Getting close to hearing her try to fire off for the first time in a few years

Hoping to get back to cleaning the carbs tonight after I pick up some other two wheelers I just hammered a deal on.

Was walking by with the good cam so I snapped a couple photos;




She's begging to get all cleaned up!
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Gillinghampaul



Joined: 15 Aug 2012
Posts: 655
Location: Kent

PostPosted: Fri Jul 24, 2015 5:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Did you lubricate the seals before building the pump up? I would expect a little drag on the shaft where the rubber of the seal touches the shaft, but im not sure what you mean by a bit of drag!
If you have any spare put a seal on a shaft and spin it, this is how id guage it if that makes sense?
Cracking looking bike too
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steezin_and_wheezin



Joined: 07 Jul 2015
Posts: 68
Location: Radford, VA(USA)

PostPosted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 3:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Got the carbs cleaned, reassembled and back in the bike.







Left on the list was only fresh fluids and test fire! So flushed the gas tank and oil reservoir. Filled the rad up while I was flushing and cleaning the coolant overflow tank. Went back and noticed ALL the coolant had disappeared form the rad!?! Immediately pulled the drain plug to find all my coolant in the crankcase..



Whomp Whomp...

Waterpump rebuild was a complete failure! It's been years since I've rebuilt a watercooled bike(my last was a couple drz's ~5 years ago) and this was my first waterpump rebuild ever, so I knew I'd have a learning curve. But damn, didn't think I'd blow it as bad as I did haha.

Luckily I didn't have any oil as I was working with the waterpump and wanted to work my way back from it. So I pulled the cover back off, got all the coolant out, and will be testing the pump to see where I messed up next chance I get.

Unfortunately I have some bigger irons in the fire currently so the RG will be put on the side burner. At least until I get some other pertinent things wrapped up. Was really hoping to hear her run, but it's all a process.
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steezin_and_wheezin



Joined: 07 Jul 2015
Posts: 68
Location: Radford, VA(USA)

PostPosted: Thu Sep 10, 2015 3:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Got a little momentum going after getting a dirt bike I picked up running again. Decided I needed to dig back into the RG to help that sinking feeling I had in my guts about leaving here..

No photos, just a bunch of ramblings - sorry, not sorry

Sat down and pulled the cover back off. Filled the wet side of the pump to see where my leak was coming from. Not a single drip out from the pump area.. So I took a glance around to see where I could be leaking. Noticed I left a nasty bit of OG gasket material on the mating surface(cover and engine case side) around the waterpump area. Pulled out my trusty blade, cleaned it up, and felt that had to be the issue.

After looking at the cheapo athena gasket I noticed maybe she needed a bit of gasket sealer to help fill the gap. Didn't have any black rtv, so against my better judgment I used some grey I had laying around.. I know from past failures the grey doesn't hold to the heat, but shops were closed and I wanted to see if my gasket was the leaky culprit. So I lathered up the bottom edge and pump area on gasket, replaced cover and re-tightened. Went and ate some dinner to let the rtv set as much as possible.

Came back down and fill the rad with fresh coolant. 15 mins and she was still holding solid. Took the drain plug out to insure nothing new was being introduced into the crank case. All was well in the shop!! So I knocked down the other bits on my check list(ks lever, battery, fresh oil, capped rad and topped off the coolant ressy, fresh lucas semi synth in the oil res, fresh gas in tank, and aired up tires) and backed her outside for the first time in months. Turned the fuel on and of course she started pissing on the concrete.. Looked and I had tweaked the main fuel line to carb nearly off its spout on petcock. Snugged it down and no more dripping. Let it sit with fuel for a while before trying to kick, and sure enough my right carb's drain line was leaking. Snugged the drain screws down and still was dribbling. Not sure why, will need to dig back into the carbs to sort it out.. Pulled the drain line out and aimed her up to keep the carb bowl full.

- Moment of truth -
Fuel on and key on. 3 kicks in she sputtered and let me know she's ready. Next kick started right up but was struggling to idle. Oh yeah let me try choke..... Choke on and she leveled right out. Warmed up nicely and sounded absolutely fantastic!!!! First time hearing her breath, and first breath she took in ~3 years. Choke off and she idle like she should. Fuel off and shut her down and went to grab a helmet. Got back and kicked her up first step. Got half way around my neighborhood before she fell flat on her face.. Ding ding, turn fuel back on dummy. Was so damn excited to hear her and finally ride I forgot everything else I needed haha. Fuel on and I made it a full lap around the block, sounded great(unbelievably great, I mean the best sounding bike I've heard in too long), temps were nice and level in the mids, power felt face melting fast compared to the small two smokers I've been riding. Handling was top notch, brakes were all fully functional, and felt good to have disc brake back in my grips. Everything about the ride just makes me smile, even though;

Pulled down to my back porch and eyed a bit of drippage. Noticed some of the grey RTV was looking soft from the heat. Then I spotted some coolant on the side of the pipe. Yup RTV grey let go and I had some coolant in the bottom end again... Coolant reservoir had only lost a dip so not much made it in the crankcase. Still a definite win determining and temporarily fixing the leak, and finding out my waterpump rebuild wasn't the root of the problem! Drained the bottom end and will be flushing it thoroughly before moving forward again.

Going to hunt for a OEM spec gasket, but if no luck - I'll use another athena with the correct gasket maker next time. Wish I would've snapped a photo or nabbed a quick vid, but I was over the moon and didn't want to look at or touch anything but Gamma named Anna.
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The Cameraman



Joined: 22 Aug 2015
Posts: 608
Location: Lancashire

PostPosted: Thu Sep 10, 2015 3:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi There,

I've been enjoying reading of your work and look forward to continued success in the build.
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