Diff'rent Strokers

[Stanley]

Hi all, been lurking on here for some time! Have spent the last few years looking for an RGV 250 to restore, found one but just before I was going to buy it somone offered me this instead at a price I just couldn't refuse!!



It hasn't been on the road for twelve years not started for over a year.
A bit of fettling yesterday morning and she's off.



Next task is strip it down completely, repaint, replace a few bits and then enjoy!!

You can follow my progress on the PB Forum here

Rebuild Thread



Great site by the way, has been serving my 2 stroke fetish well!!

[flat spot]

I like the obvious statement at the end.

"yeah it runs"

[Stanley]

I know! I was there with a mate who didn't believe I would get it going (it had been stood for a few years and off the road since 1997). The "yeah it runs" was my mate reluctantly accepting that he had to pay up on the bet!

Anyway a bit more progress has been made over the last few days and the bike now looks like this.

[Stanley]

Not much done today apart from stripping paint from the engine. The frame is going to the powder coaters on Monday. I doubt much will happen until I get it back towards the end of next week.

[jimbo]

This is definately the worst part of doing up a bike, hope the frame is back quickly everything always seems better when you have some shiny bits.

Good luck with the build.
_________________
It's supposed to smoke like that

[Stanley]

Cheers Jimbo. Shouldn't take too long now.

[Stanley]

Frame is back from the powder coaters and looks great!



Engine has been stripped and rebuilt with all new gaskets and oil seals. It also has 2mm over size pistons raising capacity to 370cc





The front end has arrived as well and should be fitted by Tuesday.

[Stanley]

Managed to make a bit more progress over the last few days. Have been mostly waiting for stuff to arrive so I can crack on!!

Rear end in



Front end temporarily bodged in as the stem is too short, being sorted properly in the next week



Starting to look like a bike again!!

[jimbo]

Looks great, your doing a good job there. Back end in particular looks fantastic, can't wait to see the finished article.
_________________
It's supposed to smoke like that

[Mouse99]

Can't agree more, looks very nice

Is the backend handmade for this bike, looks beautiful

[flat spot]

Just a thought, why didn't you get the crankcases vapour blasted? They would have come up like new for very little money.

I see you've bought Toms swinging arm (originally made by NK racing). There's quite a bit of debate on the LC forum about that.

Still, nice progress

[Stanley]

[flat spot]

About the vapour blasting or the arm?

Vapour blasting is high pressure water with glass beads in it. It doesn't damage soft material like rubber or alloy. Parts look like new when their done.

Have a look at this example..... http://www.yamaha-rd.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28174&highlight=vapour

Are you a member of the LC forum? If not join up it's the best forum for all things LC.
As with all forums things can get a little heated.

Here's the post regarding your swinging arm... http://www.yamaha-rd.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=58069&highlight=nk

It is a nice looking swing arm and I'm sure it's safe, but the welding looks atrocious close up.

[Stanley]

Interesting read, but mostly bollocks to be fair. The arm is loads lighter than the original and yes the welds could be neater, but it's straight and strong so no worries this end.

I didn't get the cases vapour blasted as this is being built very much on a budget. I plan to spend a maximum of £1000 including the original purchase price of the bike (yes it was VERY cheap). I'm offsetting some the parts costs, with the sale of the original LC parts I don't need. The balance is currently around the £800 mark.

[flat spot]

Blimey it was cheap then. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for another one cheaper than cheap but it looks like you got the only one.