Messages

1

Vintage Two Strokes / 1978 C2 RM250 Project

« on: March 04, 2013, 06:54:55 PM »

I hope so too! It wasn't anything that they make. Rather it was a couple things that aren't fitting what I BELIEVE is a 1978 rm 250. The reeds were 2 pronged whereas my intake was 3 prong, and the Boyesen site pointed me towards a 3 prong reed too so I don't think I have the wrong engine. How can I ID this thing? I have a few different numbers.

1S zz-392

RM250 46390

Not sure what either of those are, straight from the case though.

2

Vintage Two Strokes / 1978 C2 RM250 Project

« on: April 24, 2013, 06:23:31 AM »

DEFINITELY not in it to make money! I love restoring so far because of the chance to make something that others wouldn't even attempt. The only problem is that it's getting to be taxing on my wallet, which is to be expected I suppose!

Okay, so assuming I move forward with the crank rebuild; anything I should keep an eye out for before I hash out a quote on this whole deal?

Man, you guys rock.

Returning all the things I bought from DC Plastics... nothing fit

3

Vintage Two Strokes / 1978 C2 RM250 Project

« on: April 21, 2013, 10:11:04 PM »

Okay, engine is fully apart! I got the exhaust flange off with some needle-nose pliers and one of those tight space nail grabbing claws. I figured that it would be loose considering how shotty everything was put together already from the PO.

My delema now is the crankshaft. It is quickly becoming a deal breaker for me. I haven't found any companies in my area that can rebuild it and having a hard time finding a brand new one. The cost is going to be more than I can get back if I go any further, so I'm almost at a point where I have to sell the bike to get my money back and try a 2 stroke resto another time.

Any suggestions, opinions, recommendations for how to deal with the crank?

Thanks guys!

p.s. I ground down a socket but it didn't fit, so now I have a fancy socket

4

Vintage Two Strokes / 1978 C2 RM250 Project

« on: April 17, 2013, 12:12:01 AM »

Alrighty, working on getting a socket ground down to get that stupid butthead of a bolt outta there, in the mean time I have a question about my crank.

When I pulled it from the case it was rusted, so almost a given to have it rebuilt. WELL. I metal rescued the crap out of it (not be all end all I thought it was; left a lot of black oxide on the surfaces that I'm trying to get off) and it spins free now. What I'm wondering is if it's worth it to drop the exorbitant amount of money it costs to have the crank rebuilt and not have to worry about it.

I don't really have that money, but I'd be more outta luck if it goes, right? SOL as my family says

Edit: What are some other years/models of crankshafts that could potentially fit in here? If I can modify the engine to take a newer year perhaps that could be a good thing no? " title="Roll Eyes" class="smiley">

5

Vintage Two Strokes / 1978 C2 RM250 Project

« on: April 10, 2013, 01:08:04 AM »

I should've put some indicator of scale in the photo. Plus there is a lot of dirt blocking a clear view, but the socket I tried to use couldn't get past the tapered side of the manifold and head.

6

Vintage Two Strokes / 1978 C2 RM250 Project

« on: April 09, 2013, 07:33:49 PM »

Alright, little update here.

I received my Ultrasonic Cleaner in the mail and set it up; definitely a neat little unit, although I haven't found a solution that works well with it yet. If you are ever looking to purchase one yourself then I recommend you spend the money on a quality unit. Jeez, you'd think I'd have learned my lesson by know eh? Do we ever?


Anyway, Bearings also came in the mail from BikeBandit. Thank God that's over (for now).

The nuts for the head studs in the engine bolt kit from DC Plastics doesn't fit my facking studs so that's a huge pissoff. And actually, the reeds don't fit either. There are two tabs on the one I purchased instead of 3. Is the oem supposed to be 3?

Man alive, restoring old bikes is a massive challenge! 

Also, how the heck does one remove a bolt like this??

7

Vintage Two Strokes / 1978 C2 RM250 Project

« on: March 27, 2013, 03:12:21 AM »

First, I would send that crankshaft to Racers Toy Store or some other shop that deals in vintage cranks to have the
crank rebuilt with a new big end bearing.  While it's apart, they can clean the halves and media blast the rod and
resize both ends.  I don't know what else you have that is rusted, but WD40 Rust soak works great on steel parts. 
Just put everything in and soak over night. 

You can do a lot better than DC plastic.  Try this site:  http://vintage-suzuki.com/en/
They carry a fair amount of items for your project.

The ultrasonic parts washer will be useless for 90% of what you're doing at this stage.  Once you get the steel parts
rust free, the Aluminum parts media blasted, all the paint and other crap off, you can start thinking about using it. 
You will need to acquire metal  specific cleaners to use in that kind of washer.  It is great at cleaning carb bodies,
removing media and grit from freshly honed cylinders, etc.

If I were you, i would concentrate all of my efforts on getting that basket case engine running again.  If you start
going in all different direction with shocks, plastic and other minutia, this project will get out of control in a hurry.

dogger

Mother of Pearl mate, that was exactly what I needed to hear. After trundling around on the interwebs for 3 hours this morning researching shocks and then taking a screw driver to the dirty swingarm I was feeling kinda down about the project. Do I put lots of money into it and keep it, or do I get it running and sell it again for what I paid to restore it? I think I'll be keeping it, so doing a good job on the engine is a good call. I've emailed Racers Toy Store so hopefully I'll be able to get that on track soon. Other than that I think i'll just be working on aesthetics to give my brain a break.

Thanks for all of the links so far guys, I seriously appreciate the help! I'll be inscribing your names in places all over my bike to pay tribute when she's done 

8

Vintage Two Strokes / 1978 C2 RM250 Project

« on: March 26, 2013, 04:55:59 PM »

Man, those shocks are pricey

Then again those RFY piggyback shocks on ebay look good but are probably crap.... damn this is expensive! I guess I'll have to bite the bullet at some point and buy something good.

Those VMX shocks actually look pretty good, although shipping would probably be a little bit ugly. I'm also looking at Race Tech G3-Ss. Considerably more expensive but also really awesome.

Anybody know of a place -- preferably on the west coast -- that can refurbish forks?

9

Vintage Two Strokes / 1978 C2 RM250 Project

« on: March 25, 2013, 10:07:22 PM »

Thanks for the tips so far! Knowledge is power, but so is grammar; I can't tell if TMKIWI is a Vintage RM Guru or a Vintage RM Guru 

Checked out the ozvmx forum too and will definitely be getting over there to gather their aussi knowledge. Maybe even put a roo-bar on my RM when it's done!

Here's a bit of progress to keep any interest satiated:

Flipped her over for the tear down (that sounds a little off...)


All packed away in the back of my Mazda 3 


And again with the Metal Rescue -- only a 4 hour soak and this was my turnout!!



Also, just bought a 10L Ultrasonic Cleaner on Ebay so I should be getting that by the end of the week along with my bearings, gasket kit, and bolt kit.

Does anyone know if it's possible to use ATV shocks on an mx bike...?

tldr; I have the bike in pieces, cleaning the frame and swingarm, prepping for a trip to the sandblaster to get this stuff back to bare!

Thanks for reading

10

Vintage Two Strokes / 1978 C2 RM250 Project

« on: March 23, 2013, 09:45:47 PM »

Howdy folks, Liam here. I'm new to the forum, so pop over to the Introductions subforum if you want to learn a bit about me.

About 4 months ago I purchased a "basket case" RM250 for $150 off UsedVictoria from some fella up island a bit. Chassis was rolling and shocks responded surprisingly well but the engine was disassembled in several plastic crates.



The seller said that his father bought the bike with a broken case, then purchased a new case and all that had to be done was to switch the engine internals from one bike to another.

Well, I've since learned that nothing is as easy as you think it will be because once I cracked the case I found that all bearings were seized, the crank was rusty, and everything was just generally shitty. 




Fast forward to now: I have ordered new bearings and am looking at stuff from DC Plastics, cleaned the crank, and will be cleaning/blasting the case for it's paint treatment. Cylinder is going to need a bit of work too. I keep reading about porting and all this other stuff; whats the deal?



 I'm also building my workspace as I go so the next expansion is a folding workbench. I recently discovered an MX course that operates in my area so I want to get this baby running so I can hit up the track asap! 

In my intro thread it was mentioned that there are other years that I can source parts from. What bikes could I look at / where would y'all recommend I go to for parts (performace and oem)? Right now I'm looking for new rear shocks and brakes/axles and my repertoire of parts suppliers is BikeBandit and DC Plastics now.

Thanks for reading. I feel a really good vibe from this forum!