Tips and Tricks #1

Hey all just thought I might list a few things that you may or may not find useful.

• Put a small amount of oil around the edge of your hoses if your having trouble getting them to fit.
• Hose clamps sometimes interfere while lining things up, if this happens reposition them slightly, it can help a lot.
• Drain your fluids before taking parts off, unless you like having liquid all over your floor.
• Wash your hands immediately after you finish up with brake fluid... and wash your clothes as soon as possible. That stuff is not friendly to you, clothes or even paint for that matter.
• If your getting frustrated over something walk away for 10 minutes.
• Never ride a llama on a sunday especially if your wearing a straw hat.
• WD40 is a great way to help those stubborn bolts turn.
• Sitting on the motorcycle and going VROOM VROOM is an excellent way to re motivate yourself if things aren't going well.
• Use a wire brush and some rust stopper on any metal work that is in the early stages of rusting out. But make sure you wipe away the rust stopper with a damp cloth after 3 minutes.
• If you can re use bolts DO IT. they may not be all shiny and new, but they add a certain character to your bike... plus your not spending a small fortune on replacing every single nut and bolt.
• Tidy up when your finished. 

Thats it for now... These little nuggets of wisdom are brought you by trial and error. Mostly error though.

Bar end mirrors have arrived!

I love eBay, I really do, you order something and forget about it soon after. Then BAM! a parcel arrives in the post and it feels like your unwrapping a birthday present.

As you may have guessed I received one such package today containing the bar end mirrors I ordered a couple of weeks back. Have to say they look rather nice and for under $40 all up including postage I am one happy camper. They look like their shouldn't be any issues fitting them either which is a plus. But like the master cylinders I picked up yesterday, this will be put to the test when I'm up at Muchea. So in all likelihood I'll know how successful they will be in about 2-3 days.

Thats all for now why not re live the moment I had of opening the parcel, you might not get as excited about it as I did but hey, its still good fun isn't it?


"here it is I wonder what could possibly be inside?"


"wait this looks like it may be the mirrors, oh please let it be the mirrors"



"it is! its the mirrors, oh yay they look absolutely awesome, I hope they fit ok"

The costs so far!

I don't know about most of you, but money is a little tight and I like to keep track of where most of it is going. Anyway below is a table of the costs so far. Im putting this here for a couple of reasons, first being reference for anyone else out there who is thinking of doing a similar project and second being incase my computer gets wiped I'll have some form of back up.... Ok thats a lie, I back up my computer religiously its more a reference point for all you internet people.

• VT250F: $225.00
• Ace Clubman Motorcycle Grips: $37
• Bar End Mirrors: $34.99
• New Lever: $12.90
• Brake and CLutch Lever: $35
• Tank: $150
• Integra Single Seat rear cowl: $50
• SuperMoto Universal LED Front Fairing Head Light: $89.79
• LED Universal Motorcycle Turn Signal light Amber: $33.98
• Clutch Master Cylinder: $95.00
• Brake Master Cylinder: $95.00
• Grand Total: $858.66

That's not bad going in my books, considering I have yet to reach the 1 grand mark and the bike is almost ready to ride around the backyard.

Some of the more observant may have noticed I've listed parts which I haven't talked about yet. To be honest I'm waiting for them to arrive before I do that. Needless to say plans for customization have begun.


*I should probably mention that the costs listed include postage.

New Clutch and Brake Master Cylinders

Greetings once again.

As the title suggests I have recently returned form the wreckers and obtained replacement master brake and clutch cylinders. The ones that came with the bike when purchased (pictured below) are not in great shape. The level windows are broken, the screw heads are stripped and they generally suck at doing what they're supposed too do.




I managed to get replacements for both of them, however they look about the same as the ones I originally had, LOOK being the key word here. I was assured that they are fully functional, but that will be put to the test next time I'm up in Muchea working on the bike. With some scrubbing though they will look like new. They're also a much better place to start then what I originally had.

The only thing that concerns me is that the brake cylinder is off of a CB250. After discussion with the guys there, we felt this was the right choice as they did not have one straight off a VT250F, the clutch cylinder however is off a VT250F. Luckily if it doesn't fit I can bring it straight back to them and get a refund. Really love the service at Two Wheel Wreckers and I'm actually going to make a permanent link on this blog for anyone who's interested.


"the new parts... which are old"


Final thoughts, as Luke was looking for the parts I glanced upward and what did I see? Well that would be a VT250FII front upper fairing just hanging from the ceiling. When work begins on Red I'm pretty sure I know where I'll go if I need another one.


"this one even has the strips on top that mine lacks"

T Shirts and some shameless self promotion

A bit of a plug for some T Shirts I'm selling online. One is a simple tribute to the VT250F the other is a bit more of a promotional thing for the blog. If you like them why not pick one up for yourself or that special someone... that person you know who might enjoy this sort of thing... or your granny!



"for the VT250F project t shirt click here"



"or if the simple tribute t shirt is more your thing then click here"

The Defiled Imagery redBubble store also has all my other designs as well as a large community of artists so if my stuff is not to your taste have a bit of a browse and you may come across a real gem.

VT250F "Silver" part 02: Carburetor drama

Ok so what where we up too last time... Oh thats right the carburetor had been taken out so it could be cleaned and generally looked over. Right now that thats settled how about a part 2!

Looking at the carburetor it looked like it was dirt and grit causing the linkages to jam. So we gave it a quick clean and brush off until things started to move freely, then a quick wipe of the inside was given to prevent any gunk getting into the engine. When the Bike is completely stripped down the carburetor will be cleaned more throughly and made to look like it hasn't been collecting dust for the last 5 years. But since the mission at this stage is to get the motorcycle running a quick tidy was sufficient.


"carburetor attached to air filter plate"

Then began the saga of putting the damn thing back on, so we could give it a test fire! Initially we tried getting it back on with the air filter plate still attached. This presented a number of problems. The main being that the carburetor wouldn't seat properly into the hoses attaching it to the engine, if one was in the other was sitting on the hoses edge and could not be repositioned.

So another method was tried. This time the air filter base was removed allowing the carburetors to be adjusted a little easier when lining them up to the hoses on the engine. Problem the hose clamps where interfering on bolts and making it almost impossible to attach them. Solution remove the clamps and then find smaller bolts for them. It is at this stage that we took the hose connecters off and made sure we had them right way around. Turns out we did and we then finally got the carburetor back on.

Next step was to re attach the air filter base... This did not go well and in fact took over 40 minutes of struggling and repositioning on my part and even then it still wasn't lining up properly. Cue Dad who manages to get the bloody thing on in under 5 minutes.

Right success we can now attach the cables and... no, sorry no we cant because in order to attach the throttle cables you need to have the carburetor disconnected form the engine. So off it came AGAIN! In truth it was a blessing in disguise as we had forgotten to put back an aluminum connector tube back on anyway but never the less the cables where attached and then the carburetor re attached. It went on much quicker this time, probably because we had just spent over an hour and a half trying to get it on the first time.

Finally after all that, it was time. Time to see if the motorcycle could run. Ignition on, press the switch... Battery is dead DAMNIT. luckily jumper cables and a spare battery where floating around and quickly hooked up. Fuel was poured directly into the carburetors, ignition was turned on, starter button pressed... AND THEN THERE WAS LIFE.

Silver made an absolutely gorgeous sound as she fired on all cylinders, even if it was very briefly. As none of the fuel lines where connected it only ran off a small amount of fuel poured into the carburetors bowl, But still it runs and once all the lines are re connected shouldn't cause any problems.

Having heard the motorcycle run I was happy, it had been something I was looking forward to the entire week. But I thought I would give myself a bonus treat and have a sneak look at how the bike will look when finished. So the replacement tank and new rear seat cowl along with all the other fairing pieces (minus the front one) were re attached. I then rolled it outside to have a look and possibly sit on it and make vroom vroom noises.


"just picture this all black with the red frame... nice isn't it"


"really nice optional part for the seat"

Next stage is to tackle the clutch and brakes. The clutch reservoir looks like it is broken and the hand controls don't look much better so in all likely hood both will be completely replaced. But funds have reached the limit for this week so I'll see what happens next pay day.

I would strongly suggest you have a look at the Video which was shot over the course of the day not only to see me struggle but because you get to hear the Motorcycle run for a little bit.

Until next time.

VT250F project: episode 01

The first of hopefully many video supplemental pieces for the VT250F project. This video will make a lot more sense once I've written up the next entry, which will be either tonight or tomorrow. But for now enjoy this little milestone.