This here is my 1992 RGV250. Kind of lucked into her, a buddy at work told me about this old kick start sportbike he had on the side of his house ever since he got run off the road and put it down in 1998. Being a good friend, I offered to help him get it running, by offered, I mean pestered about every couple weeks. Eventually, he relented and instead, sold me the bike. Luckily, he put it non-op back in '98 and it remained titled through a tough time for 2 strokes in California.
After I checked it out, I gave him a modest sum and we trucked it to my place. Here is how she looked when I brought her home. I really was not a fan of the solid yellow color.
First thing was first, I removed all of the body panels and started cleaning. My two kiddos were happy to help. The air filter element just fell apart, luckily that was about the only thing that disintigrated. Fuel was garbage, brakes did not work, front tire hugger was chewed on by a dog... but I thought there was a darn good chance the bike wasn't all that bad off, after all, it only had 7,000 kms on it.
There was filth, dirt, and dog hair all over it. With most of that garbage knocked off, it came time to play a joke on the buddy I bought it from. I made this quick video and sent it him saying I got it started after a few hours working on it. My kiddo did a pretty good impression of a two stroke never having heard one before.
First start?
Next I dug into the fuel system. The carbs had a nasty ear wax like substance in every little crevace and hole. When I saw the fuel strainers in the carb inlets, I knew there was going to be a big problem with the tank.
None the less, I hooked the bike up to my car battery after replacing the fluids and cleaning things up. That got her to run, allbeit poorly. Since I'd been working pretty late into the night it was time to shut her down. First kick over the bike had in over 20 years. I was glad to hear things did not sound like it was going to be a serious problem when she kicked over. After this point, I knew the next steps were going to start with a parts order anyway. I was already going to pick up a battery and some spark plugs anyway.
The real first "start."
That was the fist day, while the project ain't close to done now, there is quite a bit I have done and she runs like an angry, noisy, smokey bat out of hell. I'll post up more of my project the next chance I get. I hope I don't offend too many people with my build as it is going to be a track day ripper just like my RC8R. I picked them up a mess so I can fix them up and rip on the bikes without feeling bad about putting a prestine example through the ringer. Though there is nothing quite like cranking on a 2 stroke through traffic with Prius drivers looking on in horror.
After I checked it out, I gave him a modest sum and we trucked it to my place. Here is how she looked when I brought her home. I really was not a fan of the solid yellow color.
First thing was first, I removed all of the body panels and started cleaning. My two kiddos were happy to help. The air filter element just fell apart, luckily that was about the only thing that disintigrated. Fuel was garbage, brakes did not work, front tire hugger was chewed on by a dog... but I thought there was a darn good chance the bike wasn't all that bad off, after all, it only had 7,000 kms on it.
There was filth, dirt, and dog hair all over it. With most of that garbage knocked off, it came time to play a joke on the buddy I bought it from. I made this quick video and sent it him saying I got it started after a few hours working on it. My kiddo did a pretty good impression of a two stroke never having heard one before.
First start?
Next I dug into the fuel system. The carbs had a nasty ear wax like substance in every little crevace and hole. When I saw the fuel strainers in the carb inlets, I knew there was going to be a big problem with the tank.
None the less, I hooked the bike up to my car battery after replacing the fluids and cleaning things up. That got her to run, allbeit poorly. Since I'd been working pretty late into the night it was time to shut her down. First kick over the bike had in over 20 years. I was glad to hear things did not sound like it was going to be a serious problem when she kicked over. After this point, I knew the next steps were going to start with a parts order anyway. I was already going to pick up a battery and some spark plugs anyway.
The real first "start."
That was the fist day, while the project ain't close to done now, there is quite a bit I have done and she runs like an angry, noisy, smokey bat out of hell. I'll post up more of my project the next chance I get. I hope I don't offend too many people with my build as it is going to be a track day ripper just like my RC8R. I picked them up a mess so I can fix them up and rip on the bikes without feeling bad about putting a prestine example through the ringer. Though there is nothing quite like cranking on a 2 stroke through traffic with Prius drivers looking on in horror.