1978 HONDA CB250 T RESTORATION PROJECT

[polecat]

OMG, just amazing. got to thank YOU for keeping this diary going through all the trials and tribulations you must have had.

the bike is fantastic, a real testament to your hard and unwavering love of labour on this bike.

THANK YOU

PLEASE END WITH A FLIER OF AN MOT CERT. PLEASE PLEASE.

Thanks a lot

I am getting it MOT'ed next week Hopefully so I will post when it em passes

When the Fuel tank is dry I can fuel it up and test the engine still works

[Lonely Old Dave]

Very nice job young man. I think the bike looks really nice but i think the front mudguard should also be black to match the rear one or the other way around. Only my opinion, as the bike would not come from the factory with odd guards.

[Dom 132]

This is great, I'm left wanting to do one now, but with no money, no room, and no experience

[polecat]

Very nice job young man. I think the bike looks really nice but i think the front mudguard should also be black to match the rear one or the other way around. Only my opinion, as the bike would not come from the factory with odd guards.

You are in fact completly correct

The bike was black front and rear when I got it and from the factory chrome front and rear.

My problem was when I went to restore the front one it was too far gone and rotten through so I had to buy a new one.

It takes a braver man than me to paint a Brand new shiney Chrome guard, black so That is how it is at the moment ....

I May paint the new guard but it is So shiney !!!

Maby I will start a trend >?

[polecat]

She Lives ...............

Spent the day messing with the brake and ended up rebuilding it as I had put too many O rings in and in the wrong place so it was jamming the caliper

Did up all the final nuts and bolts,Fitted the fuel tap then Filled her up with Fuel from a can.

quick final check over and switched on the ignition ...Pressed the starter button and Brrrrrrrrooom It roared into life

I was pretty amazed it started on the first turn and proceded to tick over like a swiss watch

I took it out into the back lane and gave it a few runs up and down (going careful as the brake is still pretty weak)

Just a few piccky of the maiden voyage and the Dream out in the sunlight

[satnavsatnav]

Well done fella looks great

[polecat]

Took My CB250T to have its MOT

Had a scary ride to Penzance as I did not know what might fall off or what I may have not put together properly.

anyhow arrived and it went in the workshop and I waited outside nervously.

Motor engineer came out pushing my bike and said "want the good news or the bad news ?"

I said "Bad news I guess"

"Your bike Failed to meet the requirments and has failed the MOT !!"

"Great,whats the good news ? "

He had a bit of a smirk on his face and said " I adjusted the headlight and now its passed ! "

So it Passed with just a badly aligned headlight and 3 advisorys for front tyre perishing pitting on the fork stantions and rear shocks

Not bad for a total newbie huh

He adjusted the angle of the handlebars as he said I had them too far forward.

All the mechanics were impressed with the quality of the restore and said I had done a superb job

Value wise taking into account what I spent, he said I could spend another £400 on it and not loose my money (they restore bikes so know these things )

So After that long journey 3 months after I bought it, The CB250T lives again and fully road legal

Don't know if it was worth saving, but it certainly was worth the experience of doing it.

The Ride home was a lot of Fun as I could relax a bit and apart from the fact it needs the tappets doing,plugs need replacing and the carbs are a bit rough,Its a very comfortable and stable bike

Hope you enjoyed this little story and to anyone thinking of doing simalar I would advise, once you decide to do it,stick at it and don't stop until it is done.

There are so many unfinished projects for sale because during the process you want to give up many times and I think, Like running,the secret is to go through the pain barrier and come out the other side knowing you will end up with a working bike that you helped save from the scrap heap

The End

[Guest Hodgy]

Well done and congratulations getting it through the MOT so easily

You should be very proud of yourself, not only for the restoration but for saving the bike

[Fozzie]

An inspiration frankly

I hope your story will serve to help others endeavour to finish a project!

Congrats on the finished project.

What will you do with it now?

[polecat]

An inspiration frankly

I hope your story will serve to help others endeavour to finish a project!

Congrats on the finished project.

What will you do with it now?

Thanks Fozzie I'm not sure what I will do with it now (I did not think that far ahead )

It certainly is a diferent riding experience to my XJ600 So I either keep it for odd days out and bike meets and keep improving it or I sell it as it is and call it quits .....Dunno Think I need to play on it a bit more before I decide

 

Well done and congratulations getting it through the MOT so easily

You should be very proud of yourself, not only for the restoration but for saving the bike

Thanks Hodgy it was one of those things where you hate the whole experience at the time but look back fondly later on

Glad I did it though, and if it had failed I would have felt I had failed so I'm chuffed

[Boothy]

You could always sell it and move onto another project

[rennie]

well done!

Now you should take on a bigger challenge

and restore a big jap 2 stroke!

[polecat]

Just wanted to update on the Project for those interested

As I said the bike was running like a puch maxi ....great up to 30mph then it would hold back and I started to get tail gated by tractors

Anyhow I broke off the rocker cover bolt when trying to nip it up due to a slight leak so being the final straw I took the bike to a proper mechanic to sort out for me

Just picked up the bike "£140" later what did I get for my money?

He made a new rocker bolt and removed the old one stuck in the head,he stripped the carbs and cleaned them (found lots of gunk) he balanced the carbs,checked the timing and tuned it up.

I picked up the bike after parting with my money and thanked him very muchly and rode away with the mechanics proud face in my rear veiw mirrors.

Left the industrial estate onto the main road (a bit stuck in traffic) then when I got clear I opened her up to see what she could do.......got to 35mph and it was the same as before ! I felt gutted so i slowed down with a view to returning to the garage and as I came to a stop the engine died .....suddenly it dawned on me that I had forgot to turn the fuel on

I turned the fuel on and started the bike where it roared(ish) into life

I then set off again and it was like a new bike,ran just as it most likely did when it was New 33 years ago

So the future for the bike is most likely,my weekend bike for trundling around the back roads just for fun.

I am still amazed the bike got as far as it did by just what was in the carbs

The mechanic said When he went for a test ride he enjoyed it so much he went off his usual circuit and most likely used most of my fuel and As I had checked the tripometer before putting it in this was confirmed (36 mile test ride !)

I will continue to improve the bike in slow time while I own it and hopefully it will be around for some time to come

[megawatt]

Well done Polecat, you are an inspiration to us all

[argentum40]

what a fantastic thread mate.... every bike is worth saving if its viable to do so and the end result was well worth it.. bearing in mind your lack of experience Poley you truly did an amazing job fella... As has been said you should be richly proud of your achievement..

I hope you dont think i am being picky here but it would look so much better with a chrome rear muddy.. Lastly did it not have a chainguard?.. If its just missing then a chrome one of those too would finish her off beautifully

[stuch]

I have just spent over 2 hrs enjoying this thread as i am a newbie and not come across it before your an inspiration to us all congratulations Polecat & thankyou

[polecat]

what a fantastic thread mate.... every bike is worth saving if its viable to do so and the end result was well worth it.. bearing in mind your lack of experience Poley you truly did an amazing job fella... As has been said you should be richly proud of your achievement..

I hope you dont think i am being picky here but it would look so much better with a chrome rear muddy.. Lastly did it not have a chainguard?.. If its just missing then a chrome one of those too would finish her off beautifully

 

You are not being picky at all

It has a chainguard which is black plastic (which is very shiney coz I laquered it ) which was standard

The Rear Mudguard WAS chrome but it was SO bad I Had to paint it again (as it was when I bought it)

You can not get the chrome rear Fenders Anymore but should I ever come accross one then I would of course fit it.

When doing a bike like this is it a case of getting it as good as you can,then as time goes on you can improve it slowly

I am just delighted that it now runs well and hope it never gets neglected again like it did before, ie 20 years of neglect and 14 of them off the road in a shed

[argentum40]

i wonder if any of the other 250 honda muddies would fit such as the superdream one etc... Anyhoo it looks amazing and i hope she rides as well as looks... I am a fan of bikes from that era anyway and have quite fancied a superdream again after having one as a youngun... keep ur eyes peeled on ebay as they will appear on there from time to time

[Jools]

What an amazing transformation, Great post and a inspirational read for sure.

Certainly no better way to learn about your machine

[dispersion]

Just read through this.

Glad you've given the people with little macnical knowledge (like me) some hope!

Love the bike and hopefully see you on the road sometime

[madcatalicat]

i had the 1974 250 G5 if you can find one most of the bits will go on but if you change the engins over whatch out for the cam chain tensioners they have a habbit of snapping and the carbs get very sticky very quickly even after several new sets plugs points ect in the end i put on a wet dream loom. never could sort out that carb problem though. good luck cant wait to see the finish.

[polecat]

Now decided to sell the old girl as I can not justify keeping this and my new Fazer so hopefully I will make some of my money back but if not it was worth it just for the journey

Bike now sold and gone to live in wales ......... Ill miss the old girl !

[Benn]

Just read through this whole thing! Very, very good read. Great work.

I've wanted to do something like this for a while now, but I don't wanna restore a bike that I then can't ride and I don't really want to do a 125. So I'm currently looking for a 2002 ZX6R that is in a fairly bad way that I can spend the next year on, then ride when I'm 19. It's good to see that something like this is possible with very little mechanical knowledge! Thanks for such a great thread!

[polecat]

Just read through this whole thing! Very, very good read. Great work.

I've wanted to do something like this for a while now, but I don't wanna restore a bike that I then can't ride and I don't really want to do a 125. So I'm currently looking for a 2002 ZX6R that is in a fairly bad way that I can spend the next year on, then ride when I'm 19. It's good to see that something like this is possible with very little mechanical knowledge! Thanks for such a great thread!

Thanks

I still think I could be tempted to do a 1970's Honda 400 four

[Benn]

Wouldn't say no to another restoration thread...

As you are the master of painting, I have a question;

I'd want to paint the bike I restore in the classic Kawasaki green colour, so how would I go about getting my hands on cans of that paint, if you don't mind me asking?