Project BlueBlade

So happy to finally post the progress with my project bike after months of toiling on it!

My project is currently about 80% complete, fairings are still in their original colors, hopefully next month I can have them in my desired scheme. Next week the mechanic will start her up to check the work done on the engine. Everything else you guys can see for yourselves in the next posts. I spent the last 8 months on this project, and it has been extremely educational and fun for me. Thank you for those who helped me sort out problems and provided inspiration thru their own masterpieces. I hope you guys enjoy the rebuild!

Some background information first on myself and my bike. Last year I was a total noob regarding motorcycles, never ridden one at all, no idea on riding whatsoever. But I had wanted to ride big, mean looking sport bikes ever since I were a kid, and around June of last year, I suddenly had this urge to finally realize my dream. So I started hunting around ads, looking thru our local bike web forums, sought advice from friends who were bikers, etc. Being a noob, I was advised by my friend to start out with a small scooter to learn to ride, but being the dreamer that I am, I said I wanted a sports bike as my first bike. I knew my limits, so I set my sights on available 150-400cc bikes. My first prospects were an FZR-250(exup), CBR150 (brand new), Ninja250 (90's model), cbr400rr (nc29 gullarm), and of course the cibby250. Needless to say after careful deliberation (like 10mins), I chose the 1990 CBR250RR.



The bike was in ok shape. There were no missing parts, no serious fairing cracks, windshield was discolored yellow, muffler had holes and had to be replaced (new one in pic). I had the carbs cleaned, tuned and synced, replaced jets and o-rings, replaced carb rubber boots, changed plugs, brake fluid, coolant, engine oil at a specialty bike shop (shops that service big bikes are a bit rare). While the bike was being serviced I was given a crash course on riding by my friend. What an experience!!! I never thought riding would be this much fun.

Anyway fast forward a few months - cylinders were dying on me and plugs were frequently wet with oil. I was thinking major engine problems, piston rings, valves etc. By this time I had already joined this forum and was poring thru its content daily. Aside from technical threads I was amazed with the project bikes section especially with the brilliant Tyga Resto project of Stud. Then came psidey and his mouth dropping Casey Stoner replica! I wanted the same thing with my bike! So I decided to restore my bike while the engine was being opened up and overhauled.

What I envisioned for my bike was a combination of black frame with blue fairings, hence the name BlueBlade. Below are photoshopped (borrowed) pics of psidey's white bike before he put on decals. It was the perfect backdrop to experiment on colors. sorry psidey!

For the mechanical side, I wanted the bike to be in tiptop shape, as close to brand new as possible but also keep costs down. So many parts were purchased from ebay. But of course for the engine components, all original Honda parts were used. All bearings and seals were sourced from local dealers but are all made in Japan.

What more can I say? I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves!!!

Here are three examples of color schemes with different tail designs.







Some important tools if you ever want to do a project rebuild:

I made my own rearstand. Looks very basic but it gets the job done!





Here is my cibby BIBLE. The ultimate guide for bike maintenance. I had service manual printed and hardbound.





A torque wrench, so we can stay within the manufacturer's specified torque requirements



The tool box complete with all the tools needed for a rebuild.

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So the restoration begins!!!!

Below are pics of my bike in a gajillion pieces. I dismantled the whole bike in a few hours. Talk about enthusiasm hahaha... except for the swingarm, I had some trouble removing the castle nut on the swingarm, but psidey helped me sort that out, what a guy!







Then came cleaning and prepping the parts for powdercoating. Here are a few pics after sandblasting.







after powdercoating in satin black





the next pictures show the parts I refurbished/cleaned up/repainted, and some other parts newly purchased to maximize the rebuild.

Refurbished Parts

old vs. newly cleaned, painted and polished rear shocks. Thanks psidey for showing how to dismantle this in your awesome thread!







newly painted rearsets. I plan to purchase the very fine looking ebay rearsets (same as stud's) in the near future.



painted ignition switch with restored white letterings



sandblasted and painted H-frame



Dismantled, cleaned the carbs inside and out to remove varnishing and grime.



serviced the brake pistons, look at the difference after cleaning! changed the rubber and dust piston seals as well



Removed rust, sanded and high-temp painted the exhaust pipes (did this before starting rebuild)







Purchased Parts

I bought a few things from ebay (I may get flamed for this, but who cares, ebay is a dear friend!)

Here is a new radiator compared with the old shithouse. It came with free temp switch and radiator cap.





I posted a writeup of this before, a pair of shiny new fork tubes with adjustable fork caps. Also replaced fork seals and dust seals including fork oil. Put in 10w oil as I can adjust stiffness using the fork caps.

I had originally planned on rechroming the fork tubes as brand new ones are awfully expensive. But because many people advised against it as there was no shop qualified to do this (meaning no guaranties to the final diameter), and because rechroming is very expensive in itself, I decided to get a pair of ebay ones (cheaper than rechroming). they turned out great with only minor adjustments to fit.





Adjustable levers (long version)



Clear Indicators



Stainless exhaust



Black tinted screen



Brake rotors (front and rear)

I know many of you would disapprove on using ebay rotors, but I bought them just to try them out, not to mention they look EPIC!!! If they suck, my original rotors are still in perfect working condition.







Also bought a steering damper, but still not sure how to mount it as I do not want to put a hole in the frame. Most likely I will be setting up a mounting bracket on the frame. I bought this specifically for the bling factor as I understand the cibby does not need this.



I also installed a pair of Metzeler Sportec M3's. I distinctly remember psidey showing Bib the Michelin Man on his wheels. Here we also have running elephants right on the edge of the rubber.



I put in new wheel bearings and seals for both front and rear, replaced the swing arm bearings, headstem bearings replaced with tapered bearings.



Put in a new Yuasa Battery for optimum power plus a battery tender to keep the battery in tiptop shape!



Also bought fairing bolt kit from Stud. Thanks for the fast delivery![hr]
Engine Works

The biggest money drain was the engine. After experiencing wet plugs, blue smoke out of exhaust, and dying cylinders I had the engine overhauled. Work was outsourced to the bike shop because I would surely fuck up if I did the motor myself.

Parts replaced include:
- piston rings
- con rod bearings
- valve seals
- clutch friction plates
- all gaskets
- oil filter

Have not yet started up new rebuilt engine, but hopefully the problems will be fixed. Here is a pic of the engine after a spray of black engine enamel



some pics of the replaced engine parts



Bearings



Clutch friction plates



Head Gasket and Valve Cover Gasket plus Oil Filter



Valve seals



Piston Rings

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Starting to build up the bike!!!

Assembled frame, swing arm and subframe with rear wheel



set up front suspension and front wheel



installed levers, switches, cables





Here she is almost complete with the motor in, and with the wiring loom installed. My work place is a bit dusty, so the whole bike seems very grimy and dirty. Will clean up and post better pictures after rebuild lol





That's all for now, hopefully I can update this thread with videos and pics of the bike running and with newly painted fairings