Journal · Bench Racing
2001 RM 250 Project
I found this 2001 Suzuki RM250 on Kijiji. The guy was asking $1300 and the ad said it needed a clutch and a pipe. The title said "Need Gone!" I offered $600 based on the age of the bike and the fact that just to get it running it would need a clutch, a pipe and a seat assuming everything else was fine. The guy didn't like the offer but after a month of trying to sell, he accepted my offer. $600 initially sounds like a good price, the bike looks fine at a gllance but it is a beater that has seen years of abuse. My fear is that if I spend $1,000 in parts, the bike will only be worth $1,500.
That last comment about spending $1,000 was just a crazy pipe dream. It took far more than I had hoped.
I posted this pic on Facebook and there were so many people critical of how tight the straps are. The front forks don't have any oil, they are pogo sticks. I had to strap it down tight.
Getting it ready to bring into the basement
This pipe took a hard hit. I was considering fixing it, but in the end, I bought a new pipe.
I acquired a pipe for a 2004 so I placed the motor and subframe on the bike. It is not going to fit.
Everything is very dirty and greasy. Just touching any part of the bike leaves the hands black.
Who needs folding foot pegs?
Just a reference shot for reassembly.
The dirty linkage is rusty, but it still came apart just fine. All new bearings for swingarm and linkage.
The final strip down of the frame.
The furnace room, working on the swingarm.
Once the bike was disassembled, I was able to see the full extent of what it needed. The obvious parts being the pipe, engine work and seat but there were so many little things that just add up to a job that I perhaps never should have started. Magneto cover, worn out brake pedal, broken spokes, brake rotors, forks, tires, ignition coil, foot peg pins, and the list goes on. But I wanted a winter project, so I marched on.
I did some IT work at Vintech Aero over the winter. They were kind enough to let me use thier blaster. I cleaned every bit of paint off the frame.
After the soda blasting, the frame was brought into the paint booth.
Korrey Foisy, an artist with a paint gun, mixed up a beautiful batch of charcoal grey metalflake paint. The results were astounding.
Anybody that can make a 1944 Spitfire look this good is way over qualified for painting an old RM frame. Thanks Korrey and Vintech for the great work!
Engine woes
Taking the clutch cover off, I found that there really wasn't much wrong with the clutch. The primary gear had a broken tooth and one of the spring retainer bolts were sheared off inside. I later found a broken tooth on the clutch basket gear.
Korrey came for a visit to see how I was making out with the bike so we split the cases and found a bit of a mess. The tabs that hold on the shift drum were not screwed in place indicating that the engine was split, stripped of anything good and reassembled with all things bad. Most of the transmission gears were not usable, the engine was hastily assembled and never started. The bike was just put up for sale. The guy I bought it from either knew what went on or was lied to by his buddy that did the engine work. Either way, buyer beware.
I found a guy in Hamilton on Kijiji that had a bunch of parts. He sold me an entire transmission, clutch, primary gear, kick starter, magneto cover and a bunch of other goodies. All of these parts came in very handy. I paid $400 including freight.
Engine came together nicely, the box of parts from Hamilton really saved the day. I used the cylinder as it was, I also used the original crank. I installed all new bearings inside the engine and the chassis. New OEM piston and rings.
I painted some of the parts with Mercury Marine Phantom Black paint.
Magneto cover from my Hamilton guy. Painted with Phantom Black.
Frame getting ready for assembly. Also shown are the ProTaper bar mounts. I bought set of Zeta fat-bars so I needed the fat-bar mounts. Bought on kijiji for $40. The bars were $200 but came with Zeta bark busters and grips.
Carburetor (reference shot) was thouroughly cleaned and I checked the jetting specs. Jetting is correct according the FMF recommendations.
Bike has V-Force reeds. They were in rough shape so I bought new reed pedals on Amazon. I could have bought them direct from Moto Tasanari, but they wanted too much for freight.
Installing the engine
Thouroughy cleaned the shock and repainted the spring with Phantom Black.
I bought this stand from Princess Auto. Very slick and only $40.
Installed the subframe and airbox.
I had to buy a new exhaust pipe. I was going to try to fix the one I had or send it out, but in the end, it was easier and not terribly expensive to buy a new FMF Fatty. Bike also has an FMF Shorty silencer which has been repacked.
The plastic is in decent shape, but a new set would be nice.
Bought brand new rubber and an FMF Fatty
