1978 HONDA CB250 T RESTORATION PROJECT

As some of you may be aware I have recently purchased an Ebay special "Needs TLC" motorcycle sight unseen (always going to be interesting )

I paid £225 and £140 delivery to my house, so if it was a real dog I have not lost to much money.

My knowledge of motorcycle mechanics you could write on the back of a postage stamp but I do have qualifications as a panel beater/spray painter (hopefully come in handy later on)

When the bike arrived I went through a detailed examination and came to the conclusion that It was going to be a good bike to restore as it was complete and not too messed about yet very badly neglected over the 33 years of its life.

I was confident the engine would be fine as it had only done 24000 miles (nothing for a Honda) and in the last 10 years had only done 500 miles !

The engine will fire but die soon after running for a few seconds,Inside of the tank full of residue but not rusty.

Starter motor worked then stopped after a few turns which I read is most likely flat battery (got it on charge)

and the final problem is seized front brake (going to have to learn to strip and fix)

The reason for this thread is just a basic journal for anyone interested to follow the progress and maby encourage (or put off) doing a simalar project yourself

I am confident I can bring this bike to near new condition and will restore it a little bit each day but without falling into the trap of feeling any pressure to rush it.

Today I just spent Polishing up the engine (silver foil and autosol really DOES work !!)

Battery is on charge so I can test the starter motor tomorrow and if that works I will start to strip the Carbs !! (expect many HELP MY CARBS ARE IN BITS threads soon )

Just a few shots of the bike when it arrived yesterday and today when i started pulling bits off :

Just replaced the battery and realised the terminals were marked green or black ! looked in the Haynes and it said "failure to connect battery terminals in the correct polarity can destroy your electrical system " Great help

So it was the old "green wire or black wire" in those old Bomb disposal movies

I figured the terminals were set to fit on the battery and took a chance ....... switched on the ignition and ...phew light on dash lit up

I gingerly pushed the starter button and it turned over (big relief, so the starter Does work )

Bike did not fire up so I remembered I had drained the float bowls (maby this bike has a primer setting on the cock)

I put the fuel tap to the full up position and pressed the start button ......

At first it spluttered into life then Died, I tried again and this time it ran and even ticked over but did not sound great.

I had a feeling it was running on one cylinder so touched the left hand exhaust near the engine outlet and it was warm..I touched the right one and Burned my finger ! MMmmmmm Guess it is not working on the left one then !

A bit more reading told me I needed to check the plugs to see if it was sparking on the left side but my sparky spanner did not fit the plug as they seem fatter than my XJ600 so I have had to leave it like that for now

I remember those when they were new.

They weren't around for long before Honda replaced them with the Superdream.

3 valves per cylinder if I remember correctly.

depends how long it has sat around for it might need the bowl dropping off bottom of carb and jets cleaning out,if you have a spare spark plug there just put it in the cap and rest it on the engine turn the engine over on the starter and see if there is good spark there in case it is dirty plug cap or dodgy coil as well

Thanks for the Advice

Good news Yesterday .... I decided to sort it out and checked the plug had a spark (which it did ) but funny enough I still did not have a spanner but mannaged to undo the plug with my fingers ! (maby last owner did not have a spanner too )

I then adjusted the gap to 0.7 not 0.3 as it was and then refited the plug with a 3/4 " ring spanner after cleaning it .

then switched on and it ROARED into life ! I reved it to 5000rpm then let go and it ticked over at about 900rpm and was running like a swiss watch

Such a relief to know the engine is working well without smoke or weird noises coming from it ! " ITS ALIVE "

I am now thinking if I can unseize the front brake I may feel brave enough to try getting it to an MOT station

Funny how the simplest little things can look so serious though !

if you are still going to strip it down and repair replace everything is it worth getting it moted as during the strip down/rebuild you would replace most of the mot parts like head race bearings wheel bearings brake pads/shoes swinging arm bushes

No I may skip getting it Mot'ed and just get on with it

Still working on the Brake(what a lot of bits ) and need to get the Piston out which is stuck (and get some parts for it )

Really Pleased today as I rode the bike for the first time (up My Private lane of course ) and the clutch and gears were all fine and that is a big worry out the way

if you have got a bench vice and blow torch of some kind keep heating it up around the alloy part of the caliper and psir of mole grips on the outer edge of the piston it will hopefully move in the end as the alloy heats quicker than the steel piston

I love restoration threads more pictures please

Started the strip down today and was totaly amazed how easy the exhaust bolts came undone considering how rusty it is (thanks WD 40)

Seems if I want to go back to original twin exhaust I will have to find a left hand mounting bracket as it must have got lost when it was converted 2 to 1 .

Did some cleaning up on the right hand side now I can get the bike outside in the sunshine

The Fuel tank is really clean underneath and no rust or dents anywhere on it

Busy day on the bike today and as you start stripping an Ebay bike down you realise more what a mess bikes can be under the skin

A few parcels arrived today like caliper seals, copper grease ect and My Star buy Engine brackets !

I had already noticed the lower bracket was only held on by one bolt and then on further inspection noticed one of the complete top brackets was missing ! so very hasty look on Ebay and I found a complete set from banzaibikes ! and they were very reasonable at £7.99 so I spent a few hours grinding off the rust with my dremel and they are now like shiny metal !

good thing really cos the ones on the bike are pretty badly corroded !

I bought all the paint for the frame for £35 which will be Red Oxide primer then high build undercoat and finished in would you belive "Simoniz Super tough chip resistant" gloss black Motorcycle Frame paint.which will do the job nicely.

I need to get the engine out next and came stuck when a bolt seized on the carb inlet so waiting for advice in the pitstop section how to remove it

I was really fortunate yesterday when I had an overwhelming urge to get the bike under cover and 2 minutes later the heavens opened and we had a monsoon !

Thats about it for today folks

hi reading your thread is very interesting to me as ive very recently acquired this same bike with the intention of restoring it. I was doing some research on it when i stumbled across someone claiming that there where only 17 of these bikes left on the dvla register!!! im wondering if anyone out there could shed some light on this or how you go about finding that sort of info out??

hi reading your thread is very interesting to me as ive very recently acquired this same bike with the intention of restoring it. I was doing some research on it when i stumbled across someone claiming that there where only 17 of these bikes left on the dvla register!!! im wondering if anyone out there could shed some light on this or how you go about finding that sort of info out??

From what I understand this bike was only sold in the UK as a 250 and 400 and in the rest of the world it was only sold as a 400 and also they only had a one year production run (1978)before they turned it into the Superdream.

It is a crossover bike between the old K series CB250 and the Superdream so apparently it was a way of trying out the reaction for the new fangled alloy wheels and a few other features before the launch of the Superdream.

It is basicaly very simalar to the old K series apart from the forks and wheels and some other parts I have not yet discovered

The Superdream is built on the same frame with a simalar engine (maby same ) but they totaly restyled it to make it look all modern .....New tank, side panels, seat,rear guards and lights,clocks ect and all this set off the new Cornstar wheels it looked like a completly New bike (which it wasn't)

That is all I really know but I doubt there are only 17 left registered as they come up every now and then on ebay with V5's ?

Show me some pics of yours please, I would love to see it !

Finally got the engine out today .....YAY

What a lot of cables and wires ! not to mention half the bolts were seized and snapped in the mountings

It makes you realise though......Thought for the day :

When you buy one of these old bikes they may look pretty good on the surface but once you start stripping it down and looking close at it, it is amazing how much work is needed to make it decent again,So when buying a project bike, imagine that for every fault you see there are most likely 10 more you that you have no idea are even there

Oh My God where did my bike go !

After spending £8 on a 27mm spanner I managed to get the forks off at last and one thing led to another and I ended up with a Big pile of bits where my Bike used to be !!

Now the fun starts restoring all the parts and putting it back together again .....now where did I put that tube of "no more nails"..............

A while since my last update but I have reached the "Hard Graft" stage which involves sanding, scraping, sanding, grinding.....

A few more parts left the "Paint Shop" today and I am pleased with the results and it gives me an indication how the rest of the frame will look when it is complete

The process I am using is remove old paint and then rotary drill attachment to remove rust.

Then I apply a liberal coat of phosporic acid to eat any remaining rust (£9 a litre) which is much cheaper than rust remedies and a lot more effective !

when cleaned and degreased I apply two coats of Red Oxide primer, 3 coats High build primer, three coats of high impact gloss black acrylic.

This is the main frame assembly and swing arm getting the phosporic acid treatment....

As you can see nearly all the rust has now desolved and after second application frame will be degreased and given its first coat of red oxide.

Sand blasting and powder coating are for whimps

Sand blasting and powder coating are for whimps

might be for wimps but all done and back in 48 hours with no mess in the workshop :D

Sand blasting and powder coating are for whimps

might be for wimps but all done and back in 48 hours with no mess in the workshop :D

I was being Ironic

But seriously I am doing it the hard way for economic reasons but sure if money was no object then I would send it off next time

Today the Main frame gets painted so hope to upload some pickys later ...Just off to get some Zinc Primer for the Underside.

yep i know and i am enjoying following the progress on it

Frame is now finished ......YAY

I am really pleased with the results,it almost looks like a brand new frame

Trouble is Everything I bolt back on to it will have to be shiney and clean or it just wont look right at all !

Excelent work!!

Excellent job so far, keep up the good work

Thanks DUDE and DuDess

I am excited for tomorrow as I start to refit my recon parts and try make it a bike again

Ill photo as I go !

This is going lots better and faster than I expected !

just came across this topic

great progress, some good painting going on aswell.

cant wait to see it complete