Rebuilding my 1980 GS250T here...

[isu2014]

Hello all GSers. I recently started tearing down my new-to-me bike to repair a few things before spring riding season.

Things to do:
Source an original right side mirror
New seat cover
Install new megaphone mufflers
Carb Cleaning
Change oil
Clean entire bike
Clean up small rust spots and paint
Polish chrome
Possible engine rebuild (leaking a little oil from top end)

 

[hjacobmiller]

Looking good. Looks like mine in my living room ha ha.

 

[isu2014]

Looking good. Looks like mine in my living room ha ha.

When you live in an apartment you gotta put it somewhere..
My honda ruckus will be parked next to it once it's too cold to ride. As long as the cat can get to his food bowl, I'm fine with bikes all over my living room.

 

[hjacobmiller]

Nice!

Let me know if you have any questions. I have the same little engine in my 300 and I've chased down a couple of the big issues with it. (Excuse me if you know more about it than I do, which is probably the case ) I just am in the process of my rebuild now. Literally putting the front end back together right now.

Anyways, feel free to PM me about parts, etc. I've been able to cross a lot of stuff from the 300 with either the 250 or the 400 or the 450. Between the 4 of them you can get just about part on the bikes.

Good luck!

 

[Guest]

Nice one, definitely following along!

 

[isu2014]

Made some progress on the carbs. And I spent 20 minutes trying to remove the airbox from the frame. It's apparent it can only come out by moving the engine. By the way, the japanese screwdrivers make removing screws much easier.

Time to tear down the carbs and clean them.

 

[isu2014]

Got the carbs and petcock cleaned and put the bike back together. Added some premium gas and she runs great! Now I'm just waiting on the mufflers to tune it 100%.

Sitting next to little brother from a different mother.

 

[Guest]

Excellent, glad she's running! What's next after the mufflers? Anything or just ride?

 

[isu2014]

Probably an oil change haha. I'll ride it for a little while. I'm in Iowa so actually it will be parked back inside soon I'm sure. I plan to rebuild the front brake caliper since it drags a little and remove the engine and fix the leaking head gasket.

 

[Guest]

Hahaha oil change is probably a good idea!

Sounds like you should have a good runner by next summer...

 

[isu2014]

I've been riding around town quite a bit and it runs quite nicely. However, I found out how finicky these bikes are when you get low on gas. It sputtered as died on me as I came out of a turn because there wasn't much gas to the petcock. Filled it up and it's fine.

 

[Guest]

You do know it has a reserve position right?

 

[isu2014]

You do know it has a reserve position right?

Haha yes, I just didn't realize I was that low already. Must have been all the high revving I was doing to make sure the carbs were working well. I didn't track mileage on the 1 gallon I put in but I only rode around town so I didn't think I burned a whole lot. I made it to the gas station on reserve though so I didn't care.

 

[Guest]

Hahaha throttle happy rider 'ey? Good onya Hahaha

 

[isu2014]

Yes, yes I am. Gotta break in the new ride.
It also helps that I have no mufflers yet so it's crazy loud and makes me want to wake up the neighbors.

 

[Guest]

Hahaha nice... throttle happy and a trouble maker to boot... all on a little 250!

 

[isu2014]

I do what I can!

 

[isu2014]

Got the megaphones on!
Not without a little modification but they work well. Really quieted the bike down and it runs extremely well now. But now I understand why the previous owner took them off... It literally spits oil out of the head gasket on the left cylinder. (As evidence of the puddle underneath)

 

[Guest]

Glad she runs even better! Looks better too I reckon... always looks funny with cut off pipes that don't go further than the pegs in my mind...

Bugger on the oil spitting, but I think you were already aware of a leak weren't you? Just a tip on that... use genuine gaskets! If you must go after market, try to stick with Cometic, don't use Athena...

 

[isu2014]

If I can find the original chrome heat shields, the exhaust will look excellent.

Yeah, I knew about the oil leak but the extra back pressure really added to the issue. I think I will get a full gasket kit for each cylinder and rebuild both just for fun. Most of the gaskets on ebay look to be NOS OEM gaskets so I will stick to those. Thanks for the tip.