GS250T Cafe Project darn near done

[solarae]

Hi Folks, been lurking for a bit and using search. Decided to finally introduce myself. I live on the extreme northern coast of California in the Redwoods. A little less than 3 years ago, I bought an '81 GS250T for $100. Although it had been sitting, unused, out in our maritime climate for about 6 years and was very rusty, I was able to get it to run without too much trouble. Getting the paperwork in order wasn't too bad either and for less than $300 I had a running, legal bike. Then I proceeded to tear it down and like many other project bikes, it sat for a bit and I wondered what the heck I had gotten myself into. Well, I got a second wind here is the little beastie today:
Feel free to ask about my process with jetting and relocating the electronics.

[OldVet66]

That's a nice sensible looking bike that looks like a ton of fun. I would suggest some sort of front fender. If you get caught in a rain storm it won't be any fun at all. Good job!

[solarae]

Ha, that's one of the main things I still need to get done. It rains here a lot and the roads are wet even if the sky isn't. I threw the old rusty fender on it a day or so ago for a test ride after learning the hard way. Will work on the bob job tomorrow probably. I have a choice of the original fender that is rusted to ratpoop or a slightly better one with offset, redrilled mounting holes where someone must've used it on a different bike. I'm thinking of using the rusty one for two reasons. I don't want any chance of movement and it's actually easier to grind what's left of the chrome off for painting once the rust does some of the work for you.

[OldVet66]

It didn't take long to find some quite reasonable front fenders for that bike or another similar model or year that will fit. https://www.ebay.com/i/152235713040?chn=ps

[steve murdoch]

Great to see another GS repaired, back on the road and saved from the bin.
Welcome to the site, solarae.

[solarae]

That's better.
Thanks for the welcome!

[GSXR7ED]

Nice little "T"!!!

Looks like you got the electrics all stowed away nice and neatly under the seat maybe?

Post your "T" here if you like. We love this model!!!

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?228624-T-Nation-Thread-(My-2nd-Thread)-3rd-Overall-(I-think)&highlight=

Ed

[Sasquatch]

Looks neat and clean. Welcome to the forum.

[solarae]

Thanks for the compliment and yes, the electronics are under the seat. Some of the other things I did were to take the gauges out of the console and plastidip them since they were orange. I was able to cobble together a mount from left over parts but had to shorten the mounting screws IIRC. Also plastidipped a Tru-gel battery. Used some groovy little chrome acorn nuts I get from DMP fasteners for the shocks and rear fender mount. When I swapped out the stock air box for pods I lost mid range RPM response but cured it by raising the needle by eliminating the nylon washer. I did rejet up to a 117.5 and then a 120 main from the stock 115 because it just didn't have good power on the top end. Come to find out that the diaphragms were poorly seated. They were a little shrunken from lack of use but once they got some fuel on them I was able to get them in the grooves with no problem. It totally fixed the top end so now I don't really know if the jetting did anything at all. I'm curious about a pair of needles I have from a GS300. It runs the same BS30SS carbs but the needles are distinctly blunt on the ends instead of the pointed tapers I have now. But for now it runs great and sounds amazing with those shorty mufflers. The stock baffle is keeping it from being too loud and it just has a great tone.