New Restoration Project.. Few Questions

KRH said:
Man, the guy really made a mess of that bike, didn't he? Did he leave any room for the obligatory iron cross? And number 13, how clever.....:D
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haha for sure. The iron cross was on the back fender! no joke! They are the worst graphics I have ever seen on a bike in person. The seller kept insisting that the new black fenders and graphics added 100 dollars of value to the bike when we were dealing. Bike belonged to his 17yo son who got the graphics and plastic for christmas.

Pretty much done except some small odds and ends. Spent all last night working on the tank some more and it is just not turning out well. I have sanded and buffed 3 times now and the yellowing is just to deep and I do not want to go any further and risk ruining the tank. I wanted to go for a stock 97 OEM look but the tank is going to require full coverage decals. It wouldn't be to bad if I wasn't so picky and the rest of the white on the bike was not so bright from being brand new. So I am in the process of making a replica set of the 96 team graphics. Probably a good idea anyway as the decals will help protect the rest of the plastic and everything since I will be riding the bike quite a bit.
 
How it looked last night when I stopped. Still missing the pipe, new fork guards and a few other things. Still no luck finding a decent works or oem pipe. Going to have to run the dented platinum pipe that came on the bike for a while.
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The tanks get stained from the inside out. There's basically nothing you'll be able to do about it except paint it, which isn't a good idea on a rider. Keep an eye out for a good one. My KX had an unstained tank on it when I got it but the PO put too long of a bolt in the petcock and broke it and a couple of the inserts spun when we took the mounting brackets off. The tank I ended up with polished up nice but it's stained and darker green than it should be. The other '81 KX I'm building has a beautiful unstained green tank on it, I don't understand why some stain bad and others don't stain at all. I would figure it had to have gas left in it at some point in it's 32 year life.

I knew that thing had to have an Iron Cross on it somewhere, they just can't help themselves.

Are you going to Vintage Days at Mid-Ohio this weekend? You might be able to find a pipe there, and may even come up with a nice tank. It's kind of new but I bet there'll be parts there for it.

Anyway, the bike looks great, nice save.

KRH
 
Wow!.....Nice Job. And Thank you for returning another lost soul of a bike back to a good caring home.

I have a 98 CR250 but I yearn to own a 96 steel frame CR.
 
Done!

Well I finally got this project wrapped up this weekend. Did not have time to go riding on Sunday like I had hoped so if I am lucky I might get to take it for a spin Wednesday at smith rd. I am really happy with how it turned out but there are still some parts I am hunting for. Still searching for a works pipe, plastic werks factory Honda front plate and possibly a little engine work from gorr over the winter if it feels slow compared to my 03 CR139. It was fun for sure but hopefully on my next build (93 CR250?) I get to take my time and enjoy it a little more.

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Thanks alot guys, makes all the work worth it. As far as the timeline goes I had it pretty easy so it did go quick. The bike was in pretty good shape, just dirty and needed some TLC. I did not have to deal with and seized nuts and bolts, everything came apart nicley and the crank and rest of the engine was in good shape. I did replace some linkage and wheel bearings that were pretty dry other then that just the same type stuff you replace on any used bike before riding it. I have not had the 97 on the track yet but I think its going to be pretty decent but it does feel less modern for sure just buzzing the trails around my house. I am 6ft tall and felt cramped on my 03 so I have a tall seat, lowered pegs and also CRF showa suspension in 22mm clamps so the setup is wildly different then the 97. Should be fun switching back and forth race days! I have the 97 suspension going to moto control this week and hope to get it to work somewhat close to the showa stuff.
 
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