The Mighty GSX250... Runs!

Considering the state of it, that's pretty impressive. 
With water ingress obvious - the carb tops have almost rusted through, the exhaust pipes have rotted out, and the engine is severely corroded, I wasn't expecting too much from the little twin. The inlet rubbers had come away from the alloy plates that mount to the head, which made it a little hard to get it running.
But today I decided to check the compression to get some idea on the internals, it wasn't pretty. 50psi was about as good as it got. That's why, in my opinion, it's better to get an engine running before strip down, but each to their own.  Once it's running, it'll clear out a lot of the crap hanging round inside (and there was a lot of rubbish in the ports!). It puts pressure on the prison rings, which start to scrape the bores properly. Fuel/air mixture going through helps to clean valve stems and seats. All of this should help the low compression and, if it runs, gives you some idea on the bottom end. If you pull apart an engine without having heard it, you'll probably end up replacing every component inside for peace of mind.

New Bits, Missing Bits And Dodgy Bits!

New parts are rolling in fast.
But some of the old bits seem to have done a bunk! I cleaned, painted (then scratched) a LH handlebar switch last week. Convinced it wasn't the one off this bike, and that it came in a box of Katana bits, I did it anyway. Why didn't I think it was off this GSX? The choke lever is snapped off on the Katana one.
I just went through all the pics I took of the bike and, sure enough, the choke lever is intact on the original switch - but where the f#*k is it?

I had a massive clear-out and general tidy in the garage this weekend and went through all the boxes. The switch and clutch lever have definitely gone AWOL. Oh well, hopefully they'll turn up soon.

In the meantime, new acquisitions have been turning up while I had some spare cash. Needing new master cylinder reservoirs, I went looking on good old eBay. A nice, anodised black, aluminium cylindrical reservoir was found for the princely sum of $7.55 delivered. How could you possibly go wrong? 

Petrol Taps - Boring, But Somewhat Essential.

Just a tap, or is it?

The Beast of Turin.

Cars ain't my bag... but this thing is cool, old, and I love it! Just take a look at the restoration of this huge-engined Fiat S.76 racer. 

Massive 7.5" pistons equalling a twenty-eight litre displacement! I'll leave the rest of the story to the experts.

The Beast of Turin trailer from stefan marjoram on Vimeo.

You can read more about it, and see the engine rebuild pics, at The Old Motor or check out the guy who's been following it from the start, Stefan Marjoram.

Offroad Bike For Sale, Never Raced, Recently Rebuilt Engine, Blah 1981 Blah Honda Blah XR80A.

I can almost guarantee...
Every time you see a motocross, enduro, trail, or other off-road bike advertised for sale, it comes with those blanket statements. And what I've discovered over the years goes pretty much like this:

• It might not have been raced against other bikes, but it will have been thrashed mercilessly from day one by someone with no understanding of mechanical sympathy whatsoever.
• The "rebuilt engine" may indeed be completely accurate. It will have been stripped and inspected, parts priced up and found to be too expensive, engine subsequently rebuilt, with the old parts, and bike offered for sale as soon as an ad can be written. Now, if you're very lucky, but don't hold your breath, the "rebuilt engine" may come fitted with brand new gaskets. Ooh!
• The age of the bike, and monetary value to the owner, is uber important. It's the difference between regular oil changes and a clean, oiled air filter, and a black sludge, full of metallic particles, semi-circulating around the engine, with broken bits of dirty foam floating around the air box where an air filter used to live.

It is that simple, and brings me neatly into todays little job. The bike, an XR80A, isn't actually for sale; it was given to a mate to use but, before he does, wanted to get it looking good, and running properly. So, he says to me, "I'll clean and paint the rest, but the engine just needs a new head gasket, it's leaking oil". 

Yep, all that's wrong with it - so, whip the head off, replace the head gasket, check the bore while it's apart, just in case we want new rings etc. and slap it back together. It's a walk in the park!

Met the MECGC at the Metz!

Brit twins, and others...
With the boys either not allowed to ride today, or hungover, I cruised down to Canungra for Breakfast on my tod. Saw a few familiar faces, ordered the usual bacon and egg roll and obligatory flat white, and settled down to read Classic Bike. Once consumed, I was ready to head off and take in the views before it got too hot (they're expecting 41°C today, oof).

Strolling into the car park and someone's trying to negotiate a Norton twin into the spot next to the Gixer; and there's me wearing a Norton T-shirt, carrying Classic Bike. Got chatting about Brit twins etc., and found out it was a club ride for the Gold Coast's Motorcycle Enthusiast's Club. Met a few others, some on modern bikes, and took a few pics. It's days like these I wish the Beesa was here. 

Biketech7 - GSXR1000 Fuel Pumps And Filters.

Progress is made...
With the genuine fuel filter, and other bits, quickly delivered from International Moto Parts, and the aftermarket pump from Axiom Performance, I was ready to get back some of the lost power.
So, tank up and fuel line disconnected, I thought I'd try another fuel flow test. No fuel runs out of the tank at all when I disconnect the pipe - which isn't right, it should flow out under gravity. This time, instead of connecting up a separate loom to the pump wiring, I'm just going to turn the ignition on and let the bike run its own priming cycle. That way I can compare fuel amounts before the work, and after.