Kicker's CB250RS of nostalgia

[kicker]

I might do a bit of a ramble for this, partly for my own enjoyment, I'll see what pics I can dig out

Well I once again own a CB250RS, it has been 19 odd years since I last swung a leg over one. The relationship ended the day I got my full license when I roared off on my newly purchased CBR600 leaving my trusty little 250 on the yard of the bikeshop. To be honest I never missed it, I had lusted for something faster long before my restricted license was up but over the years, looking back on pictures and memories, I realised how good it actually was and how big a part it was of my formative years.
My family were all into bikes so it was no surprise when I announced I was going to buy one, my old man said he would get his mate John to check them over as he had "raced and worked on bikes for years", which I think actually stood for "he rides like a nutcase on the road and has had to fix a lot of bikes that he has crashed or blown up".
After some hard saving and a brief reduction in funds after I spent $420 on a pair of doc boots (hey this was the mid nineties) I finally had $1300 burning a hole in my pocket.
I had been scanning the Trade and Exchange for months, carefully underlining ads that caught my eye, this was pre-lams of course so I was hunting for the full 250cc allowance. I had no idea about all the bike models available and being the early days of the internet, pics on a 28.8k modem were a no go so the Motorcycle Trader was my main resource. The CBR's, GSXR's, FZR's, ZXR's, NSR's, TZR's and RGV's were so tempting but they used to run 5k+ and my $5.25 per hour was going to take too long. Finally I got word that John had a free weekend and could help me and it just so happened on that week the only decent offering was a Honda, 1982, CB250RS, red, 27,000ks, $1200. Anyhoo for reasons I can't remember the old man and John went to check it out without me, John reckoned it was running a bit lean but they were happy with it and said if we could get it for $1100 then we'd do the deal. A week after that I had the keys in my hand.

I had jumped the gun and was a wee way off obtaining my learner license so in order to get some practice in my old man would ride it around to a vacant yard at the old General Motors assembly plant while I pedaled there on my push bike. The above pic was taken on one such visit.
So after hooning around an empty carpark a few times I booked my basic handling skills test. The test passed without drama, there were a few other young guys tootling about on the rented CG110's, I felt a bit cool cos I had my own bike even though my Mum had to drive me there while Dad rode it but way cooler was the old biker who had been ordered by the courts to get his bike license, he rocked up on a Triumph Commando, smashed the test on one of the 110's then left with a fist full of rpms and open megaphones. Swoon.

 

[kicker]

After the test it was 10 questions down at the cop shop, one of which was "which direction should a pillion passenger face?", then I had my learner license, such freedom, many badass. A while later a friend got his license and bought a Suzuki NZ250 (with double overhead cams!) but the RS punched above its weight for a single and we had many neck and neck races down SH2 from Upper Hutt to Wellington, both flat on the tank but neither able to pull away. There were crashes but minimal injuries, I binned mine twice on roundabouts trying to corner too fast, my friend launched his into my neighbours hedge by accident but my biggest stack was on a bike holiday on the west coast with Dad and John.

We were heading south towards Murchison and had just stopped for a break, John was on his GSX1100 and the old man on his Kat 750 and me on the RS wearing my favourite Korn t-shirt. We had just set off again when a fuckwit wasp stung me on the neck then got down my jacket and got me a few more times. This put the shits up me as only a couple years before I had been stung on my foot and it swelled up like a loaf of bread. I remember specifically how painful it was as I went to see The River Wild the same day and it was hard to concentrate on Meryl Streeps rafting skills, so I thought my neck was going to swell up and potentially choke me. Rather than stop and waste time I thought I would ride fast so we could get to Murchison and find some antihistamines or something. I was laying it right into corners and holding a good pace when I got caught by a double apex corner that dropped downhill to the right and tightened up. I tried to hold it, foot touched the road first, then the peg, then the exhaust then it went earth sky earth for a bit. Luckily/unluckily the bike hit a post so we didn't go off the side of the road but it wrecked the forks, rim and tyre.

Thankfully I got away without any injuries and just some decent scrapes on my helmet and jacket. I completely forgot about the stings in the aftermath, once we realised I was ok it was more about what to do with an unrideable bike far from home. Not even 15 minutes after the crash an old dude pulls up in a flatbed truck asking if we need help, he then offers to take the bike to Nelson and ship it back to Wellington for us! He yarned how someone once helped him after he ran out of gas while crossing the Nullabor so he was happy to do all he could. Another 15 minutes later and we are watching the crippled bike disappear into the distance as we reshuffle our gear onto the two remaining bikes.
 

[kicker]

So we set off again and I was on the back of John's bike which was an experience. He had to wear his pack then I had to sit behind it at the back of the seat which wasn't ideal, the pack then started to aggravate an old shoulder injury he had so he was riding fast to get to Westport where we were staying. I was still a bit shaken from the crash so basically shat myself the whole way then shat some more when it started raining and whenever we would overtake someone or hit a fast bend. The rest of the trip went well and the stings never amounted to anything so that was a plus  

I got the bike back eventually, swapped out the front end and carried on hacking about the place until I traded it as mentioned earlier.

So yeah, never thought I'd own another until I saw @PastyDynamite was selling hers, plus it was blue which I had always wished mine was. 

At first I resisted but it was futile so a deal was done.

[kicker]

It spent a while parked up at @Goat's place which gave me time to think about what I should do with it. The 250 donk was good but maybe not good enough this time around so a plan was formed.

In the past I had an FT500, which was basically an XL500 engine with electric start, it was a blast to ride but a little ugly and I sold it before doing much with it.

I always wanted another big single so when I found out a 500 would nearly bolt straight in to the RS frame that became the plan. So before I had seen the bike IRL I picked up this

An XR500 lump. To fit it needs a new top bracket and to have the rear RS frame bolts sleeved to fit the engine.

Also the XR's are 6V with a tiny stator but luckily the RS stator and ignition swap straight on giving me 12V and better charging.

 

[kicker]

Then a few more bits turned up

Then last weekend the bike appeared at my garage thanks to Goat's Hoarding Delivery Service.

It looked in great shape, PastyDynamite had done a great job tidying it up from its original state after being in storage for 10 years.

The battery was low so I gave it a charge then tried to start it. It fired into life after umpteen kicks and ran erratically and would die when the revs were low. I whipped the carb out and gave it a clean, I found the pilot jet was a press in type, some vice grips got it out and it was completely blocked with old fuel residue. Cleared it then bunged the carb back in after checking float height and mixture screw settings. One kick and it was running way better, adjusted the idle speed and once warmed up settled into a nice tickover.

I adjusted the steering and chain, removed the centre stand as it was touching the chain when up, checked everything was tight and set off for a first ride.

It ran well, might need a mixture tweak and brakes felt a bit vague but handled nice and the engine ran smooth. The exhaust is fairly loud so hopefully revin man doesn't mind

[Goat]

Oh Man,

We need to go riding! So excite at your progress. Will drop the mirrors around next week some time.

[DAD]

Amaze, so glad this went to a good home, Meg will be stoked that you've been cracking on. Looking forward to seeing your progress with the big block 

[Duke Blackwood]

That was the best 'introduction to motorcycling experience' article I have ever read. But there is one question left un-answered...

 

 Do you still have the Korn T-shirt?

[kicker]

Cheers, unfortunately the shirt is long gone, it was a good one, a lass asked me out once because she wanted to wear it.

[Seedy Al]

Your hair was amazing

[kicker]

Haha, $12 undercut from Priddles in Upper Hutt, much centre part

 

[kicker]

I had a nosey at the brakes today, they felt a bit weak even though the master was new and it's running a braided line.

The master didn't have its size on it anywhere so pulled it apart to measure the bore. It was 14mm as the manual states it should be so reassembled and bled it up again and got a nice firm lever. Next stop were the pads, they seemed a bit grubby, well worn but still some life left. I'll swap them out but until then I just bunged them back in after a clean and a wipe down of the disc.

 

[kicker]

Went for a longer ride, brake still feels a bit weak so will definitely try new pads next.

Also gonna make some removable baffles for the exhaust, it's pretty loud which isn't too bad but it reverberates around inside my helmet

 

[DAD]

Pipes were AliExpress sourced iirc, unsurprised that they didn't bother packing them with anything 

[kicker]

I bodged up some removable baffling today, just need something to get through a revin. I found an old towbar bike rack offcut was a perfect fit in the exhaust so I cut off a couple slices, welded a cap and a nut on then drilled some holes. After that it just needed a hole in each muffler for the bolt that holds them in but not before jamming some mesh and stainless pot scrubbers in  Sounds good

 

After that I sorted something I also had to do on my first RS.

One sunny Saturday afternoon in mid to late 90's Totara Park I caught up with some mates at the fish and chip shop. We were talking shit and having a feed when one guys older brother turned up, straight away he was all "can I have a hoon on your bike", I said na but he kept on and eventually I relented cos he was pretty cool and would buy us beer. He hopped on and eventually got it started, then the fucking dweeb immediately loses control after dumping the clutch and bins it on a patch of grass. The bike was ok, the only damage was a bent rear brake lever which I got straightened. The lever on the new bike was also bent but nowhere as bad, just a tweak that meant it was touching the engine sidecover. A bit of heat with the torch and good as gold, not perfect but more importantly, not touching.

 

[kicker]

The bike has been ready for a revin for a while but I was waiting for this

 

 

So will take it in hopefully Wednesday next week, whoop

 

 

 

 

 

[HighLUX]

A+ 

This will do good blackflips with the big block swap