RGV250 rebuild?

[Asher]

Figured i would most likely need alot of advise on this so figured i would start a rebuild thread.

At the start of the year i purchased my first bike; a 93 RGV250 VJ22.
The bike had a bit of work done it not long before i brought it like new pistons and full service and came with receipts.
Since then there has hardly been a week when i havent been hooning around on it and have added 12k to the odo.
Coming into to winter i figured i would try and give the bike a full going over to get it ready again for spring/summer

Heres a list of what i plan to do (being updated as i go).
-Replace bottom end (covered in cracks and leaking oil)
-Replace Pistons, head and base gaskets
-Replace chain and sprockets
-Polish all bare metal.
-Re-spray and decal fairings
-Repaint brakes
-Replace thermostat (stuck open)
-Replace indicator relay or possibly LH switch block (i need to find why why indicators are being dicks)

-Buy bling for it and a banana swing arm is on my wishlist.

Heres a few pics:
From when i first got it:






And some with some new fairings for it (91 SP i think):

[Asher]

First thing i did was to strip back all the blue anodised parts on it back to bare metal. Drain cleaner (Draino) did a great job, i tried 2 different type of oven cleaner but they didnt work at all.
Heres a pic of my now polished fuel cap:



On Thursday i picked up a new bottom end for the bike from Imdying.
Its off another 93 but apparently off a restricted model so has a short ratio gear box.

[Asher]

Yesterday i went and brought a dremel to save time on polishing and spent last night sanding and polishing my rear sets:


Today i plan to pull my engine out, start stripping it down and swap the gear box into the new bottom end.
Heres a few pics of it before it all comes apart:







You can see on the last pic the engine oil down the swing arm and onto the tyres side wall and on the expansion chamber.

[tigertim20]

good thread! keep us updated as you go

[Asher]

So engine is out, not the easiest job to do alone.






Heres a mount for the expansion chamber thats broken that i will try and get welded back on this weekend:


Broken mount for the oil reservoir that i will need to get welded back up too:


Heres the thermostat, i have never seen one before other than in pics so could someone tell me if its stuck open? the bike had been running really cool.

[Asher]

Didnt manage to get the gear boxes out over the weekend as i spent way too long extracting a stripped power valve retaining screw.
I did manage to strip the engines down further though and had the covers and cylinders soaking in kerosene and degreaser over night which did a great job of removing carbon from the power valves and exhaust ports and removing alot of grease and oil.

Tonight i plan to prep the exhausts for welding and will probably go over them with a high temp black gloss paint and will look into putting a carbon wrap over my silencers.

I will add more photos tonight as im having trouble uploading them from my phone.

Does anyone have any experience with the cougar power valve mod?
are they worth 120 pound?
And also how much better are the boyesen reeds if at all? Theres nothing wrong with my OEM ones but it seems like one of the easiest places to improve performance and would i need rejetting to suit them?

Thanks

[Sable]

What do you mean 'bottom end is covered in cracks'. Why replace pistons if top end is all good? Do the chain and sprockets really need doing? As for polishing all bare metal, I wouldn't. If your bike gets left outside a bit you'll have white alloy corrosion blooming up. Chinese replica fairings pre-painted are a better bet than getting your standard ones professionally painted, and rattlecans just look shit. I would imagine a close-ratio gear box would be more desirable? Also looks like you just dumped all the fluids from the bike on the ground, sloppy as fuck. Do you have a manual with torque specifications and a torque wrench? Also don't bother with high temperature paint, get the chambers coated with this http://www.hpcoatings.co.nz/ExhaustH...aspx#HiPerCoat .

[Sable]

I also notice the adjustable spanner on the ground. In the trade these are called nutfuckers. Use the right size spanner/socket or don't bother.

[Asher]

What do you mean 'bottom end is covered in cracks'. Why replace pistons if top end is all good? Do the chain and sprockets really need doing? As for polishing all bare metal, I wouldn't. If your bike gets left outside a bit you'll have white alloy corrosion blooming up. Chinese replica fairings pre-painted are a better bet than getting your standard ones professionally painted, and rattlecans just look shit. I would imagine a close-ratio gear box would be more desirable? Also looks like you just dumped all the fluids from the bike on the ground, sloppy as fuck. Do you have a manual with torque specifications and a torque wrench? Also don't bother with high temperature paint, get the chambers coated with this http://www.hpcoatings.co.nz/ExhaustH...aspx#HiPerCoat .

Actually some of what i thought were cracks were casting marks, it did have several cracks around some joins making still worth while to replace and Imdying gave me a reasonable price for it.
Ive done around 12000km on those pistons so im not willing to do much more and risk doing some serious damage to the cylinders.
The sprockets and chain have done similar kms to the pistons and the rear sprocket is buggered with the teeth really worn and pointy.
I have a friend thats able to spray the fairings so i will get him to paint it then look at making some decals made up for it but i am starting to wonder if im just asking for trouble polishing my frame, i might just give it a good clean and spend the money and time on something else.
By short ratio g/b i mean low ratio, apparently the restricted 45hp japanese models used different boxes.

All that grime on the ground is a combination of the last the coolant left in the radiator and from some split fuel from the float bowls onto a dirty engine.

[Sable]

12,000km is not very much for a road bike top end. I had an RG150 with 23,000km and everything was fine, I have a friend with an RGV250 that's done 30,000km on a rebuild. Unless it's rattling and you're losing power through blowby I wouldn't bother?

[Asher]

12,000km is not very much for a road bike top end. I had an RG150 with 23,000km and everything was fine, I have a friend with an RGV250 that's done 30,000km on a rebuild. Unless it's rattling and you're losing power through blowby I wouldn't bother?

Ive been told 15k out of a top end is a lot

[imdying]

It's a short ratio box, not a close ratio one. Don't use that coating, it'll change the characteristics of the pipes, stick with paint. If it's in bits, replace the pistons, they're cheap. Rattlecans only look shit if you do a shitty job, but they are definitely not cost effective. A litre of paint is cheap and goes a long way, a lot further than half a dozen rattle cans which cost more in any case.

[F5 Dave]

. . . i am starting to wonder if im just asking for trouble polishing my frame, i might just give it a good clean and spend the money and time on something else. . .

Yes. seen quite a few attempts that only did a bit of one side.

+1 on the Nix on HPC coating. Not the go on 2 stroke pipes. I've learnt the hard way.

[Asher]

Yes. seen quite a few attempts that only did a bit of one side.

+1 on the Nix on HPC coating. Not the go on 2 stroke pipes. I've learnt the hard way.

I might look into getting the frame and some parts anodized black if the price isnt too much.
Anyone tried POR15 paint? I have used POR15 on other thing before and it came out alright.

[imdying]

Ok, you can't anodize the frame black. The cast and extruded portions of the frame have different silicon content (pretty sure that's it). The cast portions have a higher content to allow the metal to flow into the mold. Long story short, it'll come out patchy and in different shades, and basically look revolting. If you want a black frame, powder coat it or 2 pak paint it. The paint will be glossier, and have a smoother finish, but the powder will take more abuse. For a black frame, powder is the way to go. Or bake enamelling, but the coater will talk through the options with you, you could try the place on Buchan Street, they've done good work for me before.

For the pipes, just use cheap rattle can BBQ paint in satin black. When you decoke the exhausts it'll all fall off, and then you simply spray them again, and off you go

An alternative is to buy a set of Tyga stainless expansion chambers. They're cheap and you can leave them natural finish.

/edit: The reason the factory frame is anodized is because it's a 'natural' finish (or clear if you like). Leave that on there, it gives the frame a much harder surface than it would otherwise have... it won't bother the powder coating anyway