Bandit 250 refurb/ makeover

[LTPC]

With my little bandit starting to look a little tatty I've decided to give it a bit of a refurb. I have no experience of working on bikes but luckily I have the help of someone infinitely more knowledgable than myself, and thought this would also be a good learning opportunity. How hard could it be right....

I got the bike partly because I wanted a cheap, easy way of getting to uni and partly because I just wanted one. It's been a lot of fun to ride and has given me no problems so far but most of the paint is looking a bit tacky and, given the bikes age, a bit of mechanical love probably wouldn't go amiss.

Here's the bike not long after I first got it


So last week I decided to just go for it and start stripping the bike down.
After a bit of fiddling it looked like this...


And then the first problem was found.....A carby slide that wouldn't fully open.

Oh well it's an excuse to take the carby apart and will hopefully lead to a bit more power once it's fixed.

Few more hours work over the next few days and the bike was completely stripped.

Encountered a few more Suzuki quirks along the way, the first being many of the bolts and screws have the consistency of cheese. Ended up drilling a bunch of them off and will replace them with some nice shiny new ones later on.
The second is Suzuki used so much lock tight on the brake disc bolts it was impossible to get them off without snapping a few in the process. Now I have to find someone to get the snapped ones out - any suggestions are welcome.
Lastly I found this crusty bearing...

To be expected I suppose. Will probably order new bearing all round at some point this week.

A few more photos

[LTPC]

More photos

This desperately needs degassing and new oil at least.....


Yuck

More updates to come as I get parts parts painted, clean out the carbs, change fluids and filters, and put everything back together.

[ruaphu]

Nice work, finding all those quirks will help too. The rear shock is a sealed unit, it either works or doesn't. My ole suzie had rust in the headlight, used por15 on it, worked a treat, no further rusting.

BTW, do give the wiring loom a good once over for any damage. If ya gonna retape it use something really good like 3M high voltage tape, its made to withstand all weathers and it doesnt come off or go slimly like the usual generic electric insulation tape. It's expense but does not come off..... Ever. Get it from electrical suppliers, about $12 a roll.

Have fun.


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