73 250WR Rider/Racer Rebuild

[toolguy1]

I thought I would post up some pics as I go thru this barnfind 250WR to put it back into a competitive form once again. Here's how she looked when I brought her home, vines and all......haha

I'm currently in the teardown phase. This bike belonged to an old friend of mine who used to race with us in the mid seventies. He bought this bike new and has kept it for some 40+ years. It last ran 20 years ago and was parked with 1/2 tank of gas still in it...........Here we go!

 

[justintendo]

looks pretty complete..it will be interesting to see what the motor is like after sitting..post lots of pics!

 

[toolguy1]

Got the suspension parts disassembled, cleaned and the rear shocks checked and repainted. I had to build a tool to hold the damper rod in one of the forks to stop it from spinning. Just a quick little "nuisance" job since I have access to a full machine shop. Got the new seals ordered, just need to clean up the legs to get ready for paint now.

Here's a sample of the goodies that came with the ol' girl........
Most still in the original packaging...........

 

[toolguy1]

Also got the frame sandblasted, sanded and cleaned. Then 3 coats Duplicolor Aluminum paint.........looks really nice as compared to a few days ago.........

 

[troy deck]

dang look at the goodies... i miss Preston Petty 14 bucks for that head light boy dont you wish you could buy that 2 day 4 that

 

[toolguy1]

Back to work on the '73. This is how the wheels looked prior to cleanup/polish and hub repaint..........lots of years of neglect.

The new seals, decals and air filter came in from Vintage Husky. Also received a new seat cover for the project. Forks have now been rebuilt, painted and remounted and the new seat cover installed. Got her to the "roller" phase now.

 

[disonny]

Nice work!! Looks like your rolling along pretty fast

 

[toolguy1]

Thanks!........Moving along pretty good and enjoying the project. It's fun seeing the old girl start to shine like she should.

 

[toolguy1]

I had a seal leaking on the shifter so I removed the clutch cover after draining the tranny oil. Surprisingly the old oil looked very good. No sign of moisture after 20 years of sitting and hardly any residue in the oil. Removing the clutch cover revealed a very clean clutch and other internals.

Knocked out the old shifter seal and replaced it with a new one. Removed the head to find a nice clean bore and everything in spec for a standard bore! Great news there. Buttoned everything back up and finished up the prep for engine paint and applied 3 coats of Duplicolor Semi Gloss Black engine paint.
I completely sanded and prepped the gas tank for paint. Then using 3 coats of etching primer and 4 coats of Duplicolor Cherry Red the tank turned out pretty darn nice. In the pic I still haven't polished the chrome panels or done the white pin stripes around the chrome. Anyway, this is how the paint looked.............

Waiting on carb parts from Bing to come in. Almost ready to fire the old girl up..............

 

[justintendo]

amazing how the internals of that motor look like the 80s bikes..or even the later four strokes..that husky dna ran pretty deep. just keep evolving the same design and refining it. pretty cool

 

[toolguy1]

Ok, I'm still waiting on a couple of parts from Bing to come in but I couldn't resist a few shots of the finished results. I gotta admit I'm pretty proud of her as I have never tried this level of rebuild before.


You've got to remember, this is where I started........

 

[Chayzed Pilot]

That is a cool bike. Please do something with the front fender. It detracts from the bike.

 

[toolguy1]

Finally got the carb parts in from Bing today. Two hours later and after only 3 kicks she roared to life after twenty years of sitting silent. It ran perfectly, good power and shifts thru all the gears easily. The only thing I didn't realize is the old drum brakes don't stop nearly as well as the discs on the 449. haha

 

[Team WR]

"That is a cool bike. Please do something with the front fender. It detracts from the bike"

And zip ty the preston petty front light/number plate on it....

Team WR

 

[jimspac]

You can use Rust-Oleum white plastic paint and do a nice job on the airbox. Of course salvage the sticker from it first

 

[vintagecs]

The duplicolor etching primer and paint, how resistant to gas is it? Do you also need to clear-coat?

 

[toolguy1]

I would definitely use the clear coat, I'm not sure how the paint would hold up without it. So far mine is holding up nicely but I am careful filling it and hardly ever get gas on the tank.

 

[suprize]

amazing job, very cool for that model (im not sure about the front fender either....)