Featured New Project Gt

I’m picking this German import GT250A tomorrow, I had a 250A when I was 17 so it’s a nostalgia trip!, note the German market rear mudguard and incorrect GT380 front mudguard, apart from that it appears to be relatively untouched, I’m not going to do a rivet count though, just get it tidy & rideable.

 

Ha, yes I remember those days, people cutting tread into bald tyres with soldering irons etc, we were poor but happy!, yes if it is a GT380 it’s for a 19 inch, I’ll try to source the correct mudguard at some point, but like anything to do with 2 strokes I get the feeling it won’t come cheap!

 

Well picked it up today and so far so good, engine mechanically quiet, starts first kick, nice tick over, forks are leaking but that’s par for the course!, found two tiny breaks in the chrome on the stanchions so they will be the cause, I’ll repair temporarily with araldite and smooth them over, fit new seals, then over winter I’ll send them to be rechromed, no nasty surprises so far but I’m sure there will be

 

Snags so far;
Clutch dragging so much it stalled the engine when put into first gear
Fix- Pushed the bike up and down the driveway a couple of times pulling the clutch in and out, eventually it freed off, doesn’t drag at all now, I have now oiled/greased the clutchactuator, oiled the clutch cable, changed the engine oil, the clutch now seems good (but I’ve only ridden in 1st on the driveway so far).

Front brake light switch not working.
Fix- disassembled the switch,removed 40 plus years of crud, made a new bridging contact, now works fine.

Clutch lever clamp bolt broken
Fix- fitted new clamp bolt

Engine very smoky on startup.
Fix- 2 stroke oil in CCI tank siphoned out, a clear thin oil, might’ve been 2 stroke oil, might’ve been 3 in one! , I replaced it with Silkolene oil designed for CCI, now much less Smokey, not sure if the oil check valve for the RH cylinder is sticking a bit though, still seems to smoke a little too much on the RH exhaust on startup, it soon clears so I’ll leave that until it’s been run on the Silkolene for a while and see what happens.

Left rear indicator bulb blown
Fix- replaced bulb.

Indicator switch, the bit you presswas missing
Fix- made one out of a lump of black nylon, need to source an original item

Loads to do but so far no nasty surprises, not saying there won’t be any!

 

It could be Dave , I’m hoping not of course because that’s more work, it smells/looks like 2 stroke smoke & clears after the first minute of running so with any luck will be the oil line check valve for that cylinder allowing 2 stroke oil through overnight, but it certainly could be either!

 

Today’s improvement was to fit a sidestand, it was killing me lifting it onto the centre stand!, designed before they invented the “step on lever”, couldn’t find a GT250A one so took a punt on a cheap GS750 one , fits perfectly!
Also I took it for a quick 1st and second gear ride on a “private road”, the smoke has cleared up, must’ve been all the starts & running on tick over that was causing a buildup of 2 stroke oil, anyway a successful day, now she’s in the garage having a rest.


PS the wooden blocks are there to keep it upright, it gives me more space to walk past in the garage.

 

The front brake was dragging a bit, so I disassembled the calliper, sliders ok, pumped the piston out a bit, looked good, then it wouldn’t push back in again!, put a clamp across it, felt hydraulically locked, this must be a master cylinder issue I thought, anyway I undid the bleed nipple, pushed the piston back, then bled the system, now it works perfectly, my best guess is there was a blockage in the oil return in the master cylinder that was dislodged when I bled it,anyway it works now so that’ll do!.

 

Today’s improvement was to put the battery on charge , I’ve checked the charging system with a multi meter and it works (on a 45 year old selenium rectifier), but I’m not riding it so giving it a boost.

 

I like to start with “today’s improvement” but today it’s “today’s bodge”, a temporary repair to the fork stanchions before sending away for rechroming in the winter, I’m fitting new seals tomorrow so that I can get it MOT’d in a few weeks time.
Several pits in the chrome which have sliced the seals causing the forks to leak.

Fix - Go over the edges of the pits with a fine oil stone, and then 1800 grit Emery paper, then 2000 grit to smooth the edges.
Degrease with carb cleaner.
Mask off then apply Araldite, smooth down with 1800 grit then 2000 grit.
The end result is visible but absolutely smooth, it’s impossible to feel the repair once it’s smoothed so the new seals when fitted should be fine, here’s all the right photos, not necessarily in the right order.

 

Doh, the fork seals are the wrong depth, I’ve contacted the seller, the ones they sent are 10.5mm deep but the ones in my bike are 12.5mm deep, I’ve emailed the seller.

 

Has to be a 10mm, there aren’t any other spanner sizes are there?

 

Did nowt today but found this useful link , putting it on here in case anyone else gets a GT250A, plus there’s some interesting stuff on other old Suzuki’s on the homepage.
https://www.oldjapanesebikes.com/mr...YFgPRe_Lavml2QQAgLSHQaOo1oj6iLhUfo4WlVAKWGfsc

PS if you’re using a touchscreen you can just tap between the pages in the manuals.

 

Fork seals done, I didn’t want to take the stanchions out of the bike because that would mean having to faff about removing the headlamp and brackets which are supported by the stanchions, easy enough, for anyone doing a GT250A it’s 15w oil and only 145cc’s per leg, seems a really small amount but it’s correct.

 

It’s now the same as the one I had when 17 colour wise, I’ve used rattle cans and it’s not too bad, still needs a polish up with 1200 and fine cutting compound, nostalgia overload here for me!