Bought a collection of parts that once resembled a Japanese 400cc

Lopéz

Lopéz

Lopéz

Man of Honour
Joined
17 Oct 2002
Posts
29,239
Location
Ottakring, Vienna.
Honestly I don't know why I sign myself up for this sort of grief.

1980-something Yamaha FZR400 "bitsa", finally all my OWO1 fantasies have (sort of) come true:

FZR1.jpg


FZR2.jpg


FZR3.jpg


Excuse the sophisticated anti-hydration devices courtesy of Asda & Morrisons (OTHER SUPERMARKETS ARE AVAILABLE)

This is a right old mix of parts. From what I can work out it's a combination of 3EN1 and 3EN2 bits, not all of which work in complete harmony.

Frame, logbook, engine, forks, swingarm, tank cover, brakes (ie almost everything) - 3EN1
Plastics & subframe - 3EN2
Headlight annoyingly is 3EN1 which means it looks odd in the 3EN2 fairing.

The good:
It runs. After a bit of coaxing and tinkering it sounds lovely and sweet actually
It's not bent/crashed
Someone spent money on it - forks, front wheel, swingarm, triple clamps and a few other bits are all nicely powder coated, lots of stainless bolts
No evidence of having been down the road - engine covers, pegs, engine cradle etc all very nice
Exup valve works
Got a box of bits with clocks and some other bits like the mudguard

The bad:
Missing rear light plastics
Missing pillion pad
Missing battery box
Missing seat bracketry
Missing screen
Missing left switchgear
Calipers horribly siezed
Plastics all cracked/broken/scuffed/broken tabs/bits missing

Job 1:
Fuel tank was battered and the paint all coming off. Sanded back, filled all dents, primed, sanded again and now ready for top coat:

FZR4.jpg


When my whitemorph arrives I'll see about patching up the fairings, and I have some replacement brakes on the way.

Let's see how it goes :o
 
Hnnnnnnngggggg!!!!! These little Jap 4 cylinders are silly awesome bikes, that 13k redline is enough to make anyone want to wring the thing to within an inch of its life every time you click the gear lever up a notch. Extremely highly strung and require loads of maintenance but if properly taken care of will never let you down and will be the most fun you can have on public roads. Yes a liter bike is fun but you're generally at license losing speeds in first gear whereas these will scream like banshees with all the drama and theater but still at legal (and much safer) speeds. If I'm not mistaken these are oversquare pistons as well so make sure you check your oil twice as often as you would any other bike.


These are the only things that come close to a 250cc two stroke in terms of fun, although I really want a CBR250RR, that 20k redline is hilarious.



I can't remember where I read it / saw it but the story behind these little bikes which are over-engineered to ridiculous levels is that in the 90s the Japanese government classed anything over 400cc as a heavy motorcycle, which brought with it all sorts of implications for both rider and manufacturer, which they did right as sports bikes were starting to explode in terms of popularity, thereby creating an extremely competitive scene amongst the manufacturers to make the most technologically advanced bikes possible under 400cc, which is why we had loads of little screamers with double discs, fuel injection, upside down forks, fully adjustable shocks, etc. If I had the space I'd probably collect these little monsters, absolutely love them.
 
I'd love a CBR250RR but they are not cheap or easy to come by. Incredible little bikes though.

Today's adventure:

Wrong lights:
FZR5.jpg


Right lights:
FZR6.jpg


I'm not sure which I actually prefer, I quite liked it with the wrong lights :o
 
Oh well, they were only £20 and now I can have the choice. Not like it's going anywhere soon.

Tank is now white, needs masking up and then the red can go on. I'm not the best painter but I hope I can get something passable.
 
Started looking at the wiring loom today. At some point this was obviously destined to be a track bike, as someone has removed bits of the wiring loom but not all of it. I hate wiring so this is going to be fun!
 
Malt_Vinegar said:
You can do it! Wiring is just about being methodical, labelling as you go and get a decent set of crimpers.
Great project! I am in the hunt for my first bigger bike as if today. Very jealous!
Click to expand...
You know what mate, I'm glad you posted this - because I went away and thought about it and knocked up a very simple test lamp rig and whaddaya know:

FZR6.jpg


Figured out the horn, indicators, brake light switches, tail lights, headlights, pass light, starter button and the kill switch - so now I can make my own lighting loom.
The only parts I need to map back to the bike are the ignition/kill and the starter button - the rest of it is sorted.

I've ordered a universal indicator relay and picked up some wire, so now I just need to assemble the loom making sure I leave in some free tails for the instrument tell-tales.

FZR7.jpg


I'll relay the headlamps too, since they are dual H4s.
 
Quick update:

The rear master cylinder was in a foul state, and I discovered it's actually cheaper to buy a whole new one than to recondition the old one myself.

FZR8.jpg


This is now fitted and awaiting bleeding & connection to the rear pedal. I'll need a rear brake switch as someone has removed the factory one.

The same was true of the rear caliper, so let's have a new one of those too:

FZR9.jpg


The finish on these reconditioned calipers is never amazing, but I think it's good enough. The gold is a bit bright to be honest.

Whilst on the topic of brakes, my R6 calipers arrived, they are in almost perfect condition - gave them a quick wipe down with brake cleaner and they are ready to go on. Complete bargain for £40!

FZR10.jpg


They are a direct swap, so a really easy upgrade - but I'll probably want some custom flexis made up at some point to make sure these slightly longer hoses don't foul the fairing.

Finally the wiring is progressing. It might not look it, but this is a fully functioning lighting loom!

FZR11.jpg
 
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Yep, it's laid out on the bike now and I've started to wrap it with loom tape and started fitting connectors. My clocks have arrived now so I can figure out what I need to get the idiot lights fully functional. I've already worked out the indicator and main beam tell tales, and the clocks are always illuminated so that's one less connection. Neutral switch feed I've identified from the bike loom.

The clocks have provision for a gear position indicator but the bike doesn't, so I'm not sure whether to try and rig something up or just leave that feature redundant.
 
Cheers, definitely something to consider!

Fairing annoyance today. As I said earlier, the bike is a 3EN1 but the fairing is 3EN2. Luckily it came with the right fairing stay, but annoyingly the 3EN2 had different forks and clip ons below the top yoke - the 3EN1 has them above the yoke, so a 3EN2 fairing on a 3EN1 means the bars and controls hit the fairing, which is a no-no.
So, I need to move the clip ons below the yoke, and fiddle around with the master cylinder mountings etc to get everything clear.

You can see why people give up with projects like this, what starts as a good idea often ends up as a money/effort pit.
 
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