Hi all, Nice to be here!
Here are some pics of my GPX 250R that I bought 2 years ago. In hindsight, buying a non-runner off eBay without first seeing it was a bold move for someone who's never done any mechanics...
Anyway, it looked pretty OK when it turned up... until I started taking the fairings off. The rear shock was dust, both mufflers had holes in them, the fuel tank was rusty and had been poorly repaired after a previous owner added an "air-flow mod" using the wrong fairing bolt(!), the front fairing has fluid damage caused by the same, the carbs were full of jelly, the swingarm and centre-stand were completely rusty and the battery was dead.
But, considering the bike had been off the road for 7 years and was complete, it was a reasonable but daunting place to start. The first thing I did was locate the obvious parts needed: rear shock, swingarm, battery, oil filter, carb kit, spark plugs, front bulb, centre stand, mufflers, chain and sprockets. Having stripped the carbs I decided an ultrasonic cleaner was also needed.
To cut a long story short, I replaced all the parts above and had to clean the carbs 3 times... each time you could tell the bike was getting closer to starting and the 3rd time I separated them and found that some additional rubbers needed replacing and there gunk I hadn't managed to remove previously. Finally, I got the bike started and booked a mechanic to do the brake pads and lines and give it a onceover before taking it for its MOT (the annual UK roadworthiness test) which it failed
BUT this was only due to the rear brake bulb filament which I overlooked (doh!) so it passed the same day and was back on the road for the first time in 7 years - that was a pretty special moment!
It's been tucked away all winter and my jobs for this year are to i) sort a cold-start issue and ii) upgrade the front suspension.
But I love the bike and think it looks pretty special!