86 250r resto just about there

[vintagemotorsports]

here are some updated pics of the 86 250r i am building just got the wheels back from the anodizer and polisher came out killer just need to get the front master mounted and bled and some odds and ends and its done , shop full of projects waiting in line . enjoy Mike

[Dirtcrasher]

Hi Mike, unbelievable work, yet AGAIN!!

I know you've been stockpiling parts for years, but I'm still amazed at these restorations you come up with. Your are part of an elite few people that pull this stuff off.

Thanks for sharing.... You make us all drool :lol:

[Orangecnty250r]

Sweet the anodized wheels look great!!!!!!

[brapp]

wow looks killer!

[userj8670]

wow...thats all i got to say.

[saleen_n_around]

Very very impressive.....job well done...

[Blown 331]

Amazing. I'm thinking something like that could be sold on ebay as a NOS bike! Can you imagine what that would bring. Wow.

[userj8670]

Forgive the dumb question but what did you do to get those shrouds and tank so shiney....its got a great look and stance but what really caught my attention was that tank! Where are you located if you dont mind me asking:)

[dirtface]

Mike, You say you have a shop full of projects. It cannot be cheap to restore a trike to your degree. I don't restore, I would say that I make a nice/clean trike out of mine, and I have alot of money into mine. Is there really that much demand for it?

[vintagemotorsports]

the shrouds are brand new Honda OEM and the tank was a real nice low hour original that i wetsanded down to 4000 grit wet and machine polished came out like glass, I am from princeton MA

[sandpuppi101]

Forgive the dumb question but what did you do to get those shrouds and tank so shiney....its got a great look and stance but what really caught my attention was that tank! Where are you located if you dont mind me asking:)


I would'nt call it a dumb question but I'd have to say that the part's ,including the tank just came out of there orginal packaging knowing Mike..

Mike I think it's awesome to hear that you have a line of machine's to get to,I too would like to know if you have the demand still ,like Dirtcrasher asked ?? The R look's great - wheel's look great,the tank look's great..You sure set the bar high for me I gotta tell ya..Keep it up !!

[vintagemotorsports]

thanks guys,
the dhrouds are new OEM the tank is an original 86 tank that I hand sanded down to 4000 wet and machine polished it came out pretty nice it was a real nice original tank to start with . As far as demand for this type of stuff Yea its still pretty busy but remember I am a one man show so it really doesnt take a huge number of bikes to fill mt scedule up I would say i average around 20 bikes a year mainly ATCs but I do alot of early Honda dirt bikes and minis also If I had a crew of guys to keep busy might be a little harder in these times . I also have an excavating company that i run in the warm months and plow snow in the winter so I spread my self out enough where I am not dependant on just this one form of income so i stay pretty busy . I am wondering what the next 5 years or so will bring to this sport / hobby parts supplys are drying up like crazy and even the most common parts are becoming disc every day . I have invested a ton of money over the past year retooling Parts mainly on the early US90s but I think to stay moving foward thats what is going to have to happen.
thanks for all your comments Mike

[atctim]

Mike - did you find that parts were easier to find for this restore? Seems that there should me more NOS parts for this particular machine - then say a US90 or the earlier ATC 250Rs.

[oscarmayer]

that is one seriuosly sexy machine there!!! that's what I call "Sex on wheels" (next to my STi of course. ;) )

[userj8670]

Mike, what sand paper did you start off with and what polishing compound did you use? I would like to try that on my clarke tank for my sx. I cant stop looking at that tank!! Thanks in advance!!:)

[rdlsz24]

Holy nice! Like a time machine back to the showroom in '86 lol

Rob

[vintagemotorsports]

to sand the tank I would not start with anything lower than say a 800 grit wet , the problem with starting to low is being plastic it will scratch up real bad and makes it real hard to get them out later on , I know its tempting because you can cut out all the gouges real quick but you will add alot of finish work . I nice little tool I use is a hutchkins waterbug its a air powered DA sander that has a water feed on it and you can use there special paper and on the the finer grits they do offer a 1-2 and 4 thousand grit sanding foam pad witch works good to conform around the edges , it is a ton of work but the more time you spend with the high grit paper the easier and nicer the final polish will be . I use a 3m micro finishing compound its the same stuff we use on all out paint jobs as a compound after a wetsand use a black foam pad on a conventional buffer/grinder be carefull not to heat up the plastic too much as it will burn and turn black. once your done with that make sure you give the tank a real good bath in soap and water to get any remaining compound off, I final polish with 3m finnesse it polish and a black foam pad you can do this over and over till you get the shine you want but as you saw in my tank you can get it real nice with a little time .


Mike

[saleen_n_around]

Mike, thanks for the description of your process, it sure looks like the work pays off! That is very generous of you to offer up a tip of the trade, but I am sure it prob will help cut down on the number of PMs you are getting about polishing out peoples' parts!

[dreadhed]

I nice little tool I use is a hutchkins waterbug its a air powered DA sander that has a water feed on it

I've been thinking about getting one of those for a while. I'm guessing you'd recommend them?

Another nice restore to!! Your work is all ways nice to look at.

[vintagemotorsports]

yes I highley recomend that sander works real nice and gives a more consistant sand than hand sanding without the finger marks . nice toy to have Mike

[userj8670]

Mike - Thanks so much for that description!! Really appreciate it. How many hours would you say are in that tank? I would guess 10?

[vintagemotorsports]

that tank there Yea I would quess around 10 total . I bounce around so much between jobs its hard to know exactley but that sounds about right . and this was a real nice tank to start with . Mike

[userj8670]

that tank there Yea I would quess around 10 total . I bounce around so much between jobs its hard to know exactley but that sounds about right . and this was a real nice tank to start with . Mike

Any tank can be nice....just takes more prep work lol:beer

[ride_red_95]

thats so nice, looks like brand new

[ATCeeya]

Thats amazing

[86 250r]

That is the best resto I have seen in a while on a water pumper. Keep up the good work.