GZ250 Cafe Conversion

[ruxpin76]

UPDATE: 10/23/11

Well, this project was obviously on hold for a while... My wife bought me a Honda (*GASP*) CBR250 so we could ride 2-up at highway speeds (and I'm a sportbike guy anyhow, though I like cafes, standards, and liked the GZ as a cruiser). I've also been working at a machine shop (now unemployed...) and putting my own roof on. All that said, it's time to get back to the GZ. It will be my fall/winter project. The nice thing is that with the weather here in NC, testing in Dec/Jan/Feb is still sometimes an option.

So, here's the plan.

* New straight spine welded into the GZ's original frame.
* New "clean" lower rail from fork tube to the engine lower to get rid of the old footpeg slag...
* Monoshock conversion in the rear (tabs welded on the flat on the GZ's original swingarm going to the straight spine
* Angled carb bootie to clear monoshock, and canister filter.
* Dual exhaust fabricated from 2 stock exhausts
* Custom rearsets
* Wiring cleanup with new AGM battery in tail section
* New tank (Honda CB350 70's era) and new tail (custom fiberglass) and new seat (plywood and naugahyde...)

Will post pics as work develops. I think it should progress much more quickly now that I still have 2 rideable wheels, and less racing go kart paraphenalia cluttering the garage. Stay tuned! This thread's not dead yet....It just turned into a newt. It'll get better....

[Water Warrior 2]

A CBR 250 !! Sounds like your wife is a biker at heart. You are truly blessed.

The GZ project sounds like a lot of work. The results should be interesting with a monoshock and other major changes. Keep us posted.

[ruxpin76]

^^ Re: my wife, when she saw the CBR600's at $9000, and CBR750,1000's up around $12K, the $4K price tag for the CBR250 was more palatable. We paid cash and rolled it out the door for mid $4K... I've already broken it in, and am somewhere around 900 mi. for the 2 mos. I've had it. It handles UNBELIEVABLY well, and it's nice to be able to get outta' the way when needed. The GZ is nice for around town cruising, however, and lower speed backroads. I'll post smaller cellphone pics here as progress continues...

For those into cafes and sportbike custom work, check out FrameCrafters, as seen on Cafe Racer TV and Magazine...

[spicciani]

I am waiting on your solution to the rear sets .

[Wigginton49]

Any progress on this. I'm doing the same thing right now.

[ruxpin76]

OK OK finally some progress....Barely looks like a GZ now. HEre's a link to the FB pic:

https://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-as ... 8990_n.jpg

The plan is to add brackets for the shocks (they're just sitting there now), then add some rear facing tabs for a seperate tail section like the sportbikes do. If I find a cheap rear section for a sportbike, I may snag it and make my own fiberglass mold a la cafe... More pics soon.

RE: the CBR250, I'm up to 3000 mi. and haven't found it's limits (other than top speed on highway) yet.... Hopefully I never will as finding the limits usually means exceeding them.

Please keep me posted on other conversions going on, and I promise I'll have more regular updates now.
Cheers, ~Ted

[Water Warrior 2]

If those are the GZ stock shocks I have my doubts that they will work very well. The swing arm will have far too much leverage and compress them very easily. Of course you will find out for sure in a short time.

[PimpS]

Nice job ruxpin76! It's a pleasure to observe and read about art!
Keep up the good work!

PimpS

[ruxpin76]

I plan on using different shocks and possibly a linkage setup to change ratio instead of the stock ones. They're just there to illustrate concept...

[Water Warrior 2]

You are thinking quite a bit ahead of me. Sounds interesting.