A forum for owners of Yamaha TTR250 trail and enduro bikes!

FBRConcepts · Veteran Member

Just finished a mini restoration on my father's TTR250

leigh · Senior Member

That looks great, love the design of the white side stickers, nice work.

threshold · Senior Member

Very tidy mate. Nice work.

pricey · Senior Member

Looks great! Good job. How scuffed up were the plastics? I've got an ordinary looking front mudguard I want to tackle. Not sure if I should just buy a new one?

FBRConcepts · Veteran Member

For the front fender I'd buy a new one, not worth the work as cheap as they are.. The tank, rear fender and side panels on the other hand are a small fortune and hard to find it seemed, worth the time investment.

If the scratches are deep it's a lot of work as you have to start with a 320 grit and work up through a 2500 and then a dry wool buffing wheel. The thinner plastics are more difficult than the tank for some reason. If the scratches are minor I'd hit it with a wool buff wheel First to get the shine and then locally work any scratches to save yourself a lot of time and work.. once you start you're committed, so be sure you're in for a few days of sanding and buffing.. for me I thought I made a mistake about half way through... But I pushed through it and the end result was rewarding. I certainly underestimated the whole job thinking i'd knock it out in a day.. 3 days later I was finally ready to put the decals on..hahaha..

Chris

TTRfan · Super Guru

You have done a magnificent job on your father's TTR Chris - a hard act to follow!

Buffing plastics is time consuming. It is possible to short cut it by using a heat gun to heat the plastic just enough for the surface to melt and get a shine wink

Getting the decal to fit on the RH (exhaust) side panel is beyond my skills because of the panel's double curvature. I get a mate to do that one for me who uses the kettle of hot water method biggrin

Brian

TerryK · Super Guru

Very nice looking TTR, good job

Terry

FBRConcepts · Veteran Member

TTRfan wrote:
You have done a magnificent job on your father's TTR Chris - a hard act to follow!
Buffing plastics is time consuming. It is possible to short cut it by using a heat gun to heat the plastic just enough for the surface to melt and get a shine
Getting the decal to fit on the RH (exhaust) side panel is beyond my skills because of the panel's double curvature. I get a mate to do that one for me who uses the kettle of hot water method
Brian

Brian,

I tried the heat method and I probably was doing it wrong because I got uneven finish after the fact and it was splotchy.. the buffing sanding definitely gave the best finish and I figured I might as well. My father has never had a brand new dirt bike, he's always owned second hand and he was so busy with work that he never had time to really make them how he wanted.. three kids and a business to run that was open 6 days a week left little time. He is 75 this year and we found this bike in ok shape for $1500 and in need of a few things. After finding this site I was inspired by you and others that had rejuvenated your TT-R's to at least present him with a bike that needed nothing and looked like he was the first to throw a leg over.. none of the new offerings would be comfortable it seemed so the TT-R was a perfect fit!!

You are right, the exhaust side panel was a bear but with a great gun and some patience it went on without too much headache! Getting the pattern was the more difficult part..I finally just got it close but with generous edges and fired the sheet with the straight edge on the white blue anele reveal.. then used an exact to trim the edges leaving a 1/4" blue edge reveal. Made it easier and less technical!

Now on to all the mechanical maintenance with the help of the forum!!!

Thanks to all for the kind words!

ttr steve · Super Guru

Very nice work Chris

Have you got much mechanical work to do??

FBRConcepts · Veteran Member

ttr steve wrote:
Very nice work Chris
Have you got much mechanical work to do??

Steve,

Had quite a bit and a bit left still.. I did all the rear suspension bearings now, both wheel bearings, steering head bearings, new front a rear tires, new chain and sprockets, front and rear brake rebuild with new pads, new fuel pet****, 32mm oko carb conversion, and now need to make a spacers for it.

Things left, front fork rebuild, seals, bushings, thorough cleaning, new fluid and adding a 5mm preload sorting shim), tuning the suspension, adding an oxygen sensor bung to the new FMF exhaust and installing the innovate wideband sensor and gauge kit for tuning in the oko 32mm carb.

Then taking Dad on a maiden voyage trail ride!

Looking forward to it!

Chris