Hi, I am very new to the forum, and have a slight dilemma! Been looking for a TTR250 for quite some time, and viewed quite a few, however a particular one that I am interested in, has me a little concerned! It ticks all the boxes, however the owner has used it during a couple of winters, therefore it has areas of surface rust on the frame etc. Would this be something to worry about? Thanks in advance.
The paint on the frames is very thin and to be honest you wont find one that has no frame rust in places. there is a water trap spot under the seat on the frame rail that catch's mud and hangs wet fames have been known to rust through at that point and snap so its worth a good look in that spot
Welcome to the forum!
As Pug says, surface rust is normal. If the seller will let you take the seat off you can look at the top rails where mud can sit. This also gives you a good idea how the bike has been cared for.
Virtually everything is fixable, so if you like it, there are no nasty engine sounds and the price is sensible, go for it!
Hi, thanks for the welcome. Would the affected area be the rail close to the rear mudguard, what the seat fastens onto? Would this only occur whilst being used off-road, or just general wet weather? Thanks.
Oh dear that doesn't look good! Thank you for the very clear images. Is there anything else I should pay particular attention to of be mindful of when viewing a TTR to with the intention buy. Thanks again.
Hi, if it is just surface rust...would the answer be to have the frame restored? Also is it possible to spray paint the engine, as this also seems to be weathered! Thanks in advance.
If it is just surface rust, wire brush and zinc rich paint will keep it a bay. More important to ride the bike than pretty it up, IMHO! Structural rust is repairable and paintable too. Proper resto involves quite a bit of labour to strip the frame for shot blasting and paint or powder coat, and I wouldn't bother until you have fallen in love with the bike, by which time of course, reason and common sense has flown!
The engines have thin paint as well, but only the bolt heads rust. The rest is aluminium oxidation which is not pretty, but not a big problem, and will not get worse if you ride regularly, clean the bike regularly and spray occasionally with wd40 or ACF50, which will smoke to begin with, but hold the oxidation at bay. Remember: You can't see it while you're riding!
I was just thinking worse case scenario! So if I decided to have the frame restored...obviously it would require a full strip down, then would the process be shot blasting then spray painted or powder coated? As for the engine and cylinder head...would spray painting be the only option for this, or can this be powder coated too? Thanks in advance guys.
Frame: Strip down, shot blast and powder coat would be my suggestion, except that finding an exact colour match for the blue can be a problem (or go for classic black!) As long as nothing else needs replacing (steering yoke and swingarm bearings for eg) it is surprisingly not a long job labour-wise.
Powder coating the engine would normally need a complete strip down - lots of labour - a spray job would be much simpler.