Rgv250 Restoration Thread

[Snowcat]

As some of you may already know I recently acquired a Suzuki RGV250 VJ22 from a (ahem) mutual friend and my intention is to completely restore this to it's original factory beauty. Whilst she is not in bad condition as such several years of being stood with not a wheel turned outside under a cover and a canopy she is in need of some TLC. I've been on the lookout for a project bike for a while I was looking for either an Italian V-twin (a Duc) or an old 2 stroke (RD)which needed nursing back to health but looking for either within my price range were too messed up to contemplate and would have cost far too much to repair or done and out of my price range. My blade is all the bike I need or want and having cleaned bits and made a few modifications she is pretty much as perfect as could be but I however still have an itch that needs scratching and have to mess with something. 

Then fortune shone on me one day having innocently mentioned I was on the lookout, a friend commented that they had something that might be of interest and whilst not quite Italian or an RD it ticked the boxes of being 2 in the stroke and cylinder. A few phone calls, visits, to-ing and fro-ing, begging to mrs Snowcat and here we are.

I'm at the start of a very long journey, there is No time limit on the completion of this but I do want to do a thorough job and achieve a very high standard of finish. Whilst I have bought this for selfish reasons there is an ulterior motive that I'm Making an effort to get my son involved and get him off the xbox/laptop/tablet or whatever and get him an interest, when I was his age I was stripping engines and it did me no harm and he's looking forward to the challenge. 

We will be making notes as we go and I will post progress on here but please don't expect daily updates, we're in for the long haul, and here she is..

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[Snowcat]

And here is the first little update as well just as a teaser, having dropped tho old oil and sourced a less leaky tank she took here first breaths for a while, she sounds really well considering her lay up and now that I've satisfied myself she runs I can start to break her down knowing that if she doesn't run when she goes back together then more than likely it's something I've done. 

[robertcains]

Looking good Steve, what a fantastic project!
Does the Suzuki have a dry sump or is there some Japanese wizardry in such a powerful two stroke?
Watching this thread with interest & enjoyment, keep them pics coming.

[Rosco]

Looking good Steve. Runs as smooth as mine

[Snowcat]

Looking good Steve, what a fantastic project!
Does the Suzuki have a dry sump or is there some Japanese wizardry in such a powerful two stroke?
Watching this thread with interest & enjoyment, keep them pics coming.

Gotta be honest Nick.... I don't know. I assume so but as much as I know my way around engines and mechanics in general, I know exactly nothing about this bike, it's a total learning curve for me which I think is half the fun (or nightmare!!)

[Snowcat]

Looking good Steve.  Runs as smooth as mine

If yours was this smooth it wouldn't have tried to spit oil over me Ross, smell the 2 stroke, she smokes good

[robertcains]

Unless I'm mistaken most 2 strokes don't have a wet sump so no oil changes, maybe it was gearbox oil you changed in which light I'd be careful what oil you have used mate?
Been many years since I owned a 2 stroke so I'm sure someone better educated than me will put us straight lol.

[Guest]

Nice one! Look forward to the updates. Makes me wanna start my own project lol.

[BlueZed]

What a great project! I'd love to do something like that one day with one of my sons.
Better tell them to start saving up already   

I'll be following this thread with great interest   

btw... just found the RGV250 service manual as a PDF online... in case you don't have it yet it's here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

[Snowcat]

Now I understand what you mean Nick and you're right, just a specialist gear oil is normally used, rock oil or similar, you can get away with a decent quality 10W40 engine oil but to be honest that's a chance I won't be taking.

[stretchie_]

Fantastic, looking forward to this, my mate is coming to the end of a TRZ250 rebuild.

We recently got it fired up

Crazy frog rides again ding dingading ding