(upbeat music)
- I'm Mark and I rode down to the bike shed today on my
Honda XLR250 Baja.
So I bought the bike about a year and a half ago from eBay
and it was sort of a fairly typical red and white,
late 1980's Honda Scrambler 250.
I enjoyed riding it so much that Summer
that I ended up delaying the build.
So I only actually started kicking things off
about January of this year.
So, the original bike was sort of standard Scrambler.
Rode really well. It had all the right components.
And I'd been down here and seen what people had been doing
and sort of looking online
and thought this is a really cool thing to do.
I'd previously had sort of Cafe Racers and heavier bikes
and I like the idea of something that was lighter
and a bit easier to handle.
So I started with a bike that I enjoyed riding
and sort of moved on from there.
To take it from the 1980's, 1990's, through to the 1970's.
And my idea is, get the colors right
and then move on and remove every bit of plastic.
So that's really where I started.
I stripped off all the plastic, had a look at it,
what I needed to do.
Change some of the geometry of the rear sub-frame.
So that's involved cutting down the hair
and then bending under heat to get the back down properly.
There was a small rear sub-frame that came up here.
That came off.
Put a straight bar through.
And then I had sort of a straight line to work with.
So I put this sort of vintage tank on.
Then had a seat made by Get Leathered up North near Glossop
and also, a matching handlebar pad.
So I went through the rest of the bike
and then looked at how I'd either
replace or remanufacture all of the bits.
So as you go from the front,
didn't do too much with the front wheel,
although one of the key things was putting braided lines on
just because obviously they look better.
The tires, front and rear, were looking a little bit tired.
Tires are sort of the main part of the character of the bike
so pretty obviously went for the Continental TKC80's
which everyone seems to go for, but they do look cool
and do the job nice and nobally.
The original mud-guard obviously came off
and I managed to source one on there online in steal.
It was actually chrome, so I had to de-chrome it,
fill the holes.
And I got that sprayed later on and had it sort of
manufactured and mounted up here.
This part of the bike actually is why I bought the bike.
Which is sort of unique to the Baja style,
which is obviously the twin headlights
in this sort of, encased in this frame.
I actually sanded down the frame
and then polished it up.
It's got a few nicks and dings,
but I quite like the patina.
This is a 30 year old bike
which is meant to look 40 plus years old
so you don't want it looking box fresh.
I managed to source these grills, which I think,
should have been on a Harley Davidson maybe,
but they managed to fit.
New indicators, cast iron aluminum,
just to look a bit cooler.
The thing I guess I'm most proud of on the front end
is the new speedo which is a Nofs Honda item from,
I guess, the mid-70's.
And it works perfectly with a speedometer calibration.
Even the wiring was the same color
as the original bike's speedometer wiring.
So it was relatively easy to wire up.
All I had to do was manufacture a relatively simple
aluminum bracket for it.
As part of my voyage against getting rid of all plastic,
just little things, like stripping off the old choke knob,
which was broken anyway.
Putting a nice aluminum one on.
Obviously, new controls, brake fluid reservoir,
also put new handlebars on it with a brace that was in
chrome because I wanted to mix up the black and silver.
The new tank, as I mentioned, obviously I've had that
sprayed up in this sort of gun medal color
same as the front mud guard.
Had it done as a one off and unfortunately,
one thing that I hadn't legislated for,
was the fact that the primer that was on the tank
was not 2 pack.
And what's happened is, unfortnately,
some of the fuel has come under the primer, dissolved that
and so the tanks gonna have to be resprayed,
which is a bit annoying, but we'll get there.
Obviously, the frame, I completely stripped that down
as well and had that resprayed.
Rear suspension, swing arm, front suspension parts there
and I also painted the front spokes in black.
I actually just did that by hand.
So it's not the best finish I could have got,
but one of these things,
when you're just doing it for yourself
and not spending top dollar, I guess, there are areas
where you gotta cut corners.
I also polished the sump guard
at the same time as doing the front headlights around.
Wrapping the exhaust, early, sort of standard modification.
Hadn't actually originally planned to do that,
but when I had the exhaust off
I actually broke the heat guard.
So, I was left with no choice rally.
I guess the main modifications
come around this part of the bike.
Pagan did quite a good job.
I sent them my old shock absorber.
They made a new one to the exact specification
once I told them how heavy I was.
So that works very nicely and it's adjustable,
so I've had a little bit of a play on that.
Obviously, originally, the air box would have sat here.
Very ugly. Very plastic. Removed all that.
I've gone with the simple cone and then a small filter
on the crank case, as well.
New exhaust, obviously a huge safety feature,
'cause it's a lot louder now so people hear me coming.
Towards the back of the bike, again,
I wanted to get rid of as much plastic as I could,
so things like nice braided lines where I can,
Rizoma break reservoir
and other braided brake hose at the back.
I made my own chain guard out of sheet aluminum`
which wasn't too tricky.
The story with this rear light unit is,
it's got two lights on it,
which I think mimics the front end which looks quite neat,
but it wasn't actually my first choice.
One of the things I found
with the learning process of the whole bike is,
sometimes you just don't think everything through.
I think when your an amateur builder,
it's just very different.
One of the things I did, in changing the rear geometry,
I actually made it too low.
And then adding a rear mud guard that I mentioned earlier.
What happened to my old light, the long and short of it,
is I whipped it off and broke it.
So now I'm repositioned much higher.
I've adjusted my suspension to account for my growing mass.
And it all seems to work fine now.
Although the ride is slightly less forgiving.
I've been riding it now, as completed,
for a couple of months.
Really enjoy it.
Think there are a few little things
I just need to refine on it.
But I probably won't mess with it too much.
I'm looking forward to the next build.
Now, I've just done one Honda, and I've just been so
overwhelmed with the reliability and the simplicity of them.
I mean, when I rebuilt this it started first kick.
I tinkered with the engine etcetera
and that's been incredible.
The thing is now I think I'd be inclined to do
another 250 Scrambler because for somewhere like London,
it's super light, which is just amazing.
You can do everything on your own
which just makes life easier.
So let me show you how it sounds.
(starts and revs engine)
(motorcycle engine sound)