85 ATC250R Refresh / Rebuild (First Timer)

[Onetrackmind]

Barnett, I really do appreciate your insight and I'm going to try real hard not to be a dik here.

Nobody likes an "I told you so"...nobody. I understand that you did in fact peg this one...but so did I. I narrowed down the search and isolated my problem to really only ONE variable.

Again, thank you for you input. You really do have a lot to add on this forum and I get a lot out of it, but please try not to rub people's noses in their mess.


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[barnett468]

Barnett, I really do appreciate your insight and I'm going to try real hard not to be a dik here.

Nobody likes an "I told you so"...nobody. I understand that you did in fact peg this one...but so did I. I narrowed down the search and isolated my problem to really only ONE variable.

Again, thank you for you input. You really do have a lot to add on this forum and I get a lot out of it, but please try not to rub people's noses in their mess.

"Rubbing your face in it" wasn't my intention, but if you determined that it was the brake line all on your own as it could read to some like you were implying, you would not have asked if it might have been the cause. My main intention was to try and eliminate any question that you might have just gotten "a bad one" as you considered which suggests that all the others are probably ok. They are definitely not. It does not work that way, and since it is potential safety issue, I didn't want people reading your comment below and buying these hoses thinking theirs will be just fine because they will not. There may be a slight difference in crappiness from one batch to another partially based on what recycled cheap ass plastic crap they decide to use in it to save a couple yen or so, however, that's like saying this piece of crap smell less than that piece of crap, because in the end they are both pieces of crap.

Hopefully, I just got a bad one and everyone else that has or will use them doesn't have the headache that I have dealt with for months.

PREVIOUS KAWASAKI INTERNATIONAL R & D PROJECT ENGINEER AND ATV DEPARTMENT SUPERVISOR AND THE ONLY PERSON ON 3WW WITHOUT AN EDIT BUTTON OR A STAR

[barnett468]

By the way, I forgot to say that yes, you of course were the one that noticed the hose was swelling which is something a lot of people wouldn't have thought to check so good thinking on your part and I also forgot to compliment you on the great job you did on your restoration. It looks killer.

[Onetrackmind]

Thanks Barnett...I was tired and pretty pissed off at the situation last night. I took your comments the wrong way and decided to vent a little.

After rereading your post, I can now see that you only meant to help.

I am taking both hoses to a hydraulic shop today to see what we can get made up that will not only look the part, but also WORK.




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[shindig]

That is one nice R...beautiful. Curious, I restored my 86 about 3 years ago, and like you, was more a general contractor. Did you find NOS fenders for it or are they restored? I am running Maiers, just can't find any NOS ones around. I don't seem to have the connections or pure luck when finding them...lol

Pic of mine:

[Onetrackmind]

Nice rides Shindig! The R and X really compliment each other.

I got lucky and found my rear fenders on CL. They are "1985 Replacement" fenders, so they have the embossed warning label and the tire pressure sticker on the upper left side. They were listed in Houston (5.5hr drive) for $150 and seller was nice enough to meet me somewhere closer. It was a score as they are near perfect and that is what cemented the idea of restoring this R.


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[Onetrackmind]

Today was a good day. I found a hydraulic shop near my plater and took both my original front hose and the "replacement OEM" hose from eBay for them to use to make a new one.

They only had 8mm banjos (instead of 10mm like what I needed) in stainless in stock...oh well. I had to go by the plater anyway, so I took the banjos and had him do a quick black zinc on them. Usually his black is the perfect OD green, but not today...oh well again. Two crush washers made up the difference.

Three hours later, I had the banjos and freshly coated oil bolts and headed back to the hydraulic shop. They cut me a new hose out of black stainless line using my OEM as a template and robbed all of the sheathing an silicon marshmallow off of the junk eBay hose to dress it up.

Ten minutes later (no kidding...this place is obviously called Hose-Fast for a reason), I was walking out with my new brake hose. It has all the exterior goodies of the "OEM-replacement" hose from eBay, but inside it's a modern stainless braided line. Best of both worlds.

I used the OEM as the template (eBay replacement was about 1.5" longer) and I feel it's a bit short. An extra 1/2" would be perfect...oh well.


This line is awesome! One quick reverse bleed and it's tight as a drum! It only takes about an inch of lever travel to be locked up solid...fantastic!

Anyway, for those of you having the same woes as me with the eBay "OEM REPLACEMENT" hose...you can upgrade to an identical copy (that works) for an extra $38.00 from your local hydraulic shop.



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[Aulbaugh]

Looks dam good Cody! After reading and hearing your story I'm skeptical on mine working flawlessly. Now thinking about it I should have reached out and asked about the hose to see if anyone had any feedback on them before buying. Glad to see there is a fix if mine goes south! Thanks for sharing.

[Onetrackmind]

Thanks John, it was a lot of fun (but I did have a lot of help and advice).

Hopefully, you have better luck with your hose than I did. If you search "Reproduction Hose (or Line)", you will find quite a bit of feedback on them and most of it is good. I think Paul (manbearpig) commented unfavorably a few years ago and only one or two other people had negative things to say.

[82 250r]

That burnt marshmallow can clean up and look new. I think i just used dawn dish soap and a toothbrush.