Ill do one of these.

Interesting stories of you and a Suzuki you have owned.

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Magoo
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Ill do one of these.

Post by Magoo »

Well, I guess I can introduce myself. My name is Chris and stumbled upon this forum by chance. I recently just picked up my dad's '69 T250 that hes had sitting in the garage for the past 13 years. Figured itd be a fun project considering its been around since I was a younin' and he doesnt have the time to get the bike back into shape. I know most of the threads on here cater to the bigger T/GT series bikes but I figured there would still be a good amount of info compared to elsewhere. Well I figure thats enough for an introduction, any questions just ask. :mrgreen:
'69 T250
Magoo
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Re: Ill do one of these.

Post by Magoo »

Said bike, in its currently sad state.

Image
'69 T250
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evol02
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Re: Ill do one of these.

Post by evol02 »

Wow, what a tremendous 'find' or rather 'unearthing'.
Looks like it is running a GT750 front end since those aren't 69 T250 forks and it appears to have a 4LS?
VERY cool!
Can't wait to see it when you are done!
-------------------------------
1969 T-500-II Candy Gold
1969 T-500-II Project Roller
Magoo
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Re: Ill do one of these.

Post by Magoo »

The bike has been modified for sure from its stock state so they very well could be different, it has a set of old tomaselli drop bars already installed (further evidence?). Plan on going over there this weekend and making a complete list of items needed.
'69 T250
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Re: Ill do one of these.

Post by Madbuffalo »

Welcome aboard Chris! I guess the question you have to ask yourself is do you want to restore it back to original or to the way your father had it. Given your history with the bike you might choose to fix it up like you remember it. In the end it's your bike so do what you want with it. :)

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1974 Suzuki Nomad 340
1975 Suzuki GT750 Waterbuffalo
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Magoo
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Re: Ill do one of these.

Post by Magoo »

Well I do want to keep a good amount of the bike original, but anything that is removed will be saved incase I want to go back to 100% stock. Ive been wanting a cafe racer for a good couple years and after helping my friend build his CB350 cafe I fell in love with them. So thats the direction Ill more than likely take, with a "restoration" wrapped in there in the process. My biggest issue right now is finding the correct original gas tank (the one on the bike is destroyed).
'69 T250
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Re: Ill do one of these.

Post by Magoo »

Well I was able to get some work done on the bike yesterday, the bike is definitely a jumble of parts. The brakes are in fact 4LS, Im guessing the forks are GT750 (not 100% sure how to tell the differences).

this is pretty much what it looking like when I rolled it out of the garage..

Image

Image

said brakes..

Image

Image

I was able to take the old rotted tank off and test fit new tank (will be sealing and painting the tank in the next couple days).

Image

Thanks to my dad, he had a NOS tach sitting in the un-opened box. Which I thought was pretty cool.

Image

And this is how it looked as I put it away yesterday.

Image


Now I didnt get a terrible amount of work done, but I did get a comprehensive list of parts needed. I really need help IDing the carbs on the bike (not sure if they are original considering so many things are not factory) so that I can order the correct rebuild kit(s).
'69 T250
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tz375
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Re: Ill do one of these.

Post by tz375 »

Nice little time capsule. It was, and is a cafe racer already, so restoring it to the way your dad had it makes a perfect cafe racer.

It already has the GT750 4LS drum brake and chambers plus a cafe seat and clip ons. And rear sets!. OK so it all needs a good clean etc, but nice start. The forks are NOT GT750 but they may be early T500 I guess or stock, - not my area of expertise.
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H2RICK
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Re: Ill do one of these.

Post by H2RICK »

Nice find, Chris. :up: And an NOS tach to boot !!! :shock:

Those forks are PROBABLY the original T250-I forks by the looks of them.....steel lowers with the two fork stay tabs on them and awfully small diameter for a T500 fork, IMO.
I'm not sure if the 69-71 T500's used a steel or aluminum lower.
You Titan guys know this stuff waaayyyy better than me.

Someone went to a LOT of work to fit that 4LS wheel in there....unless they maybe used the trees from an early T500 to widen the forks???
I'm wonder if the wheel might not be from a GT550J. Internet lore has it that the 550 hub is ever so slightly narrower than the Buffalo hub....but I've not been able to confirm that.

BTW, there ain't no carb kits, as such, for those bikes. All you really need is float bowl gaskets and needle/seat sets and you're good to go....provided your needle jets and needles aren't worn to buggery.

Regardless, you've got quite a find there, Chris. Get her up and running as a cafe bike and then worry about finding the stock pieces if you still want to go that way. You've still got a waaayyyy cool bike to ride while you collect the stock bits.
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Magoo
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Re: Ill do one of these.

Post by Magoo »

H2RICK wrote:Nice find, Chris. :up: And an NOS tach to boot !!! :shock:

Those forks are PROBABLY the original T250-I forks by the looks of them.....steel lowers with the two fork stay tabs on them and awfully small diameter for a T500 fork, IMO.
I'm not sure if the 69-71 T500's used a steel or aluminum lower.
You Titan guys know this stuff waaayyyy better than me.

Someone went to a LOT of work to fit that 4LS wheel in there....unless they maybe used the trees from an early T500 to widen the forks???
I'm wonder if the wheel might not be from a GT550J. Internet lore has it that the 550 hub is ever so slightly narrower than the Buffalo hub....but I've not been able to confirm that.
Thanks! I really have no idea whats going on with the front end and the parts that were used. Id like to know because I want to replace the fork seals and I imagine that they are all different from model to model. It doesnt help that it really is difficult to find info in regards to the T250's, only thing I have is a service manual from 1974 with additional microfiche film diagrams.
H2RICK wrote:BTW, there ain't no carb kits, as such, for those bikes. All you really need is float bowl gaskets and needle/seat sets and you're good to go....provided your needle jets and needles aren't worn to buggery.

Yeah it seems there really is no rebuild kits for these (I used to restore classic VW's in high school so Im used to there being rebuild kits for the carbs). Is there a place to actually purchase the float bowl gaskets and needle/seat sets? And do the majority of the mikuni VM's use the same parts, e.g. float bowl gaskets and needle/seat sets?


Lots of questions but like I said I have a bit of difficulty finding concrete information. I want to thank anyone and everyone in advance for the help.

Other news, Im going over tonight for a couple hours to get the wiring ironed out.
'69 T250
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jabcb
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Re: Ill do one of these.

Post by jabcb »

Good source for year-by-year pictures.
http://www.suzukicycles.org/All-Suzuki/ ... odels.html

Parts manual for all years (1969-1972). Its printed & spiral bound.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SUZUKI-P ... 0732819076
Seller is located in New Zealand, so it will take a while for it to arrive.
Seller also has manuals for quite a few other Suzuki two-strokes.

Some service manuals are also available on eBay.
http://motors.shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw ... m270.l1313

T500 turn signals are attached to the upper triple clamp. Yours don't have the attachment points.

Suzuki model years transitions don't seem to have been as abrupt as they are today. For example, a '69 model might have some '68 parts,or some '70 parts.

1969 T250/T350 forks had gaiters but the 1970 models didn't. Front fenders differed as well. But your '69 T250 might have been assembled with the forks & fender it now has.
BAS (Bike Acquisition Syndrome) - too many bikes but have room for more

Suzuki:
GT750 2x75
GT550 72 & 75
GT380 72
T500 69 project & 73 project
T350 69 & 71
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09 Triumph Bonneville SE
Magoo
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Re: Ill do one of these.

Post by Magoo »

Awesome, thanks for the links!

I was able to get the carbs off yesterday and it seems like the barrels/slides are a bit seized in the carb. This is the throttle being stuck issue that my Dad told me about. Maybe a good cleaning/lubrication will be fix this issue. Now I was really hoping that I could find replacement throttle cables but the cable system on this bike is "interesting" to say the least.
'69 T250
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jabcb
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Re: Ill do one of these.

Post by jabcb »

Its surprising how many parts are actually still available.

Two online parts sources I've used:
http://www.alpha-sports.com/suzuki_parts.htm
http://www.suzukipartshouse.com/

Suzuki Parts House generally has great prices.
Recommend you get a print version of the parts manual because neither site lists your '69 T250.

Look at Alpha Sports, '70 T250, handlebar - control cable
It shows the throttle cable for the '69 T250 isn't available, but the one for the '70 T250 is & it costs $35.
Look at Suzuki Parts House, '72 T250, handlebar - control cable
Also shows the '69 cable is unavailable, but '70 cable is available & costs $25.

Both sites list the cable lengths, looks like the '70 cable is the same as the '69 cable, except that the oil pump cable is a little longer. Longer cable should work just fine.
BAS (Bike Acquisition Syndrome) - too many bikes but have room for more

Suzuki:
GT750 2x75
GT550 72 & 75
GT380 72
T500 69 project & 73 project
T350 69 & 71
Honda 85 CB650SC & 86 CB700SC
09 Triumph Bonneville SE
Magoo
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Re: Ill do one of these.

Post by Magoo »

Well, you sir have just made my life much easier. I didnt realize there were still companies out there that had parts for these bikes, I figured it was just up to hunting on ebay and forum classifieds.
'69 T250
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