First up, hi everyone! I've just finished my 1800km journey to pick-up a NSR250R, sadly a bit worse for wear, and without any knowledge of its history.

From what i can tell, mind you a very quick look over, gearbox/brake fluids are spotless, sparkplugs look brand new. Refer to Images. I’m wondering if it has been rebuilt and never put back together. Is there a sure way to check without pulling the barrels off?

Before I start, I was hoping to get some ideas/tips/opinions/expertise on what moves to make.

Nice find.

What do you plan to do with it - keep it stock looking, or customise it?

There are a number of recommended standard performance modifications that can be made, have a read of the main site "Performance" section (menu on upper lhs of the page).

Depending upon how confident you are mechanically, the barrels can be easily removed, keeping the heads on as a unit, that way you only have to get new base gaskets. It would be worthwile checking the conditions of the top end and cylinder/head configuration before riding it too far....

Looks like a fun project for winter!

Cheers, I was thinking I might have to take the barrels off, was just hoping not to.

Now, this is where I'm torn, I like the stock looks, I have most of the fairing, just will require a lot of bog/fibreglass and time to patch up all the chips and cracks.

I also like the modern look of the Tyga fairing. The kits seem like a good idea, as most of my lighting is either missing or broken.

I guess it's all just time vs money.

It's always a good idea with any bike to replace all the fluids etc so that you know it's all good. And since the coolant has been drained you may as well whip the barrels off. I could show you a pic of the head that came on one of my bikes....... luckily I was changing something at the time and checking things. It was nasty, like some metal had been in the chamber, and the "bike shop" had just ground down any impact marks with a small stone!

my full rebuild thread can be found here http://www.400greybike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=15710
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MC21SP - Roth-tax
CBR400 - track
MC21R - sold
MC21SP - sold

Thanks, looks great. Mind me asking what was the total spend?

I recon around £1700 - £2000 it's hard to say.

It's not the big stuff that costs the money you know how much the rebuild kit is so you budget for it, it's all the little stuff that keeps adding up, there is stuff I bought that isn't mentioned in the build like the little side light bulb at £7 the grips, wet n dry, scotchbright, ally cleaner, de greaser, brushes, polishing mop, paying to get the front wheel bearings removed, paint undercoat and laquer......

The list goes on lol

I would say including buying the bike at 2.5k it now stands me at about 5k but with the pipes, suspension work and engine rebuild the bike is as good as it's ever been...possibly better.
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MC21SP - Roth-tax
CBR400 - track
MC21R - sold
MC21SP - sold

Hi Davworks,

Good to see another one being brought back to life I've just about finished sorting out mine, tho I went with the tyga kit as the panels I initially had were crap. I have spare lights out in the shed along with a few other bits if your looking.

Let me know if you're interested in seeing what the tyga kit looks like on the bike and we can catch up.

cheers

The more I think about it, the more I feel like trashing the fairing I have.

I'd love to see what it looks like in person, might have to to take you up on that offer. Where in Melbourne are you from Canuck13?

Unfortunatly I think she'll be sitting in storage while I start growing some restoration funds. Donations are welcome

I'm hoping to take a holiday in my garage come spring, spend some serious time and effort in bringing her back, without the interuptions of going to work.

Welcome man, good to see another Melbourne based NSR

If you need a hand with anything just give any of us a shout on the forum, we're more than willing to help, hopefully we'll see you on the track/road shortly.

I'm up in Heidelberg Hts. Drop me a PM if you want to catch up or if your looking for info on the bikes.

So what's wrong with the black/grey OEM panels? I don't think they're the most dynamic colour scheme for MC21's, but as long as they're in good condition it would be worth keeping them.

I'd proberbly agree with you Middo if they weren't so beat up.