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August/September 2007

The August / September 2007 Bike of the Month belongs to Mark from New Zealand.

Mark was looking for a new project bike and was interested in an older two stroke and one day found a beat up MC16 NSR250R for sale that was near his home and needed lots of work but the price was only 500 dollars which was a total bargain.

He stopped by to visit the owner and ended up happily buying the bike up that same day for the agreed price and brought her home. The bike was actually quite bad, but did start up after only two kicks. Here are some pictures of the day it came home to show you how much work was done to the MC16. Pic One, Pic Two show the old pictures.

First thing for Mark was to completely pull the bike apart and find as many OEM parts for his MC16 as possible. The on-line parts listing (Located in my site, Technical section) came in very handy for him and he used that to order some small parts that were still available. Other parts came from used parts parks, internet auctions or were repaired or restored one at a time.

With the bike coming along nicely, Mark decided to update the looks a bit. His friends at REFLECTIONS BIKE REFINISHERS repaired the stock plastic bodywork for him and custom painted it in these very bright Repsol colors for a fresh new look.

Practically every nut, bolt and washer were replaced on the bike. Every metal part was bead blasted and restored. New mirrors, foot pegs, tinted screen, lights and brakes were replaced with new ones.

Unfortunately the CDI broke down on Mark during a ride and he went through a pair of them before he found one that worked right.

Performance wise, the bike is almost stock, the exhaust was restored and polished so it looks better than new, the carbs rebuilt and rejetted and matched to a slightly modified airbox for a bit more power. The top end was rebuilt and the brakes were improved with rebuilt calipers with sportier pads and new brake lines. The old tires were replaced with brand new ones and the suspension has been rebuilt.

Mark is more than pleased with his cool MC16 ride. He did not have to spend a fortune finishing this project and had a lot of fun building the bike so much that he just bought another MC16 project bike. Stay tuned for more.

Every month I try to feature a different NSR in this section. Above you can check out the featured Bike of the Month and past Bikes of the Month. Do you think your NSR belongs here ? Then send a few pictures and some information and maybe we can feature it here. Mail me here. Cheers !!