Suzuki RMZ 250 EV Restomod

[Eastwood]

Picked up this 2007 Suzuki Rmz 250 frame and swingarm. Also came with the triple clamp and rear shock.

First priority is to get this into a rolling chassis.
Will restore this frame before mounting the motor and figuring out which battery to build or buy. I’ve ordered the front fork tubes, rear suspension linkage and missing bolts. Also ordered new bearings for everything including the steering. This bike will be built for Enduro and trail riding.

I’ve started sanding the swingarm to remove all scratches and minor dents. The plan as of now is to polish the swingarm and frame and apply a lacquer coating to protect the polished finish. The frame is in good shape not that many scratches but the swingarm was pretty beat up cosmetically.

Motor wise I’m not sure yet. It will be either the QS180 or the QS138 90h.

1st option : QS180 with 21” front 18” rear - wheels
2nd option : QS138 with 19” front 16” rear - wheels
Will build the wheels using excel Takasago rims.
Leaning toward the first option with a 50kW set up :thumb:

I’ll post pictures as I make progress with the bike build. As mentioned I will restore this bike into a rolling chassis before I start any motor mounting, battery and controller. This build will take me a while. Stay tuned!

 

[skeetab5780]

sub'd He's finally doing a dirt bike! GL man

 

[Eastwood]

Thanks skeetab, this should be a nice journey getting this bike restored and converted :thumb:

 

[Eastwood]

Received the front fork tubes :thumb:
I have replacement bushings and seals from allballsracing.
The forks seem to be in good condition no pitting or rusting on the chrome. Will also refinish the outside but keeping the gold color. Probably just needs a good cleaning with some scotch bright but first remove the old stickers.

 

[Scootdan]

Really appreciate your work sir. Your bike on here is so awesome. Are you serious with the quick connect swapable motors?! And the power looks so fun. I can only dream how tricked out you will make this sweet machine. Thank you brother. :thumb:

 

[Eastwood]

Really appreciate your work sir. Your bike on here is so awesome. Are you serious with the quick connect swapable motors?! And the power looks so fun. I can only dream how tricked out you will make this sweet machine. Thank you brother. :thumb:

Thanks for the support brother! The Enduro build has been fun, loving that bike. Now it’s time to make a full size dirtbike with big power 8)

 

[SlowCo]

Good luck building and enjoy the process :thumb:

 

[Eastwood]

Good luck building and enjoy the process :thumb:

Thanks! :wink:

Very very nice,
I read that suzuki factory forks rock too.

Can you please weigh the bare frame with the swing arm as is now.

So I got the weight of the frame and swingarm. Figured I would reply to you here on the build thread for this bike. :thumb:
8 lbs - Swingarm
22 lbs - frame

 

[gobi]

8 lbs - Swingarm
22 lbs - frame
1.1 lb - misc Fork parks
4.6 lbs - triple tree
20.7 lb - fork

50 lb Total, that is light,

Add seat, battery, motor, brake parts, wheel. I am guessing a bit over 100 lbs?

 

[Eastwood]

8 lbs - Swingarm
22 lbs - frame
1.1 lb - misc Fork parks
4.6 lbs - triple tree
20.7 lb - fork

50 lb Total, that is light,

Add seat, battery, motor, brake parts, wheel. I am guessing a bit over 100 lbs?

Yeah I was surprised of how light the frame is.
Still need to get the subframe, seat, plastics, handle bars, brakes and rotors. Plus build the wheels.

As far as weight I’m not sure yet but I’m actually leaning toward lifepo4 cells which are heavy. The battery would be a little over 100 pounds but I would have 90ah. lifepo4 are around 20% heavier but I like the safety factor. Still considering Molicel 21700 P42A as well.

So leaning toward 32s 6p of 33140 cells lifepo4. 3.2 nominal voltage - 5c discharge rate. Cells are 15ah so 75amp discharge per parallel group.
So nominal voltage of 102.4 with 450amp discharge equals
46,080KW and when fully charged at 115v = 51,750KW

 

[gobi]

Maybe you can you look at LIPO pouch cells, A123 has good ones. Yeah, they are heavy, if you don't charge LIPO over 4.05 volts and check balance, you can see if cells are going cray cray.

I plan on building my FIRST lipo pack soon, BT JBD bms just to monitor the cells, for motor I plan on bypassing the bms.

Yeah, shockingly light frame, awesome piece of engineering.

 

[Eastwood]

It’s been a while since an update, just getting started back on this build as I moved recently.
Received the front rim today, 21”-1.6” excel takasago
The hubs and spokes will be here in couple weeks.
Rear rim should be next week, 18”- 2.15” excel takasago.

Also ordered the motor and went with the lighter option since this will be for trail riding and enduro. Went with the QS 138 70h. Was sold on the QS180 but with the QS138 it’s almost half the weight and the gear reduction is already built in so no welding the frame. Still leaving the option available to make this street legal so without making changes and welding the frame makes the process a lot easier.

Still contemplating the controller options but as of now I’m leaning toward ND721800 “far driver” or the ND721200. Those controllers are more than enough for this QS138 but I like the idea of using an oversize controller and not pushing it to the max for better efficiency and less heat.

Oh and I’ve scratched the idea of polishing the frame and will powder coat everything black. So all silver aluminum parts will be powder coated black, frame swingarm triple clamps etc.

 

[Mivvi]

I'm loving this build, something along the lines of what I want to do. Will be following this closely. Good luck buddy!

 

[Eastwood]

I'm loving this build, something along the lines of what I want to do. Will be following this closely. Good luck buddy!

Thanks! I’ll be giving more updates frequently as I have more parts on the way :thumb:
Need to get this frame swingarm etc. out to the powder coater since I have the bearings removed.

 

[Eastwood]

Received the front and rear hubs today :thumb:
I have to say, this gold finish is beautiful!
Got the rear spokes in but still waiting on the nipples and spokes for the front wheel. The hubs are forged aluminum, much beefier than the stock hubs.

The rear excel rim should be here today

 

[Eastwood]

Got the motor today! QS138 70H
Motor weight 27lbs, not bad especially since this will be for Trail/enduro use, the lighter the better :thumb:

Also Received the rear rim 18” and the rest of the spokes and nipples.

Hopefully I can drop off my frame swing arm etc. to the powder coater sometime this week but I need to receive the subframe first.

 

[Eastwood]

Just laced up the rear wheel this evening :thumb:

Dropped off the frame, swing arm, triple clamps, etc. to the powder coater today :thumb:
Went with satin black, black jack
Should have everything back in about a week-ish.

 

[Eastwood]

Just laced up the front wheel. I’ll wait to fully tighten and true the wheels once I have them on the bike, that’s my truing stand :wink:

 

[Eastwood]

Got all the parts back from the powder coater :thumb:
I really like this satin black/Black jack. I almost went high gloss but I’m glad I didn’t.

Was able to install new bearings in the swingarm using the motion pro bearing installer.

 

[j bjork]

Sure looks nice
But were you already finished with fitting points and brackets for everything?

 

[Eastwood]

Thanks!

Well technically no I haven’t fabricated the final motor mounts but I’ve messed around with motor positioning and I’m able to actually use all the factory engine mounting points so no welding with this build. Got 3 solid factory engine mouning points for the new motor and possibly a few other spots for additional support if needed. Also considering I’m using the QS 138V3 I don’t have to mess with welding mounting points for the jack shaft/gear reduction :wink:

But yeah once I fabricate the motor mounts will have those powder coated as well but will probably do lots of testing to make sure all is good before having the mounts/brackets powder coated.

 

[MDG]

This is going to be rad!!! 8)

 

[speedy1984]

I run this motor mount on my crf conversion.I did not want the battery mount at the front so they knocked the price right down for me.So currently only using two mounting points that includes the swing arm axle bolt and its more than strong enough as is.Buy, fit and forget is what i wanted even after making my own mounts.I was worried i would throw the chain on my first ride on my diy mounts an scrape my mint build up,so thought better of it :thumb:

 

[Dui ni shuo de dui]

Looks like it will be a great build!
I wouldn't have the balls to powder coat the frame before making everything fit before, would be too afraid of ruining it or to have to modify it in some way for stuff to fit. I sure hope you won't have to.

Anyway, keep up the good work! I'm very interested to see how this bike will turn out, I wish to have the opportunity to build a dirt bike someday, looks like a lot of fun!

 

[Eastwood]

So I’ve been away for a while haven’t had much time to work on the bike. I’ve installed all the bearings now including the swingarm and headset bearings. Also rebuilt the rear suspension. I had quite a few spots to clean up powder coating as They did a horrible job with prepping To keep the powder coat out of the areas where the bearings are installed. The actual powder coat finish looks great tho. I will start assembling the bike later this week but still need to sort out making or purchasing some motor mounts. Stay tuned 8)

This is going to be rad!!! 8)

Thanks! 8)

img_1141-600x450_10 rmz.jpg

I run this motor mount on my crf conversion.I did not want the battery mount at the front so they knocked the price right down for me.So currently only using two mounting points that includes the swing arm axle bolt and its more than strong enough as is.Buy, fit and forget is what i wanted even after making my own mounts.I was worried i would throw the chain on my first ride on my diy mounts an scrape my mint build up,so thought better of it :thumb:

Nice, thanks for sharing the pic!
So are you saying that you purchased those motor mounts, if so where? I planned on making my own but if there’s options for these mounts to be purchased I would definitely consider that.

Looks like it will be a great build!
I wouldn't have the balls to powder coat the frame before making everything fit before, would be too afraid of ruining it or to have to modify it in some way for stuff to fit. I sure hope you won't have to.

Anyway, keep up the good work! I'm very interested to see how this bike will turn out, I wish to have the opportunity to build a dirt bike someday, looks like a lot of fun!

Thank you! :thumb:
Yes I thought about this long and hard about Powdercoating before or after. In my state if you make any changes to the frame it’s a lot harder to make something street legal. So no modifications to the frame whatsoever on this build. Also considering I don’t have to build a jack shaft/gear reduction which would’ve been the only modifications. This build is for Trail/Enduro use but I’m sure I will eventually like to build some super Moto wheels so I can hit the streets every once in a while.