I plan to restore one for a friend. It has been in storage for about 3 years and looks to be in great shape.

Outside of the basics (cables,carb,filters,fluids) is there anything that these particular bikes are famous for (other than a rusty tank) that I

may need to keep an eye on.

Any info is greatly appreciated!!!

 

Bing,

Since no one has replied you might have better luck on a response at dirtrider.net

Chet

 

Thanks Chet

 

Brother had a 79 or 80 model year XL 100. If the spark seems weak, first thing to check out will be the points/condensor. Have fun trying to get the flywheel off. They were put together 'dry' and take some serious convincing. No way to replace the points without flywheel removal, though. His would just not start sometimes, weak spark, and every time changing the points/condensor would cure it. One time he hit a small gully, not enough to wreck, just a big jarring jolt, and it died, and wouldn't start again until we put in a new points/condensor set.
Otherwise, they are about as easy to fix as it gets - 2 valves, no exotic high-performance doo-hikkeys, just a simple, straightforward design.

 

I am thinking and have not searched this, but I thought some of the small bore Honda's back then had dual carbs on them. Bing did not mention that, but I thought Honda did experiment with this on the XL185 and it didn't work out so they went back to the single carb set up.

Chet

 

Thanks Farmr,,,,Im glad to know that I have one heck of a spark,,,for now. Thanks for the heads up.

Chet,,,only one littttttllllleee carb,,,,and its so cute,,,and simple. This baby is easier to work on then my Briggs 5hp.

 

Chet: I used to have an XL250 from the mid-80s that had the dual carb setup you mention. When it was jetted up just exactly right, it would SCREAM!!! I am talking 11,500 RPMs on a tiny tach, and pulled strongest from 8000-10,000! I now have a 94 XR250L and it is notably down in power compared to that older bike. However, let any little tiny setting get off, and you are talking nightmare. 2 carbs, one fed each intake valve, going into one cylinder. A nightmare to try to re-jet. Still kind of miss the rush it had coming at you when the second carb started to flow good!

Bing, is yours old enough to still have the little lever coming out of the carb for the choke? If so, it would be along the same lines as my brother's. Nothing high performance by a long shot, but basically a no-maintanence item.

 

Farmr,,,,the cable choke is mounted to the left fork right at the headset.

 

Farmr123,

I got out an old cycle world from June 1984 which had the Honda XR250R tested against 4 other machines and sure enough on the specs page it has (2) 22/24mm Keihin carbs.

They rate the horsepower as 27 bhp. That seems to be about what a new Honda 400EX is rated. Maybe a little more for the 400.

The weight of the Honda 250 was 249 pounds wet, so it would be quick compared to a new 400EX that weighs in at almost 390 pounds wet.

Chet

 

Yea, the 250 I have now is rated at 23 HP, and add the 50# I gained since then, and you lose some of those G forces. The power on this one is also 'linear', wheras the 2 carb setup was kind of like the old small blocks with a 4 barrel carb. You could feel a 'rush' when the second carb started flowing.