1984 Honda XR 250-new project-full restoration!

[stevo450]

     

FINALLY got a photo bucket account!!
AND here it is!!!!! I pick this up for virtually nothing ( UNfortunately Australia has no freebies .... )



This is the raw state I brought it in....I won't have a chance in the next week or so to get in and scratch through the bits and pieces that came with it .... But there is a bit of a gold mine in there! Comes with two sets of carbs, the frame has already been PC white, swing arm bearings are new as is the linkage, the rear shock has been rebuilt ( feels quite good ) etc not much else but I've been looking for a project for AGES!! A while back I found a WR 500 but after a week I off loaded it due to the lack of MANY parts..... This is a much. Ether replacement project

At this stage it's a LOT of parts hunting.....mostly for the motor as I want the power plant to be running at its best!! I'm still um-ing over what I'd like to do with this bike.....
Considering restoring as closely to factory showroom condition however a lot of parts are already NLA I have been able to sorce one really rare part....an OEM NOS tank!!!! The price tag is HEAVY so I've not parted with the money...but the guy I brought this from painted the tank (?????????????!!!!!!!!?????????) so it looks like a Clarke tank might be in order.....or that NOS one if I can just shut my eyes and click 'buy it now' .....besides the biggies most of the aesthetical aspects of the bike can be found so the toss up between showroom resto or resto to my liking is huge.....the budget is, well endless really......
That said it'll take a while to start getting places
My plan of action at the moment is to get the motor out, strip it down inspect it and start collecting all the parts for this bike. I'm hoping to get as much OEM stuff into the engine with the exception of the piston which will have to be a JE . The motor is going to get sent out for PC and paint to match the OEM colours, the carb will be stripped and sent with it to get cleaned ( just the body ) and possibly re-anodized ( I think that what they do to them .... ) so essentially the engine will look brand new and the carbs should be awesome!!

Oh boy!!! There is soo much to cover its just crazy now doubt I'll have lots of up dates on this especially once I get started so excited to get my hands stuck into another project bike!!!

And more picture will be on there way shortly

---------- Post added at 03:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:01 AM ----------

Here are two more, as you can see its a real fixed up!! Sigh





Once I get going I'll get some more detailed pictures and don't worry there will be lots of pictures

[dogger315]

Looking good!

Another worthy project.

Regarding that OE tank, if you want to restore this bike to "showroom"
in the future, that tank would be a nice part to have. It's not like they
are going to get more plentiful in the coming years. Might be something
worth "biting the bullet" for now and waiting to restore later. In the mean
time, a Clarke or IMS plastic is the ticket for a rider.

Look forward to following this one.

dogger

[stevo450]

Ok I'm going to look for that tank now!! Sigh BITING hard!!!

---------- Post added at 03:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:32 AM ----------

Originally Posted by dogger315

Looking good!

Another worthy project.

Regarding that OE tank, if you want to restore this bike to "showroom"
in the future, that tank would be a nice part to have. It's not like they
are going to get more plentiful in the coming years. Might be something
worth "biting the bullet" for now and waiting to restore later. In the mean
time, a Clarke or IMS plastic is the ticket for a rider.

Look forward to following this one.

dogger

Thanks dogger!!! No doubt that engine is going to turn out nice!!

Yes I'm looking into getting that tank, hopefully a lay-by can be organised, I'll see if there is a stock of them, for now the tank that is on there should do alright


Regarding manuals, I've found this one from a site called repair manuals or something like that....this is the 'service manual' apparently this is the 'official' one that service centres use.....thoughts????



Seems this site I've found has many NOS parts for my bike, side stand, seat cover, tool bag.........etc.....I feel a large order coming on.....

[dogger315]

Yes, that's the official Honda service manual for your bike.
Nice find and pretty much a "must have".

dogger

[squared]

Looks like it will be fun.

[stevo450]

Yes it should be fun!! Getting excited now, can't wait for some sparebtimebto get stuck in

[stevo450]

So no actual updates of the bike progress ... Simply because there is non
However...I'm managing to sorce a few missing engine bits...namely the rocker box/cylinder head cover.

AND found what I'd only hope would be the original picture of a 1984 XR 250
This is what I'm aiming for ... As close as possible I guess .....



So from what it is now I guess I have a LOT of work



.......... Yea!!!!!!

[FRODAD393]

AWESOME. XRs are cool bikes man, the only 4-stroke that I truly love. Until you tip over and stall it in a race and have to kick it for 12 hours BUT, those suckers are bulletproof!!! Can't wait to see how this one turns out!

[OLDMXRACER 393]

Originally Posted by FRODAD393

Until you tip over and stall it in a race and have to kick it for 12 hours BUT, those suckers are bulletproof!!!

Uh huh. Had an 87(?) that was a BEAR to get re-lit when I dumped it and she was hot. Also had a 1984 200 with the dual carbs, made everything harder to work on, ect. Good luck with this one Stevo.

[FRODAD393]

My 250 and 400 both ran like that, I heard good things about a hot start kit but never followed up on it. I know a few guys that swore by them.

[stevo450]

Originally Posted by FRODAD393

AWESOME. XRs are cool bikes man, the only 4-stroke that I truly love. Until you tip over and stall it in a race and have to kick it for 12 hours BUT, those suckers are bulletproof!!! Can't wait to see how this one turns out!

Yes!! XR....truely a great line of bikes!!! And probably my FAVORITE too!!

I'm really excited about this...finally a worth project

---------- Post added at 12:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:42 PM ----------

Originally Posted by OLDMXRACER 393

Uh huh. Had an 87(?) that was a BEAR to get re-lit when I dumped it and she was hot. Also had a 1984 200 with the dual carbs, made everything harder to work on, ect. Good luck with this one Stevo.

Yes dual carbs....although I have to admit that at least these carbs are both mechanical operated ( ie open together when twisting throttle ) should make tuning a bit easier....at least easier than the ones with the secondary carb running off a vacum slide......

[stevo450]

A few phone calls, half hour drive, opened wallet AND.....
I got a rather significant missing part of the motor. The seller was honest enough to tell me I needed this...after much searching and debating between taking a risk on a new XL cylinder head cover, I finally found one locally in my town.

Here are some pics, it's a bit messy so goingvti clean it before it gets sent out.



















Last pic, was worried that the mark I pointed out was a crack ...close inspection put me at ease-only a cast mark. Good to note that the de-comp. lever is still there as are the tappet covers which are in GREAT shape, a clean up should see them looking new! Unfortunately the rocker and transfer arms look fairly worn, the cam the wrecker had was not pretty so a new one will be purchased along with as many of the rocker arms and transfer arms. They are still useable I just would like the motor to be in tip top shape. Thankfully Honda did a wise thing by using bearings on the cam shaft so cam journel wear is not an issue.

So glad this part is now sorced and in useable condition...once I get a chance to get the head off I hope I can say the same for the rest of the motor........

Hope you all enjoy the updates...as small ad they are

---------- Post added at 06:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:51 PM ----------

And a little bit of elbow grease.......



Most of the rocker arm/transfer arm shaft had probably been in there from new....not bad for a 1984 bike!!

---------- Post added at 06:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:28 PM ----------

Oh even made a quick video to show how I got those still 'factory tight' rocker arm shafts out

Easy removal of tight/locktite bolts. - YouTube

Easy removal of tight/locktite bolts. - YouTube

[ossagp]

i disagree that your rockers that meet the cam are useable. the subs look ok. a better alternative to the new cam and new rockers is to have the old cam and lifters hardfaced. megacycle camshafts is a good place to send them. a harfaced cam and standard rockers wear the rockers fast and vice versa. it isnt any cheaper, but the wear factor is unreal. the upside to getting the both done is you can pick your cam grind.

i have a new cam in the package as well as rockers that im hording,. someday they will go in where I now have the hardfaced items in the xr250/270 i have now or the next one. if you are leaving yours as a looker and not a rider it wont matter much though.

[stevo450]

Hi Andy

Thanks for the input! I think I was a little misunderstood, the useable parts I was referring to are ones that are NLA, I am intending to use new rockers etc etc the only parts that I may have to reuse are the little arms that sit between the rocker and valve as these are now NLA from Honda

I haven't heard of hardfacing, so hardfacing the old components would be ok? I know that the cam/rockers ( most of them ) rocker arm shafts etc are still available, replacing the parts would be easy ( perhaps cheaper?? ) but if hardfacing is reasonable and will last longer then I look into that

[ossagp]

Go to megacyle.com and download the catalog. I didn't have any trouble getting new subs for a 95 XR not that long ago. All the trail bikes turned race bikes are hard in those surfaces. Anyway, about time you got acquainted with the process.

[stevo450]

Thanks, I'll check out their services, clearly still learning much

Anyways, crossed another BIG hurdle today: I managed to find a PRO-X connecting rod kit for my crank!!! After searching high and low I found a guy in Australia selling the kits ( at a price I might add!! ) but at least I know that I can get the crank rebuilt now!

[stevo450]

Alright today was the day!!
With the cash in hand I paid the balance and loaded this onto my trailer!!!!



YAYYY can't wait to get home from work tomo and start getting into it!!!!

[char393]

Looking forward to following this... My first bike was an '86 xr250.

[stevo450]

Thanks Char!!
Should be good!! Always liked the XR's now it's nice to have one as a project!!


Needless to say work tonight is going SO SLOW!!!!

[dogger315]

Let the fun begin

dogger