Vintage Dual sport (Riding with my Dad on my 1986 Honda XL250R)

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Vintage Dual sport (Riding with my Dad on my 1986 Honda XL250R)

Posted: 10/14/2016 2:00:45 PM EDT

I love these old dual sports

Posted: 10/14/2016 2:21:53 PM EDT

[#1]

Nice, my one and only bike is a 1994 Yamaha XT225 so I can relate!

Posted: 10/14/2016 2:23:20 PM EDT

[#2]

XR-650 here.

Posted: 10/14/2016 2:26:03 PM EDT

[#3]

Quote History

Quoted:
XR-650 here.

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I normally ride my ZX7R or a KLR 650 and leave the XL250R for people who don't have bikes but want to ride a trail with me while I am on the big Kawasaki tractor. Whenever I find myself on the old Honda though I wonder why I don't ride it more.

My first bike many moons ago was an 84 XL350R followed by an XR650L so I have a soft spot for the old Honda dual sports....even though I mainly ride Kawasaki and dream of Yamaha.

Posted: 10/14/2016 2:27:28 PM EDT

[#4]

For some reason I decided to start a restoration on a 78 XR250 and a 79 XL250.

23" front tire

Posted: 10/14/2016 2:43:07 PM EDT

[#5]

Next month, after we get moved into a house with more garage space, I'll be starting in on a 1982 XL185s and a 1975 XL250.

Posted: 10/14/2016 3:16:25 PM EDT

[#6]

They are fun.

I have a '76 XL-350 I need to get going again. Needs the carb gone thru, choke and throttle cables and could use a rear tire (bald)

Posted: 10/14/2016 3:20:44 PM EDT

[#7]

My vintage dual-sport... 2-stroke! Unfortunately electrical issues keep it from road duty. No working headlight. 1972 suzuki TS125. Runs good.

Posted: 10/14/2016 3:34:11 PM EDT

[#8]

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Posted: 10/14/2016 3:52:43 PM EDT

[#9]

Quote History

Quoted:
For some reason I decided to start a restoration on a 78 XR250 and a 79 XL250.

23" front tire

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It's not that hard to lace up a 19" rim to replace the 23. I did that to my '79 185..

Posted: 10/14/2016 4:55:59 PM EDT

[#10]

Quote History

Quoted:

It's not that hard to lace up a 19" rim to replace the 23. I did that to my '79 185..

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Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:
For some reason I decided to start a restoration on a 78 XR250 and a 79 XL250.

23" front tire

It's not that hard to lace up a 19" rim to replace the 23. I did that to my '79 185..

Family issues stalled my project years back but if I recall, going with a 19" 21" was not insurmountable though it had some issue, I think longer forks needed as well?

At the time there was not much I could find on the web. I'm a hobbyist, my knowledge base for mods is pretty small.

Did you need to change any other parts? If I only need rim and spokes, it might get me back on it.

I think I needed to come up mufflers for both. NOS was too expensive and used seems to never have the muffler beyond that expansion chamber. I may need to go with an aftermarket can and skip the expansion chamber. But I really have no idea how that would impact it's performance if at all.

Edit: diameter.

Posted: 10/14/2016 8:32:28 PM EDT

[#11]

Quote History

Quoted:

It's not that hard to lace up a 19" rim to replace the 23. I did that to my '79 185..

View Quote View All Quotes

View All Quotes

Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:
For some reason I decided to start a restoration on a 78 XR250 and a 79 XL250.

23" front tire

It's not that hard to lace up a 19" rim to replace the 23. I did that to my '79 185..

19" front wheel?

Posted: 10/14/2016 8:33:43 PM EDT

[#12]

Quote History

Quoted:

Family issues stalled my project years back but if I recall, going with a 19" was not insurmountable though it had some issue, I think longer forks needed as well?

At the time there was not much I could find on the web. I'm a hobbyist, my knowledge base for mods is pretty small.

Did you need to change any other parts? If I only need rim and spokes, it might get me back on it.

I think I needed to come up mufflers for both. NOS was too expensive and used seems to never have the muffler beyond that expansion chamber. I may need to go with an aftermarket can and skip the expansion chamber. But I really have no idea how that would impact it's performance if at all.

View Quote View All Quotes

View All Quotes

Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:
For some reason I decided to start a restoration on a 78 XR250 and a 79 XL250.

23" front tire

It's not that hard to lace up a 19" rim to replace the 23. I did that to my '79 185..

Family issues stalled my project years back but if I recall, going with a 19" was not insurmountable though it had some issue, I think longer forks needed as well?

At the time there was not much I could find on the web. I'm a hobbyist, my knowledge base for mods is pretty small.

Did you need to change any other parts? If I only need rim and spokes, it might get me back on it.

I think I needed to come up mufflers for both. NOS was too expensive and used seems to never have the muffler beyond that expansion chamber. I may need to go with an aftermarket can and skip the expansion chamber. But I really have no idea how that would impact it's performance if at all.

Expansion chamber on a 4 stroke?

Posted: 10/15/2016 12:53:34 AM EDT

[#13]

Quote History

Quoted:

Expansion chamber on a 4 stroke?

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Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:
For some reason I decided to start a restoration on a 78 XR250 and a 79 XL250.

23" front tire

It's not that hard to lace up a 19" rim to replace the 23. I did that to my '79 185..

Family issues stalled my project years back but if I recall, going with a 19" was not insurmountable though it had some issue, I think longer forks needed as well?

At the time there was not much I could find on the web. I'm a hobbyist, my knowledge base for mods is pretty small.

Did you need to change any other parts? If I only need rim and spokes, it might get me back on it.

I think I needed to come up mufflers for both. NOS was too expensive and used seems to never have the muffler beyond that expansion chamber. I may need to go with an aftermarket can and skip the expansion chamber. But I really have no idea how that would impact it's performance if at all.

Expansion chamber on a 4 stroke?

It was some kind of attenuator.

Half of the muffler is missing in the following auction photo. That chamber to the left is what I am calling the expansion chamber. 20 years ago I knew what it was for.