1985 XR250RF issues

[fred99999au]

Hi All. Got a mate who I owe a favour to who has a 1985 XR250RF that doesn't go. He's been told not to touch the carbies on these which is a surprise..

He had an expert around who first off cut the indicator wires because "Yeah, nah you wont need them", then pulled stuff off to get to the carbies. Then never came back.

Luckily the bits he removed are all in a bucket. Allegedly.

Anyone have any pearls of wisdom as to why this gadget might not start apart from the fact it has too many strokes?

It has spark, and was running when parked many years ago.

[matcho mick]

you gotta touch the carbies  ,

[fred99999au]

Was hoping someone was gonna say that.

[80-85 husky]

make sure immigration grabs that bloke if he tries to get back in the shed The carbs will need a full strip down and clean as well as the airfilter if it hasnt turned to dust allready and been sucked into the carbs while trying to start it.....old fuel turns to pooh inside the carbs. the starting circuit and pilot jet are prob full of concrete or calcite and the rest will be like some jelly. They are a pig to get out so good luck with that.

[fred99999au]

Thanks. Have ultrasonic cleaner, will travel.

[bazza]

you only need compression,spark and fuel,you have 2 of them so go fuel. Old petrol goes to rubber/jelly/shit and yes check airfilter not turning to dust if foam
 

[fred99999au]

And the basis of comedy is also required. Timing. And in this case cam timing etc.

[80-85 husky]

shouldnt be anything wrong there??

[GMC]

One easy trick is to put a squirt of petrol in the spark plug hole then quickly put the plug back in and kick it over, you should get a brief 'fire'
If you do then you have carby problems.
if you don't then you may not have done it right

[fred99999au]

well, the bike lobbed into "The Empire Of Dirt" today and bugger me did old mate have a crack. seat off, tank off, shock unbolted, carb clamps undone headlight off, blinkers off, kicker undone,  collection of removed parts in a bucket.

Only thing he didn't remove was the bloody horn.

I removed the carbs spilling manky stale fuel everywhere, and I have come to the conclusion that this bike was built around the carbs. They were rested on a block of wood on the assembly line and the rest of the bike was built around them.

I thought I'd give it a short blast of ether to see if it popped. Nada. Need to pull the plug and see if I have spark now and if I can get the kick lever back to the top.

No idea why I do love jobs.

[80-85 husky]

you thought you could get it going in 30 mins and spend the week blasting around on it..

[fred99999au]

Nah, we had a go at starting it a couple of years back. I suspected that the carbs were full of shmoo.

Today I discovered that I was right. No idea why Old Mate loosened the kicker, but that kick knuckle is very sad looking now. Bolt looks newer, but munted.

Also talking to a mate, he reckons that the 85 model had a habit of cracking heads...maybe it will go to the tip after all (his missus words, not mine)

[TT5 Matt]

yeah quite common for the xl/xr250's to crack the head between the plug hole and the exhaust valve seats and do it again after being welded and new exhaust valve seats fitted,maybe honda should have fitted an 8mm spark plug then the 12mm they come with.if its got enough comp it should go though.those twin carbs arnt that bad to remove,still a lot easier then a bank of 4 carbs from a inline 4 cyl bike

[80-85 husky]

a mate of mine is a honda nut and vinduroed a 250 rf for a bit but after its 3rd pooh session he lost interest.

they were a disaster for honda when new and getting older hasnt really helped.

As a bike to ride they were what everyone wanted...turn, stop, suspension and quick motor. unfortunately, a F1 maintenance schedule didnt figure for most riders (let alone checking the oil ) and many failed while being ridden to work buzzing down the freeway after a big weekend of valve bouncing. reduced oil capacity combined with a super heating engine saw many boil off enough oil to die horribly at 100k's. i saw one tear the front engine mounts boss out of the cases after being dropped into a river (very cold river) exposing the crank cheeks (it went red with embarrassment.... ).

so lots of work to check some basic mechanicals...if its ok tho, its worth resurrecting.

sorry for the rant.... im on holidays and have a morning to kill...

[fred99999au]

No drama, mate. that is the reason I started this post. I know bugger all about it, other than it is also full of spiders.