'82 Honda XR250 Dirt Bike

This followed me home a couple days ago:

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The seller's diagnosis (and we all know we can trust that [/sarcasm]) is that it needs a timing chain.

It did come with some engine gaskets though...

So...I don't know much about it but if I get it running (rather than trade it off before that...) it could be a real hoot...

Talk amongst yourselves ;)

Clem

i thnk it looks like fun. never rode a dirt bike before, on my to do list

I ride that exact same bike. My Wife has a XR200 and my Daughters ride a XR100 and XR80. None of them are newer than 1987.

They aren't the fastest or best handling dirtbikes in the world but for hacking around at the cottage they can't be beat. Ours are all sitting in a snowed in shed but come spring I know they'll all start on the 2nd or 3rd kick and I'll barely have to wrench on them all season.

Great bike! I ride an 83 XL250R, which is that bike with some lights added on.

Yeah!?

I'd love to have the XL.

But this one could be fun too, I'm sure.

When it warms up a bit, I'll try to see what's up with the engine. The bike has been beat on pretty hard over the years, it looks like...but probably has some life left in it!

Thanks,
Clem

Those bikes are tanks. My friend's dad has one, and he has done countless enduro's over the last 30 years almost. All he has ever done is replace the spark plug a couple of times, the air filter once and a couple oil changes.

All the cool kids in my high school had those, except for, you know, me.

I learned to ride on an '83 XR80 (with the dual shocks on the rear) but quickly outgrew it and never really got another dirtbike (in part because the area where I rode it was developed about that time, also).

This one came along too cheap to pass up.

I'd like to get the engine running and see how it does.

However, I'm tempted with thoughts of a Mad Max Mobile in flat black.

This would be an apocolypse machine!

Does anybody know what to look out for as far as engine work is concerned? I figure I can tear it apart enough to find out what's wrong with it (assuming at least a timing chain). Should I see about honing the cylinder and getting a new set of rings for it (plural, assuming there are two or three rings). Should I lap the valves and such?

I guess a compression test would be a good start...duh!

Clem

Not sure, but I'd guess that it's an interference engine...

A hone & a matching piston probably wouldn't hurt if it's been beat on. As would laping the valves, the chain tensioner, guides, and any seals/gaskets that you have to remove. If the timing chain is broken, I'd check the sprockets for damage.

I don't think it's broken...seller said it was "Stretched out"...but who knows. It's not a priority right now...but when I get a chance to check it out, I'll post up more.

Thanks all! Clem

hate you, love the bike

I think that's a four valve, isn't it? Does it say RFVC on it?

I believe it is a 4 valve (wikipedia says so...lol).

I'll look around for the RFVCC (cast into it?).

[edit: and it has the two-into-one exhaust pipe, which I wouls also assume means it has 4 valves...]

Clem

You'd see it if it was on there.

biggest problem over the years with XR is the owners.... Lack of frequent oil changes kills the heads. Guides wear out and the cam rides in the alum head so the cam wears in to the alum. Several places offer babbit bearing maching and there are a few that do a needle bearing convertion. But thats big $$

44

Hmmm...so maybe the reason the timing chain seemed "stretched out" to the PO is that the cam had started to mill its way into the head. Whee!

I'll just have to take some time and see what I've got, I suppose.

Thanks!

Clem

Clem,

I picked up a 1982 XR-80 as a parts bike. The previous owner had allowed the timing chain to stretch to the point where it wore through the engine case. I patched the hole with some JB Weld and gave it to a buddy for his son. That was 7 years ago and the bike is still going strong. I know that they're different bikes and different engines but they share the same design and they're bullet proof. If the cam has worn into the head it's not a big deal. Honda made tons of these bikes and heads can be found cheap. I think I have a spare, at the cottage, you could have it for the cost of shipping.

Ya normaly it a combo of worn out head, bad chain, worn guide strips. If your not going to be racing it close your eye and slap it together and go beat the living @#!$ out of it.

anybody know what I can do to make sure bedliner sticks to the plastic on this thing (tank and side covers)?

Would some sort of spray can "adhesion promoter" be a good idea?

I'm smitten by this bike, and even though I don't know about the health of the engine yet...I'm ready to tear it down, clean it up, roll bedliner onto everything that's not aluminum (and/or everything that's orange), and strap a sawed off shotgun to the triple tree*

Clem

*I wouldn't actually do the shotgun until I came up with chaps and even then, I could opt for a crossbow instead...

Tommy Suddard wrote: Great bike! I ride an 83 XL250R, which is that bike with some lights added on.

I had a 87 XL250 (one of about a dozen dirtbikes I have had). They really are a blast on and off road.

Don't bedliner the thing. I don't understand the attraction to that. It seems to be the answer to the question "what can I do to really ugly up what ever vehicle I own".

Rusnak_322 wrote:

Tommy Suddard wrote: Great bike! I ride an 83 XL250R, which is that bike with some lights added on.

I had a 87 XL250 (one of about a dozen dirtbikes I have had). They really are a blast on and off road. Don't bedliner the thing. I don't understand the attraction to that. It seems to be the answer to the question "what can I do to really ugly up what ever vehicle I own".

well...frankly, it's mine and I'll do whatever the heck I want with it.

I want to paint it something other than orange. I think the bedliner material would be tough enough to survive trail use (moreso than paint). If I'm wrong about that, I'm happy to hear it. In my case the question is, "How can I make this thing not orange and still look good after it gets smacked by a few branches/rocks and then gets pressure washed off?" I'm open to any discussion about something that can answer that question (for not a ton of money...).

BTW...did you notice how ugly this thing is now? I can't really uglify it any more. ANY attention to detail will spruce it up quite a bit, IMO.

Clem

I dug further into the bike yesterday. I took the right side cover off and the valve/rocker cover.

The crankcase was full of what looked like ovaltine...I presume that was mostly water that had gotten in there while the bike was stored improperly in its past...but who knows. I'll hose things down with solvent at some point to flush out what I can. Or maybe just let it drain real well and fill it up with oil and change it again soon after I get it running.

So...I can't tell if the cam lobes are excessively worn, or if they just had this shape to begin with (It doesn't look like something I'm used to looking at with a V8 auto cam). I'll have to get a photo of that one...I thought I had it but I don't.

Where the cam bearing jornal is in the head, it doesn't look too bad. I don't really know what I'm looking at, but it's certainly not all scored up. So, hopefully it's ok.

I was able to spin the cam one direction by hand with the chain on. It would just skip, skip, skip past the lower cam chain sprocket. This could be completely normal for all I know. I need to find out how the cam chain tensioner works. I think that is probably my problem.

Finally, I found this hole/boss broken out in the right side cover. The large hole is where the kick start shaft comes out the side of this cover. Directly below it there is a spot where a shaft or pin goes in that is broken away. I have no idea what this is for...it is not evident looking at the rest of the parts. I figure this happened before and whatever went there is there no longer.

Thanks for looking,
Clem

Oh...and I am confused about wheter I have the RFVCC or not. Can anyone tell from my photos so far? It certainly doesn't have what Woody posted...so I'm thinking I don't have that engine...unless it came in several iterations of badassedness.

Does it have four valves? Then I think it's an RFVC.

Edit: I just counted four in your photo!

Yeah...it has 4 valves. But it doesn'thave the bad ass looking casting like in your photo above. so maybe there were progressive levels of badassedness in the casting and machining...?

Hard to say, but here's hoping ;)