xr250r camshaft worries

[roenut]

Hey people, just a newbie to this site as ive just bought my first bike.
....turns out i scored a lemon.....
bought a 94 xr250r that was supposed to be a good reliable bike, and turns out the engine was cooked.
Ive got most of the rebuild underway, but im now stuck trying to find a camshaft to suit.
ive read on various sites that the rfvc engines are virtually the same from around 86 to 96, if so, will the camshafts be interchangeable? or do i need a 'year specific' one?
most of the cams ive come across dont have the worm gear halfway down the shaft (is the bike even a 94?)
ive already had to set much more money aside for it then origionaly intended, so i dont want to fork out another $400 for a new cam.
does anyone have a 2nd hand one lying around theyd like to sell, or even know of any?

Everyone seems pretty knowledgable so i thought this site would be a good place to start...
any help would be much appreciated!
Cheers
Rodney

[Motu]

Well,you certainly aren't the first person to buy a Honda with a stuffed camshaft and rockers,pretty standard for the era.I don't know about interchangeability,and can't help with parts.

[Kickaha]

Take it to Kelford cams in Sydenham, they cleaned up a cam that had run hot and rooted the head through a lack of lubrication and rebuilt some rockers for me a few years back and it wasn't that expensive

It shouldn't cost anything for them to price it for you

[roenut]

yeah i went there, was 265+gst. thought it was reasonably steep for a build up and regrind, but then again, 265+ in labour is only around 5 or 6 hours i suppose....
i now have rockers in very good nick, but do they have to be matched to the cam in any way?
ive never really delved into this sort of work till now

[robinm]

The cam in your photo looks like a XL one rather than a XR one, the worm gear in the middle of the cam is what runs the rev counter, so if yours is an XR, with no rev counter and you have found cams with no worm gear in the centre, then use one of them, it shold be the correct one.

[roenut]

the bike used to be road going, but has had the road kit removed. id like to put it back on the road for this comming summer, would i get away with using the "wormdriveless" cam and using an older speedo off a 91 or something like that? pretty sure they just had a single speedo unit?

[neels]

the bike used to be road going, but has had the road kit removed. id like to put it back on the road for this comming summer, would i get away with using the "wormdriveless" cam and using an older speedo off a 91 or something like that? pretty sure they just had a single speedo unit?

The drive on the cam is for the rev counter. The speedo drive is normally from the front wheel. So if you can live without a rev counter then you don't need the drive for it on the cam.

[crazyxr250rider]

Shame ur in the S.I. got a good cam and rockers in my shed....

[roadracingoldfart]

We used to modify the head by line boring and fitting a bearing instead of plain journals for the cam . It worked very well and the lack of oil didnt cause any further hassle. Always use a good oil in an XR / XL and change it lots.

[roenut]

Shame ur in the S.I. got a good cam and rockers in my shed....

tis no shame chap!!! i'll happily pay for any postage involved!! what sort of money are you after? your the closest ive come other then a trademe guy who failed to follow through. :
it would be greatly appreciated! owned it for over a month and havnt yet had one ride....bums getting itchy for the seat now

[roenut]

roadracingoldfart- the center journal isnt too bad at all. As for the oil, i have fuchs silkolene pro4sx available at work. any good for the xr you reckon? or should i use a non-synthetic oil?