Yamaha XS250 restoration..

[dufc1923]

Hi there,

I'm in the process of getting an old knackered XS250 back on the road..

It seems to be on most people's "worst bike I ever owned" lists and a common theme is that the electrics were crap.

I wondered if anyone could suggest any improvements that could be made to the electrical system?

Does anyone know what particular problems there were with this bike..?
Any and all suggestions more than welcome..

cheers

Craig

[banditrider]

Only had mine 3 months (yep, not my favourite bike) and had no issues with the electrical system except for a dud battery when I bought it (it had been started for over a year).

My issues were rusty tank (sprung a major leak one day) and rusty LHS muffler (converted her to 2 into 1). Other than that it did it's job for a while but it's replacement (RG250) was a lot more fun...

[dufc1923]

thanks for your reply.. appreciate your time..


Funnily enough both mufflers on this one were held together with rust..
The tank appears to be sound.. but I'll certainly give it a bit of a closer inspection next time i'm out there..

thanks again..

[Subike]

thanks for your reply.. appreciate your time..


Funnily enough both mufflers on this one were held together with rust..
The tank appears to be sound.. but I'll certainly give it a bit of a closer inspection next time i'm out there..

thanks again..

what year XS250?
I may be able to help with information on electrical parts and where to obtain them if it is a 1978 - 81 model XS250

[Bonez]

thanks for your reply.. appreciate your time..


Funnily enough both mufflers on this one were held together with rust..
The tank appears to be sound.. but I'll certainly give it a bit of a closer inspection next time i'm out there..

thanks again..

If the headers are ok you can get some slip on muflers. EMGO list a few in their catalogues http://www.emgo.com/main_layout.html which are available though your local bike shop.

[motorbyclist]

talk to real_wolf about his one - the bottom end siezed and the whole bike is pretty rough, but he's looking to get rid of it to fund a new bike. it's just been sitting outside over the summer.

he bought a bike without asking for advice first.

it was for sale here on KB

the seller had several threads that would put even the most determined buyers off the bike, combined with it being a rare bike to begin with for when parts were needed

he paid $1800 for it

clutch, top end, bottom end, rear end, front end, chassis, electrics and ignition barrel were all fucked. cosmetics were pretty rough too.

took it to the shop for an oil change and $300 clutch plates. mechanic failed to mention the metal found in the filter.

bike started siezing on the way home, and he rode on anyway until it completely locked up.

later, back at the shop, the mechanic informed us of the bronze looking metal in the filter, most likely from the big end bearings

took bike to several wreckers, none of which would have it

so we took it to the once place that would - stephen's shed - and left it commando styles in the bushes.

stephen didn't notice until the groundskeepers told him a week later.

bike has sat outside stephen's shed ever since

[elevenhundred]

Im not sure about any issues specific to that model but it is always good to check and clean your wiring connections, especially earths and so on.