1987 XT250 twin cam

7/9/14

 This is my new 1987 XT250, picked up around a month ago from a coastal area which has affected it greatly. It's covered in rust and corrosion.

 It's a 250cc 4 valve twin port motor with the usual 5 speed box.

 Of course missing the original muffler, this one came with an 'aussie muffler'.

 The old owner said that the chain slipped off the back wheel and did damage. This is a case job, as the chain tore a few bits out of the side of the half case, including the clutch lever stopper.
So this weekend I decided to strip it out and deal with the excessive rust. The motor needs a rebuild and cases because its very dirty and these motors are very sensitive in the top end. Dads bike is the same and the valve-train is frustratingly weak. The cam chain adjuster is automatic and breaks easily after a few thousand kilometers, unlike the single cam adjuster. This is an interference motor so when the cam jumps teeth, it bends valves. These bikes are notorious for it, and dads came with bent valves.

 The bike came with the original bashplate which is a nice touch. It seems this bike hasn't seen much use in its lifetime and still is fairly complete and in good condition. Just covered in corrosion and caked mud.

 Here's the front fender, with its massive crack near the mounts. Finding a matching black fender will be interesting, but for now this one will just be repaired somehow. The tank and seat are similar, the tanking having big rusty dents and the seat having vinyl repairs all over it.

 This is just as I started stripping the bike. The wiring loom is the long black thing dangling in front of the motor.

 Getting the swingarm out then the motor was a trick of course. The long bolt that connects the back of the motor and the swingarm to the frame was set in its ways. Unlike the single cam I didn't have to attack it with the angle grinder thank goodness although it was very tight.

 The box is a bit small for the motor, but it's only temporary. It was moved down to another shed, waiting for tear down and rebuild with new cases.

 Here's the pile of parts halfway through the disassembly. Everything needs and will get attention one piece at a time. I need to go through each bag of bolts and replace them all as they're all rusty and pretty bad in the thread department of course.

 So I started at 8:30, and here's how it looked at 12:30. Felt good for a days work. The stand is still attached in this photo.

This is the left hand side peg, which has been welded on. Rough as guts repairs like this take years off my life but I'll have to do something about it.

After rub back and treatment, the first coat of primer was applied. I just covered the welded on peg with paper towel but I'm going to have to do something about it, as it's rusty and the teeth look fairly worn. It will probably sit in primer for a while so I can pick a colour and work out how to match the rest of the bike to that colour. I was thinking purple but I haven't decided.

So the list for this bike is big. I have to:

Clean and restore/ rebuild everything. I'm thinking of painting all the bare aluminium parts that are exposed and corroded (swingarm and front shocks are just plain aluminium).
Recondition the motor. Swap the cases.
Clean the carby. Seriously clean it as its seized and full of who knows what. It's also stuck to the inlet manifolds.
Finish painting the frame. Match the other parts to the frame colour with paint etc.
Rebuild the forks and the rear shock. Haven't done this before.
Sprockets, chain and guides, as these are either hopelessly worn or non existent.
Work on brakes. Too scared to go pumping the front disk, but the rear seems okay.
Front tube. Simple job. Also have a set of tyres I could chuck on as it has okay ones that may be street legal and worth putting aside.
Rego gear, keyed stuff. Everything that needs a key to operate is smashed and all the rego gear is broken and disassembled. Doesn't really matter as the old owner couldn't find the key and every bike I seem to pick up has no rego gear. A major plus for this one is it still has the speedo and tacho cables.
Get a new tank. The old one is really bad, rusty, still full of fuel and the key is broken off in the lock.
Repair or replace front fender.
The fork bearings are really nice, so degrease and repack them.
Inspect the swingarm linkages. Especially the main pivot point off the back of the motor as the long bolt didn't want to go back in after being pulled out.
Maybe paint the exhaust, but it shouldn't need it.
Inspect the wiring loom.


There's plenty more, I've just forgotten. This bike is the newest and most horrific bike in my possession, but it is a good opportunity to give a custom paint combination a go. When reconditioned, it should make for a nice ride too. It'll just be a long time before it gets to riding again.