I picked up a '85 250SX a few weeks back for basically $100. It had been sitting neglected for a few years in the back field. PO decided to put it on Craigslist with a little pull behind trailer so I nabbed the whole lot for $200. He said it had not ran in a year but with the condition everything was in and how disintegrated the front tire was I am willing to bet a few years. Either way the motor turned over with good compression so I took a gamble. I only got a bill of sale and until the title process was finished I wasn't putting one finger on it in case someone tried to claim ti during the process. Luckily though no one did and now its all mine with a clear title!
I was not sure of the full condition of the motor so I did the bare minimal to see if it would run. Changed the oil and filter. cleaned the carb, put some deep creep in the top end to lube it up a bit and a new spark plug. I grabbed the battery from my XR650L and a quick prime and a second on the starter button and it fired right up! I even got a video of it starting for the first time in years.
Well it fired up and ran so its all fair game now. First with the cleaning.
This was the day it came home
Cleaning the carb. Man this was some of the thickest turpentine Ive ever seen. Pull the slide up and it just sat there slowly sliming its way down.
After the cleaning. I didn't put no new parts or gaskets in because I didn't want to put any money into this if it was shot.I got lucky as you can see in the video the carb held together and didn't leak.
The initial cleaning was a ton of work, a couple cans of degreaser two brushes and a lot of elbow grease.
Her former glory is starting to shine through after all these years.