New Project: $200 '86 250SX

[Motorious]

Well, my $100 '82 250R project has got company, just picked this up:

http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/xx11/Cychotic/86HondaSX250-1.jpg

http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/xx11/Cychotic/86HondaSX250-3.jpg

http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/xx11/Cychotic/86HondaSX250-2.jpg

http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/xx11/Cychotic/86HondaSX250-6.jpg

http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/xx11/Cychotic/86HondaSX250-4.jpg

http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/xx11/Cychotic/86HondaSX250-5.jpg

It's got compression and spark, and according to the seller, it should run with a little carb work (missing float needle valve and airbox). Too bad the original owner cut the fenders (apparently they were cracked). I'm hoping to get this in running and riding shape with a minimum of work so I can have some fun in the dirt before the bad weather hits. Still plan on doing a complete restoration of the 250R this winter (something I've never done before with a project, I usually just fix the mechanical problems, never bother with making 'em look pretty). You don't see too many cherry early 250R's, I think it'll be a unique project, and I still like the 250R better than the SX. 2-strokes are just 2 damn much fun.

Now I've just got to find some time to get the SX running (way too much work, not enough play;))

[Dznutts]

nice score man.... .

[harryredtrike]

cool pick up there.besides the fenders she looks pretty good

[motoman1012002]

good deal bike dont like that bad

[Motorious]

Pretty psyched, just got it to fire over on ignition fluid (sprayed some ignition fluid down the intake port, with carb removed).Motor sounded fine, no weird noises or ominous smoke spewing from the exhaust. Took a closer look at it, the motor looks excellent, and I didn't see any leaks. Needs a battery, airbox, carburetor kit, fenders, and needs some work done to the wiring (ignition switch has been disconnected-no doubt in order to run it without the battery). I do have the ignition key though.

Gas tank is bone dry and from what I can tell has only a bit of minor surface rust inside, one little ding on the exterior. I could probably get by without treating the rust, but I'm thinking of at least pouring some acid into it before using it to clean it out, if not giving it the full Kreem type treatment.

I won an auction on ebay today, got a complete airbox system including the hoses and filter in pristine condition for the ridiculous price of $9.99. One catch though: the seller didn't specify a shipping price, so I hope he doesn't try to gouge me because I got it so cheap. He claims he only charges actual shipping costs, so I'm thinking about $20-$30 tops should be about right. We'll see though, he still hasn't given me the total cost yet. I'm gonna buy a carb rebuild kit off ebay too, tons of them available for about $20. So for under $300 I may have a running and rideable '86 250SX. Sweet!

Still want to do a full restore on the '82 250R this winter though. I think that'll be a fun project, and as I wrote before, a full frame-off restoration is something I've never done. I'd love to be able to do that.

[Motorious]

Got my carb kit yesterday, shipped fast, only took 4 days, and a great deal at only $21 shipped. Rebuilt the carb today, wasn't too dirty, just a little gummy here and there. Still gotta clean the tank (I'm thinking I'm just going to treat it with acid...just a little surface rust as far as I can tell). Hopefully my airbox will get here soon (finally got a shipping price-$11, total price $21) and then, if all goes well, I can hit up some dirt with this thing. Budget triking at its finest. :naughty:

[whyzee]

love the updates , keep 'em coming

[motoman1012002]

if I was closer i would love to that

[BIGREDGUY]

Nice pick up. Ive always liked the 250SXs.

[Motorious]

Forgot to write about how much fun I had removing a broken pilot screw from the carb yesterday.:crazy:

Yeah, a previous owner did the classic bonehead maneuver and overtightened the pilot screw, which caused the delicate needle tip to break off in the tiny hole in the carb. Probably why they pulled the carb in the first place. Classic conundrum: couldn't tap it back out towards the bottom due to the narrow confines of the intake throat, and couldn't drill it out because the drill bits I had that were narrow enough to do the job weren't long enough to reach. I was stumped and frustrated, until (:idea:) I decided to try poking it out from the throat side with a push pin. Took a Dremel with a grinding stone attachment and carefully filed the pin until it was fine enough to match the diameter of the hole. With a pair of needle nose pliers I leveraged the push pin into the hole and slowly squeezed it until the broken brass sliver fell out. Carefully removed the pushpin without breaking it (too) off in the hole. Blow out with compressed air.

I hope the seat didn't get too damaged and the hole didn't get too enlarged from this little carbular misadventure; guess I'll find out soon enough. I'm just happy I was able to remove the broken piece without drilling.

Still waiting on that damn airbox; praying it gets here tomorrow, I wanna go ride this thing. :Bounce

[mtsnieg]

Nice score for $100. Very nice. I looked at a sx for 250 the other day, ran great but was ugly spray bombed and shatty plastic. I would have been in some trouble if I brought it home. " What? You bought another one? What about bla bla bla." Should have bought it an kepp it down the road for a while.

[Motorious]

Got 'er running today, and took it for few laps around the neighborhood. :cool:

Still waiting for my airbox to arrive in the mail, so I bought a Foam Uni pod filter. I tried cleaning the gas tank out with some phosphoric acid yesterday, let it dry out overnight; it was dirtier than I thought, there was still a little crud left in it. But I'm impatient, so I bought an inline filter to catch any remaining gunk, installed the carb, hooked the fuel line up, and mounted the air filter. It took a few kicks, but it eventually fired up, and ran fairly decent. It's got pretty good power, and lifts the front end when shifting into the lower gears.:twisted:

There is a bit of a flat spot in the throttle though, hopefully the carb isn't effed up from the old broken pilot screw, and I can tune it a little better. I'm sure a new spark plug and oil and filter change will help. Might be running a bit lean because of the air filter pod, although it does blow a bit of black smoke at WOT (hope valves aren't shot). Will also need to check and adjust the valves (if necessary), pretty easy with this simple of a motor-especially when compared to the shim-under-bucket arrangement of my 4 cylinder, 16 valve FZR600.

Already found a free manual download on 3ww (this place rocks!)

The petcock doesn't shut off, so I'll either need to replace it or find a cheap plastic inline shut-off valve. I know, I know, I'm cutting corners- but I don't care about making it pretty-it is a beater, I just hope to get it functioning well.

Brakes are awesome, don't think I need to do anything there. Front tire is cracked-although it is holding air for now, and will need replacing soon.

Rear tires are in great shape, and sport some pretty nice polished aluminum ITP rims.

And of course, the whole electrical system needs to be hooked up, new terminal crimped on positive battery terminal, and a new battery.

Pretty stoked, rear suspension really makes a difference.

So far I've invested about $245 into her and she's already a runner (and a rider!)

Can't wait to play with her in the dirt!

[Motorious]

Made a little :pprogress today. Was going to install the stock airbox that arrived a couple days ago, but a plug checked revealed carbon fouling, so I figured I'd be better off with the freer flowing Uni pod filter until I figure out why it's running rich. Still haven't got a chance to replace the spark plug, so I just cleaned it out as best I could with some carb cleaner and a wire brush, pulled the cap off the plug wire and trimmed 1/4" off the end, screwed the cap back on the wire good and tight, pulled the choke out, and with just 1 kick she fired right up! Pretty awesome, it's never started so easy before.

Once it warmed up, I revved her to WOT a few times and it accelerated totally smooth, no hiccups, bogging, or smoke. I took her for a few spins around the block, and she did great. Getting better at shifting into second and keeping the front end down :D. Gonna check the plug tomorrow, and maybe fine tune the pilot screw a bit (I've got it closed quite a bit from the stock 1 and 1/4 turns out, because it had been running rich, but now that I'm apparently getting a stronger spark, I may be too lean on the pilot). The only problem I have now is it hangs a little bit after WOT before dropping back down to idle. Not sure it's hitting full RPM at WOT too, but it could be there's a rev limiter, or maybe I'm not used to the lower RPM redline of these single cylinder thumpers.

Gonna get an oil filter (hope they have it in stock, but somehow I doubt it), give it an oil change, and finally buy a new spark plug, and hit up some dirt tomorrow. :p

[ailll1]

Not sure it's hitting full RPM at WOT too, but it could be there's a rev limiter, or maybe I'm not used to the lower RPM redline of these single cylinder thumpers.

I dont know why but my SX wont hit any rev limiter, just steady rpms at WOT but I gotta say, it revs REALLY high!

[Motorious]

Hmmm...that's interesting. According to the factory service manual, the 250 SX generates 18 HP @ 7000 RPM. So it should at least hit 7000 RPM (if not more). Hard to say if mine is spinning that fast without a tachometer, but my gut instinct tells me my motor isn't quite hitting that speed. I might be missing a little top end speed. Pretty sure the throttle cable is adjusted for maximum slide motion though, but maybe I'll double check to make sure both the slide and butterfly valve are fully open at WOT.