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Other decals in pairs: Honda Wing £6.50, PRO-LINK £5.00, 200R 500R 600R £5.00
Seat covers with their logos:- XR200 84-85,86-1995, XR250 84-95, 96-2005, XR350 83-87, XR400 1996-2005, XR500 83-84, XR600 85-87, 88-2000, XR650 2000-200x
XL350 1984-85, XL500 1979-81, XL600 1983-87
If I dont have your bike listed I can make you a cover using your old cover as a template.
I can also make replicas of other decals; email me for info.
HONDA XR250RF 1985 Restoration and Rebuild ------- New photos as of 06 May 2009 towards the end.
I'd like to say a big thankyou to everyone who's helped me with this restoration including Martin "foxy" at Thunderroad.co.uk and a ton of other companies I've used to locate those hard to find new NOS parts.Last but not least I'd like to say a massive thankyou to all you guys on 4strokes.com,thumpertalk.com,xrv.org.uk---your advice and suggestions have been invaluable and a goldmine of tips etc---thanks!!!
I bought the bike in September 2006 off an old school friend for £250 pounds who was emmigrating to Australia. He had owned it since November 1989 and used it up to 1992.In 1992 the shaft the front sprocket sits on broke apart in the engine and I put a new one in plus new piston rings. The mileage at this point was 8537 miles. Since then it had 249 miles of riding and then stood in his shed and never moved an inch until I came along with the mileage reading 8786 on the clock.
Quite amazingly when I went round to pick the bike up, my friend had fired her up after standing for 14 odd years. As I only lived across the road I rode her over and set to work.
As she was the day I brought her home.
My intention from the start was a complete strip down and then rebuild; finances allowing of course---the wife and 3 kids are bit of a drain on the old wallet!!!!!!
I wasn’t going to touch the piston as I knew I had done the piston rings all those years ago and she had done only 249 miles since then, plus a bit of hope mixed in for good measure. Note; later on I did indeed fit a new piston kit.
My workplace for the foreseeable future was the patio and my shed as I didn’t have a garage at the time and as we shall see later on, the hallway in the house became a temporary workshop much to the dismay of my very patient wife god bless her!!!!
A breakdown of cost is at the end.
A bit about me:-
I’m 36 and currently a Welder/Heavy Goods Driver at Arvin Meritor, I grew up around cars and bikes as my parents used to own a car repair and body shop. I raced schoolboy/adult motocross for about 7 years and gained my knowledge about bikes as a result. I’ve done a few rebuilds on bikes and below are pictures of the ones I did and bikes I’ve owned.
This picture is me on the right and my friend on the left who I bought the XR250 from. The bike in the picture is a brand new Honda CR125 1989 the day we picked it up from the dealer way back in 1989.
The bike above is a Honda NSR125 2001 crash damaged that I bought and fixed up.
My Honda Hornet 600 2005 which I bought new in 2005 and still have.
XR250 strip down…….
I started by spraying everything with WD40 as there were probably going to be quite a few hard to undo nuts and bolts.
If you look by the tyre valve cap you can see some crud on the alloy. This is in fact chemical metal in a tube which my mate used to try to fix some corrosion in the alloy.As he had left the bike outside in his back garden,his cats had taken a liking to using the rear wheel as a toilet and so the cat p..s and great UK weather combined to wreck that area of the wheel. I sourced another wheel from the USA.
So now I had the bike stripped it was time to see what could be cleaned/salvaged and stuff that had to be replaced………………..
At the time of this restoration I was working for a large firm that had some handy equipment that would come in handy.
Shot blasting tank and zinc plating tank.
I shot blasted the frame, swinging arm and every other part that was safe to do so.
After shot blasting all the parts that could be,they were then zinc plated ready for painting.
The frame I had powder coated in Biffa Red (Biffa skips over here in the UK).
Frame and swingarm back from sandblasting and powdercoating.
Brand new shock with original spring.
I spent a lot of time assembling the wiring harness as originally my friend had "butchered" the original with all manner of bits and bobs to get the lights running. I located the switch assembly by the clutch lever off Ebay but in the UK we dont need blinkers/indicators for our MOT/road worthyness test (age of bike), so I didn't wire them up.They weren't installed originally anyway (UK).
Original rear pipe but changed for a new pipe off the newer style later on.
Plastics were from Maier in the USA.
New front pipe and below finished before the problem with the cylinderhead was discovered.
Up to this point she would fire up and run but at temperature she would periodically splutter and back-fire. New Honda pulse generator, stator, cdi, etc, etc, etc!!!!!!!
One sunny fine day whilst staring blankly at the engine I noticed a slight weeping from between the barrel and cylinder head on the stator side. Uh-oh!!
I started to strip the head off and immediately noticed that the stator side head bolt came out too easily with the ratchet. My fears were realised. The thread in the barrel was caput!!! Do I heli-coil it or?
Big grovelling to the wifey and a new barrel from Honda was ordered as well as gaskets, valve cover caps etc and new head bolts.
So the new barrel is put on and then the cylinder head. But bugger me sideways; just as my eyes focus on the underside of the cylinder head, I see what looks like a crack.
You can imagine the look on my face. There was a crack between the valve seats and a fracture running the entire length of the spark plug hole!!!!
Even more grovelling and after a long search on the internet (matchsticks holding my eye-lids open) I located a bike dealer in France that had a new cylinder head for the 1987 XL250R.Now these heads are red but I was going to paint it black anyway. I couldn’t find a brand new head for the 1985 XR250 anywhere. I figured the only difference was the colour. The cylinder head arrived.
One thing I noticed was the intake ports were smaller on the new head than the old one.
Now as it was from an XL250R and as I was impatient to finish the work I put it to the back of my mind. I ground the valves in and then painted the head with VHTemp black and VHTemp lacquer and cooked it in the oven. The wife wasn’t very happy with the smell in the kitchen.
So I assembled everything and fired her up. She started second kick and idled fine.
Helmet on and off for a gentle break in.
Mmmmmm, she felt what I can only describe as holding back. More scratching of the head and more Googling for answers. Then the penny dropped. I remembered the intake ports were smaller than the old head. Now how was I going to enlarge the ports with the head still on the engine? Luck would have it I found an attachement for my drill which to all intense purposes is like a snake which bends allowing you to drill, grind etc around corners. I measured the ports on the old head and marked the new one up. A flapper wheel was attached to the snake and off we went grinding. Thank god it worked just fine.
I also installed the brand new rear pipe. It’s off the newer XR250 but went on fine with a small made up mounting bracket.
I couldn’t believe my luck but I also located brand new original Honda Hand guards and these were attached along with new levers, bolts etc.
These bits below are waiting to go on as of 29/03/09.I'm in the process of renewing the main crank bearings etc so I've decided to replace these other bits as well as I've got the engine stripped down.
New kickstart assembly----managed to locate one!
New NOS clutch basket and obligatory gasket.
Now this is interesting. I bought this brand new rocker cover with the part number 12311-KL4-305.You can see on the top just above where the spark plug would be a whole with a smaller one next to it. My original rocker cover didn't have this so I wasn't a happy chappy. I didn't see this difference until it arrived at my door. I ended up taken the original cover back to bare metal and repainting. I still have this new one and if anyone can identify which XR/XL it's from, I'd be most interested.
These yellow backgrounds, I've reproduced from new OEM original ones I bought. I have new originals for the 200/250//350/400/500/600/650 which I reproduce.You can obtain these from me by clicking the link at the top of this webpage and I have them on Ebay. I also make new seat covers for the XR/XL range.
XR200/XR250 83601-KK0-300 right decal
XR200/XR250 83602-KK0-300 left decal
XR200/XR250/XR350/XR500 87126-KF0-300 headlight decal
XR350 1983/1984 83601-KF0-300 right decal
XR350 1983/1984 83602-KF0-300 left decal
XR500 1983/1984 83601-MG3-300 right decal
XR500 1983/1984 83602-MG3-300 left decal
83602-KN5-670 left decal reproduced from 2nd hand 1985 XR350 left panel
83500-KN5-670ZA 1985 XR350 complete brand new right panel (you can't get the right decal seperate from Honda so I bought a new panel from Honda and have reproduced the decal exactly).The new oem panel comes with the background decal already attached.
The 1985 XR350 decals fit the 1985-87 XR600.
The panel above is a brand new right cover for a 1985 XR350.
Below are some of the XR seat covers I've worked on so far. I can make a new seat cover from an old one so email me if you'd like to send me your old one.
UPDATE 06 MAY 2009
Okay, these are the latest pictures and info showing how she looks as of today.I took the engine completely apart to install main crank bearings,countershaft bearings,cam chain,tensioner,slide,camshaft bearings,various oil seals,kickstart assembly, new cases and gave the centre cases a fresh lick of paint.
I haven't added the recent part nos from 06 May 2009 to the list below but will do soon.
Complete list of new parts etc (Genuine Honda and spurious) bought in dollars and pounds and other bits.
53180-KF0-770ZA Hand guard Right £10.00
12208-413-003 Valve stem seals *4 £16.80
15532-KK0-770 Bolt, Flange (8*28) £2.31
15533-KK0-000 Bolt, Flange (7*25) £2.31
15533-KK0-770 Bolt, Flange (7*38) £2.99
90441-MC0-000 Wash, Sealing*4 £2.44
90475-703-000 Washer C,8mm*2 £1.04
91302-KF0-003 O-Ring,54*2.4 £0.81
11395-KZ1-920 Gasket, L. Crankcase £4.60
91071-MA0-003 Needle Bearing*2 £23.12
91302-KF0-003 O-Ring £0.78
18291-KK0-000 Gasket, Ex. Pipe*2 £5.54
11394-KK0-000 GSKT, R Crankcase £6.36
18320-KK1-770 Pipe, Exhaust £76.38
90304-GE8-003 Nut, U (10mm) $2.50
50530-KT1-770 Bar, Side Stand $39.62
53172-429-770 Brkt, L. Handlebar $16.48
53173-376-000 Holder $5.99
53185-KF0-770ZA Hand guard Left $25.00
51611-KT1-671ZA Boot, FR. *PB5L* $27.85
90108-KG0-000 Screw $3.99
90113-KF0-770 Bolt $3.23
90114-KF0-770 Bolt $3.23
12200-KT4-010 Cylinder Head $263.05
12100-KR0-010 Barrell $260.10
12251-KR6-003 Gasket,CYL Head $17.16
12361-KK0-000 Cap*4 $49.52
18291-KZ1-670 Gasket,Ex Pipe*2 $6.04
90081-KK0-000 Bolt,Flange (10*81) $6.87
16211-KK1-000 Insulator $41.92
90084-471-000 Cap,Alternator $6.33
91302-KK1-003 O-Ring $4.17
30410-KK0-773 Module,Ign Cont $101.46
30510-MK4-405 Coil,Ignition $37.51
30700-MK4-611 Cap Assy $9.88
18292-MV4-000 Gasket,Muffler $4.52
18317-KCE-660 Arrester,Spark $49.67
18319-KCE-660 Diffuser,Tail $67.90
90102-KCY-670 Bolt,Torx (4*10) $2.50
24700-KK0-000 Pedal $39.11
96201-80000 Fitting (B.76S) $1.65
87121-KK0-770 Emblem,RR Swingarm*2 $1.65
43352-568-003 Screw,Bleeder $4.57
45109-GE2-006 Dust seal*2 $7.52
45209-GE2-006 Piston,Seal*2 $9.68
45134-KB7-005 Dust seal Brake Cam $2.09
94201-20350 Pin,Cotter $0.60
96001-06025-00 Bolt,Flange (6*25) $0.88
90305-GE8-003 Nut,U (14mm) $4.16
90305-MA0-003 Nut,Axle (16mm) $4.84
92900-06028-0B Bolt,Stud (6*28)*4 $2.80
96140-62020-10 Bearing (6202U)*2 $14.90
96140-62020-10 Bearing*2 $14.90
18391-438-306 Gasket,Muffler $8.09
52410-KT0-771 Damper,RR $491.24
53214-KA4-701 Dust Seal $4.65
53214-KA3-732 Dust Seal $5.62
90755-229-003 Oil Seal $3.56
91258-410-013 Dust Seal $6.69
51611-KK1-772 Boot,Fork*2 $49.08
18310-KCE-671 Muffler $282.00
Other parts:--
IRC TR8 Rear tyre £42.99
IRC TR8 Front tyre £29.49
Maier Front Fender £35.16
Maier Rear Fender £23.65
Clutch kit £49.22
Generator/Stator £65.00
Pyramid Head stock bearings £19.99
Oil Filter £2.95
Clutch cover gasket £5.40
3 Lots of gasket sets £21.51
Sandblast frame £65.00
Powdercoat frame £80.00
Front wheel respoked £60.00
Piston Kit $75.00
Flange Bolts $64.51
Air Filter $17.25
Maier Headlight Shroud $38.20
Maier Side Panels $59.34
Rear wheel bearing $9.95
2nd Hand Rear wheel off Ebay $40.00
2nd Hand Wiring Harness off Ebay $45.00
2nd Hand Reg/Rectifier off Ebay $12.99
Pyramid Fork Seals $10.00
Seat cover new $42.95
A few other new parts but I’d be guessing what I paid such as:--
Headlight, tool bag, spark plugs, oil, brake fluid, gear shifter, carburettor jet kits/gaskets, clutch cable, speedo cable, brake pads/shoes and lots of stainless nuts, washers and bolts and a new chain and sprockets.
So overall give or take a few ponds/dollars, I’d say including the purchase price of £250, the whole rebuild has cost me overall:-
£250 purchase price
£655.84 spent in the UK on parts etc
$2431.96 spent on parts from around the world mainly the USA.
Total in dollars $3896.25 Total in pounds £2410.30
The wife just had a heart attack!!! But you see, to me it’s not about the money; When I first saw the old XR all those years ago in my friend’s back garden she was in a sorry state. I always wondered at the time and over the years since whether anyone would save her from the scrap heap. As it happens she landed in my arms and I didn’t want to just get her running, I wanted to believe that people (fellow bikers I guess) would wonder “what is that?” as I rode past. She’s 23 years old now and sits patiently waiting for me to take her out; and for my son when he's old enough. There’s just something about the old bikes and I’d guess that if you’ve got this far then I think you’d know what I mean. Here’s to HONDA.
Keep on riding.........Chris. [an error occurred while processing this directive]