Hi, I just bought a 1994 xr250 as my first bike. I would say it's the xr250L since the guy told me it was originally good to ride on the road. I'd like to know your tips and upgrade suggestion for a relatively low budget ( I won't put 1000$ on a 650$ bike ) that would be worth it. I just like working on engines.
250F New member, first bike
- Thread starter rb28
- Start date
It is a really easy engine to work on. if you plan to ride it off road more than on the road you are going to figure out really quickly that the suspension is a little soft for anything like spirited riding. if it still has all it's street gear, the first fixes are to figure out how much of that you can live without and meet your street needs. the plastic tank that came on our xr250r's is much lighter than the street version. so find one. the forks off the cr's from 86,87,88 and the 89 (cr 125 only in this case), go on pretty easy. it makes a big difference in the dirt.
set the valves before you ride it much, and then check them to see if they are growing clearance. I have a really modified 95 and right now I am putting a pretty close to stock one back together since the modded one is really not what I always want. it has a lot of things I wouldnt do again, but the suspension is well worth it, and if you look on ebay you can find what you need to do it reasonably. at the very least you will want to stiffen the existing forks on yours. i am not sure if the L version came with the 41mm cartridge forks that the R version did. it it did you can sell those with the front wheel to people who want to improve an xr200 or crf230 for as much as you will spend upgrading yours to 43 mm forks.
in the meantime you have a really reliable go anywhere kind of bike. just start by the valve settings.
there are lots of big bore kits available for that one, but only consider it if you need a rebore anyway.
set the valves before you ride it much, and then check them to see if they are growing clearance. I have a really modified 95 and right now I am putting a pretty close to stock one back together since the modded one is really not what I always want. it has a lot of things I wouldnt do again, but the suspension is well worth it, and if you look on ebay you can find what you need to do it reasonably. at the very least you will want to stiffen the existing forks on yours. i am not sure if the L version came with the 41mm cartridge forks that the R version did. it it did you can sell those with the front wheel to people who want to improve an xr200 or crf230 for as much as you will spend upgrading yours to 43 mm forks.
in the meantime you have a really reliable go anywhere kind of bike. just start by the valve settings.
there are lots of big bore kits available for that one, but only consider it if you need a rebore anyway.
Wrap a rope around the spline and make it a pull start 
the two units will switch, but it looks like the pin height where the bolt goes through to hold the lever to the joint is different. the whole unit can be had from bike bandit for 73 though. i can find you something that will go on it, the spline looks the same as my xl600. looks like my old xr500 too. i can get a starter off of those and take it into where my running xr is tomorrow and see if it clears everything so you know what to look for.
I only need the joint, the lever is in a OK condition. Thanks for checking all that. Let me know if you can sell me something that fits. I've found some joints for 50 and whole units for 75, but still think it's quite costly for such a small simple part. I still have to look locally for used parts tho.
