Few Q's about 81' XS 250

[Ryanh]

Hey guys just a fee quick questions,

1. Will a dt 175 tank fit onto my 250 frame, it's apparently the same as the 400 frame, any does anyone have a pic of what it looks like with the dt tank on? If not what other tanks look good, I'm looking for a squarish "toaster" style tank...

2. What USD or 'inverted' forks with fit my frame, I originally wanted to use aprillia rs125 forks but haven't been able to find any.

3. What are the things I will need to keep to run my bike as kick start only, I want to start cutting un-necessary tabs off my frame, I have to run headlight taillight indicators horn speedo, but I'm just wondering if i will need any other things to start engine apart from the on/off switch, will I need the coils that are under the tank?

Any help or photos appreciated guys,

Cheers Ryanh

[Falcore]

will I need the coils that are under the tank?

do you plan on starting it?

in regards to forks, better off emailing or getting in contact with a specialist in this field. whats that mobs name that does unreal street fighters near the hume hwy mid nsw? an getting forks off something common.

[Ryanh]

Yes I do haha, this is my first ever build so I'm unsure as to what I actually need, I've only ever owned/rode dirtbikes and I haven't ever pulled a bike apart to this extent,

I am thinking of using the rs125 forks, they appear to just fit straight in with the exception of the bottom
Bearings? Now all I need to do is find a set.

[hr_186]

The old XS250 was my first road bike. My first step was to find an XS400 motor for it (they bolt straight in) ... but even the 400 is lacking (alot) in performance.

The charging system on these bikes won't work without a battery. You need to have a well charged battery to start the bike and a good charging system to keep it going. (Read: big reliability issues if either of these things are not 100%)

A battery eliminator might work.

Usually with USD fork conversions i'll do a stem swap. But you need to measure the steps on the forklegs to make sure the triple clamps can still bolt up properly. Sometimes, with the new stem, the clamps will be moved closer together or further apart and make bolting up the forks difficult.

Have you thought about an RD or RZ for this conversion? They will perform rings around an XS250.

Or if you need to have an old XS twin you should think about the 650. With a fair amount of motor work, they can perform quite well.

My XS650 was last dynoed @ 60rwhp (not magical by todays standards ... but a huge improvement over a stock bike). The 650's will also hold their value alot better than the smaller XS's.

[Ryanh]

I will only be on Ls soon ( lost my bike license) so I have to stay within nsw lams bikes, so the 650 is off the cards, I plan to maybe one day put 400 pistons into my motor or a complete engine swap, I think I'm just going to run aprillia rs125 forks but I will be changing the front end after I get rego...

As for the battery I'm just going to be having kick start so I will only be powering lights and the ignition, I plan to use a small battery and hide it under the seat cowl

[hr_186]

I'm pretty sure a 400 top end will fit onto the 250 bottom end but the carbs are larger for the 400 so you want to swap those too.

I've done USD fork conversions to all of my bikes and even though it's usually not a difficult job, the time and cost involved would be wasted unless the project bike was worth the effort. (in my opinion)
The RS125 forks would be much better utilised on an RD250/350LC than on the XS250. Just a thought.

I'm pretty sure RZ / RD 250's are still LAMS approved? Aren't they?

[Para045]

Is this the XS250RK? Like this?



I used to have one of these as my 1st bike except in blue, great little thing it was, used to drag all sorts of bits like pegs, exhaust etc
When I was getting my L class (now RE's) John's MC School @ Cully's used to have 2 of these and a 400, the only way to tell the 400 was the 400cc stamp on the engine (and stickers/badges of course).
I actually got to ride the 400 once just before my test as there had been a double booking for the bikes Funny thing was yes it had a little more power but the brakes seemed better as well