'76 XL250 Semi-Restoration

CCRider

Coast to Coast
I got this in exchange for doing some work on my wife's nephew's quad. It had been sitting outside for at least a couple of years, but it's mostly complete. My plan for now is just to get it running, take it apart, clean it up and put it back together





Rusty and dirty



At least the squirrels were making use of the airbox



That'll fix the fuse that keeps blowing



Insides were about as dirty as the outsides

 
Got the bike stripped down to a rolling frame and engine and cleaned the carb. I thought I would have to wait till I got a battery to try and start it, but after some research and checking the wire diagram, I found out all I needed to do was jumper one wire from the engine harness to the points and coil and it should spark. So I did a quick ignition timing adjustment, reinstalled the carb and exhaust and hooked up a gasoline IV. A few kicks later and it was running and blowing old mouse nest out of the rusty spark arrestor all over the garage.



Knowing it would at least run, I pulled the engine and spent about a half a day trying to scrub off a few decades of baked on red clay. Then I pulled the covers and put it in the parts washer to douche out the sludge from the insides. Unfortunately after the cleaning, I was checking out what I could see of the internals and noticed that the cam chain tensioner was broken.

 
Sounds similar to my xl250, broken parts inside. In my case the balancer chain snapped and took the transmission with it :(

Looking forward to more updates.
 
Sorry for the lack of updates, but really nothing very interesting going on. I installed a cam chain tensioner I found on ebay, welded on a new bracket where the kickstand was torn off the frame, got a couple of fenders from the Barber swap meet, fabbed up a new muffler, and did a whole bunch of cleaning and painting. I knocked most of the dents out of the tank, but decided I liked the old paint so didn't repaint it. About all that's left is to find or make an airbox cover for the right side.







 
When I first traded for the bike, I was thinking that at least I wouldn't have any title issues since I knew the PO's who said that they had it since new and had the title. Well after months of searching they could never find the title, and when we went to the DMV to apply for a lost title, we were told that there was no record of the bike having ever been titled in NC. I ended up applying for a title through the indemnity bond process and was able to get the bike registered yesterday, although they said it could take 2-3 months before I got the title.

So here's a salute to the NCDMV and their quick and easy titling process ::) :



I just got back from my first real shakedown ride. Did 32 miles and nothing fell off. She ran well, but she's definitely no powerhouse.
 
I like this......nothing falling off is a good thing.....right??????
 
I finally got around to adapting and mounting the rack that a vendor gave me at the Barber swap meet 2 years ago. Ready for my milk crate now.



 
Hey Chris, if you want the stock rubber version of the clutch adjuster plug I can bring you one to Thaw. Not sure if yours is the stock rubber one or if that is machined or what by that last pic.
 
irk miller said:
Hey Chris, if you want the stock rubber version of the clutch adjuster plug I can bring you one to Thaw. Not sure if yours is the stock rubber one or if that is machined or what by that last pic.
Thanks Eric, that would be great. I'm just using a hole plug from the hardware store.
 
So wait, does everyone have an xl? Ha looking nice Chris
 
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