Popular Post TimShadboltfan27 Posted December 23, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted December 23, 2019 I've been punishing small bikes on some seriously sweet adventures recently and i decided i definitely prefer offroad and gravel adventures more than the sealed stuff. It was time to step into the inevitable world of being a punishing boomer adventure rider. I was very close to being another loser on a DR650 or KLR650, but man i am blown away by how much clowns want for second hand, 50000km+ DR650s when a new one is only 10g. Also being my first "adventure bike" per se, i was skeptical whether i wanted to lug around an ugly donk like a KLR. At my price point all i could hope for was a BMW funduro or a flogged example of the above, but this is oldschool, what the fucks the point in having a modern reliable bike. To my luck i found an XL250R on trademe and jumped on it quick. The seller was a GC, an 80 year old pensioner who bought it in 1984 and was used as his commuter for 10 years and then briefly by his son for university transport in the 90s, and has been in his ownership since. Needless to say its had a relatively easy life. Sharns were exchanged and i had the bike transported from Blenheim and got it last week. Yesterday i took it for its first decent ride, 100kms with 30kmish of gravel out the back of Taradale Hills towards the Kaweka Ranges. Im impressed at the power this thing has, lazy Honda 4 stroke power and 6 gears makes for surprisingly comfortable 100km/h cruising. Top speed isnt much more than that but at least it can maintain open road speeds. still probably slow, but coming from a 125 2 stroke it was very lol to have enough power to lose traction powering out of corners. This thread will probably be a scrapbook for the boomer spec adv mods and the rides i do on it, and to perfect my motocamping setup. im on the hunt for some soft panniers and will probably make an equally as barry rack to support packing and mounting. being 37 years old and in original condition theres lots of little bits to tidy up on it but for now i think ill just keep on pesting. 19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tortron Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 Red ortlieb roll up panniers will look good 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willdat? Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 14 minutes ago, TimShadboltfan27 said: I've been punishing small bikes on some seriously sweet adventures recently. Great minds think alike. I've been on the hunt for something similar for a while. Tempted to WR250R as I haven't spotted one as lovely as yours and just rock the wof/rego on hold until it gets to 40 years old in 2048... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimShadboltfan27 Posted December 23, 2019 Author Share Posted December 23, 2019 42 minutes ago, Willdat? said: Great minds think alike. I've been on the hunt for something similar for a while. Tempted to WR250R as I haven't spotted one as lovely as yours and just rock the wof/rego on hold until it gets to 40 years old in 2048... Yup seriously considered seeing Stacey Jones and financing a CRF250L they are so rad, but think I made the right decision buying the 40 y/o version of it 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tortron Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 20L long range tank and matching fairing and you are rtw ready 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOHC Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 I owned one of them for 24 years. I bought it when I turned 14, the NZ army also used them so lots of parts off the shelf in NZ and you will come across the odd mat green one. I had a Supertrapp exhaust and custom cam by CLS cams, it would do 150 KPH. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighLUX Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 I look forward to many sharns about the best bluetooth intercom to purchase and the correct posture for standing on the footpegs when your boomer spec knees seize up 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimShadboltfan27 Posted December 24, 2019 Author Share Posted December 24, 2019 Which bark buster is best for your lifestyle etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighLUX Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 Garmin or navman gps for all those gravel roads that still have signs for directions 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tortron Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 When are you getting your sheepskin seat cover? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimShadboltfan27 Posted December 24, 2019 Author Share Posted December 24, 2019 9 minutes ago, tortron said: When are you getting your sheepskin seat cover? As soon as you make me one m9! ill send you the dimensions Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Geophy Posted January 7, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted January 7, 2020 This makes me excitable, Jeff Snr still has his xl250 from when he was a whipper snapper down south and he is keen to pull it out of retirement. Speaking to him the other day he said the biggest shortfall with them is the front drum brake, if you could find a disk brake front end out of another bike that would make a huge difference. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Great buy. Look forward to your strongly worded letters to the editor/boomer rants... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post TimShadboltfan27 Posted January 7, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 7, 2020 2 hours ago, Geophy said: This makes me excitable, Jeff Snr still has his xl250 from when he was a whipper snapper down south and he is keen to pull it out of retirement. Speaking to him the other day he said the biggest shortfall with them is the front drum brake, if you could find a disk brake front end out of another bike that would make a huge difference. phwoar could Geophy Sr get any cooler!? thats dreamy! Yea, the front brake is garbage, about as effective as an australian prime minister tbh. Was gonna try inspect the shoes etc this weekend but i guess they are just shit from factory. But these things engine brake so good you just gotta get used to riding them like quad bikes Another fred update: @00quattro00 bought a 95 XR250 out of pure jealousy of this thing. so we went for a nang into the Kawekas and up the Mangatutu road. Bloody good fun! River crossings, tight, winding gravel and the always exciting paranoia of "do i have enough fuel to get home". We did a 170km loop, most of it gravel, and i still had plenty of petrol in there so i expect to get a 200km+ range outta this thing. 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post TimShadboltfan27 Posted February 29, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 29, 2020 Who wants to see a boring maintenance update? everyone. Sweet, Cool. Okay here you go Hastings Honda provided the goods, and some divine sharns of how good these bikes went back in the day. Then they ended up selling me a front brake cable that was too short. even after swooning me with shit chat, and pulling out the genuine parts manual for the exact model I still got the wrong bits. That’s parts guys for you, I guess. In the the time I’ve owned it, I’ve shouted it new front brake pads, a new fuel tap to help with its obsession with fuel wees, an oil change with some fancy motul stuff, and this afternoon we checked and set the valves correctly. it goes pretty hard for what it is tbh, it’s doing a bit of power sweat out the head gasket and rocker cover, but if it wasn’t doing oil wees I would have been more concerned. ive still got to sort a storage facility on the back; in all essence I feel a 40L dry bag strapped to the pack rack will be plenty for what I’m trying to do on this bike. Im in full Brass Monkey prep phase at the moment. Mr. Lux’s BOP ride and Nats pesting should be pretty good trials for what works and what I will need to improve on for the big trip south. will it make it??? Stay tuned 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimShadboltfan27 Posted March 15, 2020 Author Share Posted March 15, 2020 so i ended up getting that 40L dry bag. This Givi one. shit its good. 150 clams was steep but man so worth it. name brand quality multiple little stash pockets and all of the boomer accessories. fits my tent, sleeping bag and bedroll in the no dramas. will be a bit of tetris to try and squeeze clothes and other essentials in there but i will make it no doubt. The beauty of the durable grippy material is that it sticks to the seat, and you can lean on it, making an extremely uncomfortable bike marginally more comfortable. Bring on some beach nangs in a couple weeks to shake this puppy down 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post TimShadboltfan27 Posted August 31, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted August 31, 2021 Long time no update. Because not much has happened with this thing. Its a 40 year old honda, it handles everything like a champ and is generally rad at being lush. The only grief it has given me has been a fried coil, which was easily sourced from Anaconda Honda. In June me Midge and Blizz went on a journey around the south island to get to the 40th Brass Monkey Rally. Blizz was on his Africa Twin and Lips on his tractor spec R80. This thing was no match for the big blocks on the highway, but on the gravel it really holds its own, it just braps through anything and besides having non existent brakes, it is quite predictable and 21" front wheel is lush for off road stz. I left from Hastings and ticked up 3500kms over 10 days. Saw some amazing sights, rode some awesome roads. A lot of gravel. really made me miss the south island... Heres a pic before Some pics during And heres a pic after. My 40L dry bag pretty much held all my shit, tent, sleeping bag and mattress, then clothes and other misc shit. Then i had my tank bag full of tools and spare oil. Cos it was cold as fuck i just wore my wet weather gear all the time. This thing got an absolute hiding after 3500kms. Throughout the trip, my rear brakes gradually went from shit to horrifically shit, as i'd run out of adjustment and the drum arm was over rotating. On about day 7 of our mission, we took a journey on a rude looking back road between Cheviot and Hurunui, which quickly turned into a cow shit covered, rutted as fuck farm track. Channeling my inner Carmichael i tried to pick a dry line out of the mud, but was a bit shit and ended up getting cross rutted and low siding through some delicious resource consent and nitrogen leaching goodness. Front brake lever snapped clean off on impact and rear brake pedal bent up into the engine case. After some masterful cable tying and rock bashing i was able to get her rolling again, but was relying on mostly engine braking for the rest of the trip. It also consumes oil at a somewhat? alarming pace. I managed to consume just over two litres during the trip. for a bike that holds 1.6 litres, that is a bit more than power sweats. Think its time to shout this thing its first top end in 40 years. Some orders have been made for some engine and brake parts. The trip also highlighted some deficiencies in rider comfort and storage provisions. So Ive bought a few more ADV accessories like larger footpegs and a acerbis fender bag for additional storage on this rig. Will update with shiny new bits and more boomer ADV accessories. You should all buy 250s, they are rad 19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WankBankA100 Posted September 21, 2022 Share Posted September 21, 2022 @TimShadboltfan27 Look familiar? 4 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tortron Posted September 22, 2022 Share Posted September 22, 2022 I had the same with my l200. Those Russians love this forum 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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