Newbie bike report

I can see why you get to keep your Learner's Permit for so long. Here
in SA anyway - up to one year. It takes such a long time to find a
bike!

I did my learners at the end of November last year. Then, a few weeks
ago, someone at work offered me their chook chaser to practice on. I
can buy it if I want but in the meantime I just pay for the rego and
use it.

Its a 1981 Honda XL250S. I had it for about two weeks before I rode
it. Had to take off the exhaust, weld on an extra 'sleeve' to fit over
the manifold (?), stick in a new baffle and repack with fibreglass. At
least now my ears don't bleed when I ride the thing.

The horn didn't work - one of the wires was dead, so I re-wired it and
that now works well. The chain was way too slack, so I moved the wheel
back to get the chain to the correct tension.

The front cog had two teeth missing (past its useby date), so I
replaced the 14 tooth cog with a 13 tooth one meant for an XR250 -
Honda dealer couldn't find an exact match for the original (if it was
the original).

I cleaned the wasps nest mud out of the engine cooling fins (and
switches, muffler and every other nook and cranny of the bike). Some
nice spiders had made their home there too. I really love spiders
(not).

The front headlight globe only runs when the engine is running (as it
is supposed to), but brightness varies with engine revs. It burns out
almost instantly when revved up. All other electrics work fine. This
is the only thing left to fix up, but I don't ride at night. If I buy
the bike (cheap) then I'll work on this and respray etc. other things.

So, after having to practically become a motorcycle mechanic first, I
finally got to ride the thing!

My first ride out was for 100km to my brother's place and back. I went
through winding roads in the Adelaide Hills (I live in the hills),
onto highways and expressways. Tried to avoid 100km/hr zones because
as a learner I'm restricted to 80km/hr and I didn't want to hold up
traffic. Was OK on the expressway as there is more than one lane going
in the same direction.

The bike's engine didn't seem to burn one drop of oil (29,000km on the
clock) as far as I could tell. Time will tell. Didn't drip on the
driveway either. Not bad I suspect for a 23 y.o. bike.

I kept riding it as if it was a car. It wasn't until I realised how
much room there was on the throttle still that I opened it up and
quickly left other traffic behind at the lights. The hardest part was
remembering to cancel the indicators after a turn, but this didn't
take long. No one tried to kill me on the road - though its early days
yet . I think the L-plate is like an invisible force-field. Keeps
other motorists away. Just need to be aware of what's going on around
me is all.

My next time out was on the weekend, same destination again, slightly
different route though. Felt better still and more relaxed. Today I
carried out my threat to co-workers, and turned up on the bike at
work! Again, no problems. The biggest problem is imagining that all
these horrible things will happen to me on the bike. They never
happened.

My helmet didn't fog up and have me running into a tree. The bike
didn't fall apart underneath me. Motorists didn't go out of their way
to kill me. I didn't go over the handlebars nor did I slide out around
corners. Maybe I'm not trying hard enough .

Mind you, I did have a dream last night that a nun driving a school
bus tried to run me over from behind. Not quite sure how to interpret
that one...

At lunchtime today I'm going to the shopping centre to pick up
something for my wife. Biking in a busy shopping centre. That will be
the real test...

Cheers,
Nicholas

- who really wants a GPX250!

 

(Nicholas) wrote in

HTF can that happen?

Try a larger wattage globe (not too large!)

You have many pleasures to look forward to: the "licence check", the
"locust plague", the "cold, wet day". Good on yer!

Gary (a new terror of chain-drive bikes, spitting teeth)

 

You sure that thing isn't meant to have a battery in there somewhere?
The CB250RS (same engine, also kickstart) did ...

Sounds like the regulator is shot in any case ...

Sounds like it owes you money already.

-----sharks

 

Or it needs a different voltage globe?

Theo

 

X-No-archive: yes
Nicholas wrote ;
~

Interpret it however you want but if you find yourself using it to get horn
have yourself committed immediately!
Clem
(Welcome to the fold. Your XL is obviously stuffed but I'm your mate so
I'll give you $100 for it)

 

Just worn out, broke off. I wonder if it had ever been changed?

I don't think its that. Its a 6V system. 12V globe had been tried. Same
thing. Instant meltdown. Its as if the globe is running off the alternator
without going through the regulator. But I haven't investigated fully yet.

Thanks!

Cheers,
Nicholas

 

Yep. Battery is in there. Charges OK on the bike, though not quickly.

Maybe. But all other electrics work OK off that regulator.

Technically it hasn't cost me anything so far except time. My brother whose
hobby is restoring antique cars (and the odd motorbike) worked on the
muffler for me. The spare baffle etc. were his. I don't begrudge the time
I've spent as it has enabled me to become familiar with the motorbike more
quickly than if I'd bought a new or near new bike.

Given the price of 250cc bikes, even ones ten years old, I don't mind
working on this old one a bit. After I've had a licence for a year or so
I'll be in a better position to decide what I really want .

Cheers,
Nicholas

 

Thanks, but I have to decline as I feel I'd be ripping you off ;-).

Cheers,
Nicholas

 

X-No-archive: yes
Nicholas wrote in message ...

Some small bikes DID used to be set up this way.
Mid '70s Suzuki GT250 is one I can think of that ran the headlight direct
off two phases of the alternator (AC).
Have a search on the internet and see if you can find a wiring diagram.
Cheers .... Clem

 

In aus.motorcycles on Mon, 2 Feb 2004 14:20:53 +1030

Yes, that was common with 6v dirtbikes. My XT used to be like that.

2 alternator doovers, one of which did the battery charging and coil
clicking and so on, and the other handled the lights.

I don't know how my bike was converted to 12v, but until the Zener was
installed, it would burn out everything as the revs rose...

Zebee

 

"Knobdoodle" wrote

Pretty common on small cheap bikes and trailies, bike that are designed to
run without a battery. Most ran 6V systems, and the lighting is AC.
Theo

 

I have the bike manual - this has the wiring diagram. Voltage to the light
should be regulated. Given that none of the other bits burn out, this
problem must be peculiar to the headlight wiring. I suspect a short (direct
to the alternator). Don't know though. I sacrificed a bulb to see what
happens. More than a couple of revs and instant magna. This isn't normal
behaviour for this bike, apparently. Will wait until I actually own the bike
though before I put too much effort into fixing this. Owner might decide not
to sell since I cleaned the bike up and fixed the muffler ;-). Though I
don't think he'd do that to me ;-) ;-). Have to wait a month first though
since he is overseas.

Once I own it I'll pull apart bits so I can check out all the wiring etc. At
the moment I'm happy just riding during the day. Don't know if I'd want to
use a bike with 6V lighting at night anyway.

Cheers,
Nicholas

 

X-No-archive: yes
Nicholas wrote
~

~
Wow; kinda' like a transformer eh?
Clem
(I wondered where all those bloody Magnas were coming from...)

 

$3.50 and a kikindanutz

 

.... in that case, the headlight should run with the key turned on
but the engine not running. It might be a bit dimmer, but it should
work. Ditto the brake and tail lights (it's an ADR requirement
at that)

Headlights are sometimes a bit more sensitive than mere tail
lights. Have you got a multimeter? (hint, they're all of $20
at Jaycar or Dick Smith these days, and you only nead a cheapo
one)

Check voltage with engine not running (and lights off), should
be about 12V. With engine idling, about 12.5V. With engine
above maybe 2000rpm you should see 13.5-14V, and it shouldn't
exceed 14V no matter how high you rev it.

#1 cause of regulator failure is, oddly enough, a lousy connection
on the frame earth. Can make all sorts of weird things happen.
Check it ...

Oh, well that's okay then. My first bike was a CB250RS, along
the same lines

Keep an eye out for CB250RSes too, same engine and they seem to go
for a couple of hundred these days. There's a Haynes manual for
them, too, so if you can't find one for the XL250S try the CB250RS one.

-----sharks

 

It is? Oh, well, ignore what I said before then. Or see if you can
stuff a CB250RS electrical system into it so I can be actually
helpful

(Bloody hell, I hope Clem hasn't noticed me being wrong in public,
and I hope no-one else notices me actually admit it!)

-----sharks

 

[blissfull unawareification]
Clem

 

Its actually in the user manual that the headlight won't come on unless the
engine is running. Park lights, brake light, indicators, horn etc. all work
with just the ignition on.

More sensitive maybe, but almost instant meltdown...? Owner reckons it
measures about 85V. Though I need to recheck this, maybe on the weekend -
have to pull the front fairing (?) off, as well as the semi-sealed beam
thingy to do this. No big deal, but I just want to get some riding in first
before I die of old age .

This I have checked. Battery with engine off is around 6.2V (six volt
system). With engine running it's about 6.7V. At higher revs, goes to around
7V. As far as I can tell from the wiring diagram the bike has two
regulators. One seems to be for the instrument lighting. The other is the
main one for the rest.

I need to take the petrol tank off to access the regulator and some of the
wiring. That's why I'm waiting for a rainy day... Call me lazy, but at the
moment I just want to *ride* the bike.

OK, thanks for that.

Something more road oriented like the CB250RS would be good. Or I could just
keep the XL250S for a year and a bit, then buy a, say, Triumph 955i )).
Saw one parked on the road the other day. Liked the look of it. But don't
actually know anything about it.

Cheers,
Nicholas

 

I'm pretty sure le Sharks mean that the tailights need to be on with the
ignition and that was the ADR, 'cause I woulda DT175'd him!

Hammo

 

As much as I'd like to take you up on that excuse, and as much
as Usenet tradition says I should claim that my apparent error
is due to our definitions of 'headlight' or 'run' or 'with'
differing in some subtle manner, and as tempting as it is
at this point to accuse someone of potential membership of the
National Socialist Party or having sexual preferences not accepted
by the wider community, in actual fact ...

I WAS WRONG!

(yes, the ADRs require DC-powered headlights to stay on, but allow
AC powered ones to go off. I'd made the assumption that since the
XL250S has the same motor as the CB250RS, it'd have the same
electrickery, eg: 12V genny/reg and 12V DC headlight. At least,
I still _think_ it's the same motor ... what's the first few digits
of the engine number, Nicholas?)

-----sharks