Howdy all

I think possibly that these questions may apply to many Hondas, but I am thinking of modding an XR250 for my wife to ride.
See the Post here on what we plan to do

1. Can an electric start kit be fitted to a bike that normally isnt an electric start model?

2. What other mods can be done to make this bike a little better for touring?

3. Is there anything that is a "must do" mod?

Cheers

I've had a couple of XR250's and loved them both dearly. They absolutely won't start if they don't want to though. I've had a heap of friends with them to, and they're all the same. If it's dropped it'll take 5-10 minutes of kicking or 5-10 minutes of leaving it alone. I've got a 400 now and it's heaps better, my friends can't start it but with the right technique I can light it up in a couple of kicks. The 250 does not respond to 'technique'. I looked into an electric boot and found it to be obserdly expensive, the only sensible way would be to buy a bike with it already fitted. These however, are the slightly less off road L model bikes. My advice for the lady, is a TTR250. Same thing near enough, but in blue.

We've been looking around for a 250 for my girlfriend and have come across the KLX250. It's just been reduced in Oz to $6500, it has the 'leccy boot, it's water cooled, has upsidedown forks and looks the beez kneez. I'd love to know if anyone has any experience of these.

Hi
Thanks for all the replies, we have an XR250 with electric start available for sale in NZ it is a XR250es, looks more of an adventure style bike.
I would like to get her a Honda as that is what I will probably have to, that way they are both the same

Hi,

I travelled more then & months on a yamaha TTR 250 around in asia and the middle east. Now i am travelling with a Honda Baja Xr250 in southeast, so i start to get a little bit experience with these machines. to answer your question on what you should fit i would ask you were you are going to tour and how long and when?
I prefer the yam above the Xr. Better baCKbrake on them, electric start, very strong luagage rack. I had an oilcooler on em, all modifications original..never had any probs in 25000km.
Now i have the baja, wich is a better tourmodel then the normal xr.It has a bigger fueltank and the seat is slightly better. it even has heatgrips on it.something i should really consider if you think of travelling the karakorum hghway in january. I missed them, i can tell you that.

but to come to a general conclusion of making mods (to any 250 enduro):

- Get a better seat. i heard about the gelseats, maybe you can find other options. i have by now an iron ass, dont need it anymore...
- go for a cooler. especially the hondas heat up quiet a lot.
- adjust the foot of the stand for bad surfaces
-make sure your luaggerack is strong enough
-a bigger fueltank

greetz
Niels

Ok so the plan is to keep the trusty old XR250 and convert this into a bit more of a adventure touring bike for New Zealand.

So I have to do the following
1. Luggage Racks
Now I am no engineer or designer, and I have had a good look around Hubb and other Honda sites to see how/what and where but without allot of luck.
There is plenty of info on the 400 and 650 but not the 250! Still theres always a first.
What to I have to do to the frame to ensure it will stand up to the rigours of offroad travel with a bit of luggage

2. Road work
I need to change the tyre to an all terrain style tyre.
I will also change the gearing a little so it doesnt scream so much at 100km on the road
Anything else you may suggest?

3. Fuel Capacity
I have just brought a larger than stock fuel tank, it holds 15 litres so that should be ok in NZ, I can get hold of another one that is 21 litres, but I need to see how the smaller one is first and how far I can get.

4. Panniers or bags?
Ok so I am thinking that the soft bags will be better here as I dont need to carry extra fuel, water etc etc.
But then again I think the weight will be similar and I can get a boatbuilder to make some aluminium panniers up for cheap
My main concern is the dust and waterproofness of the soft bags, but then again I can get hold of some goretex fabric to may use as rain covers??
I may also look at a drybag to put my tent in and strap it on the back, that way it is easy to get to and I dont have to open any bags, especially good if its raining.


Please if you have any ideas that may help me, please feel free to post in this post.

I will keep you posted on the progress.

Cheers

I'm just getting a XR250R setup for a 13,000 km trip in the States and Canada, I've landed on my freet (somehow) and have been taken under someones wing. Hes built me some racks for the 250, and reckons that its only about 50$ (US) of materials, and a few s for his time. (pictures attached)

I'm getting some Maxxis 6006 tyres fitted, 130$ US for both fitted and balanced. Gearing wise, I hear just dropping one tooth is good, but i'm keeping whats on the bike for the moment and when the chain/sproket needs changing I'm gonna change the gearing for something more road friendly.
If you are planning some serious offroading (lots of sand etc) look into a fork brace also.
As far as having a 21 litre tank ona 250 goes I would say thats just stupid talk! I have a 15L tank also, and i reckon that with the 20-24km/l that the 250 will give it should be fine. On longer streches I might pick up a cheap 5 Litre can to throw on the back. If you are traveling together take a tube so you can syphon between bikes if needs must.
Saddlebags are the wy to go here, having alu boxes will put too much stress on the 250's small subframe, one hard fall and the frame is cracked or worse. Alu boxes also = broken legs. Soft luggage is king, harder to overload the bike, easier to repair, cheaper to buy....the list goes on. Andystrapz runs out of Oz, and is designed for the dust down there. The expedition pannierz are supposedly 99% water and dust proof. expensive, but you know they will perform. www.andystrapz.com (I think). Personally I'm traveling very much on the cheap side, so I've bought some 30$, saddlebags from a horse supply place, and I'll just buy some kayaking rolltop drybags to slip inside them.


Also consider getting some bark busters, and a bigger footprint welded onto your sidestand so you can use it on soft ground/sand. Or, better still a full on centre stand.

Cheers, Joe

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Hi

Thanks for your advice and the pics, they were a great help

I have decided to go for the soft bags, as long as I can find some that are waterproof and dustproof.
Andys ones look pretty good, and OZ is close to NZ

My tank (the 15l one) should be here by the weekend, so I will see how that goes, I may even look at making a rack at the front like you have (but then again there are plenty of wrecked farm bikes around that I can get a front rack off and bolt staight on)

Next is to make a lightweight frame to support the bags on the back and to see if I need to strengthen the frame??
I wont be carrying allot of weight, so it may not be important on this trip.

Cheers Scott

I've decided a frame isnt needed for me, the saddle bags will throw over the back of the seat, and rest on the plastics.


I'm not strengthening the frame on my XR, but then again I'm only 55kgs, so I figured the weight of all my stuff would just bring the total weight up to that of a bigger guy.

also a link to the forums where I found out about the saddlebag set, with pictures
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=128969

Hi

Well the tank finally arrived and straight away I set it up on my XR250, it was for a later model XR400 so I was a little worried it wouldnt fit

But it did perfectly!

So I decided on the 15l tank, as I thought the 19l and 21l is overkill for the little XR.
It cost me $35NZD (approx $15usd) so a good price.

Cheers

I have a 2003 xr250 and i recently tore up my knee badly, and I was wondering if they made an electric starter for the 2003 model, anyone know?