1995 Honda XR250R

1995 Honda XR250R mis-treated

My latest project: 1995 Honda XR250R trail bike. I bought it through Craig's List; though it ran well it smoke a little and was in rough shape---very neglected and somewhat modified. Looking at the first pictures you'll notice that it resembles something out of Mad Max, with black spray-painted plastics, frame, and black seat cover, its previous owner wanted it to look tougher, claiming that it used to be purple. Nothing on a 1995 XR250R from the factory was purple. Further, he also claimed that it was a 1996 and I bought as such; however, after purchasing a 1996 factory service manual I quickly noticed that it was not a 1996 and after a little research further I learned that Honda made significant changes to the bike between 1995 and 1996---most notably by removing the oil cooler and cooling it through the frame as well as the side panels. With this set back, I then learned the bike was virtually unchanged from 1986 to 1995, thus making the bike a lot more vintage and a lot less modern and giving way to my concern the bike's reliability on long trail rides. However, it was bought and mine. 

REPLACING THE RIDER INPUT
I decided first to update the rider input. The levers were bent to hell, grips ripped and sticky, kill switch missing, and handle bars bent. Lodged dry mud in the handle bar ends indicated that the bike had been laid down at least once on both sides. A set of Renthal bars and grips and Emgo levers did wonders immediately to how the bike felt. 

1995 Honda XR250R with new plastics

REFURBISHING THE PLASTICS Next I decided to refurbish the plastics. Using orange gel paint stripper and a plastic scrapper I was able to get the bulk of the black spray paint off the gas tank. Then I wet-sanded it with mineral spirits followed by more wet-sanding with a finer sand-sponge and hydrogen peroxide. This got all the pain off but now exhibited an deep yellowing of the gas tank's white plastic. I found a formula online stating that a mixture of hydrogen peroxide, Oxy Clean, and UV light will remove this yellowing. It work a little but my case was, as aforementioned, deep. So, I'll probably just repaint the tank using an adhesion primer with several coats of  plastic spray paint, white on white---that way it will be less noticeable when scratched. I had dismal results with removing the spray paint from the fenders, headlight, and side panels. So, I just purchased these new---a little pricey but they'll save me some embarrassment if I have to take the bike to a shop. 

SPRAY-PAINTING THE GAS TANK

1995 Honda XR250R with new decals

Spray-painting the gas tank came with mixed results. For the first coat I used an adhesion primer; The next several coats I used Krylon Max, which is supposed to be replacing Krylon Fusion for spray-painting plastics. Then I finished the job off with a few coats of semi-gloss for added protection. It looked great---for a few weeks. After the first ride the new paint job began to bubble, ranging in sizes from a pencil eraser to Nickel. I embarassingly found out that the factory plastic gas tank is designed to permeate or "breathe" gas, therefore pushing anything on the surface out (That is why the decals that I purchased are perforated). Slightly humiliating, but humiliation is sometimes learning. 

1995 Honda XR250R with '88 gas tank

RETROFITTING THE GAS TANK  Per chance I happened to find a red '88 gas tank on eBay for $60 in good shape. The red won't yellow like the white tank and it hides blemishes very well. It fit well---a testament that parts are interchangeable between the '86-'95 models. I like how the red looks, too; only, when I took it out to ride with other bikes the orange-red hue of the '80s XRs stood out as vintage next to the new CRF Honda red and white bikes, where dudes said, "What year is that?"

Cylinder honed with new piston

CYLINDER HONE AND NEW PISTON The bike smoked blue smoke when I got it. After a trip to Hatfield-McCoy's Pochahontas trails, it smoke like hell. My mechanic overhauled the top end: He took the cylinder to a machine shop and had it bored 20 thousandths and ordered a Wiseco forged piston. He told me that forged pistons are preferable to cast pistons, that they last longer. He then put it back together and the bike fired right up for a 20-minute break-in cycle. He suggested that I do a few more when I got home and to change the oil after the first ride. This was totally worth it; The bike runs like a beast.