I’m a couple months into fixing up the 74 MT250 and although it’s becoming a bit of a money pit, and my torpedo heater in the barn has been giving me fits, I’m determined to have it ready for Spring. If you’ve any feedback or answers to the following I’d greatly appreciate it:
a) I’ve cleaned a couple pounds of sludge out of the forks and replaced the piston rings and seals therein. I’ve opted to replace the feeble fork springs with Race Tech springs .43 @ 500mm in length. The pre-load is more than RT’s resident genius (a very nice guy) would like, but he said it’s all good (given my and the bike’s combined weight) as long as I’m not jumping any fountains with the bloody thing. Some shorter fork caps would lessen the pre-load; but damned if I can find any.
Does anyone have any experience with using modern springs in these forks?b) The front wheel was bent a bit and despite my efforts with a BFH and a vise, it remains so. I found that the hubs of the XL250/350 for part of 1975 and all of 1976 are identical to the MT250, so I bought a couple of nice examples (front and rear) for damn good prices. However, the crush drive in both the MT and XL rear hubs are essentially disintegrated. I really don’t want to drop another 50.00+ on some fancy rubber parts;
has anyone succeeded in making some out of an old tire, etc.? If it’s thought to be a safety issue I guess I’ll pony up the cash.
c) I paid an OBSCENE price for chain tensioner with a roached roller (just try to find one!). [b
]Does anyone have any experience with retro-fitting an aftermarket roller of the same diameter?[/b]
d) The throttle cable was badly frayed near the grip and the only example of NOS I could find was some clown that wanted a 180.00 plus shipping from the UK. I found an aftermarket one from Japan (all in price + shipping) 65.00. So, persistence in searching for parts for these old bikes sometimes pays off.