Hello everyone, I'm a proud owner of a 1973 MT250. Not only is this my first Elsinore, but actually my first dirt bike of any kind! Though not my first motorcycle. I've got a 1970 BMW R60/5, and I have had a couple of new Ducati's in recent years.
I love older bikes, and ever since watching "On Any Sunday", I've always had my eyes out for a classic dirt bike. Finally this one came along. It was the right bike at the right time, at the right price.
Once I got the bike home yesterday and started looking it over, I was very happy to find that most everything is in really good shape. The first thing is that someone previously stripped the street gear off to make this a dedicated off-roader. Luckily, they didn't just go in and start cutting wires. I got a bucket of parts with the bike that included the main harness, headlight, taillight, speedo, battery, ignition switch (no keys) and various other odds and ends. Everything is in good shape, just some minor chrome pitting.
The biggest issue I found right from the get go is that someone removed the oil tank and plugged up the oil pump. So I guess that means I'll be mixing my own gas huh? As least for a while. I would like to put it back to original sometime. Which brings me to my first question:
1. Where does the oil pump send oil to? I'm assuming the carburetor, but which port on the carb is right?
After searching and searching for a while, I finally figured out how to open the seat. I found that someone had broken a key off in the seat lock, but I could still turn the lock with a screwdriver, thus popping the seat. Under the seat I found two big surprises. First, the tool tray was there, and had the tool kit with it! I opened the kit and it actually looks like everything is there, except for the shock adjusting wrench. All the tools are in great shape and look like they've never been used. Unfortunately, that was the end of the good news. I saw that there was nothing holding the air cleaner top on. Underneath, I found a what appeared to be a shredded paper filter. This thing was really, really bad. It almost looked like blown in attic insulation! My jaw just dropped when I saw this! After all, I know the guy that sold the bike to me had been playing around on it in his shop's yard. Now I'm wondering how much of that stuff got sucked into the intake? So here's question #2:
2. What is supposed to make up the air filter? Is there supposed to be a paper filter around the cage, and then foam around that? Or is there just a foam filter around the cage? I saw a foam filter on Ebay, but it was for a CR250 of the same year, will a CR filter work on an MT?
Luckily, I know the engine is running well, so I'm guessing that if any of that junk got sucked in, it just burned up and went through. The last issue I found was the kickstand. The bolt that holds it on apparently backed out at some point, and the mounting holes got bent badly. I can fix that, but the spring is also missing, so hopefully I can track one of those down without having to buy another whole stand off ebay. Which brings up question 3:
3. Does Honda still make parts for these bikes? BMW is VERY good about keeping parts going for old bikes, I'm hoping Honda is too? If not, do you guys have any particular favorite online parts sources?
Well, that's probably enough for now. My fingers are getting tired, and I'm sure you're sick of reading! So, thanks in advance for any help you can provide, and here's a couple of pictures of my new ride.
| Attachments: |
|
Elsie2small.jpg [ 190.85 KiB | Viewed 4994 times ] |
|
Elsie1small.jpg [ 170.79 KiB | Viewed 4994 times ] |