Vintage Dirt Bike Q & A

Went to look at a '79 250 Elsinore today and think I'm gonna go for it. Told the guy I would be back this week to pick it up. Bike is kinda rough. Smoked a lot on startup (3rd kick), not so much after running for a minute and letting off the choke, but still did smoke. Not sure if rings or just a rich/separated mixture in the tank (who knows what the mix is or how long it's been in there) Didn't ride it as no room in his yard and hard to get it out. Shifted nice between 1st and neutral and clutch seemed good to get going in 1st. Small hole in exhaust that I can probably weld shut. Price seems reasonable too so I think I'm gonna go for it. I need an upgrade from my XR200, it's woefully small for me. With a little work it should make a nice bike. Thoughts? Anything to be aware of on these bikes?

If you mean the clouds of smoke, usually rich isn't enough to get it to smoke that much.

You could be right on the mix or it indicates a more serious problem. Could be float/carb/petcock is letting gas into the carb/engine where it evaporates and leaves oil behind. Could just be the oil from the bowl evaporated and left behind a double charge of oil too.

The most serious problem it could be would be a case gasket or bearing seal on the clutch side. This lets oil from the transmission into the bottom end and requites a complete tear down. It's not that expensive if you are an experienced mechanic and can do it yourself. ~$100 for a bearing set and $30 for gaskets.

Rick

Doesn't sound bad then. I've worked on 2-stroke outboards and they aren't terribly complicated compared to waht I'm used to (rebuilding Ford V-8's and manual transmissions). Should I need to buy those parts what would you recommend as a good place to order them?

Donnie at Vintage Elsinores will have all the parts you need.

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Terry Moody #48f
3x 74 Honda CR250M Elsinore
74 Honda XR75
73 Honda QA50
78 Yamaha YZ125E
78 Yamaha YZ250E
78 Yamaha YZ400E
79 Kawasaki KX250
79 Honda CR250R
79 Suzuki RM400
80 Honda CR125
2x 83 Honda CR480R
98 Kawasaki KX250

Yea, get it home and put some fresh gas in it with some synthetic oil for mix.

Could just be that nasty stuff that accumulates in the bowl....ifn it don't go away...like Ricortes said....crank bearing or worse yet center case gasket, no big deal if you like splitting cases.
Like all bikes you get, I'd give the carb a good cleaning(jets, needles, etc.) and start it up and spray some carb cleaner around the base gasket and see if its leaking. Then tear it down and
check all your wear limits on the internals. Have fun!
I love the enthusiasm when somebody gets a bike.....now I'm fired up again!!

You can find a lot of parts at the Honda dealer, and ebay has a lot of stuff.
Plus theres a bunch of guys that do rebuilds and can get you parts or do the work.

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Garry Mainer
#33m (retired)
Honda Cr250r 1980
Honda Cr250r 1980
Yamaha TY250C 1976
Arctic Cat 650 H1 2007