1987 Honda XR250R

I picked up a project this winter. Seamus "rescued" an '87 Honda XR250R from someone's garage. It had been abused and neglected. Seamus got it home, did a compression check and determined that it had none, then he took the top end off to inspect the cylinder and piston/rings. There was a significant ring gap, and he decided it just needed freshening up. That was two years ago, and with a new domestic situation developing, he sold the project on to me.

I did some preliminary work on the chassis, replacing the rear shock and tire with good used stuff. Now I'm getting into the engine. I ordered up a new 77mm oversize piston (stock is 73 mm) and top end gasket set from Wiseco, took the cylinder to my friends at The Crank Shop and had them bore it to the new piston size. The top end kit came with new valve seals, so I took the head over to Fred's place and he patiently showed me how to replace those. It's been awhile since I've had a cylinder head apart. One of the exhaust valves needed to be lapped, and Fred had the lapping compound and a drill to speed up the process a little, so I think we may have solved some of the lack of compression issues.

Now it's time to start putting things back together.

This is the cylinder after the bore job from The Crank Shop.

Seamus had included a good used clutch cover, the one on the bike was cracked at an oil line boss. I swapped them over and replaced the clutch springs while I had the cover off.

Scott Armstrong of Moto Connection loaned me the factory service manual, which will come in very handy as I try to put this RFVC engine back together.

More photos and progress soon.