Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

One of the n ew feat ures on the K I is a longer swi ngarm for gre ater straig ht lin e sta b ility . It even co m es with passenger fo otpegs . The old XL-2 50 had p ro visions for screwin g in the pegs, wh ich we preferred . If y ou wan t to tak e the pe gs off th e KI it leaves a squar e moun ting b racke t which co uld ca tch y o u r leg. Comp lim en tin g th e pe gs is a new longer sea t co mple te wi th a hold st ra p required b y .Ca lif orn ia law if yo u want to ca rry a b u dd y . T he sea t is e x tr emel y com fo rtab le, j ust right fo r those long endure s. A lso new o n the K I is th e spee do meter{tach {head ligh t m oun tin g. now the sa me as th e XL -350 wh ich m ov es the ins tr uments up h igh er and a t an ang le, making it m u ch eas ier to see them. Th e disad vant age here is m aking the b ik e a little mo re to p- hea vy right where it is a lready c um b erso me , right o ve r th e front wh eel. If YO U ride in the dirt , the tach will probably e nd up in that box in the garage w ith all th e othe r unnecessa ry d o odad s. T he dual cable throttle is also .s tree t oriented. It req u ires a lot o f wri st movement and will tire your h ands qui ckly in the dirt. Most XL-250s th at ar e set up for endure s have a single cab le , q ui ck -throttle setup, giving much better -th ro t tle response and the single cab le is mu ch easier to change. If you aren't totally familiar with the Honda throttle, it tak es up to an hour to change a b roken cab le . During an Torquey X L e n gin e go t a batch of 350 componen ts ; sti ll has the b ig, hea vy exhaust p ipe ; en d uro th is w ould ge t you disqualified . The footpegs are the good se r rated type and are spring lo ad ed . The key lo cation stays th e same as always , unde r the tank on the right sid e. The KI co m es with ' turn signals which ar e spring-mounted to snap back if crashe d . The tailligh t is mo unted much t o o high . It co uld b e dangerous tryin g to get off th e b ik e in a hurry . Th e e lec t rics can b e discon nected , quickl y th ough, as Honda ha s eq u ippe d th e bi k e wi th sna p- co n nec tions. Contro l levers will bend w ith o ut breaking as w e fo und o ut when one of o ur tes te rs dropped the bike. The bes t lever cove rs in the in d ustry keep dirt and gri me out of the cab les. Air is inducted unde r the sca t in to a foa m a ir filter which d oes a good job of -keep in g dust out of th e engine internals. Unwind two bo lts a nd loosen a clamp and the f ilter slides o ut fo r servi cing. T he cy le is nea rly wa te rp roof, unless it's sub merged ab ove the cam-m o u n ted ignition p o in ts . T he under seat arrange men t is just like the XL-3 50 . T he to ol s a re n o t s trap pe d on t he in ner mudgu ard instead of ly ing in the t ray above t he b a ttery . The tools a re adeq ua te for m ost m in or work, b ut w e hate t hose Ph illips head screws. Si nc e a complete All en he ad screw set up on ly costs three o r fou r bucks we co n sid er it a go od in vest m en t . T he engi ne is d if feren t o n the .K !. Exte rnally it d o esn' t lo o k m uch d iff eren t b ut it is. He su re an d tell your parts man y o u have t he K I o r yo u m ight e nd up wit h a wrong fi ttin g p ar t . Th e h ead n ow ha s sp ecial hard e ned valve seats t o a llow ru nnin g: on low lead an d n o lead gas . Th e head will n o t b o ll up to y our o ld X L-25 0, accordi ng to A meric an Honda. So me of the XL -35 0 en gin e co mpon ents are in corporated . so in e ffe ct it's almost a new engine. I f ' y o u a rc used to a tw o -stroke, the first rid e on the XL 25 0 feel s st range . It really feels li ke a toad. However, t h is is an illusion d ue to the fo ur -stro ke p ower c ha rac teristics a nd th e su pe r-q uiet exhaust. It is actually right up there powerwise with m ost two-stroke enduro '. CN testers checked the waterproofing often . bikes a n d the flat torque c u rve m ak es th e KI e x tre m ely easy to rid e. The five speed transmissi on w as a pl easu re to usc. T he ra ti os seemed j us l right for th e bike, there was never a b og sh ifting 10 the n ext higher gear. The cl u tc h wa s typical Honda - grabby . Un til you go t used . to the on{off effect, star ts were rather snatch y . T he clu tch unit itse lf is bulletproof. T h e XL·250 KI is an excellent bike for ar ound town riding. Go od gas m ileag e (4 0-5 0 !\IPG), dependability, an d th e 55 l\IPH speed limit al l combine to m ake it a pure j oy to rid e. Wit h stoc k gea ri ng th e b ike is doing 5 900 RP M at th e 55 l\IPH limi t. Wi th a red line of 8000 RPl\I , this leaves pl en ty o f res erv e p ower. Ov er 55 th e vib ra tion ge ts t o you r feet afte r aw h ile , so it's b es t to keep it d own 10 legal limi ts for com fo rt an d av o id th e wrath of th e h ol st eins. In th e dirt th e bike h andles pretty good if you keep in m in d i ts limits . What a slide r ! Everyone h ad a b all T'F'ing it. Th e suspension is pretty go od up t o a point , su ch as really bad wh o ops. Then th e e xcess w eigh I ove rworks ' th e forks an d ca u tio n must b e used or its endo time. The shoc ks have a n ew d esign body with built-in r ubber bu m pe rs to kee p th e b ody from wea rin g. Da m p ing is good fo r a J ap an ese shock, so repl acement pr o b abl y w on't be ne cessary until th ey w ear out. The brakes didn't fa de und er water , so Honda h as d one a good job here. The front b ra ke w as a tw o- fin ger s to p p e r an d there we re no co m p laints. The ca b le o perate d rear brake w as just abo u t righ t for a dirt b ike , m a yb e a lit tle soft for a stree t bi ke . T he sk id p late is a jo ke - a lill ie p iece o f sta m pe d tin pr otect ion . T hose magn esium e ngin e sid e covers are ve ry vulner a b le and easy t o cr unch . The fir st thin g you do if you d es ert a n XL ·250 K I is install an adequat e skid p la te. T he cos t is less th an just o ne of those side cases. We said there was .a q uali ty o f e n thu s ias m bu il t Into H onda -m o to rcy clc s, witness the 250 XL. The finish is. so fin e an d shiny yo u hate to take it out in the dir t an d m ess it up. Hut fear n ot , fo r it is tough er th an yo u are . The mach in e hand les so well th at it is h ard to d r op unless you really push it, in which case it has a ten den cy to h igh- sid e t he turns w h ich, if yo u let it , will d amage your b od y far m ore severe ly t ha n its. T his h igh pe n d u lum a ttrib u t e. a conseq ue nce o f using th e overhead ca m. fo ur-valve engine , keeps t he 2 5 0 X L out of the real races. b ut in no way di squa lifies it fo r c ro ss-co un t ry high tailing . Un derneath th e snappy pai n t and satin a llo y where the te nde r p ieces live, all is harmo n y. Surfaces of fine steel, honed to mi cr os copic t ol eran ces spi n in a showe r of oil like Zen machinery . No b ody eve r m ade motorcy cl es be tter th an H ond as . Pe rhaps no body eve r sha ll. Parts prices XL250 K1 Court esy of Roy' s Honda, Santa Ana West Coast list price Tune up, labor Points , each . " PIugs, each Throttle cable, comp tete Clutch cable Speedo cable . Tach cable $1056.00 16.00 2.8 2 1.25 12 needed) 4.26 2.42 2.80 3 .28 3 .08 Front brak e cab le Rear brake cable 5 .60 Headlight beam or bulb 6 .92 Tait light bu lb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57 Air clea ner eleme nt . . . . . . • • . . . . . . . . 5 .58 Rear brake l inings, set 4 .44 Front b rake lin ings, o r pads. set Clutch plates, set Fork Seals. each 5 .82 (7 @1.661 11.62 1.62 Drive cha in, stock Head gasket Base gasket Cam chain . _ 20.13 2.78 2.7B 8_ 66 _ 7 .75 Pistons . each Wri st p in, each R ing s. each set Circ tlps, each Comp lete top end rebUIld. labor Specificat ions Engine Type Four-st rok e, single-c yli nde r O HC Displacement 248 cc Bore and Str o ke 74.0mm x 57 .8mm Compressio n Ra ti o 9.1:1 Transmission F ive-sp eed , cons ta n t -mesh Clu t ch ' Wet, m ul t i-pla t e Tire Size F ront, 3 .00·21 ; Re ar , 4 .0 0 · 18 '. ' . .. . . • . . . .. .. ..... . . . . . Flywheel magn e t o Ign it ion Sy st em Kick starter S ta rtinq Syst em Dimensions an d Capacit ie s Wh eelbase 55 .5 in . Dry weigh t 28 4 Ibs. Overa ll length . . . . .... . .... ... .. .... .... .... .. ........ . • . . . .8 4 .6 in . Overall w id t h 3 3. 1 in. Seat height ' 32 .3 in . 2.1 gals. Fue l capacity : . . 1.73 7.4 6 .06 '. ' 45 .00 New swingarm in co rp o rate's pe rmanent passenger pegs. Cable-operated rear brake is OK for dirt. St ock sh ocks do the jo b . . 43

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