This bee really likes my bike !

i.imgur.com/lI87v36.mp4

Finally I was using too much foam thickness in the air filter. Runs a lot better now! Still looking for a tyre, chain, sprocket and battery and should be ready for some loooong rides

Installed an X ring chain and it's lovely (If i'd waited much longer the old chain would have eaten through the sprocket cover, ouch)

Finaaaaaaaaly levered on a D605 which I would not recommend. Have one on the front, no issues, but on the rear it's tight, did I say it's tight, and as there is little channel to pull the other side of the tire up it's rather physical for the last bit. Which makes it very easy to get a pinch flat ( yeah no spoons past 12 o clock but even so ). I think I'll try the Shinko 244 next time (reason i didnt is i hate their bicycle tires)

Also Honda's ribbed rim means you have to put some air in there and more to get the bead out nice and tidy like, ( my tube already has 6 patches on it! )

anyway there is no way i'd be patching the tube (again) in the winter in the forest in the rain with THIS tire. Most other tires about a 30 minute job, but for this thing I'd need to stop, ask myself what kind of things in life make me happy, and make a coffee first !

For getting that last part of the bead into the rim a giant flat bladed screwdriver with the sharp edges ground smooth works wonders. I have friends that only use screwdrivers for tire changes. I have large motion pro tire irons, but when I saw how great the screwdrivers worked I bought one, smoothed the sharp edges and use it to get that last part of the bead into the rim.

PA cheers, I have plenty of old drivers around, I shall try that. It makes sense the thinner slimmer profile, my spoons are the tea spoon shaped type smooth and bulby at the end, and that last bit was so tight I could hardly get the spoon in there, I ended up crushing it over with my knees!

For you buffs out there, this is where the battle ship Yamato was built, a few years ago mind

This old thumper is a blast to ride,

Hahahaha ooops, rode this gnarly mountain trail, vert steep, turned around next to a hole and of course fell INTO it! Wiped out my clutch bracket but we managed to zip tie enough to use it for the day.
Then it seems the choke had been sticking a little while (more checks to come) and I didnt have a plug spanner or a spare plug and at the time hadnt realised this was the issue - got a very fouled plug
long and fun trail ride story short I ate a big chunk of HUMBLE PIE and got towed 23kms (in heavy traffic and up and down some crazy steep hills) by my mates Honda Navi. What a champ he is

So I know the XL and XR250's are pretty popular stateside but I believe (maybe mistakenly) most of those bikes are single carb. There is a little metal piece on the choke that I did NOT install correctly, that is now done and the choke works well now.

Then the L side carb intake boot pulled off. I could only fix this by removing the rubber gromets for the airbox screws so that I could just get about 2mm more forward, THAT solved this issue.

I installed a used diaphragm with the idea that I would have a ton of little issues to sort and I could get back to this later if it was an issue. Maybe it is maybe it isnt. But either way to inspect the diaphragm you need to remove side panels, seat strap, seat, tank, accel cable, choke cable, remove rear exhaust section (its just a lot easier this way), pull back airbox, remove twin carbs, split twin carbs, THEN you can inspect the diaphragm. (they are supposed to last about 10 years)

Bike starts good, idles good, runs good and is really really FUN to ride, the way it hauls is just fun, BUT it has a snatchy throttle. I shall try to live with this until the summer heat or the winter and then if Im convinced the diaphragm is too old and stiff, I'll spend a morning or afternoon chasing it down. It costs like 5USD but is a pain to get to

It is also possible I could still have a teeny weeny air leak on the horrible horrible plastic carb caps that are both cracked and repaired in back and front

All the joy of fiddling with vintage dirt as an amateur nincompoop!