I picked up a 74 model 250 a few months ago from an ad on OfferUp. The ad made it sound like it just needed an air filter and a quickdusting off but after an hour and a half drive I found a badly neglected bike missing lots of parts and a seized up top end, no paperwork and the back wheel was locked up even though the chain was missing. I reluctantly gave the seller a few bucks and dragged the bike into the van. I hate returning empty handed in these cases.

When I got it home I tried removing the cylinder but it was welded onto the piston. I could see that the crank was not seized but it was going to take some serious punishment from the cylinder removal process. After a week or so I got tired of trying different techniques for getting that barrel off and got a blow torch and a heavy hammer. When the dust settled I examined the remains and could see the crank had heavy pitting on its counterweights and slightl play on the big end. It was missing some stuffers and the crankcase was full of rusty sludge due to the bike being stored outside without a spark plug. The mains were rough. The plug wire gave me shocks when I turned the flywheel even a half turn so the electrics were ok!

I got a used crank, piston, main bearings, new rings and dropped the barrel off at a machine shop in my neighborhood. The owner looked over the cylinder and piston and was wasn’t terribly excited about taking 0.25mm off with his equipment but sure enough, a week later I had a perfect piston to barrel clearance so I installed the top-end with a new base gasket and a cheapo copy of a 28mm mikuni and she fired up on the second kick! It settled into a nice steady idle with a sharp bark from its exhaust without its silencer.

I will take some pics soon and share them on here if you like. Also, Sorry for the novel 

Keep us updated!

Here are some pics as promised. Now bear in mind this was in terrible condition when I picked it up and it’s still a work in progress but at least now I know it’s worth throwing some more shekles at it. It was missing the silencer pipe and of course the noise off of it was pretty sharp to the eardrum to the neighbors, I picked up a generic universal size moped silencer and made it fit until I decide what my options are