Honda XL250 Resto

Article & Photos by Ron Fawcett

IN 2009 I BOUGHT A RUNNING WRECK OF A HONDA XL250 MOTOSPORT. I STARTED SEARCHING FOR THE PARTS I NEEDED TO REBUILD IT. I HAD VISIONS OF A PRISTINE MACHINE, THEN I CALLED “BARRY THE BIKE WRECKER” (NOT HIS REAL NAME).

The bike arrived as a running wreck. “Hello, my name is Ron and I’m looking for a range of parts for a 1972 XL250, what have you got?” Given that I was interested in pretty much anything he had.

After a strange pause, he said “So ... you had one when you were a kid right?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Well let me tell you what is going to happen Ron. You are either never going to complete the project and your wife will sell what’s left back to me, or you are going to do such a good job that you won’t ride it, too afraid to get it dirty!”

That conversation affected me profoundly, to this day obviously. Neither of those options was what I had in mind, I was going to finish it, ride it and then leave instructions for my wife never to sell anything to Barry!

“MAN THAT IS SO FREAKING HARD CORE, WAY TO GO!”

While getting the road/trail tyres fitted, Mick the Tyre Fitter asked me what I was going to do with the old bike. “Go touring” I said. He studied me briefly and asked if I “had any idea how fast big trucks go these days? I wouldn’t do it.” he said. He got me worried again. After registering it, I briefly considered taking it over to show Barry but decided against it in case he made another prophesy. I found the Sunshine Coast VJMC guys online and did a couple of rides with them, and their support gave me confidence again and I realised that the bike was ready for work.

The bike underwent a full mechanical and cosmetic restoration.

Cruising the Qld Coast

So one cold May night I studied the weather forecast. It was dry for the next week and I knew it was the time to go, now or never. So I packed a small bag and hit the road just after dawn the next morning.

I headed up the Queensland coast cruising at the speed limit as I knew it could do, easily carrying my 70 kg and bag. The exception was the

The bike attracted plenty of attention along the way 110 kph section from north of Brisbane to Gympie. I was worried about this freeway, but discovered that it felt safer sitting on 100kph in the middle of the left lane than it did on the normal undivided sections.

Last time I rode a bike, ‘you wore what you had on’ and that’s what I did. Jeans, shirt, old floppy jacket, unlined gloves. At the first fuel stop, more than a bit ‘zoned-out’, numb bummed and frozen to the bone, a car load of mean looking facially-pierced, tattoo’d, black T-shirt 120kg-ish guys got out of a pimped to the max Valiant and came over to ask, “where you from and where are you going on that old Motosport bro?”. I told them, they looked at each other and one said “Man that is so freaking hard core, way to go!” The final few miles into that stop I developed cramps in my right hand that I was still shaking out. Maybe they are right, this is a bit full-on, what am I doing!?

But I continued on to Bororan that day, stayed at the pub. Mackay the day after that. It got easier by the

Ron is already planning his next long ride

time I was a 1000 kms from my place. I met some great people. You are never alone on an old bike and every second person had a paddock-basher XL250 “it was my first bike!” and wanted to tell me all about it. I nodded and listened.

In the end, both Barry the Bike Wrecker and Mick the Tyre Fitter were wrong, but the guys in the Valiant were close, it was more hard core than I anticipated, but that’s what made it a great trip. It was so good that I am planning another one next year.

The year 2022 will be 50 years after I bought my first XL250 K0 and did many thousands of miles (yes odometer in miles) up and down the Queensland coast, a couple of times non-stop from Mackay to the Gold Coast. I am getting slow though, it takes me two days now!