Today was the first time I rode the old Yamaha 250 and it didn't stall out on me. Faithful readers will remember that this was the $225 special I bought from Craigslist the day after I sold the Kawasaki. It was evident as I worked on it that this poor beast hadn't been run in years and received little or no care in that time. I have it sitting on a battery charger from KMart that maintains the voltage and start it up every other day or so just out of curiosity. It has dirt bike tires on it begging to be changed and a stubby muffler that sounds like a rifle shot with every revolution of the engine. Still today I had it out for fifteen minutes and it did well. I finally found oil filters for it, at Advance Auto no less, and a whole list of changes are in the offing.
First will be the addition of some sort of air filter which seems to be MIA. Maybe a sock filter if the airbox is too badly damaged to hold a stock set-up. Those handlebars have to go. They might have been stylish back in 1981 but they don' do a thing for me. The muffler will definitely have to be upgraded before I go deaf. Straight pipe owners might like that sound but it's too painful for me. New mirrors need to be installed so I don't have to guess what's behind me any more and ultimately I'd like to do something about the seat. It has an Easy Rider look with the raised cushion at the end that just isn't me. I'd like the bike to look more "Classic British Single" than mini chopper. Stay tuned for my life with a small bike to see how it develops.