Hey ya'll. I'm thinking of buying a xt250 next but I'm put off by the valve adjustments and oil changes every 6 months. Does anyone know if one can get way with doing them once a year instead?
Outfitting my 2022 for aggressive trail riding. I typically don’t ride road unless it’s to a nearby trail. Let’s call it a 70/30 split. Looking for guidance on best setup for ideal performance. I do mostly single track and slower/technical trails.
Appreciate the help.
The purpose is for animal deterrence. We ride in the northern part of Canada and encounter lots of bears and other predators. Does anyone have any experience with doing this on a newer (2025) Model? Any tips? I can’t seem to confirm if the FMF powercore will fit and work with these models.
1/4 ratchet + extension
8,10,12,14mm sockets.
1/4 t-handle
1/4 ratchet to hex adapter
8,10,12,14,17,19 compact wrenches
4,5,6,8 allen bits or wrenches (or both)
Multi tool (Chinese clone of the surge not showing in the photo as I don't keep it in the kit, I keep it on my person. That takes the place of a pair of pliers and a few other things that are nice to have like small scissors.
JB weld, small Tube of super glue, small tube of blue thread lock
Small bit of electrical tape Assorted zip ties ( some long heavy duty ones from Harbor Freight are critical.)
Small roll of duct tape Two or three 10 amp fuses
Sparkplug socket
I might be missing one or two bits but this has gotten us through a multitude of bdr's and a trip from Washington State to the end of the Baja peninsula. This does not include our tire repair kit which is a whole separate tool kit.
I use a DIY 3" abs tool tube. I fasten it to the inside of the side rack with stainless hose clamps. It's rock solid, can take a massive beating and has yet to fail. I throw everything into a small lightweight drawstring sack and then drop the sack into the tool tube. We have this same setup on four XT 250s and a Suzuki dr650. Tools vary depending on the bike.
Pro tip, you can buy a cheap Chinese socket bit set on Amazon for 12 bucks or so and then rob bits/sockets from that to make up your moto tool kit. I'm including a photo of a set that I bought for 12 bucks on amazon. It pretty much had everything I needed as far as the bits and the ratchet go.
Hey everyone. I'm attempting to repair my 2016 XT250. Long story short I have about 30k miles on it, trails and highway but it stalled one day and didn't start again. I drained the oil to find bits of aluminum and steel, possibly the camshaft chain guide as well. I took the whole bike apart and found deep gouges where it looks like the chain was slapping around. The inside of the chain is also pretty chewed up but the sprocket looks OK. I have 2 questions:
What else do I need to inspect and replace (e.g. bearings, camshaft)?
How did this happen? Did I neglect some maintenance task that could have prevented it?
Thanks. This is my first time cracking a motor open this far.
Photos of damage attached, plus a bonus photo of the cylinder bore in case anyone has thoughts on that.
What tools do you carry on your bike at all times?
Which bit and wrench sizes?
Chain breaker?
I'm looking to upgrade the stock tool kit because its a little lame at the best of times.
I traded for a 2013 xt250 a little while ago and wondering if anyone else thinks the bars feel really odd to me, especially when standing? Wondering if it's just me.
They feel more unwieldy/not controllable as much to me when I stand up. Looking at other pics they seem to be the oem bars, and I don't think they're bent from what I can tell.
My stock tw200 bars feel great to me just a little low when standing. Was thinking of replacing those on the tdub and swapping the stock bars to see if those feel better on the xt.