Yam XS250: Virtual Twin

Horrible was how I felt fifteen minutes after buying a Yam XS250. It was an ancient old thing but quite nicely polished, a well put together cycle. Testing out its limits on a fave stretch of country road, I found that appearances didn't amount to much. Hurling the lightweight twin right over, the rubber going weak at its edges, the 2-1 exhaust dug in. Catching on the tarmac, it tried to hurl the bike sideways. I put some muscle into getting it upright and going in the right direction. If the curve hadn't tightened up I might've survived. The bike shuffled on to the grass verge, lost all grip and dropped downwards.

I did something nasty to my right wrist and knee on landing. So rapid the fall from grace that it felt like I'd actually blacked out. The Yamaha - the little sod - had a relatively easy time of it. Sliding over the grass until it finally lost momentum by destroying a rotten bit of wooden fencing. I hobbled over to the thing, would've given it a proper kicking if I had two good legs to stand on! Eventually, the bike was upright and I was able to wobble home at a preposterously mediocre velocity.

Damage was bent pegs, twisted bars, shortened levers where they'd broken off and a few new dents. A used set of handlebars and a bit of hammer work sorted it out. Took several visits to the hospital before I was in a similarly happy state. My refusal of a tetanus shot causing the doc to prescribe such a nasty antibiotic combo that it left me dead to the world. In no fit state to ride a motorcycle.

Took about a month until I finally got around to speed testing the little Yamaha. Just about do the ton. After 85mph a rather large wobble occurred. If a bump was hit, turned into a bit of tank-slapper. The bars trying to pummel their way out of my already weakened grip. Later, giving the bike a good kicking revealed some play in the swinging arm bearings. Having had this hassle on previous bikes I decided to leave it well alone until things went desperate...

Weaving along the M1 at three in the morning after a mind bending party in the woods, I thought I'd see if I could better the ton. One hell of a speed wobble resulted. The poor old XS was wobbling over two lanes of the motorway. I was panicked out of my mind, not knowing if I should brake or sit it out. There was a long bend up front, dazzling headlamps from oncoming cars beginning to frazzle my vision. Ended up, as I braked viciously, that I didn't know where I was. My so-called mates would say this was nothing unusual. Only I didn't usually disintegrate aboard a buckling bronco of a motorcycle at high speed.

The Yamaha finally pulled itself together at about 50mph. The stress from the incident so heavy that it never again ran straight and true. There was nothing for it but to take a hammer to the swinging arm spindle. I well knew the horrors to come (from the seized in spindle) and when the local breaker offered to fix it for forty notes, including new bearings and used spindle (if necessary) I went for it.

The local breaker's been there for decades, seen it all. About 100kg of fat, a grotty old beard obscures most of his face and he has a voice that inspires fear. He has a reputation for cheap prices and work that owes more to brute force than skill. Just what I needed! Typically, the spindle came out with a few taps, as straight as when it came out of the factory. Less than half an hour's work that I could've done myself. Oh well!

At this point the breaker had a nasty surprise for me. No, he wasn't into sodomizing youths like some dealers but pointed out that the back wheel's hub had lots of tiny cracks. Alloy welding would probably work, suggested he, but the used back wheel he had to hand would be much better and jolly reasonable at thirty notes. He'd even swap the tyres over. I cursed the Yamaha's shoddy alloy and the way I liked to speed into the house - up half a foot high stone step!

Poorer but no wiser I rode home. After all that expense I expected brilliant handling right the way up to the top speed. Shocked to find that the back end was all over the road at 60mph. A bit more kicking revealed that the back wheel's bearings were on the way out! The breaker found this highly amusing, warned me that it was dead easy to crack the hub when knocking the old bearings out. He'd fix it up for me for thirty notes. I should buy a tee-shirt with sucker written on it!

After spending a hundred quid I finally had a motorcycle that didn't speed wobble any longer. I'd also fitted on some original downpipes with a pair of mega's to sort out the ground clearance problems. At around 360lbs, the XS could be flung around with relative ease. I did find that the front tyre would try to wash out when accelerating out of bends. Not that the Yamaha ever managed mind bending acceleration but it was as fast as most low end cars and would take on 250 Superdreams and the like.

Some good points. Fuel was exceptional - around 70mpg average - but the airfilter was full of holes and the silencers almost straight through! Consumption of the Taiwanese tyres, cheap chain and EBC pads was marginal, about the same as my Honda C50! Engine maintenance was merely a case of changing the oil every 1500 miles, everything else was so worn no adjustment needed. Handling was brilliant for charging through town and motor really liked to be revved out through the gears. The harder the throttle was used the smoother it became - pistons moving up and down alternatively, no balancers.

The pity of it was that the chassis appeared to be falling apart rapidly. About six weeks after fixing the back end, the steering head bearing went all loose. Tightened down the stem but that made the handling even more horrendous! The bearings were pitted, devoid of any grease. A nice set of taper-rollers bashed in but needed perfect tensioning of the stem bolt before they worked properly. Once that was done, the front end attained unknown precision. On a bike of this power and weight, such steering accuracy allowed me to ride in a thoroughly mad way.

For all of three weeks when the front wheel's bearings went down. Sure enough, I cracked up the hub knocking them out - determined, as I was, not to give the breaker any more of my money. Some hope, he grinned widely after receiving forty quid for a replacement front wheel which came with a newish disc, calipers and pads. The old disc was just beginning to squeal in a menacingly manner, probably money well spent!

Of course, pissing around with the forks revealed that their seals were seeping oil. Had to take the forks down, put in new bushes and seals, added a set of gaiters. Finally, much poorer and only a little wiser, the chassis was fully sorted and the bike ready for the road... Someone up there doesn't like me, the original shocks started weeping oil as well and went very soggy! Used Koni's (yes, from the grinning breaker who was now proudly driving a big BMW cage) fixed that.

Oddly, the actual chassis components - petrol tank, mudguards, etc - were in fine fettle, perhaps replaced along the line as they certainly didn't seem to reflect the 49000 miles that were now on the clock. Neither did the engine, which veritably purred away with good heart, confounding my Superdream mounted mates with its toughness.

Note to the cynical and worldly wise - the wiring showed every sign of being redone some time in the near past, the switches were non-standard and the HT leads and caps rubber rather than plastic. Many XS owners find the electrics, especially the ignition circuit, both troubling and perplexing. Intermittent faults difficult to diagnose, often caused by the cut-out switches shorting out. If it hasn't already been done, take them out of the circuit! The Cibie headlamp conversion was just about up to modern standards, the air-horns a useful addition - wakes the cagers up, makes them think some artic's about to mash them! The odd jerk tried to run me off the road when he realised his mistake, but I was usually long gone. How I yearn for a police siren!

If life didn't start off all that well will the XS, the more I've used it, the longer I've owned it, the more fond of the little twin I've become. I do have some serious tackle as well - a street fighter FZR600 - that kills the traffic like nothing else, but that's often too much hassle to ride! Much easier to leap upon the 250 and bumble around town at a rapid pace - by the time I've undone the FZR's three locks, given it a few minutes to warm up and got the necessary body armour on, I'm usually half way to my destination on the XS! If the weather's dire it's much easier to ride as I don't have to think about taking a handful of throttle and costs at least half as much to run. Good one, Mr Yamaha!

Dave Wilson