The motorway seemed to go on forever. Relegated to the slow lane for most of the time, my only amusement came from a bit of footwork on the gearchange. Did I prefer the deep drone at 90mph in top, or the same speed with frenzied revs in a lower gear? How far could the 1982 machine be pushed? Until the vibes from the OHC twin tried to split the petrol tank in half? Whatever I did, it wouldn't go over 90mph, the 39000 miles on the clock having diminished the power a little.
Stability was better than stock - the old story of Girling shocks and stiffened springs, allied to an adequate frame with geometry inspired by Yamaha's experience on the track with those wailing RD strokers. Flickability was just a matter of a little muscular input. True, when a speeding artic came past it would cause the whole bike to flutter in the howling slipstream, but nothing a tight grip on the bars couldn't counter.
But motorways were boring. That 90mph top speed meant I couldn't clear off into the distance, had to stay with the slower cages. In fact, I'd say this lack of top speed (which is also true for all the new 34hp bikes) was a bit dangerous, given the way the cages would leap all over the place - no way through them.
I'd sort of go into a near coma after the first thirty minutes, suddenly waking up when a car tried to cut me up. Had to hammer the front disc and fight against the tendency of the bike to run slightly to the right. I tried to blast the bugger on the horn, but the squeak was lost to the roar of the air.
The disc was always giving trouble. A hard work-out in the name of survival left it overheated, tended to rattle rather than work for the next ten miles! The lack of slots or holes in the disc meant dissipation of water in the wet didn't happen, even feathering the front brake didn’t remove an excruciating delay.
I often had to snap down through the gearbox to get some engine braking. Worked quite well but the effect on the chain was to send it loose; figure a life of less than 5000 miles and adjustments every other day! The main reason for this abuse was because some crazy designer specified a rear disc brake with a quick seize caliper.
On one motorway trek this actually locked on like a Doberman on a victim's nuts. It was almost molten by the time I'd screeched to a halt on the hard shoulder. The only way to get it off was to remove the wheel and disc, hammer away at the caliper with a rock. Managed to crack the disc, as well!
By the way, the six spoke cast wheels were heavy enough to be made out of lead, but despite all this mass (or maybe because of it) can crack up where the spokes meet the hub. What do I expect if I go around whacking them with a bloody big rock? Oddly, given this treatment, it was the front that went rather than the back - they do tend to end up deep in corrosion, which doesn’t help. They are common to a few other Yamaha models, available cheaply enough in breakers - but check very carefully!
Back to the awful brakes. Pads didn't last for more than 5000 miles whichever make I tried. I retained the disc on the second wheel, by 30000 miles it was so thin that it shrieked whenever I used the brake in anger. Again, spares were readily available. I would liked to have fitted some drums off something else, but at that time I’d also acquired an XJ750 that took up most of my time and attention, until its engine blew up in a big way.
Sometimes, then, the XS was my main machine, other times it was just back-up to something larger and more exotic. When it was my only bike I lavished some tender loving care upon it, but when used as a second machine I tended to let it go. It didn’t like neglect, coming out in loads of corrosion and sometimes refusing to start, as if lodging a protest at my indifference.
XS250s are a bit infamous for difficult starting but this can largely be avoided by removing the cut out switches, rewiring the ignition circuit, and fitting new spark plugs every 2500 miles. The latter crucial, as well as rubber HT caps, but at least the spark plugs can be changed without removing any chassis components. If it still doesn’t start easily, and the spark’s OK, then it’s probably one of those bikes that are too finicky to be taken seriously. A good test is to take the bike for a jet-wash before buying it, if it becomes recalcitrant, chances are there will be trouble further down the line.
One other area of potential trouble’s the carbs. Sometimes they end up full of gunge, other times it’s the petrol tank that has started rusting from the inside out. Even something as simple as a clogged air vent in the cap can cause a fit of reluctant starting. Mine has always been okay as long as I didn’t neglect it but I know one guy who had endless starting problems.
The bike really sings on the back roads. It was always a blessed relief to get off the motorway and find some swevery. With the suspension mods, it fair snaps along country roads and snaking A-roads. The only limitation’s ground clearance, and when the prongs are chopped off the stand it then goes squirmy when the tyres are taken over on to their edge - enough warning to make sure that you know when to back off.
Spirited riding, again, causes the useless discs to fade away to nothing. Meaning, I ended up so far over I felt my kneecaps were threatened! This is quite an achievement on a bike with large, thin tyres that have about a tenth of the grip of the serious replicas - and last five times as long! I felt that I was close to death at times but it was with one hell of a sense of achievement that I pulled the bike back up, panting with a wild heart beat and adrenaline rush!
This is all part of the bike's versatility. 60 to 70mpg matched to a good turn of speed adds up to a quite useful device. Its modern equivalent is the Kawasaki GPz305, though that bike has a reputation for blowing up in a big way. The XS250 can follow a similar demise if regular oil changes and valve sessions are neglected, though it does take massive neglect to get the crankshaft knocking.
I know quite a few owners most of them have got 50000 miles out of the motor, but from then on built-in obsolescence rules. By the time sixty thou is on the clock just about everything’s ruined. Simple things become major trials, for instance, can end up with the hub cracking up, and I know someone who ruined the frame trying to get the swinging arm out! The whole bike seems to corrode solidly.
Therefore, it's worth being wary of the real rats offered for a couple of hundred quid. You may find out that it’s just a pile of scrap! Better to pay £500 to £1000 for something in nice nick with relatively low mileage. Motorways apart, the XS250 will do most things extremely well and in these days of retro chic they even look quite neat.
Alan Rowe