Honda XR250R build e-start- titanium

Al259
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9/1/2022 10:08am Edited Date/Time 9/28/2022 11:47am
106,3 kg without fuel. This is where it’s at now. I did some testing with a younger rider thats about the same weight as my wife, (but a lot faster) to finalize the Suspension settings and it’s really become an awesome bike. We tested for 4 days on a private forest track, and on a small MX track. Suspension is great, best I've ever seen on an XR.




8
Phillip_Lamb
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9/5/2022 10:02pm
not sure if you mentioned the original weight but compared to honda's claim thats over 20lbs. Thats some serious weight and coin
Al259
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9/5/2022 10:39pm
Yeah, it has dropped quite a bit of weight. There is still quite a bit of potential to make it even lighter than what it is. We will be leaving Germany and going to Rwanda/ Africa in the next couple of weeks. I‘ll leave it as is for now.


7
jdsmooth
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Chattanooga, TN US
9/6/2022 7:12pm
This has been such a fun build to follow. Thanks for sharing your updates, and I hope your wife has a chance to enjoy this thing.
1

The Shop

Al259
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9/8/2022 3:36am Edited Date/Time 9/15/2022 1:32am
One thing I forgot to post is that modified the exhaust to make it a bit lighter about 200g that we ended up saving buy cutting of the can.


While working on the exhaust I noticed that it must be titanium. It’s just a different type than what is usually used and thicker walled as well.

This was after the bike was on the scale so Around 106,1kg
3
Al259
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9/13/2022 2:09pm
I’m using an acerbis VSL LED head light. They are really bright (4300Lumens )but quit heavy. The stock XR unit puts out around 700 lumens with the H4. I know the US XRs don’t use a H4 bulb. So it’s probably less lumens for those bikes.





1,017kg where as the stock XR unit is 588g without the H4 bulb that the MD30 uses.



the acerbis unit can lose some weight. All the steel hardware will be replaced with titanium and carbon. And LED spot can be modified as well. No need that much material for cooling.





-40g just by drilling some 13mm holes is not to bad.
2
Al259
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9/15/2022 4:07am
Got a carbon sheet. Out of that I will make replacements for steel brackets. Still waiting on some more Ti- screws.
4
jdsmooth
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9/15/2022 8:22am
Did non-US XRs come with a higher-output stator than the US versions? Have you done anything to your stator?
Al259
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Bielefeld DE
9/15/2022 1:15pm
So the US, Xr's from 96-2004 have a max output of 75 Watts,
the XR250 MD30 (1995- 2005) puts out 204W at ~5000RPM, the left crankcase cover is also different due to the bigger alternator, it also uses a bigger R/R.
The XR250 headlight uses a standard 60/55W H4 bulb and is much brighter than the std 35W XR250R US unit.
Als far as I know buy rewinding the the US model stator you can get it to 150Watts max, but the RR musst be changed to match.
2
Al259
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9/20/2022 3:26pm
That’s the final weight of the headlight. Still quite a bit heavier than the stock but it’s ok.


3
Al259
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9/28/2022 11:41am Edited Date/Time 9/28/2022 11:46am
So there was is some stuff I could not to the bike while it was here. Now it’s on its way to Africa again. But I already have a plan how it’s going to continue. There is more titanium that is going to go on the bike. The white Yamaha front fender and lamp had arrived late so I’ll need to put them into the suitcase.

Here a taste of what ist to come, these are all bolts that are going on the bike. To my experience the Ti bolts that I got so fare are about 42% lighter than the steal. So the would be around 90gs saved.



The fender is 421g (shortened in the rear to clear the frame)



According to the calculations that I’ve done the final weight of the bike is going to stay somewhere about 107kgs. There is some small stuff I’m working on that will add up but I don’t think there is major savings still in store.

If I would convert it to kickstart only and the simple US model electrical system then It would go under 100kgs 😂. But then my wife won’t ride it. 😂
3
Al259
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10/19/2022 2:15pm
Hear some more informative stuff. This is a md30 crank. I was fortunate to get my hands on this as they are very hard to get buy. The pin on the flywheel side is a bit longer (73mm) than the ME08 model. This crank is going to be rebuilt with a new rod. I plan to lighten the crank and and counter balancer a bit.
I would have to ride it First as removing weight would have a significant effect on the riding the bike in different environments.




2
Al259
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1/3/2023 4:06am

 

 

 The bike has safely made it to the small country in east Africa will be our new home. It’s not yet done. I have LightSpeed carbon skidplate coming and there will be some other modifications coming. 

9
Al259
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1/17/2023 10:50am Edited Date/Time 11/12/2023 1:40am

Some little updates as I’ve been getting some questions concerning the Mikuni carb I’ve been using. It will fit a standard XR really well but you’ll need to get the cables made or contact mikuni OZ they have them available for purchase. You will also  need to modify the cable bracket a bit.
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The performance is amazing compared to the stock carb. And you can use a 1 cable setup because it has such a strong return spring. Thus i could also cut off a part of the bracket save some grams.

On the E-start Modell it is a tight fit and requires a bit experience as it needs an adapter made. The Air-boot of the MD30 has a bigger diameter so pay attention to that. The XR400 air boot is also bigger so one has 3 size options to choose from when setting it up. When doing a big bore you should consider that a big bore pulls more air volume through the intake tract and also requires a smaller throttle opening to create the same torque. This raises the vacuum in the carb which causes a larger pressure differential between the float bowl and the venture. This pulls more fuel through the same size jet. The A/F ratio is the same but people mistakenly believe that it is leaner because of the smaller jets. The main change that you will make when increasing the engine displacement is in needle clip position and air screw setting. The main jet stays very close to the same as with a smaller bore. So the bigger one goes on the carb bore and the air boot opening, the more power you shift the power to the top of the Rpm range.

 

3
spimx
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Port Isabel, TX US
1/18/2023 9:42am

Maybe you could cut that muffler back a few cm, it would loose some weight and be easier to swing your leg over. Is the bike loud at all with the aftermarket pipe? 

Al259
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1/18/2023 11:31am

It’s a bit louder than the stock bike, but not crazy. I actually thought of cutting the pipe back but it’s not as straightforward because the inner tube is in cone shape. My wife is happy with the weight as it is now. It was a fun project. There will for sure be some more ideas to improve the bike later down the road. 

1
Al259
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1/22/2023 9:35am

Daniel from Malaysia is converting a XR250r to electric start for his wife. He was friendly enough to take pictures of the 2 frames side by side

B1458151-C616-4895-95B9-70279C792DC2

 1F81DE51-512E-4D5D-8719-58F60DF3F305
 Here you can see that main differences are the tank mounts CDI mount, the stearing tube.

2
Al259
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1/22/2023 9:43am Edited Date/Time 1/22/2023 9:44am

5377B27A-4D54-4A82-AA71-A6D0F57D4B9D

Left the MD30 right XR/R

9F8B8E06-5892-4DE1-9C49-81F5ED547259.jpeg?VersionId=ELtTqg2ygmeRqnUBATCg

 Hear a pic of the two swing arms. Pay attention two the different chain slider mounts. The chain slider of MD30 only allows small rear sprockets. 
 

537903CE-5216-44C4-8A04-2DDA10F6A166

 Left is the MD30 plug, right the XR250R plug. Pay attention to the threads.

 

2
Al259
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1/22/2023 10:24am Edited Date/Time 1/23/2023 8:59pm

2C04F1E2-DAF6-49A9-B20B-6D681564D358

Rwanda a nice place! 

3
Al259
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3/16/2023 2:39pm

DEEDE6F1-C4ED-4C68-945C-49E071D1AEA9

 Latest addition is a light Speed Carbon skid. So far the bike is really good fun. I’ll be doing some more experiments with DLC on axles and internal suspension components when I’m back in Europe. Will also be trying to get a stock headlight as I’m not to happy with the LED weight wise. I was able to weigh the bike again with the fat bike tubes an some some titanium added and it is a 106kgs final weight. I would say the lightest xr250r with E-start on earth. 

6
MigGames
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GB
3/19/2023 3:42am

You don't have to answer as it's not related in any way to your awesome bike but why are you shuttling between Europe and Africa?

Al259
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Bielefeld DE
3/19/2023 11:42am

Yeah, that’s a good question. We work and live Rwanda but have to be in Germany every couple of years. 

Al259
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4/27/2023 1:28pm

F2A00CAF-12AB-4DFA-BF8B-F9A644418476.jpeg?VersionId=pjFHQn7xn06dQ9FqmsDRTkdjxFY

 Final edition, still looking for a golden rear rim, I’ve got the front already. 

14
Toccosauce
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5/16/2023 1:42pm
Al259 wrote:
 Final edition, still looking for a golden rear rim, I’ve got the front already. 

F2A00CAF-12AB-4DFA-BF8B-F9A644418476.jpeg?VersionId=pjFHQn7xn06dQ9FqmsDRTkdjxFY

 Final edition, still looking for a golden rear rim, I’ve got the front already. 

Where in the world did you find those classic Acerbis flags!?

Al259
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Bielefeld DE
5/19/2023 9:57pm
Toccosauce wrote:

Where in the world did you find those classic Acerbis flags!?

Dude searching eBay and other platforms every now and then for 2 years. 

1
Al259
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Bielefeld DE
11/12/2023 4:38am Edited Date/Time 11/24/2023 11:08am

It‘s a bit boring during rainy season here, here’s a pic of the cut of trottle return. 

some stator bolts I’m changing for titanium 

 

IMG 5642

IMG 5643 0.jpeg?VersionId=YZXDwct V
 

there is still options to reduce some grams of the bike. 

3
Al259
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Bielefeld DE
11/24/2023 11:06am

Thanks BoxcarWilly! 

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