Vintage Motorcycle Restoration

This is a passion project of mine and something that I work on whenever I am home and get a chance. In high school I was able to get a hold of a 1972 Honda Motosport XL. I have experience working on cars with skills I learned from my dad. However, I am doing this project on my own and know almost nothing about motorcycles and am learning as I go. Since then I have begun restoring it but progress has been slow and is something I hope to work on more after I graduate.

My Honda XL 250

New Honda XL 250 (Stock Image)

The first image is the motorcycle the day I got it. Since then I have made slow progress but working on it is one of my favorite pastimes. I started off slow and just cleaned the motorcycle off. It had been sitting outside for a couple years and the frame stayed solid but a lot of small things rusted and it was full of leaves and mud. Since that, the only work I have done is remove the gas tank, seat, and repaired the brake cable. I have also removed the carburetor and given it a quick cleaning.

Now that I am going to Northeastern and living in Boston year round it is hard for me to work on it. Once I graduate and have a place of my own I hope to make some serious progress on it. This bike is more of a learning experience for me than anything else. I have never worked on a motorcycle before this and my only resource is a repair manual. I have done a lot of guessing and checking and ultimately just taking it apart and seeing how it functions and then putting it back.