The Simple Blog
Hi all. This post will be updated regularly, as I encounter new things to do with my Yamaha XT250. I bought the bike half a couple years ago (2017 model), and have been riding it on mountains, streets, logging roads, and at the river. Not much highway yet. There will be a comments section below, so as I update this, and if people comment things, I’ll be updating the post with things people say (and giving credit to them, of course).
I also created an XT250 Riders Group on Facebook (click here to see it). So far, everyone on the page has been great. Since we have the same bike we will probably encounter a lot of the same things, and do some riding that each other will want to see.
I’m going to also put a lot of the old stuff I had put on WheelsList.net’s forum (under XT250s) here on this page, too, so it can all be in one spot. Until then, they can be found here. Once I get everything figured on this post, I’ll make a video showing my set up and how everything was done.
Oh, and another thing. If any of you guys out there want to write a page like this, I can set that up for you. I bet some of you have a lot more experience and information to share than I have, so It’d be nice to have. That goes, by the way, not just for XT riders, but for anyone who wants to write and share some cools stuff. Just message the Cool Stuff, Interesting Stuff, News Facebook page and we can set that up for anyone interested.
It’s March and while the snow is gone, it’s still fairly cool. Too cool to be soaking wet and ride for hours.
My question is what you guys use for riding gear to stay dry / warm?
I wore running shoes, jeans and a leather jacket today.Riding around the trails, you get warm, but when you go through the knee deep puddles, you get wet again.
I’ve been looking into heated vests on Amazon. They don’t sell them in the city I live in. They range f
rom around $80 to under $200. They usually have a battery you take out and
charge. Probably they have different battery life depending on the vest. The thing with ordering online is what size is best?
They also have heated gloves, heated jackets, heated pants, and heated socks. If anyone has any of these and can advise me, please let me know in the comments. I want a light kit – not going past two saddle bags and a tank bag, so probably a vest will be best.
Heated clothing don’t help much though in knee deep puddles, especially when you spill (then you’re shoulder deep). I’ll have to figure something out to keep water out of my boots, and maybe even pants.
The bike is a simple design, but people do ad mods in order to keep the bike from getting bashed up.
One thing is a skid plate, also called a sump guard. These are mounted on the bottom of the bike so w
hen you go over rocks, your engine is protected more. Yamaha makes a factory one specifically for the XT250, although its a few hundred dollars. People on the Facebook page have commented that they use the Ricochet, which is about 100 or 150 dollars. The important thing here is that the skid plate fits your particular bike. We have a shop in my city that has some skid plates, but none of them fit the XT250.
Another issue is if you have the “California model”: Evan Medina wrote: “I got aftermarket. It was easy to install. But if u have the “California” model XT u need to keep in mind that ur charcoal canister will most likely get in the way. Unless u make a mount to raise it up or u get the crappy cali skid plate that leaves ur engine exposed on that side.” He also said, “My brother had to make this mount since my bike has that cali charcoal can. And The bike doesn’t start up good at all without the can unless you get it tuned up with a fuel programmer maybe.”
There are a lot of ways to set up cargo on these bikes. So if anyone wants to send their pic, or a pic of a set up they are interested in, go ahead. I’ll make a gallery here of cargo options for the XT250.
So far I just have a tank bag on mine, and actually it only has a strap to wrap around the from forks, so it slides off to the sides. It has clips on the sides, so I’ll have to figure out a way to tie those to the shroud.
Here’s Akihiro Akazaki way.It is fixed with a ratchet rope:
The XT250 is rated for I think around 270 kms on a tank (? confirmation). That’s great, but there are 
roads a lot longer than that. So what’s the best way to carry extra fuel?
About the picture here … Dave (Concow Mower) wrote: “Got a couple of XT250’s for single track, etc. and would like to have increased the on-board fuel capacity a bit, but….. no one makes a hi capacity tank for the newer XT250’s. I ended up with a 2 gallon RotoPax fuel (red) and the option to add a 2 gallon water (white) tank.”
Apparently, you can’t buy bigger fuel tanks for the 250. They had them for the 225 though.
The bike isn’t giant. It weighs less than 300 pounds. So can it bear doubling a second person?
According to other riders, yes it can, even with two adult males.
What lightweight tent / sleeping bags, and other camping gear have you guys found to be good for longer trips on your XT250?
The XT250 doesn’t have a cigarette lighter port or a USB port. So what have you guys rigged up to plug in your phone, helmet camera, air compressor, etc?
Some advice from the page:
Richard Smaller Coughlan: “Straight off the battery have an Optimate cable to charge the battery or my phone…”
Ralph Greene: “On my cruiser I use the battery tender pigtail and I have a 12v outlet and a USB port. They are separate but wouldn’t be had to make it all work. My XT has a tender and I’ll use my USB attachment as phone charger.”
Mark Lee: “If you haven’t already done so you should add up the amp draw of all your electric stuff to make sure you are not overloading your stator.”
The XT250 comes with a hidden toolkit, although you need to unscrew a flat-head bold to get it out. Some people have modded this, replacing their bolt with a plastic-headed bolt from the hardware store, so they can twist it off by hand.
Is the tool kit provided sufficient? Or what have you added to it?
Here’s the tools that come with it – photos by Val Hemedes and David Oldford:
The other thing is, for long trips, some measures should be taken for flat tires and other on-road maintenance. What have you guys done to prepare for this? For flats, I see a lot of people actually carry a spare tire. Another option is to carry a patch kit and a compressor that can run off your battery.
What are the best tires for various riding / conditions, and considering price?
Does anyone have any to recommend? Looks like a set of these is several hundred.
Resources: XT225 forum, WheelsList motorbikes forum,
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Who likes actually knowing how to do things when you use a video editing program like Movie Studio Platinum? Well, if you’re one of those who do like knowing, this is a short guide to do the most basic things with your editing.
SHORTCUTS / HOTKEYS:
d – cursor changes to envelope / selection edit / etc
ctrl and drag clip with mouse – COPY
TOOLS:
Who likes actually knowing how to do things when you use a video editing program like Movie Studio Platinum? Well, if you’re one of those who do like knowing, this is a short guide to do the most basic things with your editing.
SHORTCUTS / HOTKEYS:
d – cursor changes to envelope / selection edit / etc
ctrl and drag clip with mouse – COPY
TOOLS:
New social media:
Steemit for articles
dTube for videos
Mastodon, like Facebook
HealthAndMedicineNews.org
TheSpeakerNewsJournal.com
No G+ yet
WheelsList.net
Doesn’t need Facebook likes.
BuildingHomesAndLiving.com
iimmaaggee.com
TheCraftChair.com
Doesn’t need Facebook likes.
LibertyOnlineShop.com
No G+ yet
Blogunity.net
No G+ yet
CoolStuffInterestingStuffNews.com
BajaSolSwimwear.com
AtSail.com
Did you ever hear about the great deception
Well the plastic revolutionaries take the money and run
Have you ever been down to love city
Where they rip you off with a smile
And it don’t take a gun
Don’t it hurt so bad in love city
Don’t it make you not want to bother at all
And don’t they look so self righteous
When they pin you up against the wall
Did you ever, ever see the people
With the tear drops in their eyes
I just can’t stand it, stand it no how
Living in this world of lies
Did you ever hear about the rock and roll singers
Got three or four Cadillacs
Saying power to the people, dance to the music
Wants you to pat him on the back
Have you ever heard about the great Rembrandt
Have you ever heard about how he could paint
And he didn’t have enough money for his brushes
And they thought it was rather quaint
But you know it’s no use repeating
And you know it’s no use to think about it
‘Cause when you stop to think about it
You don’t need it
Have you ever heard about the great Hollywood motion picture actor
Who knew more than they did
And the newspapers didn’t cover the story
Just decided to keep it hid.
Somebody started saying it was an inside job
Whatever happened to him?
Last time they saw him down on the Bow’ry
With his lip hanging off an old rusty bottle of gin
Have you ever heard about the so-called hippies
Down on the far side of the tracks
They take the eyeballs straight out of your head
Say son, kid, do you want your eyeballs back
Did you ever see the people
With the tear drops in their eyes
Just can’t stand it no how
Living in this world of lies
WILD CHILDREN
We were the War Children
Born 1945
When all the soldiers came marching home
Love looks in their eye
Tennessee Tennessee Williams
Let your inspiration flow
Let it be around when we hear the sound
When the spring time rivers flow when the rivers flow
Rod Steiger and Marlon Brando
Standing with their heads bowed on the side
Crying like a baby thinking about the time
James Dean took that fatal ride, took that ride
Tennessee Tennessee Tennessee Tennessee Williams
Let your inspiration go
Will you be around to hear the sound
When the spring time rivers flow, rivers flow
And Steiger and Marlon Brando
Standing with their heads bowed on the side
Crying like a baby thinking about the time
James Dean took that fatal ride, took that ride
And we were the Wild Children
Back in 1945
When all the soldiers came marching home
Love looks in their eyes, in their eyes