I had this bike in 1982, and my older brother pinched the oil injection line on it to spite me. Almost got me killed on the interstate when the engine seized. It had 6,000 miles on it. Before that, I had a KE 125 I bought new in 1976, and rode that for 24,000 miles before selling it. My brother is a real .... Anyway, I bought another 1977 KE 250 (in green again) and love that bike once more. My brother lives a couple thousand miles away, so the bike should be safe now. These are great, light and fun little bikes.
La tienes original y en perfecto estado, mi viejo, me daba paseos en una moto del mismo modelo en Caracas, Venezuela, que recuerdos tan bonitos me trajiste.
I have the same bike in the garage. I just picked it up a couple weeks ago for $300 and its in excellent condition. I had to clean the carb and replaced the spark plug and replacedthe dry rotted tires. It started right up on the second kick. I cant wait for all the snow to melt and warmer weather to get here so I can ride.
@@TurbodanNM I need to get it titled in my name but the title is the original, issued in 1979 out of Kansas. Its almost a shame to part with the original title. Its as classic as the bike. Im surprised how tall the bike is. Im 6'3 and sit on it very comfortably. When the snow and ice melts off Im going to be picking up a 78 AMF Harley Davidson SX175 for $600 Im anxious to ride both.
@@basslife9078 The seat height is a bit tall for what it is. My DT360 is quite a bit lower to the ground even though they ran the exhaust under the tank and through the frame. For your height it should be great.
@@TurbodanNM the ke250 is so much fun to ride around the lake and into town. Im stripping it down this weekend to paint and strip the tank (someone sprayed it heavily with a rattle can. I ordered vintage reproduction tank decals to make it original. The height is what I like about it for myself being tall. I was playing around on my nephews Honda 100 and with my size im sad to say it looked like a gorilla humping a football
I've added 9000 miles to the odometer on my DT360 and I think I put about 7000 miles on this KE250 riding just like this. Cruising a two-stroke is no problem if it's jetted and tuned right. The challenge is getting it to run clean at low throttle openings without being lean at a high RPM cruise. Running lean means running hot which is likely to cause engine damage.
I had one, and I had to pull the engine apart to repair a broken gear selector barrel. What struck me was the level of engineering in the engine. The oiler pumped oil directly through the main bearings, through channels in the crankshaft, through the needle bearing big end, through a channel in the con-rod, into the gudgeon pin and was distributed around the piston through small channels all around the cylinder.
@MHolt-t6y so, is it not true that constant rpm cruise is bad? Everyone I know who rides 2 strokes says that low throttle doesn't let enough oil in and it wears out the cylinders, do you use a richer oil mixture for cruising?
I also have a ke250B1. And I love it. It’s a very quick little bike check my blog. I hope you like it gong to do a coast to coast across Scotland. Hopefully next my wife is going use 1975 Honda Elsinore 250. We love the old twinshock trail bikes. Other bikes we own are ke175b 2 Honda MT250’s a 1975 DT400B and 1977 DT250E. Theses bikes are great to work on and even better to ride. Enjoyed the blog your ke250 sounds really good are you using the baffle. take care
This is with a pipe from a 2003 KX250 cut and welded to fit. Still stock other than that at the time of the video. They do hold their own pretty well, even stock. Comparable performance to some of the other larger displacement two stoke trail bikes of the era. I'll have to keep an eye out for your cross country ride. Sounds scenic.
I had this bike new in 78 ....sadly i was hit on it and got my right leg broke in two places and it was totaled with only 800 miles on it. I miss two strokes ..it was the last new 2 stroke i ever owned.
I just purchased one of these and am getting it in shape again. Mine is missing the owners manual. I was curious if yours has one? The are EXPENSIVE on Ebay! And I cannot find one on the internet for download. If yours has one, could you tell me where is it stored on the bike? Also, does it say anything in it about the steering lock? My ignition says it has one, and the key will turn there, but I see no locking mechanism on the goose neck. Also, if yours has a tool box, where is it stored? Sorry to bother you, but cannot find this info anywhere, so desperate times and all that.....
I do have the owners manual but it was in the envelope with the rest of the paperwork. I am not aware of any place it could be kept on the bike. The steering lock engages metal tabs welded on near the top of the steering tube on the frame. You can lock it in the middle position or at full lock to either side. Mine did not have a tool kit but the manual does depict one stored in a box on top of the air cleaner and battery.
@@dilloncollins7521 ... That looks to me to be 37 tooth in the back 15 tooth in the front… I have 15 tooth in the front 36 tooth on the back I really like it like that
I had this bike in 1982, and my older brother pinched the oil injection line on it to spite me. Almost got me killed on the interstate when the engine seized. It had 6,000 miles on it. Before that, I had a KE 125 I bought new in 1976, and rode that for 24,000 miles before selling it. My brother is a real .... Anyway, I bought another 1977 KE 250 (in green again) and love that bike once more. My brother lives a couple thousand miles away, so the bike should be safe now. These are great, light and fun little bikes.
The 250 runs very well compared to other 250cc dual sport two strokes of the time. Hope you enjoy it tremendously.
La tienes original y en perfecto estado, mi viejo, me daba paseos en una moto del mismo modelo en Caracas, Venezuela, que recuerdos tan bonitos me trajiste.
I have a 1977 I'm trying to get running, I hope it goes just as well
They run pretty well compared to a lot of the other 250 enduros of the era. Close to some of the 360's.
I have the same bike in the garage. I just picked it up a couple weeks ago for $300 and its in excellent condition. I had to clean the carb and replaced the spark plug and replacedthe dry rotted tires. It started right up on the second kick. I cant wait for all the snow to melt and warmer weather to get here so I can ride.
Great price.
@@TurbodanNM I need to get it titled in my name but the title is the original, issued in 1979 out of Kansas. Its almost a shame to part with the original title. Its as classic as the bike. Im surprised how tall the bike is. Im 6'3 and sit on it very comfortably. When the snow and ice melts off Im going to be picking up a 78 AMF Harley Davidson SX175 for $600
Im anxious to ride both.
@@basslife9078 The seat height is a bit tall for what it is. My DT360 is quite a bit lower to the ground even though they ran the exhaust under the tank and through the frame. For your height it should be great.
@@TurbodanNM the ke250 is so much fun to ride around the lake and into town. Im stripping it down this weekend to paint and strip the tank (someone sprayed it heavily with a rattle can. I ordered vintage reproduction tank decals to make it original. The height is what I like about it for myself being tall. I was playing around on my nephews Honda 100 and with my size im sad to say it looked like a gorilla humping a football
@@basslife9078 ...Wow the synchronicity… I have a green 77’ kE 250.. and I just bought an AMF Harley Davidson 72’ spirit SX 350
How did it not lock up? As far as I know you can't cruise with a 2t because not much fuel is entering the crank
I've added 9000 miles to the odometer on my DT360 and I think I put about 7000 miles on this KE250 riding just like this. Cruising a two-stroke is no problem if it's jetted and tuned right. The challenge is getting it to run clean at low throttle openings without being lean at a high RPM cruise. Running lean means running hot which is likely to cause engine damage.
I had one, and I had to pull the engine apart to repair a broken gear selector barrel. What struck me was the level of engineering in the engine. The oiler pumped oil directly through the main bearings, through channels in the crankshaft, through the needle bearing big end, through a channel in the con-rod, into the gudgeon pin and was distributed around the piston through small channels all around the cylinder.
@MHolt-t6y so, is it not true that constant rpm cruise is bad? Everyone I know who rides 2 strokes says that low throttle doesn't let enough oil in and it wears out the cylinders, do you use a richer oil mixture for cruising?
I also have a ke250B1. And I love it. It’s a very quick little bike check my blog. I hope you like it gong to do a coast to coast across Scotland. Hopefully next my wife is going use 1975 Honda Elsinore 250. We love the old twinshock trail bikes. Other bikes we own are ke175b 2 Honda MT250’s a 1975 DT400B and 1977 DT250E. Theses bikes are great to work on and even better to ride. Enjoyed the blog your ke250 sounds really good are you using the baffle. take care
This is with a pipe from a 2003 KX250 cut and welded to fit. Still stock other than that at the time of the video. They do hold their own pretty well, even stock. Comparable performance to some of the other larger displacement two stoke trail bikes of the era.
I'll have to keep an eye out for your cross country ride. Sounds scenic.
I had this bike new in 78 ....sadly i was hit on it and got my right leg broke in two places and it was totaled with only 800 miles on it. I miss two strokes ..it was the last new 2 stroke i ever owned.
That is a bummer for sure. I'm not sure how I've survived in the era of texting and driving.
I just purchased one of these and am getting it in shape again.
Mine is missing the owners manual. I was curious if yours has one?
The are EXPENSIVE on Ebay! And I cannot find one on the internet for download.
If yours has one, could you tell me where is it stored on the bike?
Also, does it say anything in it about the steering lock? My ignition says it has one, and the key will turn there, but I see no locking mechanism on the goose neck.
Also, if yours has a tool box, where is it stored?
Sorry to bother you, but cannot find this info anywhere, so desperate times and all that.....
I do have the owners manual but it was in the envelope with the rest of the paperwork. I am not aware of any place it could be kept on the bike.
The steering lock engages metal tabs welded on near the top of the steering tube on the frame. You can lock it in the middle position or at full lock to either side.
Mine did not have a tool kit but the manual does depict one stored in a box on top of the air cleaner and battery.
What sort of top speed does the bike get? I’m wondering if I can cruise 55-60 on one.
In stock form, it tops out around 75 if I remember correctly. Cruising at 55-60 is no big deal.
@@TurbodanNM was this stock gearing in the video?
@@dilloncollins7521 I don't remember for sure but I think this was +1 on the front sprocket.
@@dilloncollins7521 ... That looks to me to be 37 tooth in the back 15 tooth in the front… I have 15 tooth in the front 36 tooth on the back I really like it like that