Honda XL 250

XL History

Honda XL250 is a four-stroke 250 cc motorcycle from Honda introduced in 1972 and manufactured through most of the 1980s. When it appeared it was the first modern four-stroke enduro motorcycle and the first mass-produced four-valve motorcycle. (The first four-valve single was the Ricardo Triumph four-valve of the 1920s, and the first four-valve engine was the Indian 8-valve V2 racer of 1911.)

The XL250, and the later XL350, laid the groundwork for the revolutionary big modern four-stroke-enduro wave.
The XL250 is an "enduro" or dual-sport bike meaning it physically looks like a dirt bike, and shares many characteristics with a dirt bike, but it is street-legal and intended for on- and off-road use. The bike is completely mechanically operated as there are no hydraulics on the bike, except the XL350R and XL600R. The 250cc 4-stroke motor produces 24 horsepower at the wheel. The bike weighs 288 lbs with oil, grease, and petrol. Fuel capacity is 2.4 gallons (9.5 litres). Demand for this model has remained high among collectors and enthusiasts. An interesting observation with the XL250s models was their narrow streamlining, being only 12 inches at their widest point excluding the handlebars.

The 1980 Xl250 introduced few changes, however during its production the rear chain tensioner was added.
The 1981 XL250S was the last year to have the unique 23-inch front wheel, rear twin shock, and 6-volt electrical system. It also had upgraded rear brakes in a larger hub and a modified 5 plate clutch, and handsome twin speedo and tacho gauges in the Australian, continental variants. In 1982 the engine had the balancing cam sprocket driven rather than chain making the engine quieter and a six-speed gearbox was introduced with an automatic cam chain tensioner. From 1982 Honda reverted to the 21-inch front wheel and introduced the rear single shock suspension, known as the Pro-Link, and a 12-volt system. The 1984 to1987 models were equipped with dual carburetors and the RFVC type of engine.
1987 marked the final year of the XL250R and XL600R for the USA. The XL series were replaced with the short-lived NX series in 1988 to1990. In 1992, Honda began the XR250L and XR650L, which are street legal and closely follow the roots of the XL series.

The early 1970s witnessed a flurry of development in off-road and dual-purpose bikes that is still without peer for its diversity and excellence in execution. This was an era of free-wheeling experimentation; the desert racing scene was huge at this time, and on any given weekend hundreds of hard-bitten racers would line up toe-to-toe on everything from 90cc two-strokes to 650cc British twin-cylinder desert sleds.

Two-stroke motorcycles from Europe were often a dominant force in racing at this time, and although Honda had achieved some success with the SL-350, a dual-purpose variant of the venerable road-going CB350 twin, dealers and consumers alike were begging for a purpose-built Honda dirt bike.

Honda delivered with the 1972 XL250 Motosport, a single-cylinder thumper with a trick four-valve head, upswept exhaust system and a serious off-road chassis, high fenders and all.

The first XL wasn't perfect, but it was definitely inspired, as Cycle magazine enthused about "Honda's first-declared all-out dirt bike," in its April 1972 ride test of the XL250 Motosport. Specifically, the technical analysis virtually waxed poetic about the elegant four-valve head, and raved that "the intake port is divided upstream of the valve-heads-a casting masterpiece!"

Other comments included, "It almost goes without saying that the bike is beautiful: clean, unexaggerated, functional, subtle, and perhaps even a bit spartan." As a foreshadowing of Honda four-strokes to come, the magazine also remarked, "Once in motion, the bike pulls like a tractor... opening the throttle produces an instant surge of acceleration." Compared to the Spanish Bultaco Matador, one of the premier all-out off-road bikes of the early 1970s, Cycle editors declared "The Honda is much faster. On straight sections, the XL would inexorably pull away and keep on pulling away."

In closing, the road test summed up the 1972 XL250 in the following fashion: "Once again Honda has produced a dirt bike that is perfect for the off-road enthusiast who wants a civilized bike that requires no huge maintenance hassle, doesn't use a great amount of fuel, and isn't required to get him across really bad country in any particular hurry."

Ironically, those words would resound with a hollow thud all too soon. A few months later, a race report in the October 1972 issue by Cycle's desert aficionado Dale Boller detailed how the XL250 took the overall win at the much-vaunted Virginia City Grand Prix. This event was described as a "money-paying half-scramble, half-motocross affair" that tallied 10 laps over an incredibly rugged 16-mile course. Case in point: out of the 170 entrants in the Sunday main event, only 73 finished!
 

Regarding the event-winning XL250, "Ron Jones was riding one of the four-valve Hondas, the machine all of the expert magazine road-testers said would never be a threat in major competition. But despite a field of darn good riders on 400 Ajays, Huskys and Maicos, 360 CZs and big Beezers and Triumphs, Jones smoked them all on his 250 Honda."

Boller went on to explain how Jones had taken his new 250 Motosport right out of the crate, removed the street-going bits and pieces, added some full knobbies, a skid plate and a few other odds and ends before taking his place on the starting line with only 25 miles on the odometer! For his efforts, Ron Jones took home a 10-pound brick of solid Comstock silver. For Honda's four-stroke single-cylinder dirt bikes, there was much, much more to come.