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Yamaha XT225 and
a compelling six
Sunday shed wrap
September 28, 2025, by Guy 'Guido' Allen
A little while back we reported on buying two small trail
bikes: namely a 1999 Yamaha XT225 (aka XT250 or Serow),
plus a 2000 Honda SL230.
We recently managed to get the Yamaha on the road, with
club plates in Vic. That means 45 days of use for $80 a
year – double that if you need 90. It's a fantastic scheme
and I'm sure it has legitimised a lot of vehicles that
were otherwise running around with dodgy plates.
The Honda will go though a similar process in November,
when it turns 25 years and one month old – the required
time.
This pair is probably typical of a lot of small-bore
trail bikes, in that they were originally bought by
optimists who used them for a mix of transport and
leisure. Then they were sold and ended up as playthings
for the nearest teenagers – a son in the case of the
Yamaha, and daughters for the Honda.
Which is great. My own kids grew up with motorcycles and
I believe we all got a lot out of the experience. Plus,
motorcycles are far easier to fund and manage than horses
– I know, I've been there.
The impact however is that everyone is busy and the bike
– which is now a non-essential toy – is a long way down
the pecking order when it comes to attention. As mate Don
K says, it's entirely possible the oil hasn't been changed
for years – or ever by the second owner.
Speaking of Don, he owns a couple of these things and is
arguably the world's fussiest shed mechanic. He has
generously promised me a little session going over the
machine, while we do an oil and filter change. Oh, and fix
the mish-mash of bolts and screws on the oil filter cover,
which I know drives him nuts. And now me...
However I had to change the oil before then. I figure
it's a way of flushing the system by the time I get to
Don. My main concern is the oil capacity is just one litre
– which means it is working hard.
And this is when the first problem arose. To get to the
drain plug, you need to remove the sump guard. That is
simplicity itself: undo the single 10mm bolt at the front
and slide the guard forward. Good theory.
In this case the allegedly captive and inaccessible nut
had worked loose. So the bolt could not be released. Until
I got out the angle grinder and set if free. The problem
now is whether to drill out what remains of the bolt and
find a way in behind the lower front frame bracket to set
up a new fastener. On my current list of priorities, it's
just below starting a rotary hoe racing league, which is
just below belt-sanding my head.
You know what? I never liked that sump guard. The truth
is I'm not one of those riders who leaps over logs or gets
into situations where a sump guard would be of any value.
I've done a fair bit of gentle trail-riding in Australia
and Vietnam over the years – and I mean trails rather than
motocross – experiences which suggest Muggins needs a sump
guard about as much as he needs an aqualung. So I've
ditched it.
The one on the Honda will most likely meet a similar
fate.
I suspect the sump guard was there to perform a
marketing-related role to clean up the looks around the
front lower frame and – most significantly – make the bike
look 'tough' as a pukka off-roader, which would influence
any review.
Unless you really want to race or enduro the thing (which
it will do in a modest way), the sump guard is about as
useful as an ashtray.
Anyway, we're getting off-topic. Today's mission was to
take a closer look at the Yamaha, which rode nicely until
you went past half-throttle, at which point it would start
to misfire and generally act unhappy. I had been assured
by someone who should know (long story) the most likely
culprit was the carburettor, and was blind-sided by that
advice.
In any case, it did no harm. I've now been through the
carburettor (a flatslide CV Mikuni) with new main jet,
needle, float needle, checked the float levels – you get
the idea.
The good news was that, despite the bike looking like it
had been soaked in mud for a month when I first collected
it, the carburettor internals were pretty good.
By the way, I checked the fuel flow and it was fine.
The next ports of call should have been my first: which
were the spark plug and air filter. The former was the
wrong heat range (NGK 9 instead of 8 – and you could argue
it should be 7), while the filter was, to use the correct
technical term, stuffed.
A new filter is on order and, for the time being, I
rigged up a temporary replacement with some cloth folded
over the filter frame. Also, the throttle cable is
starting to unwind – so we have one on backorder, which
will take about a month.
Does the bike run? Yep – surprisingly well. Full throttle
is now exactly what you'd expect, plus it idles happily
and generally behaves. If I was being ultra-critical,
there is just a hint of hesitation at low revs and
throttle, which Don suggests might be a minor manifold
leak.
It's likely this has surfaced now the bike is otherwise
running properly, instead of being hobbled by a stuffed
filter and the wrong spark plug. I'll investigate when the
new bits arrive.
If you own an XT225, and want to work on the carburettor,
you will find these YouTube links useful:
Removing the
carburettor;
Working on it.
Along the way we changed the tyres. Like many other
things on this machine, they were neglected. Though a long
way from worn out, they were over a decade old and timed
out. We're now running fresh Pirelli Scorpions that
reflect the intended use of back roads and easy trails.
Meanwhile, our modest exercise yard menu this weekend had
a bit of a Honda theme: 2001 GL1500CF Valkyrie Interstate,
1975 GL1000 Gold Wing and 1982 CBX1000C. Oh, and the lovely 1975 BMW R75/6.
Of the four, the CBX1000 six is the one that really has
my attention at the moment. I own faster,
better-engineered, better-handling and arguably
better-looking motorcycles. But there is something about
this angry-sounding monster that is compelling.
It's a subject for another day and a very different style
of feature.
In the meantime
you can see a brief story on the CBX here;
And the other
machines which have passed through the shed, here.
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