[corksil]

Several notable modifications that have made my 250 much more attractive to me.. In no particular order.

Switching to a non o-ring chain. The bike became noticeably stronger due to less power loss through chain friction. It has been my experience that sealed o-ring chains can only be ridden without lube once or twice and when that happens, the chain heats up and the lubricant behind the o-rings leaks out. Then the chain develops tight spots, sticky links, etc. With a non o-ring chain, you need more frequent lube applications. However, if you forget to lube the chain it will be more forgiving and not wear out as quickly. At one point I rode the bike for around 1k miles in wet conditions without applying chain lube. Rust developed on many of the links but after a proper clean/lube job -- the chain is still going strong and only stretched a tiny bit as a result of my negligence.

Valve adjustments are virtually unheard of on the 250. My valves haven't moved at all in 35k miles.

The 250 doesn't have enough engine power to wear out chains and sprockets. As long as you don't ride in sand or lots of abrasive dirt, your sprockets should last a very long time. Stay away from the "ultra-light" or similar aluminum rear sprockets. They don't hold up well.

For the front forks... intiminators, stiffer springs, and heavier oil. Preload adjusters are a gimmick and aren't worth the money.

For the front brake... a SS braided line is worthwhile. I went overboard and did a 4 piston brembo caliper on an SSR aluminum bracket designed for that purpose. Also switched to EBC floating front rotor. That rotor is not wearing at all and I'm through my second set of brembo pads in the caliper on that rotor. If you want an even better front brake, switch to a radial master cylinder which is of a different design than what the 250 has.

Rear shock gets a lot of complaints about being too soft but I haven't had any problem.

Don't bother with rear brake mods. Even a SS line seemed useless to me. I bought one but didn't really notice a difference and I hardly ever use the rear brake. There is a matching brembo caliper and ebc rotor and ssr bracket available but seems too expensive to put that much $ into something that is seldom used.

I'd stick with hard grip compounds for the bars because I have learned that soft and squishy grips wear out gloves more quickly.

As for tires I swear by the sava/mitas available on ebay through dave (motorace). I've been through 4 front tires and 3 rears and they are soft sticky tires that don't last terribly long but that's the tradeoff you have to pay in exchange for amazing traction. I've tried "all" of the "other" tires on the market and nothing compares to the sava tire.

I'm on my second set of clutch friction plates at 35k miles. When you need to do the clutch, get the EBC friction plates and upgrade to the 10% stiffer spring.

Also recommend oil changes every 5k miles with maxima premium4 10w-40. Use a bit of lucas oil stabilizer but not more than 10% by volume per oil change. That stuff slightly increases compression ratio when your piston rings start to wear. It also boosts viscosity which equates to better sheer resistance which causes oil breakdown. Using more than 10% in your oil change might cause your clutch plates to fail and I'd rather not find that out so I've never used more than 10%. The maxima oil is on amazon for free shipping and it's the cheapest/best of all motorcycle oils I've used over the years.

I could go into engine mods but I've already typed more than enough. Pod intake, area-p full high mount race exhaust, a couple sizes up on the main jet, dynojet needles, and you might need a bigger pilot jet. Get the older CDI and an ebay chinese gear indicator so you don't overrev in top gear. (The older CDI disables the rev limiter.)

I tore down my engine at 25k miles and the piston rings and cylinder were still fresh and looked new inside. That is saying a lot because, quite frankly -- I ride this bike as if I'm trying to break it. The 250 withstands the abuse and does not quit.


Okay that's my ten cents. Keep the 250. Find people with different bikes who you can ride with and trade bikes with to keep things fresh.

Yeah yeah... the "grass is always greener"...