Ts250

[HeavyGS]

Just picked up a new project, a garage find 1981 TS25O that hasn't been ridden since '04. The guy bought the bike new in California, then in the early nineties moved to Kentucky and parked the bike. In '04 got the urge to ride again, had the bike tuned up and was riding it home when he crashed a block from his house. Making the turn onto his home street hit some wet leaves and laid the bike down, breaking his ankle. One of his neighbors pushed the bike home and he never touched it again, when I picked it up it still had leaves caught in the spokes from the wreck. The only damage to the bike was a broken rear turn signal and a slight tweak to the handlebar.

It has been a long time since I messed with any 2 strokes and now I have 2, a bike and a golf cart, so the learning curve has been fast. Got the bike home and flushed the old gas out of the tank and carb. The carb looked surprising clean, no gunk or varnish built up. Sprayed carb cleaner thru all the channels, put it back together and mounted it back on the bike. Filled it up with fresh gas, checked the oil mix level, checked the air filter for mice and started kicking. I thought I had put the idle screw back like it was, but the only way I could get it to fire was to give it a turn or two. Finally got fired up, smoked like a freight train for a couple of minutes, then it settled down to a fairly even idle. Rode it around the block a couple times, seems to have good power, but a little rough.

Sorry for the long intro, but was just trying to give an idea of what was going on. I have worked on and ridden street bikes for years, but the last time I worked on a 2 stroke dirt bike was about the same time as when this thing was new. I'm trying to find a manual of some kind for this thing before I start tearing into it too much.

Right now I'm just looking for some general info, I know these bikes need oil in the transmission but I can't find a sight window or dipstick, can someone tell me how to check it?

The bike seems real hard to start when it's cold, is this just the nature of the beast or should I be checking for something?

Any info or opinions would greatly appreciated

Thx Rob

[CamP]

Cool old bike. The hard cold start is probably a clogged pilot jet from the bike sitting up so long. I'd recommend cleaning the inside the float bowl and replacing the pilot rather than trying to clean it. Be careful with the rubber carb boots when working on the carb. 30 year old rubber is sometimes fragile and you don't want to ruin any parts that may be discontinued.

Your bike has an 2-stroke oil tank for the injection oil. You must monitor it's level as it dispenses the oil to the engine. I'd recommend Lucas 2-stroke oil for this and it's available at Autozone and O'Reilly for about $7 a quart.

The transmission oil should be measured before filling the tranny. This quantity will be specified in the owner's manual. Generally it's between 750cc and 850cc. I would check ebay for owner's and shop manuals.

[HeavyGS]

Cam- Thx, that was one of the reasons I bought it, thought it looked sweet and it was super clean. and thanks for the oil recommendation I'll check it out. I'm very familiar with old carb rubbers, I like old bikes so its a daily thing

'73 Honda CB550

'78 Honda CB750

'80 Suzuki GS1000E

'80 Yamaha Golf Cart- 2 stroke

'81 Suzuki GS1000L

'81 Suzuki TS250

'94 Honda Shadow 1100

Manco Fat Cat mini-bike

[Qqqqqqqqqqqq]

thats a nice looking TS

[ccman60]

Good looking TS. It will be a fun, casual trail machine.

[pantera]

It's been a while, but just below and to the right of the kickstart shaft (kind of hidden by the rear brake lever) there is a bolt that also has a Phillips Head slot in it.

Remove the bolt, and with the bike held level, the oil should be filled up to the bottom of the hole.

[capt justin]

looks like fun

[HeavyGS]

Thx for the comments guys

Pantera- thx I'll check that tomorrow

[xy500]

Hey nice bike!

looKs just like myne!

have fun!

[motoxvet]

I have an '80 TS250 and have the factory manual for it. If you ever need any info from the manual, just PM me. Appearance-wise, the bikes are 99% identical. I'm quite sure the motors are the same. BTW, I had to do some painting to restore mine so I did it in yellow. Everything blue on yours is yellow on mine. I did a COMPLETE repaint including areas like the inside of the headlight bucket and underside of gas tank, etc.

[HeavyGS]

pantera- Found the bolt, oil changed, good to go, thx

moto- thx for the offer, but I found a clymer so I should be covered

One thing I've found is the lid to the air box is missing. Would they have done this trying for more power? I have a carb rebuild kit coming so I haven't pulled the carb yet. Could someone tell me what the stock jets are? That way I've got a reference, thx

[motoxvet]

Air cleaner confusion.....I looked at an OEM Suzuki parts web site and '80 and '81 air filter housings are the same. The cover for the air filter housing sits vertically and the cover MUST be on. It seals one side of the filter element and you really can't run without it. There is a plastic snorkel piece that goes on the outside from the very top of the filter housing to the bottom. It is to help in preventing water from being sucked it but I removed it anyway. I don't ride in deep water. I'll check on the main jet as soon as I can.

[motoxvet]

K..Main jet on mine stock was #200. Since this was made in 1980 and the bike was "emission tuned"

and felt a little lean. I went to the next size up which I think was 210 and it runs GREAT. Pulls like a freight train.

[HeavyGS]

The part with the red arrow is what I'm missing

[motoxvet]

That really sucks. You can even tell from the pix that the cover is a stamped cover that seals around the edges of the box as well as that side of the air filter. Supposedly, it also pushes the filter housing towards the carb to help make that seal. It's a kind of dumb design. Since it has this shape to it, it would be kind of difficult to replicate it. If you cant locate one, you may have to go with some kind of aftermarket filter like a UNI or something like that.

I've never tried this but could you seal that side of the filter element with a large washer and still use the long OEM bolt. BTW, is your filter media OK? If it is, someone replaced it because they all disentigrate when they get old. IF you have to buy some aftermarket foam, buy the one with the largest openings. Since the filter area isn't that large, a very dense foam material will be too restrictive and it won't rev out. I speak from experience! I bought my foam from DENNIS KIRK.

[HeavyGS]

Finally got some free time to work on the TS. My carb rebuild kit and manual came in last week. Did some cleaning, found a couple of mouse nests and a bunch of mud dauber homes. Pulled the carb off today and took it apart, what a mess, old gas was like jelly.

Cleaned what I could out and put the parts in carb cleaner to soak overnight. A couple of questions came up, so excuse me if I sound like a noob, I haven't tore into an old VM in about 20 yrs. Where the air idle screw should be there is a silver cap, is this some kind of factory lock out? maybe EPA control? Does the needle jet (think that is what it's called, goes down the middle of the carb) come out? is it supposed to come out?

As always any help would be appreciated

[motoxvet]

First, that metal cap covers the idle mixture screw. Yup, in those emission years the idle screw was NOT available for tuning. A HUGE pain in the butt. I even asked the carb expert on TT about it and he said you MUST get to that screw. I tried. It's not too hard to get the cap off. Under it you will find the screw. They apparently super-glued the idle screw ALL THE WAY IN at the factory. I wouldn't worry about it for now if I were you. PM me if you like and I'll tell you more about getting at this screw. Yes, the jet needle should come out with the slide. Didn't the slide come out? I just had a Yam DT carb that I almost couldn't get the slide out because of varnish. Thats what 25 year old gas will do. Again, you can check the OEM parts blowup to see exactly what comes apart.

[HeavyGS]

moto- thx for the info, I'll leave that cap alone for now and see how it runs, on the needle jet the part I was refering to was the brass piece that the needle slides down into, the slide and all the top stuff came apart real easy, most of the gunk was down in the bowl

[motoxvet]

Nope, that brass piece doesnt come out. Just make sure its REAL clean before reassembly.

[cloggy]

The USA got a different airbox to Europe. European parts still current but you'll have to go Ebay or a breaker for your cover. I doubt the carb will work well without it