81 250 xc

I've had no luck selling my 04 KTM so I found a guy who's willing to trade me for his 81 250 xc that he has listed at about the same price.

I've done some looking around online and here but can't find much info on the 81 xc. I've found some on the cr and wr but very little if any on the xc. What are your thoughts on this bike. Everything runs great on it. It's a got a couple small dents in the top of the tank and the pipe but nothing bad. It should be a fun bike to ride and restore.

Look forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions.

Matt

The 81 250xc is a very desirable and hard to find bike.

Small dents in the aluminum tank are normal.

Great bike to ride and restore!

Is the stator on this bike large enough to run a head light and tail light? It would be cool to get it tagged and maybe run some enduros in the vintage class.

Stock ignition on it should be the 116mm external motoplat with lighting coils. Husky put this ignition on a lot of bikes over the years. So I would say yes it would run a head & tail light.

Matt,
I purchased a new 81 Husky 250 XC new in the crate and raced it in D36 enduros for 2-seasons in the A class. They are a very capable bike and a joy to ride. I've restored 2 of these in the last two years. Parts are for the most part easy to get with patience and the engines are well proven.
Here's a link to one of my bikes:
http://www.vmxmag.com.au/10_reader_resto/husky_XC_250.html

The 81 250 was the last year for non-primary kickstarting, the 82 is the first year for the 250 with primary kickstarting. If you dislike finding neutral before you can start your bike you might want to look for an 82.
The Motoplat Mini-6 that is stock on the 81 and will run lights. It's a 6v output but I run 12v lights and no voltage regulator.
Gearing for tight woods works best with a 12/53. Stock 13/53 works great in areas with less technical aspects.
Great suspension, 40mm forks and Ohlins piggybacks.
Check the swingarm pivot area, they tend to wallow the holes out if the bolt has loosened.
They are great looking bikes and can keep up pretty well with modern machinery also.
Good luck.

Peter

Awesome bike Peter. Funny thing is I actually already found that article and pic of your bike via Google and saved it as a reference. From my research it looks like up to 81 the jug was painted black and in 81 they went to Silver or the metal finish. Is that correct. The one I'm getting has a metal finished jug. I'll have to check the numbers on it and reference the year chart. Was the stock color of the tank blue or did some come in black? I'm wondering if this bike may not be an 82 even though it's listed as an 81.

Here is a pic of the one I'm picking up.

All of the XC's that I know of had black tanks. I was under the impression blue tanks were WR's but???? Nice looking bike, surprised to see the upper tank mounting hole for the auto tank also. One of my 82 CR250's have it and the other doesn't. Again, nice looking bike and have fun-good trade!!

Great looking bike, Matt. Very nice condition. Does it have a 2089 engine (1982) or a 2081 (1981)?
I'm working on several project bikes myself , a 78 CR 250, 80 CR390, and an 82 XC 250. So, if it were me, I'd trade that KTM away in a second for the Husky. (I may be biased, though).

Nice bike, Matt. You have an 82 there. Very desirable. The motors are very different but some parts interchange like the head, piston, rod. The cylinders look different besides paint. The 82 is rounder and has that very wide band on the side to keep the fins quiet. The 81 is squarish with a narrow band and uses a rubber inserted through holes through the fins at the four corners.

The tank color varied from year to year. 81 250/430 XCs were medium blue with white stripe and logo. The next year they went to black. WRs were a darker blue with gold. My favorite is the burgandy with gold.

Have fun with it.

Peter