Ride it to work all week, and then hit the trails on the weekends, that was Honda’s idea behind the XL250S. A bit lighter than the XL250, it was easy to handle and fun to ride on or off the road. This 1981 Honda XL250S can be found listed here on Facebook Marketplace in Suamico, Wisconsin, and they’re asking $3,250. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Lothar… of the Hill People for the tip!
Yeah, but what if you work from home?! It’s the best of all worlds, then, you can ride your XL250S every day on and off the road whenever you want. Just load up your AI image on your Zoom/Teams background and hit the trails. I mean, not that I condone such things… But, as we all know, life is short, all work and no play, etc. At 262 pounds, this bike is fairly light for a 250; my ’76 CB200T street bike is about 310 pounds for a comparison. The asking price is about twice what this bike would have cost new, but then again, how much are you asking for your 1970 Chevelle compared to what it cost new?
For a Facebook Marketplace listing, the seller took some great photos, nice work! For the record, the orange’y things sticking out of the back by the taillight are called “turn signals.” There is a switch on the handlebars to activate them to let other drivers know if you’re turning. What a great invention!!!!!! (!!) (crickets) (nobody uses them anymore) (not bitter). This bike looks almost like new to me, other than having a few normal scuffs here and there. The engine cases always take the brunt of whatever footwear the rider has (dress shoes for the weekly commute, off-road boots for the weekend), but otherwise, I don’t see a flaw in this little beauty.
9,770 miles means that this one was actually ridden, and that’s great. Again, life is too short not to have fun. Honda made the XL250 starting in 1972, and the 1981 XL250S was the last in the series to have a 6V electrical system, twin rear shocks, and a 23″ front wheel. With 10 inches of clearance and only a foot wide, not counting the handlebars, they were great off-road bikes.
The engine is Honda’s 249-cc four-stroke OHC single with about 20 horsepower and 20 lb-ft of torque. An automatic compression release makes for easy kick starts. It has a five-speed manual transmission, and the 33.5-inch seat height is perfect for me, but may be a bit of a reach for folks in the mid-five-foot range. The seller says this is an original survivor and it looks like a winner to me. Any thoughts on this XL250S?
Nice try, SG,,,,dang, now THIS, is what I should have gotten instead of that dismal ( but still fun) DRZ400. The DRZ was just too darn complicated for a doofus like me, this is 1 step up from a chainsaw or motorized wheel barrow. I suppose I’ll never know why we as a civilized nation, had to go to such unnecessary extremes with our vehicles. Were they really that boring? Liquid cooling and all the extra hardware there, suspension, while appreciated on the trails, tends to deliver a terrible ride on the road, a speedometer( I think that’s what it was) only Einstein could figure out, NO KICK START( that was the worst thing to leave off, Satchmo) when this was all that was needed. A 250 is the bottom CCs for me, but like the DRZ, any road riding is going to be a hassle, trust me, with that RAM pickup snarling down your butt, 55 is about it here, and rightly so, you have no business going any faster than that on these. Low miles, minimum of road/trail rash, these typically have little use, one wipeout is usually all it takes. Nice find, and you simply can’t go wrong here, simply is the key word.
10,000 miles is definitely not “low mileage” especially on a on a 250cc bike…on the contrary, it’s high mileage.
(sigh). Many, many years ago I worked a summer for the Kitchener-Waterloo Regional police force. For decades, they employed 4 university students as summer time motorcycle cops (I’m not kidding) – as a kid growing up we called them Supercops. The idea was we were largely deterrents for people exercising bad behavior in public places where a cruiser would have a tough time getting through. Think public parks and forest (bush parties, drug use), riverbeds, etc.
So, basically, union wages but no dues as we were “seasonal” employees. And we were sworn in as constables (my number was 529), wore a version of a uniform, cool cop-issue sunglasses, radio, flashlight, but no gun (thankfully!). And the department’s choice steed for the Supercops was the ubiquitous Honda XL250.
40 hour weeks, riding a dirtbike, and practicing wheelies, catwalks, and jumps when nobody was looking. I got about 3 months into it before a broke the crankshaft on my bike – dealer had never seen that before, but if he only knew how I abused that poor bike!.
Occasionally, I’d be asked to shuttle a bike or two about 20 miles out to the service depot near New Hamburg. It was pretty cool, when nobody was watching, to hit the cherries and siren and whale the snot out of a full-dresser cop Aspencade!
Good times. This is a great little bike – someone will have a riot with it.
best
bt
Cool story Bill, thanks! And I definitely agree, this is a great bike, especially if it could (almost) handle all you dished out. =:-0)
I have owned several Honda 350XL’s and several Honda 500XL’s. Being able to climb almost any hill or plow sideways at speed made them a bunch of fun. This 250 with its light weight would make for a fun trail bike, but just not enough HP for me. Of course, none of those 350’s or 500’s were as much fun as the 250-2 stroke motocrossers of the same decade.
BTW Scotty, I’m sure you meant a 21″ front wheel and not 23″.
Azzurra, I actually meant 23″ front wheel, no lie.
“The 1981 XL250S was the last year to have the unique 23-inch front wheel…” (wiki)
https://www.denniskirk.com/tires-motorcycle-and-dirt-bike/1981-honda-xl250s?srsltid=AfmBOoo0VkWpljyzqifC6MhElH9Oz5M0YRcGBvJdRg8GdsOtBBKU9v9f
The pic is a crop from a 1981 XL250S brochure.
I stand corrected. Never knew any dirtbike came with a 23″ front wheel.
Another reason I like Barn Finds, you guys sure know what you’re talking about. Thanks for the heads up.
Same here, I had to look it up in a few different places when I saw that, just to make sure. I wonder why they went back down in size?
If I had a nickel for every bonehead mistake I’ve made here, I’d buy everyone their vehicle of choice. Thanks, Azzurra!
Azzurra one ride on a 350xl and I was hooked, next bike I bought was a DR650. Both tractors and plenty of fun. 👍 👍
In 1972 I convinced my dad that an XL250 was an appropriate graduation present as I completed my matriculation at his alma mater. Great bike that took all manner of abuse. My best friend had a Yamaha DT250 and we rode motorcycles off into the sunset prior to adulthood. It weighed 297 pounds, noticeably heavier than the DT, but virtually indestructible and a torque monster. Last time I rode it I dumped it going up a steep hill and a footpeg took a chunk out of my right shin. The ER doctor just said, “Motorcycle?” followed by an explanation that there wasn’t anything left to stitch. So I got a six-inch scar and a macho bar story to remember it by.
I would buy another in a heartbeat but my 75-year-old sense of balance would preclude ever riding it.
I started wearing knee/shin guards about 2010. Have saved my legs from damage big time. We don’t heal quickly when older.
Excellent bike. I had recently graduated from technical school about that time. Was sitting at home looking at 250 enduro brochures. My mom dropped a newspaper opened to classified ads on top and said if you’re buying a bike get a apartment. No problem, rented a house, went to buy a 250 and bought a 1982 GPZ 550 instead. Excellent choice.
But things come around, and have been riding a KLX 250s since 2008. Quarter liter bikes are great on our PA forest roads, and alot slower and safer than my street bikes were, can use 100% of its power and handling.