You're right about the 250's exhaust being different. I took the end cap of my XT250 thinking I'd see if something like the Z1 mod we do on the 225s might work. Granted I didn't go further than that, but with the end cap out of the way the visible inside of the muffler was nothing at all like the exhaust system on the XT225. There's no obvious way to drill things out in there and come up with something that works like the Z1 does on the 225...

Here's where I think we've gone wrong. I'd love to get every elected representative to define their job. I bet a large number of them will get it wrong because they don't know what "representative" means.

Why does the political ideology of the candidate matter? As a "representative", their personal opinion is irrelevant. They should act solely on behalf of the wishes of their constituency, regardless of their feelings on the matter. Contrary to what we like to teach kids these days, your opinion doesn't matter. The job of the representative is to work to implement the majority opinion of his/her constituency, period. Anything less is fraud.

As voters, we're lazy and try to pick people who share our ideals instead because the machinations of government are messy. What we as voters should be doing is picking someone who can win the argument on our behalf. It doesn't (shouldn't) matter if a candidate checks all the ideology boxes if they can't function as a "representative".

I had good luck with Clarke. I got an email response from them this morning, and ordered the parts. They said they should be here in a few days. The lady I talked to on the phone was very nice and polite. Oddly the email says the screws were not on their website, but I was able to order them anyway. The gaskets were not on the website either, only the cap. I decided to replace that too, the little fitting where the vent hose attaches has been broken off for some time.
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Jerry,
Yes, you are able to purchase these gaskets #1289 and cap # 1378. Unfortunately the screws are not listed on our website, you can call to place order if you wish.

Tiffanie, Clarke MFG.
13388 S. Molalla Forest Rd.
Molalla, OR 97038

Toll Free: 1-800-232-2002
Direct: 503-829-2156
Fax: 503-829-6269
Email:sales@clarkemfg.com

Good deal, Alan! Sometimes, when things 'don't seem to work right', if we'll simply step back and examine what we have to work with closely, the 'solution' often comes to us. Someone mentioning "a tab on the fork and a slot in the housing" was the 'key' you needed in this case, and illustrates one of the things this site is best known for - helpfulness!

I'm still getting between 14V-14.2V when I rev it, but if yours is running the way it is hopefully it stays that way. At least it will run with a dead battery, even if you have to bump start it. It is absolutely no fun being stranded miles from nowhere. I learned that from experience.

Hello jpouchet,
I’d love to know where you got the square mirrors on your 2007. I want a set.

Didn't mean to sound like I was knocking the 2 party system. I was knocking politicians who are more loyal to their party than to their country. Be an "American" first, then a Democrat or a Republican or whatever.

thanks, peejman. i did not see a picture like that in my manual, i must have not checked the correct section.

what i am looking for specifically is the type of socket that the bulb has, so that i can install LED lights. i am unable to tell what type of socket they are.

i checked procycle, and the only LED bulb i could find (other than headlights or turn signals) was the 1157 type bulb for the brake light.

some cursory internet searching leads me to believe that something like a "t10 wedge LED" bulb might work. does anyone have experience with these?

i am not set on replacing my dash lights, i am just exploring how many watts i can scrounge up with various LED conversions so that i can then budget for heated gear or gps.

the bulb looks like this (from an amazon listing):

Thanks, Jerry, for the thumbnail sketch of some of your life's experiences. It's always fun to share things we've experienced with fellow Arizona natives. My late wife, Deon, worked for a number of years as an emergency room nurse at Mesa Southside Hospital. She was a native Arizonan as well, born in Phoenix in '42. And yes, life used to be, as we experienced it growing up, far less complex, less upside-down and crazily convoluted than the way things are now and have been for a while.

I had a history teacher at Camelback High School in Phoenix during my senior year who said something that I remember to this day. We were discussing the state of the world at that time, just over a decade after the end of WW2, and its effect on politics in our country. Most of us were reasonably sure that the generally forward looking, largely conservative direction our country seemed to be going at that time, in 1956-57, was the manner in which it would continue to grow and develop throughout our lifetimes.

I remember our teacher (for the life of me I can't recall his name at the moment) listening to what we had to say, then walking to the front of the class and telling us that the "fly in the ointment" that could ultimately "spoil the whole batch" would be something we hadn't considered. He said that "if left unaddressed" the long term effects of unchecked immigration and soaring birth rates (in 1957 we had about 170 million US citizens), adding generation after generation to a rapidly growing US population, would in time overwhelm the existing two party cooperative political system we were counting on to assure America's 'place' in the world, plunging the US into a crisis of confidence in our political leaders that would result in the birth of a rapidly expanding, all controlling radical form of socialist dictatorship with "one dominate party in power" taking its place.

None of us at that time had any inkling about the high-tech social media mechanisms that would be put in place these past couple of decades or so. We could not begin to imagine how such a "crisis of confidence in our political leaders" would come about. For the most part I set our history teacher's concerns aside - not 'forgetting them', just not believing, ..not wanting to believe we'd ever really arrive at such a point in our nation.

Over the intervening years, as life rushed at all of us with ever accelerating speed and political realities slowly spiraled from good, to bad to worse, ..the 'trigger point' for many of us was when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in late 1963 in Dallas, Texas. That a 'twisted political vindetta', (apparently) carried out by Lee Harvey Oswald under the direction of (choose your favorite conspiracy theory), was able to kill our beloved American President and shatter the nation's illusion of confidence in itself and its leadership, all at the same time, was the moment for many that the American dream was initially turned on its head and shaken to its core.

Over the intervening decades, as this accelerating spiral from good, to bad to even worse increased, the words of warning I heard that day in my senior year history class proved to be prophetic. If we look at the history of republican forms of government throughout the ages, the Roman Republic a leading example, we see strikingly similar patterns of initial development, grandiose dreams of empire, followed by stagnation as the 'fickle mob' the republic becomes demands more and more while offering less and less of themselves, and the inevitable decline of the republic as morals and ethics become victims to greed, avarice, rampant sexual promiscuity and 'everyone decide what truth is for themselves' thinking.

Leftist tech-titans now fully control our media, dictating what people can say and what they can't, 'deplatforming' those they see as threats to their socialist agenda, 'trying high profile cases', like we see today with leading conservative voices, in the court of public opinion, which they themselves dictate and control, swaying the 'fickle mob' our republic has become to their way of thinking without appeal to real evidence or rule of law - just they 'say it's so, so it must be so'. Together with others I believe we're witnessing the decline and potential 'fall' of our American republic - as my high school history teacher warned us in 1957 could, and likely would take place..

While the dream that was once 'America', as we knew and loved it, will have vanished even further from sight come January 20, 2021, replaced by 'the fickle mob' that the liberal leftist half of our country has become, as my 1957 high school history teacher warned, with politicians ready and eager to turn this 'sea change moment in American history' in the radically socialist directions they want it to go, ..what we're left with as 'constitutional conservatives' is the call to keep those timeless truths our nation was founded upon, as set forward in our Constitution and Bill of Rights, alive. To the best of our ability let's love, encourage and protect those near and dear to us, family and friends alike. America's next and hopefully not final chapter is still to be written, so let's never give up hope.

Adding a 14 tooth front sprocket to the 5 speed XT250, while it sounds like something that should work, judging from experience with my 2012 XT250 it doesn't really help. It shifts the entire gear train down a notch, giving you additional 1st gear crawling power, but dropping 5th gear down to the point that highway speeds become a struggle to marginally maintain. Didn't take long before I put the 15 tooth front sprocket back in place and sold the bike, opting instead for a much lighter 6 speed XT225 in its place, a better choice in my opinion for off road exploring..

Deplatforming.... If business want to dip their toe in politics and alienate a large portion of their customer base, they're free to do so. In this age of ultra-fast information transfer, word gets around quickly and people aren't afraid to talk with their wallets. Dicks Sporting Goods could be example #1.

We're in accelerated times of change now. My fondest hopes are we don't do more damage to America or her people. Each day being precious like life itself so partake and enjoy as much good as you can. Chips will fall as they may. Be well and be safe out there.

Has the bike had oil & filter change recently? Just thinking possible wrong filter. Something bad caused all this wear.

The bore on my '95 was fine when I fitted new rings at 16.5k miles.

Pretty much all bikes and most newer cars have that problem. They are designed to be disposable. The manufacturer will only support them for 10 years, then the parts supply starts to dry up in a hurry. Pre emissions American cars, air cooled VWs, vintage British bikes, Harleys, and Vespas are some of the very few older vehicles you can still get parts for, because there is a market for them. Most of these vehicles have a cult following. A lot of mechanical parts will likely be available for the XT225 for quite some time, but they are cheap, poor quality chinese stuff. You can get a new top end or carburetor for under $100 now.

Thank you guys! You guys are helping me get comfortable and understand my bike. You guys are amazing.

I also found a linkage rebuild kit for the xt 225 (only found one) it says its for years 05-2011 but I'm pretty sure they use the same linkage for all years (again slightly different part number) I'll put a link and see what you guys think of it because I know they're impossible to find

Swingarm Linkage Rebuild Kit?

Good to hear your bike is running well again. Not sure how long that gas was in the XT's tank before you dumped it, but fresh gas often does the trick. Doesn't take too long sitting in a tank before alcohol laced fuel becomes a problem. Hope your winter is bringing more precipitation that what we're experiencing in Arizona's White Mountains. Ride safely!..

Thank you guys, I ended up buying that used one for $20, from what the description says, its in perfectly usable condition, the bearings looked decent too. figure it cant hurt to have some extra pieces around incase I find something amiss.. Thanks for all the help guys, I'm getting her all ready for the future

I always carry one of these tins of cable inners & nipples. Never needed myself... up to now but helped others out a couple of times. One of the boys had a cable snap in Italy, the kit got him home ok.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-UNIVERSAL-INNER-CABLE-REPAIR-KIT-MOTORCYCLE-NIPPLES/350091539233?hash=item518314f321:g:cH0AAOxyaTxRSK7V

I'm 6' 240. There is no way the stand, or the bracket it is bolted to would support my weight if I stood on the peg with the bike on the stand. I had a bike back about 20 years ago (1980 Suzuki GS450) that I bought as a beater for transportation, and the sidestand bracket that was welded to the frame was broken off. The bike had been dropped a few times, so I don't know exactly how that happened, but I'm pretty sure the sidestand bracket on the XT would not support 240 pounds, especially with the bike leaned over like that. On a bike with no centerstand, when I need to get a wheel off the ground, I put it on the sidestand, and jack up the right side of the bike. But I first put a block of wood under the sidestand so the bike is more upright when jacked up, to help relieve stress on the sidestand and bracket. If someone could hold the bike upright for me, then I could use the footpeg to stand on.

I have a set of oversized pegs on the XT I ride, but I did not buy them. I bought another XT, and it came with them. I swapped pegs with that bike. It will be my replacement bike if the one I'm riding ever wears out. Wider pegs help a lot, and I highly recommend them. I have never had handguards on any bike. I tried riding a bike with them some time ago, and they were just in the way. I ride mostly in the desert and on national forest roads. A pair of MX gloves protect my hands, and I carry a pair of spare levers.

I used to have a Kawasaki KLR650. It was just too big and heavy to be any fun off road. Even with a 34" inseam I couldn't flat foot it. At stoplights I would sit there and rock it back and forth from side to side. The XT225 is small enough and light enough that most riders can pretty much toss it around any way they want. Being disabled it is about the biggest dual sport I can handle anymore, and even then I have to take it slow and easy over the rough stuff.

While I can't figure out why, the bone heads of Colorado voted the electoral college out and gave the votes to California.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' response to CNN's self-serving criticism of Florida's vaccine roll out effort: https://www.youtube.com/embed/h5JYIXowrEc?start=249

Super helpful. Thanks for chiming in.

Welcome to the group. I'd love to ride in the Philippines!