Yamaha Route 66 XV250

My wife just "inherited" an 89 XV250 Route 66 Virago, formerly her mothers . She has fallen in love with it, so it is up to me to revive it after years of sitting .
It looks great cosmetically! NO rust and good paint; with a little polish it could be returned to showroom condition. When I get it all back together, I'll post some pics....

Known problems are:
1.) Front brakes. The master cylinder was froze/stuck, and after broken loose, only seems to pump intermittently. I've been trying to bleed the lines, can't seem to build any pressure.
2.) The 2nd throttle cable is missing. The throttle wheel on the carb was stuck, and now is veeeeery stiff. If I get the wheel loosened up, is the 2nd cable really needed (hense why it is missing)?
3.) It has sat for several years with a half tank of gas. I assume that means the carb was full too. Dumb Questions: Is this the reason for the sticky throttle wheel? If I could get it running, would Seafoam be worth a shot before tearing down the carb (virgin territory for me) :? ?

Does anyone know of any sites like this one for the old Viragos, or specifically the 250?

Any help will be greatly appreciated. If not able to help, even any jests/funny comments would be welcome , and might save me from dragging out my hammer if it keeps frustrating me :evil: !

Shannon
xcowboykc

81 XJ650 Maxim (running daily)
88 XV250 Virago (maybe running someday)

 

1 - My experience with "gooped-up" m. cyl's is that generally a rebuild kit may be your best bet. Also check the diapragm in the cap to be sure it's not leaking.

2- Can't help with this one, but it sounds like someone didn't put the proper replacement cable in, or they used the home-made variety. Does the carb open and close freely without the cable attached to the wheel? if so, than it may simply be the cable, or a routing problem.

3- seafoam is a good product, but i don't think that it will remove "years of sitting" varnish that is probably gunking up the carb, jets, and passages. your best bet may be a good shop that will "dip" the carbs, or yamaha has some available that you could use yourself, but it's pricey IIRC. But it worls, especially if you disassemble the carb completely and dip it for consecutive days, and then run both carb clean and compressed air through all the passages and jets before reassembling.

good luck!

-Matt
83 xj900

 

1 - get a master cylinder rebuild kit - they're cheap, and it's an easy thing to do to guarantee the seals and everything are in good order. This also might be a good time to get the caliper rebuild kit too, and if you want to go all the way get a SpeedBleeder for the caliper, and replace the stock rubber brake line with a braided steel one. Come to think of it - replacing the brake line might not be such a bad idea after sitting for that long with fluid in it - the linings of the stock line might be in pretty bad shape....

2 & 3 - first - replace the throttle cables with the proper ones. Carbs are going to need some attention, so either you're going to be disassebling them for cleaning & lubing, or pay someone to do it. If you can take the carbs off the bike, it'll save you a few bucks in labour charges. I'd suspect that yes, gum & varnish in the carbs is the reason things are sticky, and they need to be disassembled for a good cleaning.