Boring

I reckon Rockets onto it I have owned both a 250 and a 280 and the 250 never needed touching. 280 was quicker but not by enough so I never did it again.

Ballard would be the one to speak with, although Nick at Tekniks worked for Ballards in those days and was the man that built all Ballards XRs, reckon I would start there

TB

What I am thinking is………

Have you considered get riding of the XR and getting another bike??

The money you are thinking about injecting into the XR is close to over capitalising. In my opinion.

Have you looked at selling it and upgrading to an XR400 for instance??

The 280 did a little end bearing :unsure: it didnt do the work of the 250 either. The 250 wasnt touched for two seasons of racing and riding and training (I was a fit little bugger then :laugh: ) That said I know people that used them but remember you are placing more stress on your engine internals that it really wasnt designed for, you get nothing for nothing in life

Hold it on longer, brake later and get on it earlier like Rocket said I think mate. I will buy a XR250 to restore in the next few years and will leave it as a 250 but thats just my thoughts. Maybe a 400 would be better, but nothing steers like an XR250

TB

After fitting the 280 kit to the xl I really havn’t had any problems. It just just lets you know if you don’t kick it properly and what Adam said is also true I am not pushing it as hard as I could.
We just fitted the kit & nothing else and it went better, I changed the air prefilter and it made a big improvement, it takes off between five and a half and seven thousand rpm but not much bellow that, so a different exhaust and maybe a cam may improve it even more.
I do feel that if I could afford it I would rather get a larger bike. I always have that nagging feeling in the back of my head that boring out to such a size (when ridden hard) may cause it to get hot and go pop.
Plus rego on a 250 is the same as a 400 any way.