Tiger 250

I found this ad in an ATV News Magazine from 1985 and after a quick search on the internet, I found they were still in business.

I was on the search of parts for my Tiger 200 project and thought that maybe they would have some parts or old info to help me out. After a brief conversation the owner said "why do you want to buy parts, I have a new one in the warehouse."

That was all it took and I was off to check it out.

Here is the "warehouse" and pics of the Tiger as I found it.

History of My Tiger 250

After getting it home I was pleased to find that it was mostly complete. Only thing that was missing was a drive chain and the side scoop was not installed. It seems that the original scoop was knocked off during the early years and they had ordered a replacement but never put it on. You can see it on the seat in the pictures (it doesn't even have the holes drilled out).

I was told it had not run in at least 10yrs before I bought it so I now have started the process to get it running again before I tackle the restoration to a new like appearance. First thing I noticed was the bolts that hold on the CDI/Coil were loose and one of the wires was cut. I believe that it may have been removed to test another Tiger at one time and just thrown back on so not to get lost.

I think this is the original spark plug that came in the Rotax motor, it is a Bosch.

I then cleaned the carb and found a very little bit of dirt inside, it must have been drained before put in storage. I could not see antifreeze in the radiator so I decided to drain all and flush the coolant passages before starting. I wanted to check the water pump to make sure nothing was wrong. Glad I did. As you can see there was some coolant in the system and it corroded away part of the water pump impeller guide plate and left a crystallize mess in the pump. Flushed it out and replaced the guide plate. Off to the next issue. Since it had no fuel in the tank when stored, it seems that a rubber grommet that holds the fuel petcock in place shrunk and now leaks fuel all over the place. A quick call to a friend and Tiger restoration expert (you know who you are) led me to a Can-Am Dirt bike grommet on eBay to solve the problem.

I bleed the rear brakes (fronts still work fine), and started it up. No problems and it purred like a kitten (Big Kitten). I have taken it for a ride around the yard and it does run very nice. Traction is an issue with the 20 year old rock hard Carlisle on the rear. I was amazed at the braking power this thing has with the Gramica twin opposing piston calipers. I have not opened it up but a quick run down a "paved area" proved it does have some power. I did not want to take a chance on braking the fenders so ride time has been limited to those two events. I have started it a couple of time so people can hear it run and it is loud.

I finally gave it a well deserved bath!

It is not mint and does have some nicks and surface rust in spots , but I think I am going to leave it as a survivor for now. The Fenders are supposed to be white, but since they were molded from PVC plastic, time has yellowed them. The scoop is fiberglass with a white gel coat and the fuel tank is also fiberglass.

I also have the original Certificate of Origin from the Dealer when I purchased it. Believe it or not He had it in the bottom desk drawer and knew exactly where it was. I was amazed at least.