XL250SA reserve

[uncle nick]

Hi all, got a 1981 XL250SA which should hopefully be road legal before too long, even the DVLA and Customs can't delay things much longer , touch wood!

Does anyone know the reserve amount of petrol?

Plus the trip on the speedo can't be zero'ed, anyone recommend somewhere to get it fixed or can it be opened for a bit DIY?

[MCsanandreas]

dont know about the reserve but i have a Haynes manual for this bike will look in that but its in the shed,so tomorrow.
dont think speedo is fixable there should be a knob on the left side of the unit to zero the trip,missing on my bike too!

[uncle nick]

Cheers mate.

My speedo has the round knob but it's not connected inside and doesn't do anything. Sounds like it must be a common fault.

[MCsanandreas]

been to shed and Haynes manual tells me that reserve capacity is 2.0litres or 0.4imp gallons.
overall the tank takes 9.5lit/2.1gallons.
i take it your bike is in less pieces than mine? mine is in lots of bits and lack of job puts the project on hold for a short time!

[uncle nick]

Thanks for the reply.

My bike is in one piece and ready to use but Customs and the DVLA are making me jump through so many hoops to get it registered and legal!

Now it's got to be inspected.

[Bill Badger]

When you say Customs, is that because you have just imported the bike and have associated paperwork? Just asking because I have registered two or three bikes and have never been asked where they came from, hence I never had a Customs issue.

[uncle nick]

I bought the bike on ebay but it hadn't been UK registered. I got it MOT'd and insured and went to the local office, only to be told I needed the Custom's clearance form showing import duty and VAT to have been paid.

I contacted customs (they take at least a week to open a letter and a further week to reply) and paid the duty and tax. Meanwhile the insurance company decided to cancell the insurance as I hadn't given them a reg. number, and charged me £50 to do it , all for less than a month's cover.

So I took all the forms back to DVLA to be told they wanted to inspect the bike. Why??? It's not like it's rare or especially valueable and not worth the trouble to 'ring'

Anyway, I'll be there for the third visit on Tuesday and hopefully finally road legal.

I've only been trying for two months now....Bitter?..Annoyed?...Me?...Surely not???

[416cc]

From what I remember reading about other peoples situations,they wrote to the relevant importer (Honda UK in your case) and got a letter saying that the bike is the same as the ones imported by them and so qualifies as a UK bike.The DVLA have no problems with these.So it may well be worth phoning Honda and asking them for a letter of conformity and try and get them to give you a letter stating which year your bike is.If DVLA try to give you a 'Q' plate then the letter from Honda will help in this case.
A 'Q' plate will not help with insurance.You get loaded as they think that the bike is of no determinable age.

[stretchy]

Registered a couple myself and about to do another.

No need to pay VAT or any import duty but they want to inspect it to make sure your not lying.

They'll check the frame number and will want to see a speedo that reads MPH, a Km speedo with stickers is a no no, so just get a push bike one (in fact you only need a receipt to say you have bought one).

Good luck!

[Bill Badger]

Many clubs, including the VJMC will provide a certificate of age if you send all necessary details. I have registered two bikes without having a need to show any customs forms, so there must be some variance from area to area. Form V55 from the DVLA is the one needed, and you have to complete this and send it with MOT, insurance, dating certificate and a cheque for the registration fee of about £40 (but it may have gone up) plus the road tax fee.

There are loads of clubs authorised to provide a dating certificate, and a list of these usually comes with the V55 form from the DVLA.

Has anyone else out there registered anything recently. Mine were done two or three years ago, so if things have changed, I would like to know, especially since I have two more restorations nearing completion.........