Am I the only one to write about the LF250 recently? there must be others out there with some useful comments for all of us to benefit from?

The rear brake on the LF250 is pretty poor at the best of times but can be improved slightly with a little lubrication. I removed my rear wheel and checked the brake actuating mechanism and found it to be devoid of any lubricant - namely grease. The pivot especially benefited from a bit of grease, though do be careful as grease and the brake linings do not go together. The thick cable coming from the foot brake lever itself was also quite dry so needed a good oiling. To minimise brake bind apply the foot brake whilst tightening the rear wheel nut - this ensures the brake drum is central.

No real difference with the iridium spark plugs but at least they should last a long time and give trouble free starting/motoring.

Hoping someone can help me. Doing some research on the net it seems the LF 250 can take a higher gearing so I duly ordered a 17 tooth front sprocket (16 original) for the Yamaha Virago 250 as I've been reliably told that it will fit no problem. Well there is a problem - the Virago has a 520 chain whereas my Lifan has a 530 chain so the chain is well loose on the replacement sprocket that I got and obviously won't do. Luckily the supplier is willing to take the sprocket back but I'm having no luck with finding a supplier who can let me have a Virago 250 type front sprocket which will fit the 530 chain - any help would be much appreciated? I live in the UK but would consider ordering from the US as long as P&P wasn't too high. Thanks and all the best from Pat.

Have done the tappets and tried polishing the CV (carb) slide whilst I could get at it but it didn't make a lot of difference as the slide itself is coated in a black substance, me thinks maybe teflon. I oiled the slide once more and again cured the missfire but it's already appearing again. The only long lasting cure is possibly to remove the carb itself and polish the inside of the slide barrel to hopefully remove any rough edges. All the best, Pat

Have just checked and adjusted the tappets (valve lash) on my LF250 and was glad that I did!
The correct adjustment is as follows:
Inlet 0.08-0.12mm or 0.003-0.005in
Exhaust 0.10-0.14mm or 0.004-0.006in.
As the cam lobes/tappets/rockers wear normally the gap slowly enlarges as the miles are clocked up but out of the four valves (2 per cylinder - inlet and exhaust) all but one had the gap too small which isn't very good for the valve seats. I've only done 4500km since new so hope that I haven't done any lasting damage to the valve seats or valves themselves - I've tried the bike and it pulls okay so I must have got away with it. The job is quite lengthy as there are quite a lot of odd bits to be removed (seat, tank, carb cover, air filter and bits of pipe etc) to simply get at the cylinder heads but it should be within the capabilities of the average mechanical person. When removing the petrol tank the two fuel pipes (main and reserve) will have to be clamped as the on/off valve is not part of the tank. Remove the spark plugs to make turning the engine easier. On the left hand engine cover there is a slotted plug about 30mm in dia which if removed will allow you to use a 17mm socket wrench to turn the engine. For each cylinder turn the engine until the exhaust valve is just closing and the inlet valve is just opening (on the rock) then carefully turn the engine one complete turn further. This allows the tappet adjustment to be made with the cam lobe in the correct place - approximately on the back of each lobe. Each valve has its own round cover set in each rocker cover. When you come to replace the petrol tank do make sure that you don't damage or kink any of the fuel tubing as it could split - happened to me and I lost near a full tank of petrol all over the ground! Hope this helps, Pat

Hi, I have just been told the correct tappet/valve adjustment (valve lash for those in the US) for the LF250 by a very kind fellow LF250 rider. I've given up trying to get the info from my local dealer as he doesn't know it himself and keeps claiming that he's been trying to contact someone who knows - yeah sure!.
The correct adjustment is as follows:
0.08-0.12mm intake 0.003-0.005in
0.10-0.14mm exhaust 0.004-0.006in
I am yet to check the adjustment on my bike but will hopefully be giving it a go in the next few days - weather allowing as I have to store my bike outside. I do know the main seat and fuel tank have to come off and that it's quite a fiddly job as there are the two rocker boxes and they're not too easy to remove - I'll let anyone who's interested know after I've attempted it.

As far as I can ascertain, the LF250 being almost an exact copy of the Yamaha Virago 250, the cam chain adjustment is spring loaded and hence automatic. Pat

I've just ordered a couple of - MOTORCYCLE OIL FILTER HIFLO HF145 to see what they're like. I would guess the filter paper will be slightly finer than the original wire gauze so will hopefully keep the oil cleaner between changes. I believe the Yamaha Virago has a greater mileage between oil changes so perhaps this is why?