Benelli 250 2C

[Lotus54]

To set up carb mixtures easier/more accurately, I installed a O2 sensor bung in a spare set of headpipes. I used silicon bronze with my TIG. I have very limited experience doing this with tig. After a bit, I started getting the hang of it. Seemed what worked was moving the tig torch around at first to get everything hot. Then heat it up just enough to melt/flow the rod.
It appeared to do a nice job and since the pipe was thin and the bung thick, no worries about blowing through the pipe. Plus it IS a very old 2-stroke pipe. I cleaned it up best I could with vaporhoner, but I’m sure it still had contaminates.

I will fit soon and rig up my ‘readout box’ so I can see what sort of mixture I have when riding. I have a kit to make a much nicer readout, but I always seem to have other things to do and have not ever finished building it. There are a LOT of parts to solder and I need to get into that mode. The one I made decades ago still works, just looks pretty hokey.

[John H]

I'll be interested in your findings. Just the variations in modern 2-stroke oil has made will be noticeable. Will you also track exhaust temps?

[Lotus54]

I don’t have anything to track exhaust temps. That could be really useful.
The O2 on a 2-stroke can be inaccurate due to the fresh charge getting into exhaust. But this does not have expansion chambers, so I speculate there is less of that.

After a long ride, it showed on the rich side. It is a narrowband sensor, so only a rough guidline. I’m ok with a bit rich until fully broken in, and that is what I thought it was after riding. But good to have some feedback.

[Lotus54]

I had a rough mirror I had gotten from a previous bike and wanted to replace that with something more appropriate and that works well.
I happened to see the interesting mirror that had no glass and thought it was way too much $$. But then looking around at other decent mirrors, it was not much more.
So I bought one.

This mirror is made completely from metal, then a high polish and a coating to keep it shiny. It looked like the sort of mirror available in the 70s and I thought it would work, although I was not certain how I would mount it. It come with three screws with two different pitches and one left hand. Those fit lots of the ‘standard’ receptacles but of course I didn’t have one of those. I was going to make something, the issue being the kill button I fit. I found the mount for the old mirror would work and tried it further in- but I didn’t like the view. So I put it next to the grip, having to move the kill button.
The view out the back is great, the mirror looks as good as any glass one I’ve seen and appears to be very solid. I still would like to incorporate the kill button in the mount, but have not figured out how to do that yet.

Lots of time for a little thing, but I like having a mirror I can actually use well.

IMG_7194.jpeg (357.57 KiB) Viewed 57951 times

[John H]

Nice combination. Is the mirror polished stainless steel? That would be clever. I've seen ss mirrors in public restrooms but never for bikes.

[Lotus54]

I understand it is aluminum, with some permanent coating to keep from corrosion.


Motogadget m.View Classic Metalmirror

Using ultra-precision CNC machines with diamond tooling, Motogadget delivers the clarity of glass within the minimalist package of machined aluminum. The brilliant surface finish of this convex mirror is sealed using a complex plasma coating process. This patented surface is complimented by additional precision-machined components, all anodized to the highest standards.

Features:

All aluminum mirror body
Convex diamond-polished aluminum mirror surface
Plasma-coated mirror surface
Precision ball joint
Stainless steel hardware
Robust anodizing
Sold each

[John H]

I checked out their website. They have some other interesting products as well as the mirrors. Heavy into BMW's.

[Lotus54]

Foolishly blew $$ on some new exhaust pipes.
Louder than stock, but not too loud. Sure look nice! I have not had a chance to ride it more than around the block to see how they perform.

[Dragonknee]

Its a cool bike for sure and I'm sure that those pipes will wake it up a bit. I look forward to seeing it one of these days.

[John H]

I bet it's a blast to ride.