200x Tripple Clamps and Forks on 84 250r

[ianj454]

I am starting to get back into fixing up my 84 250r. The next thing on my agenda is the front froks. The froks currently on the bike are shot. I bought all new seals but the forks have sand and water down in them (from the previous owner), also one of the air valves is craked off (which is discontinued according to my local dealer). I would rather buy a good used set and and use/rebuild them depending on the condition. I found a set of 200x forks (not sure what year, see picture) with the tripple clamp. Seeing they are different part numbers, I was wondering would there be any problem trying to fit my 250r front wheel and axle assembly on these forks?

[Turbeau]

To my knowledge you can use 350x forks in your 250r. I have a friend who swapped out fork components in his 85' 350x for components from an 83'/84' 250r. It gave him an extra 2 inches of front end travel. I would bet that the air valves from a 350x would work with your 250r. A good way to verify is to download both serivce manuals and compare the front suspension.

[onformula1]

The 350x fork are leading axle, the 250r forks are trailing axle, the 350x caps work but the valve stem is casted in.

I would stick with the 250r forks.

Post pictures of your forks and I can help you more.

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[onformula1]

To my knowledge you can use 350x forks in your 250r. I have a friend who swapped out fork components in his 85' 350x for components from an 83'/84' 250r. It gave him an extra 2 inches of front end travel. I would bet that the air valves from a 350x would work with your 250r. A good way to verify is to download both serivce manuals and compare the front suspension.
Putting 250r parts in a 350x only gives you .70 inch of extra fork travel, not 2" unfortunately.

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[ianj454]

Thanks for the replies. Unfortunately I am unable to get pictures of my forks for 2 weeks (working away). My current forks are in really bad shape (sand and water down in them from the previous owner) and the bottom allen bolt on one is stripped out (chances are its discontinued too). I would like to try to get a decent used pair of forks. They don't have to be perfect or made for racing or jumping. There are no forks from an 83/84 locally or on ebay. There seems to be alot for the 200x. Would these forks fit my current triple clamps? or will I have to get a 200x triple clamp too? (then would the 200x triple clamp work with the 250r front axle and wheel?)

[jeswinehart]

I am 99.9 % sure 83/84 250R and 83/84/85 200x front ends are identical excepting for rim color.

john

[ianj454]

Thanks! That should mean the shock tubes are the same diameter? Hence no need to buy another triple clamp?

[Toaster556]

I have an extra 35mm Honda fork cap if you want it, and I THINK I have a good condition allen bolt for the bottom too. Both parts are available according to my local dealer, maybe yours is just lazy. OTOH, if you go with different forks, I'd be interested in your 250R forks. Wherebouts are you in this currently fiery land?

200X forks are 2mm smaller than your 250R forks and shorter travel (7.3 for the 200X vs 8.7 for the 83-84R), so I'm not sure they'd balance out. You may be able to put 85-86R forks on your trike, I'm pretty sure I've seen it done before.

[ianj454]

I am located in St. John's Newfoundland. Anything 250r related here is very hard to come by. If I could get those 2 parts in good shape and get the stripped bolt out I could fix them up with lots of elbow grease. If anyone has any idea if the 85-86 250r fork tubes would fit the 84's triple clamp please chime in.

[onformula1]

83'84 250r are 35mm
All 200x forks are 33mm
Toaster556 is correct the bolts are available at partzilla.com

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[onformula1]

If your your upper fork tubes are good, I have a good set of lower sliders, and fork caps

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[Toaster556]

Fork sizes:
83-87 ATC200X 33mm
83-84 ATC250R, 85-86 ATC350X 35mm
85-86 ATC250R 39mm
85 Yamaha Tri-Z 250 35mm
86 Yamaha Tri-Z 250 39mm

I have those two parts in very usable shape if you want them

[ianj454]

I might just go the rebuild route. Would you happen to know the diameter of the 1985-86 250r forks?

[onformula1]

39mm, 9.8 inches of travel

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[Flossyb20]

The first gen 200x forks are actually lighter than your fooler forks, but at the cost of less travel...the good news is that the front brake set-ups are identical and would swap over. You can keep your fooler triple trees if you buy adapters to fit the smaller diameter 200x tubes, but I haven't seen those around in a while. If not, you shouldn't have too much trouble finding the proper forks for your R, seems not too many people ride the air-cooled Rs anymore..

[ianj454]

There is a pair of 84 250r forks in the States, I am waiting to hear back if he will ship to Canada. I am not finding the air valve and the allen bolt on any OEM site, all the sites say discontinued or out of stock. Toaster556, if I could get those parts it would be great, I could make my old forks work after a good cleaning (most likely diesel unless someone would know something better). The only thing is the stripped out allen bolt is going to be a pain (in the you know what). Anyone have any tips or suggestions on how to remove it?

[Toaster556]

I dealt with that a few weeks ago on a CRF230F. I drilled a pilot hole with a 5/16s drill bit then used a stepped bit until the head spun off. The remainder came out of the dampening rod by hand, no vice grips needed.
Service Honda doesn't show the fork cap as available, but the lower screw is. I ordered new caps for my forks a few months ago, let me look for the part number I used. Regardless, like I said I have the cap and screw spare. It's not pretty but it's usable. Same with use of my US mailbox, it's the only way I'll ebay trike parts.

[ianj454]

Thanks for the offer! I am waiting to hear back from another seller in Canada (refered to by a member here), this weekend on a set of 83/84 forks for my bike.