Atc 250r Bigred 250es or 4x4 Quad?

[huskydave]

well here she goes . I always wanted an 1986 Atc 250r since I was 7 years old im 35. I have been looking at them for years and they are getting harder to find here in Canada. Wife says ok but I don't have money to spend on toys very often and I don't own a hunting atv so I could buy a Atc 250r or get the more practical bigred 250 and put some serious money into it like maybe big tires or tracks etc.. or I could get an older 4x4 quad with footshift like a Bigbear 350 or Kodiak 400 or 300 fourtrax or 400/450 foreman. Bikes are very expensive here because everyone uses them unless they live near a city a good mint 1986 Atc 250r will sell for $4000. I can get a nice mint Bigred 250 for $1200-$2000. I can get a mint 300-450cc footshift quad for $1800-$4500. I moose hunt and the 250r is not going to cut it and if I buy one I will need a second machine. I will be getting $3000 back from taxes in March and can maybe scrape together another grand between now and then. Miss my old trikes what do you guys think?

[BANSHEE CHAOS]

Get an R! You can always hunt the old fashioned way.

[dustrunner]

Buy the mint big red for 1200 $ They run forever !

[shovelryder]

Big Red without a doubt.

[BANSHEE CHAOS]

Holy damn! I'm thinking moose and anything short of a personnel carrier will kill the vehicle.

[Jed]

as much a I love big reds they suck in snow, I mean bad, the absolute toughest bikes I have ever used are the 300 fourtrax 400 foreman, we have 3 400s at our ranch one with 15000 miles they do every thing from hulling hay wagons to pushing through snow past the headlights.

[loganm]

Rancher 350. Borderline indestructible. As long as you have some sort of oil like substance in the crankcase it will keep going. Make sure it's footshift and 4x4. Don't high center it in some deep snow drifts and you will be good to go.

[cr480r]

well here she goes . I always wanted an 1986 Atc 250r since I was 7 years old im 35. I have beeln looking at them for years and they are getting harder to find here in Canada. Wife says ok but I don't have money to spend on toys very often

If you are wanting to ride for sport... Then now is the time to live out your dream.. You won't be getting any younger and 250R's won't be getting any easier to find... Or any cheaper.


a good mint 1986 Atc 250r will sell for $4000. I can get a nice mint Bigred 250 for $1200-$2000. I can get a mint 300-450cc footshift quad for $1800-$4500.

Clearly the 250r holds its value.. You can sell at any time to buy something else if you find the need. And the utility stuff being cheaper would be easier to to save up for later..


I moose hunt and the 250r is not going to cut it and if I buy one I will need a second machine.

So be it..


get the more practical bigred 250 and put some serious money into it like maybe big tires or tracks etc.. or I could get an older 4x4 quad with footshift like a Bigbear 350 or Kodiak 400 or 300 fourtrax or 400/450 foreman.

I have ridden all of those machines. Big Red is hands down the most "fun" to ride.. But I like to pull wheelies. I love mine. I find my big red very nimble in the trees and also quite handy around my property.. But it absolutely will not safely pack or pull as much weight as any of those quads.. TRX300 would be my choice of those quads.

[huskydave]

I have owned a 125m 3 wheeler and I wore out 4 sets of tires on it and 2 batteries some brakes and oil. I bet it had 50 000 miles on it when the clutch went out and exhaust fell off. I sold that one and it is still running. I had a trail 90 same thing 40 000 miles and only changed the tires a few times brakes battery. I had a 300 fourtrax awesome quad abused it bad ran over 4-5" trees at high speeds pulled out moose overloaded it and it lasted 14 years of hard abuse my Uncles had Yamaha 4 wheelers like bigbear 350 and Kodiak 400 footshift and they were good reliable machines. I have driven Big red and im sure I would have fun with it but it really can't do what I want it to do stock. I would have to lift it a bit and install some big tires but then I couls get into tight spots while hunting but the 250r atc is always in the back of my mind so maybe I will pull the trigger this year.

[DohcBikes]

Suzuki Samurai

[atc007]

Is this what you intend to do with it?

226020

Poor guy probably had to put that Rubie into low range :)

[DohcBikes]

Wouldnt mind if we had to go back to horses and oxen

[dustrunner]

226053 yesterday !

[BANSHEE CHAOS]

Snow!!!! ��

[cr480r]

I have driven Big red and im sure I would have fun with it but it really can't do what I want it to do stock. I would have to lift it a bit and install some big tires but then I couls get into tight spots while hunting.

Why would you need a lift and bigger tires to get into tight spots? Other than really deep mud i cant think of any situation that a higher CG would be an improvement.. Maybe you live/ride on flatter ground than I do?

[huskydave]

I have driven bigreds back in the day and they will take mud/snow to a certain point but the tires are just too small to go through deep mud/snow and the 2wd does not help, a 4x4 fourwheeler with small tires will go through spots that will stick a stock Bigred. I hunt in some bad spots sometimes mud is 25"+ deep for 9 miles and pushing a Bigred through all the badspots is not something I would want to do again been there done that. The 3 wheeler has the advantage when breaking a trail through the woods because it can snake around trees that would stop a quad and it is easier on fuel. I have floated 3 wheelers across deep water spots that would stop a snorkeled quad too they both have pros and cons. I would lift it and add 27" tires or tracks and a winch because I have $4000 to play with and stock ground clearance is not enough.

[dustrunner]

Snow!!!! ��
YEP = First Snow of the year . Too bad it was only 1 "