1985 250 ES Saved .

[Chopsaw]

I bought this thing on CL for $150 , because it had a new 2 ply knobby on the front . I put the tire on my 84 200es , and traded the rest for some nice SX parts .
Its to long to tell ,,, dealt it 2 times , came back 3 ,,, soooo ,,, I saved it .
Engine top end blown .
Plastics trashed .
All cables froze .
Bearings trashed .
Handle bars smoked .
Foot pegs smoked .
key switch F'd
tail lights smoked .
Front forks froze up .
No grips .
Air intake tubes FULL of mud .
Gas tank had a birds nest in it .

Tore it all down , had a running SX engine that I put in it .
New re pop plastics . Help from members that sold me stuff I needed for CHEAP ! Thanks guys .
New bearings and cables and everything else .

[Flyingw]

Nice save!!!! How does the SX engine in the Big Red compare to the Big Red motor? Any noticeable difference in power? I have an ES motor in my SX and I lose a little top end but gained bottom end torque. I wonder if the reverse is true?

[effort=results]

NICE JOB MAN!

[UPNATM]

Damn, that turned out nice, and I like the look of the black SX motor in there.
Killer job!

[bigred22]

lookin good chop.............long live the 250es!!

[mrtwidster1]

Nice save!!!! How does the SX engine in the Big Red compare to the Big Red motor? Any noticeable difference in power? I have an ES motor in my SX and I lose a little top end but gained bottom end torque. I wonder if the reverse is true?

Yes it is captain! I put a 85 sx crate motor in my 85 big red several years ago. My wifes cousin has it now. Little higher geared in 1st. Highly recommend. I have a big red here now that I will put an sx motor in.

[Chopsaw]

Jim , I like the SX engine in it . Pulls hard thru the first 3 gears , no room to go thru all the gears at the house . It seems to be a little lean off idle . I went thru the carb , if work picks up , maybe I'll send it way .

The seat ,,, The guy I bought this from tells me he does " custom show car interiors " and " That's a custom ostrich skin seat cover " This thing was a rolling scrap heap , and he was all horned up over the seat cover he did . After getting it all done , I have to say I kind of like it . So not sure if I will keep it or not .
Thanks for looking guys . This is the first one I did so much work to . Guys on here do amazing things , but I'm happy with the way it turned out .
Chop

[jeswinehart]

You have every right to be happy + proud of your Bigred. It turned out extremely well !
Was there pictures of before you got to working on it, if there is I missed them.

Yes, nice job Chop ! john

[dman10]

I hope the one I just bought turns out as good as yours, If you decided to get rid of the seat cover, I kinda like it, I can take it off your hands.
Also, did you repaint the engine? If so, what did you use?

[jeswinehart]

I hope the one I just bought turns out as good as yours, If you decided to get rid of the seat cover, I kinda like it, I can take it off your hands.
Also, did you repaint the engine? If so, what did you use?

dman, he put a Honda SX250 motor in it. They are factory black wheres its twin cousin the 250ES (Bigred) is factory silver. Same motor for the most part (some gearing differences off the crank is about it)

[dman10]

Yeah, I know,
But did he paint it again before he put it in? I like the look of the black engine, as was wondering so I could paint mine.

[jeswinehart]

Yeah, I know,
But did he paint it again before he put it in? I like the look of the black engine, as was wondering so I could paint mine.

Oh,,, okay. I agree with you about the looks of the black engine, looks great.

[dirtwheels]

Looks great! If it kept coming back your way, it was meant to be saved. At first, I was iffy on the seat, but it is growing on me the more I look at it. You can always do a black one and have both. Horsepower+1/2 ostrich...a winning combination.

[OKSTATE#1]

First off, VERY NICE!! Best 250ES I have ever seen with Maier fenders for sure.

I restored an 86 a few months ago, and I bought a seat cover off eBay from pit replica for $35 bucks, and then I had a guy here in Tulsa who does street rod interiors (not the same guy lol) go ahead and install it for me. Install and price, it all came to $100. The pit replica seats look pretty good really, but my foam was shot so the guy added some so it doesn't have the sharp edges that an original does but it's fine me. Just a thought in case you wanted to go that route later. There's been a Nos seat cover for the 85 on eBay for $200 for about a year lol.


There's the seat I had covered the day I picked it up from the shop.

[Chopsaw]

dman , I sprayed it with Rustoleum universal . Primer and paint in the same cam , fan tip , trigger operation , and sprays at any angle . I like it , covers good .

OKSTATE , your seat looks good . Not sure what I'm going to do . Thanks for the comment , I think the Maier plastics look better than expected , because it was all fresh. Tank and upper forks done in sunrise red that matches really good . The black on the engine helps also I think .

John , I did have a couple of before pics , but heres what It looked like when I first got it home .