Man-o-man, you have some ambition. And fair amount of work ahead of you. I see the potential, also. I like the mummification that was done to it. I bet it'll turn out real nice. Way to go! Thumbs are way up to you.
Looks like its all there . That will clean up nice .
Wow, I've dug cars out that were buried like that, but never a trike! Looks like you are making some great progress. What's your plans?
My rides (click to view)
6/84 250sx(Original owner)
7/84 250sx
Click here to view my finished SX project thread
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my plans are to build for a everyday rider.dont care if parts are oem or not.200x front end.any suggestions?
That's a lot nicer than what I'm working on. Any complete trike is a great start.
Present trikes:
85 250es
83 ATC 110
Past:
85 200X
Trimoto 175
200x front end is the common swap, I have the parts to do it, but haven't done it personally.
My experience is the rear shock is a bit stiff on them, maybe just from being old, there is an older thread talking about possible replacements. If memory is right, there was quite a bit of interest about a 87-92 trx250x rear shock fitting, or a 300ex shock. I think some of the larger quad front shocks were close specs too.
If it will be a every day rider, another thing you could do is get some good LED lights to mount up front. They are great for night time riding, but maybe keep the oem headlight too for the looks + to be used for dims when someone is riding in a public place so not to blind everyone driving past you.
Some people like rear racks on them for using them for work, but they hold a pretty high value and requires drilling out the rear fenders for two of the mount points.
Another common thing I have seen is wheel spacers to widen the stance, I tried that on my 250sx and did not like it at all, but I ride my stuff pretty hard and like to slide around etc. The wider stance took away a lot of the slide and seemed to want to grab too much for my taste.
Another not so talked about mod is rear swing arm off of a ~1985 TRX250 2wd quad. It is around +3 inches longer, and I think the rear axle might be slightly wider. Would be good for climbing hills, sand dunes, or larger tires for mudding etc. Btw the swing arm is nearly a bolt in swap, just based on memory when I researched it out, the only thing that needs to be done is a shock mount either on the swing arm (further forward than factory one on the trx). The engine output shaft might have been a requirement too, but I think that was for a 300 or 350 engine to go in a big red.
You could look at an aftermarket exhaust, general rule of thumb is you will move the torque curve higher in the rpms with a more open exhaust so it will get up and go quicker but will generally loose out a little in the bottom end. I have a 250es with a cobra exhaust, and out of the 5 machines I have had, it really does run the best out of all of them. Always the easiest to start too (most of mine are kick start only w\o battery). The cobra for the 250es isn't too bad for loudness, just to compare, I completely hate my DG pipe on my 350x because it is so loud.
My advice would be to get the machine running to make sure everything else is in good shape (I would have done it before boring personally), then buy tires and ride it a little to see if there is anything needed and gauge how much to spend on it unless money isn't a limiting factor.
At a guess, I'd have to say that you're looking good. Whoever did this swap on my SX didn't do anything for steering stops. The steel tank that it came with was dented, but the plastic one that I have on there now doesn't dent.
I did the 350X forks conv on my 250ES. The 200x fork tubes are too small and the brake caliper is on the wrong side. I used a 250sx axle tube and had a friend weld a mounting plate on to accommodate the new disk/caliper which I will also add is quite a bit bigger / more capable for the ES/SX big frame. This also allowed me to use a 4/110 2”thick spacer and bolt on a 14” front rim. Can’t wait to see you get this one finished up, best of luck ��
79 110
83 185S
84 250R
3x85 Big Reds
85 200X
85 ATC 70
85 Tri-Zinger
86 200x
86 TRX 125
87 TRX 250
89 TRX 300
98 TRX 450S
03 TRX 350
5 Foreman 500 4x4's
You can never have enough! ATC250ES is still the best!
Man, wheels sunken into the dirt...that's what I call a lawn ornament! Yes she's rough, but at least your buddy was smart enough to throw a tarp over it! How many times I've gone to look at trikes that got absolutely ed by the weather because the owner left them exposed with no cover, which could have easily been prevented by simply throwing a tarp over. Anyways, good on ya for tackling this project. Keep us posted with the progress...
1985 Honda ATC 250ES
1985 Honda ATC 250SX
1984 Honda ATC 200M
1983 Honda ATC 200
1984 Honda ATC 110
Save her! I love mine!
I want to have the motor gone through.i have never ripped one down before.should I take this on or just have someone do it??any recommendations on who should have do it??
Waiting on the motor from four stroke tech. Can the rest of the machine go together and the motor go in last?