keeping my TRX 250-R

[Jason Hall]

Went to the dune's last weekend, and got my chance to drag race some new YFZ, and & TRX-450's. Man those 4 strokes sure run good. But I have to say , I will never get rid of my 89 TRX. With some port work & little tricks learned over the years, my .010 over 250 can still out run piped 450's. I have rode the 450's & they are sweet, but I get back on the old girl & I want to buy a 450 engine & bolt it on. The old 250's feel so much lower & more stable, and they don't wheelie as bad out of the gate. Honda sure hit the nail rite on the head with the old TRX.

[wheelie king]

You are right, the TRX 250 r has withstood the test of time. A friend of mine who bought his new in 1989- When we were 150 lbs and in high school, still rides the heck out of it TO THIS DAY as a 210 lb adult. And I might add- is never at the back of the pack.

[threewheelin-feelin]

well of course the TRX250R is sweet...remeber it came from the ATC250R

[hrc85250r]

i want one sooo bad...

[skippy]

let me tell ya what.. i own 3 trx's.. one 250cc, 265cc, and a 295cc, and recently bought a yfz 450, about 6 months ago.. and i love the feel of my trx's.. but my yfz has smoked all of them.. i have always been a 2 stroke guy.. but recently my mind is changin.. i have a ton of mods on the yfz, but so are the trx's.. so i just say the trx's are getting pushed to the back of the garage.. and here comes the 4 stroke! ;(

[Jason Hall]

Thats quite a collection. If I could find a crf450/ trx450 engine for the rite price I would put it in my 89 frame. I am just not going to pay $7000.00 for a machine that does'nt feel better to me, the new rides feel like the seats are to narrow. Someday soon I will have a 4-stroke on my 89, but I just can't leave HONDA. I'm sure that the 4-stroke's are the future. I personaly think the are awsome, the cam & valve setups on the new motors (also carb tech), makes them rev like a 2-stroke, but they still have outrageous torque. I would like to try a Pro-x power valve cylinder also, has anybody rode one?

[skippy]

as far as the seats go, i repad all of my seat anway.. and let me tell you.. thx yfz seat is REAL bad, even if you dont sit on it alot, it still is bad, I had my yfz seat relined with 1 inch pad all around the seat and got a new grip seat cover.. and now its golden..

i hear ya.. ive been die hard r man, and just got a great deal on this yfz.. so i picked it up.. but i hear the 06 450r is going to be quite a new machine!

[TimSr]

Im not fond of 4 strokes, or the higher center of gravity on the newer machines, but real world reality has sunk in for me. To throw away a 250R motor, and put a new motor in the old chassis is like eating peanut shells and throwing away the nuts! The motor is the only part that still stands up to todays standards. We must first keep in mind, why 4 stroke motors are taking over, and its not because of their superior performance, but rather because of EPA mandates. Honda was too short sighted to continue a classic for another 10 years before dropping it. Their loss.
The 250R had a good run, and did stand the test of time, but that time ended about 5 years ago. The 400EX was its new age equal. Anything later than the 400EX easily outhandles the classic dinosaur. Yes, the Z400/KFX had some serious frame strength issues, but hopping on one of those after riding my TRX250R was like driving a car off of gravel an onto the pavement. I was in awe the first time a Polaris Predator blew right by me as I was fighting the whoops in a race. The driver could have been drinking a cup of coffee without spilling it! Cannondale had the idea to build a race ready quad you could by for half the price of hopping up your old dinosaur. And the first time I hopped on a YFZ450, all I could say was, "these new machines dont even need a rider anymore!".
Granted, I tend to look farther than "how fast will it go in a straight line on pavement" as Ive never been beat by a dragster on a motocross track or a crosss country race, but the handling and suspension of the new quads are light years beyond the old classic 250R, and it shouldnt surprise anyone. There is a reason you can buy a full dress race ready 250R for a fraction of its value 5 years ago. Most semi-serious MX racers have already dumped them. CRA and AMA dont even run a dedicated 2 stroke MX class anymore.
The 250R was great machine. I really enjoyed mine. WAS. The new machines easily outperform it in any type of competition that requires suspension and handling.

[x.system]

I agree with both Skippy and Tim to a degree, I've been racing flat track against 4 450's with my 265 trx and there has been only one time a 450 has beaten me. This track is not the normal oval flat track, its got short turns, long turns and even a right hander. The advantage I see of the 450 on this track is they power out of the corner extremely well, they put the power to the ground where I will spin alot. The problem is, even with wider a-arms and axle they still tend to roll very easy in the corners therefore they have to get on the brakes before the corner alot sooner than I do. Almost every guy that has brought a 450 out to race has rolled it at least once on this track and these guys are serious racers. Last weekend 2 guys showed up with a sweet setup, trailer full of 450s, race gear, the whole nine yards. They normally race mx and had a free weekend so they came to the TT. Well we were just a little intimidated by them but we didn't let it get to us. Me and a buddy have the only 2 250r's out there normally, everything else is 4 stroke except for one or two banshees. The 250r's finished 1st and 2nd in all 3 races.

I'm not saying the 450 is crap because its not, It seems to me I have to ride my 250 twice as hard as these guys ride those 450's. I still plan to buy a 450 but I will race the 250 as long as I can and use the 450 where I know I will be at an advantage, like on ice or at a mx track. I wouldn't say the 450 is the dominate machine just yet but if your a serious racer I will say it is a must have machine.

I doubt I will ever race ama again except for maybe the ice nationals. I have more fun on the smaller no name tracks where its more about having a good time than it is about competing. At this track we all pit in ths same spot, sit under the same canopys and BS all day with our competition. We let each other know their strong points as well as their weekness after each race. When someone breaks down, everyone is right there to help get them up and running for the next race so to me its all about having fun.

[skippy]

Ah Men.. I love my r's, but after crusing on these new 4 strokes, i must say, no more money will go towards them.. I just like x system prob has enough stock in them to outrun our bodies! but Im seriously dumping money into the yfz to make it more like I want it! And yes I agree, just like any race quad, you might as well dump everythg but the motor and frame and start fresh! Just the R's of long ago! so in other words, you still spend the 20k into the quds just like you did to have a race R bac in the day!

You gotta pay to play!!

[85 250sx]

Ive been thinking about buying a trx sometime in the near future but im in no hurry so im gona wait around untill i get a good deal on one. I was gona put a bunch of $$ into my 250r atc but i think im gona keep it stock and just put the money into a trx. Im planning on putting a 310 or 330 pv esr engine in it.
skippy are you planning on getting rid of any of yours? lol

[skippy]

noper, sorry, im keeping mine.. no sense.. as you said, i got over 10k into each one, and will only get 4-5k per quad, so ill either part if i need the money or just hold on to them.. but yes ALOT of good deals to snag up..

[Jason Hall]

I think the only reason you can buy a race ready 250-r so cheap is because, there not race legal anymore. If you replace the stock shocks on the 250, there is no reason you can't run with the new quads anywhere. All new shocks are adjustable. Shock tech has improved greatly since "89". The steering geometry on the dinosaur was & probably still is the best out there. If the YFZ was so great then why has everything been made better? Dirt wheels said the changes to the YFZ will make honda sweat, sounds to me like the TRX450 was a better performer then they gave it credit for. As far as the Z400 / KFX I have rode them also, the only thing that made me want was a longer steering stem for my 250-r. If you look at the way honda builds the front of there frame's, you can see how tilted the upper & lower A-arms are. I think it helps alot with the way the frame soaks up bumps & helps spread the force's of big jumps out into the rest of the frame. Every company that builds quads would just love to produce a carbon copy of the 250-r frame, but they can't. I never liked the peanuts anyway so I'll throw them out & eat cashews. If someone took half the money it took to buy the YFZ,TRX,Z400,KFX,& dumped it into the 250 you could easily compete with the new generation of quads, but there not legal anymore & thats the only thing that could make the dinosaur extinct. Long live the 250-R.