1981 Atc250r

[money89tractors]

Hello everyone,
My name is Phillip and i have recently joined the forums here. I discovered 3ww while looking for information about the famous ATC200R.

I had thought i had found a 200R, or so the owner said. It turned out (after sending pictures to NINJA) to be just a stock 250R. Here are some pictures:








The bike it pretty rough but ran well...i say RAN for a reason.

I took the bike out for a good day of riding yesterday with a friend. After hours of riding i went inside to grab some food. My buddy on the other hand (whose only ever owned 4 strokes) wanted to keep riding the trike. I told him to dump some gas in it and go for it. Well, he grabbed the wrong can a poured straight gas into it. The bike ran amazing after that...(i still didnt know it had straight gas in it) until i came out side and saw him take off...a good half hour after he poured the gas into it...and noticed there was no pretty blue smoke trail :-|

He took off and was gone from sight and sound for 30 minutes or so, which had me worried, and for good reason. Needless to say, the bike locked up tighter than a nun. I managed (by putting the bike in gear and rolling it backwards) to unstick the cylinder..but it now had no compression. We then pulled it and managed to get it running once it was moving fast enough, which gave me some relief. I will be puttin the money into the trike to get it riding again as i love and have always loved riding trikes (started when i was 6ish)

I do have some good news for this story. Before the 250R died, i SMOKED 2 quads with ease (one was a 300ex and the other was a raptor i believe)

Anyway, i have more to say and questions to ask over the time of this thread, but that will come later. Thank you all for taking the time to read all this so far *takes a breath* lol

-Phil

[3Wheelers4Life]

!!! nice score on the 250R. it does not look all that rough. just get the engine fixed, dent in the tank, some stickers and the front fender an youll be good. nice on smoking 2 quads though!!! what are your plans for it besides fixing the engine? have fun.

[money89tractors]

Plans once i get the engine fixed are just to ride it. Its fast. I do need to do some other things (mechanically) besides the engine. The front disk is gone, but i dont need it. It does also need rear axle bearings, so thats coming as well. I need new rear tires as the right one has a bad wobble in the sidewall...it may also be the rim, not sure yet. I am going to find a front fender, headlight set, and a tail/brake light set to make the bike registerable.

Quick question, what clutch set will work in the early 250R? I was told the kit in it is new, but i feel like it slipped badly when i got on it hard in 4th and 5th.

-Phil

[3Wheelers4Life]

Plans once i get the engine fixed are just to ride it. Its fast. I do need to do some other things (mechanically) besides the engine. The front disk is gone, but i dont need it. It does also need rear axle bearings, so thats coming as well. I need new rear tires as the right one has a bad wobble in the sidewall...it may also be the rim, not sure yet. I am going to find a front fender, headlight set, and a tail/brake light set to make the bike registerable.

Quick question, what clutch set will work in the early 250R? I was told the kit in it is new, but i feel like it slipped badly when i got on it hard in 4th and 5th.

-Phil

i suggest getting bearings from "dads" on the boards here. i was told that you dont have to register an atv if it was manufactured before 87, but i am not 100% sure on that. see the links for the clutch kits below. but give it what ever it needs or can be done now, because when you put it back together and the clutch slips, or something goes wrong, or is worn out, and you have to tear the engine back apart it sucks.
CLUTCHES personally i would go with the more expensive ebc kit, but thats just me.
http://denniskirk.com/jsp/product_ca...ain&mmyId=6154
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/81-84...spagenameZWDVW

[money89tractors]

Yea, im going to look at the clutch when the engine is out. If the fibers look good, ill try stiffer springs and scuffing up the steels.

I will check on the registering deal. They just passed a law here in indiana where ATVs can be registered for public road use. Secondary roads only of course.

Thanks for the links as well. Maybe you know where i can get a top end kit too? The local Honda dealer is a bit pricey on the piston alone. I know ebay has a full top end kit with cylinder for $200 i believe, but maybe you know of somewhere better?

Thanks

-Phil

[3Wheelers4Life]

Yea, im going to look at the clutch when the engine is out. If the fibers look good, ill try stiffer springs and scuffing up the steels.

I will check on the registering deal. They just passed a law here in indiana where ATVs can be registered for public road use. Secondary roads only of course.

Thanks for the links as well. Maybe you know where i can get a top end kit too? The local Honda dealer is a bit pricey on the piston alone. I know ebay has a full top end kit with cylinder for $200 i believe, but maybe you know of somewhere better?

Thanks

-Phil

well what kind of top end kit do you want? oem (honda), oem replacement (aftermarket), or performance?
heres a performance, heres a performance kit i dont see any oem replacements, so if you dont want to go high performance i guess you have to buy from honda. personally i like to buy my parts individually that way i know the quality of the parts im getting, in some ebay auctions, they dont mention the manufactures of the parts cause their low quality. that will be cool if you can ride the 250r on the street legally! check out www.denniskirk.com check your pm box too.

[DeePa]

200 bucks for the top end isnt a bad deal to me.

you need to see how much life is left in your cylinder first and see what bore that ebay cylinder is on.

figure bore/hone/piston kit is going to run 140-150, then add in gaskets and such...

Its all up to you, check out your options, but id probably go with that nice new cylinder from ebay and have them paint it up for 20 bucks.

Ive dealt with them before for other stuff and they were always good.

When i redo my 200s motor ill probably grab that kit because it will be cheaper that way.

Mike

[money89tractors]

Thanks Mike, nice to know someone has dealt with them before. I am going to check my cylinder before i buy anything. I may not even need to bore it. All in all i might be able to get away with a gasket set and a set of rings, ill know for sure tomorrow.

Anyone know the stock bore size on an 81 250R?

-Phil

[3Wheelers4Life]

Thanks Mike, nice to know someone has dealt with them before. I am going to check my cylinder before i buy anything. I may not even need to bore it. All in all i might be able to get away with a gasket set and a set of rings, ill know for sure tomorrow.

Anyone know the stock bore size on an 81 250R?

-Phil

my friend dealt with them before. in my opinion, not the best quality, but the best price. heres the specs: http://www.3wheelerworld.com/spexhome.shtml

[money89tractors]

Thanks for the specs. Ill get it measured out tomorrow, weather permitting (i have no garage to work in and its been raining all night)

I honestly don't think the trike is in too bad of shape. its been rode a LOT is its only problem, other than what happened to it yesterday.

-Phil

[DeePa]

if it locked up for a while and you lost compression, chances are youre going to need a piston kit and hone at least.

if you can somehow use the piston, this of it this way.

how old is it? why not do it right when its apart?

my 250r motor was on its stock bore/piston/rings when i tore it apart and i still opted to get it bored, honed, piston, rings...just to know that its not going to need it for a while.

Find out what the bore size is, check everything for wear and out of round ness, and let us know.

Mike

[money89tractors]

I will find out tomorrow, if worst comes to worst i am prepared to buy even a "new" cylinder. This bike might still be the standard bore. The owner before me never rebuilt it, and as far he knows, the owner before him never did either (its a 3 owner bike). If it is, i may go ahead and get the .020 piston and have it bored. Time will tell.

-Phil

[money89tractors]

I got the head off today. Still dont know if its been bored before or not (looks like stock piston to me) but i defiantly lost a ring. There are some scores in the cylinder wall and all along the top of the cylinder is rough. Here some pics:





and this could be the nastiest air box ive even seen...




I also took a short video (10 sec): http://s119.photobucket.com/albums/o...t=S4020898.flv

Enjoy

-Phil

[Brockey]

I know wiseco pistons have the mm of the piston wrote on the top of them. for example mine is at max bore and there is letters then 7200 on my piston. I can only make out 3 numbers on yours so I cant tell the bore.

[money89tractors]

I was wondering if those numbers would tell me the current bore. Ill get the numbers tomorrow, if i can.

-Phil