Traded for another R(pics added)

[DixiePlowboy]

Gonna drive 3 hours one way tomorrow to trade my Quadzilla for an '85 250R.

The R is straight and runs great, but needs new rear plastic and a seat cover to look good. My Zilla needs the crank and top-end built....in other words, not running.

I'll feel much better being back on 3-wheels, especially since my boys and I are going to make a big push to attend Trikefest this year and I didn't want to show up to my first 'Fest on a quad:)

[Mosh]

Sounds like you are coming out on the top of this deal.
Good luck and keep us posted.

[tecat-z]

It's always great to meet members at TF! Hope you and you're boys can make it happen with a trailer full of 3wheelers..

[DixiePlowboy]

Will do, Mosh. Got the Zilla strapped down and the truck fueled up....looks like everything's good to go. Funny how I'm as excited getting an R at 37 as I was getting my first '85R at 13:)

tecat-z, we can thank years of talking about TF to my boys, me getting the '07 & '08 TF DVD's for them Christmas before last, and our friend jeswinehart(awesome guy BTW) for talking about TF to them when he was helping with their extended axle swap last month. It'd be a nice roll in and ride with them if we can pull off the $$ part of the trip this summer.

[DixiePlowboy]

Well, all went well. Met south of Nashville yesterday and said goodbye to the Zilla that needed $$$ to get it running before I started on the other needs...lol.

The bad:Ugly

Needs seat cover and pretty much every piece of plastic except tank. I'm liking the white fenders with red tank, shrouds, and headlight-look, so I'm going to stick with that when I grab new cosmetics.

Fork seals leaking-got new ones(grab some new fork boots while I'm at it), air filter fell apart-got new Uni coming, front master cylinder needs rebuilding-got that covered, and obviously it needs tires-no problem. Needs chain slider, but swingarm is not worn thankfully.

Needs grab bar.


The good: Pretty much everything else.

Motor fires easily, sounds great. Plenty of compression:cool: Aftermarket bearing carrier with the holes for the adjustment bar. Newish DG exhaust(I like DG and at least it's not another FMF) Frame and forks perfectly straight and undamaged. Has both OEM skidplates in great shape.

The actual headlight looks brand new, definitely worth a new shell to me!

The way I traded(even for the non-running quad) I have about $750 in this.....how'd I do?

[Mosh]

Awesome. As I said before, you are coming out shining on this deal.
IMO, the 250R is a way funner ride than a zilla.
Even after some cosmetics, looks like you will have a nice R for less than 1500$ total.

Piece of advice though, if those fork seals are aftermarket, dont run em.
Unless you want to rebuild the forks again in less than a year.OEM is the only way to go in fork seals.

[DixiePlowboy]

Thanks for the heads-up, Mosh.
I already had some aftermarket seals(Parts Unlimited....I think) laying around for my 15-year old's R, so I had intended to use them and grab him some more before his machine is back down here this summer. Never used them in an R, but I have used them in an '85 Tecate with no problems. Is this a wide spread/common problem with aftermarket seals?

Bikebandit shows seals for $28 but is that for one fork or both?

[eyecekold1]

Not a bad deal R's are cool (not a big fan of Suzuki's old race quads) and have a lot of aftermarket parts. Good luck with it.

[Maico]

Damn!! I'd a traded a good running '86 Tecate for the 'zilla...that is of course if you wanted a Tecate.

I miss my old '87 'Zilla.

[harryredtrike]

nice pick up.love the r

[MonroeMike]

Looks like a good start, nice trade.

[DixiePlowboy]

Damn!! I'd a traded a good running '86 Tecate for the 'zilla...that is of course if you wanted a Tecate.

I miss my old '87 'Zilla.

Maico, if I had known you felt that way, I would have done it and met you anytime in the last month to trade. I couldn't have turned down a running Gen. 2 Tecate, even though lately I would prefer the Honda simply because of the parts availability issue.

Want the guy's number to see if you can deal with him?

[Mosh]

Thanks for the heads-up, Mosh.
I already had some aftermarket seals(Parts Unlimited....I think) laying around for my 15-year old's R, so I had intended to use them and grab him some more before his machine is back down here this summer. Never used them in an R, but I have used them in an '85 Tecate with no problems. Is this a wide spread/common problem with aftermarket seals?

Bikebandit shows seals for $28 but is that for one fork or both?
I used some Vesrah seals in a 85 Z and after 6 months, I hit a jump about 5 feet up in the air and goosh!
I looked down at the fork and had fluid all over the tire.
I have never tried any aftermarket brand since. I suppose you may be ok if you are not jumping real hard. But yes those honda seal kits are aboout 45$ per side with the dust seals.They are pricey.
My friend runs aftermarket seals in his R, does no jumping, just trail riding and he is replacing them about every year and half.
I run the OEM seals in 2 different R's and have had them in there for over 2 years each, and the one R I jump quite a bit. Still holding.

No matter what, congrats on the trade.

[JohnR.]

It definitely sounds like you got the better end of the deal to me. As for the fork seals, you can never go wrong with OEM stuff but the aftermarket ones I got from Dennis Kirk 10 years ago are still going strong in my X that has an 85 R front end on it. Also, I've found Bike Bandit to be kind of expensive, check out www.cyclepartsnation.com for them. The seal kit from them is $20 and that is per side so the total would be $40. One last thing I'd suggest is rather than spending $20 to rebuild that old master just snag one off of ebay for an LTR450 or YFZ450 and pop it in, if your a little patient you can snag one for under $40 like I did. My front brakes have never felt so good and its nice to be able to adjust the lever location.

John

[DixiePlowboy]

I appreciate the info on fork seals and the master cylinder upgrade, ya'll.

Now, to find a red short track tank.....not a full kit, or even having shrouds, but a good tank........and a used +4" or +6" axle...:twisted:

[JohnR.]

Let me know if you find a good tank. I could use a spare! If you're planning on doing any riding outside of a track with the short track tank you had better strap a fuel can to the grab bar.

[DixiePlowboy]

I have plans/ideas that include limited competition(finally after having several machines that weren't well suited for what I wanted to do). I have owned two 250R's with short track tank kits installed. The first when I was about 13-years old in '85, and the last in 2003....so I know what you're saying. I'd keep my stock setup most of the year and swap out once in the summer(specific event:)) and a time or two for planned trips to the great white north next winter(if you catch my drift:))

My last R was sold locally and wrecked promptly by the new owner(breaking his back, I heard) because he didn't heed my warnings. I'm trying to track down the rest of the machine to see if any or all of the S-T kit, PT Hi-Rev, 38mm A/S carb, original Maier old school #plate, tether kill switch, etc... survived. So far, I'm having no luck.

I did make contact with a local guy I raced against in the '80s that only recently(year ago) sold his extended axle, S-T kit, lowering link, and ....ahhhemmmm....Mugen cylinder & motor..cough-cough. He's looking for the number of the guy that bought it all from an hour away.

I'm willing to bet it's either not for sale or I can't afford it if it is....and I'm not sure I'd fool with the Mugen anyway when it would bring more $$ than power. At which point, I'm going to talk to Eddie Sanders if his porting is good on a 310 kit.

[Mosh]

If you find the ST tank, DC plastics makes shrouds for them. Pretty cheap too.
They are a little more off in color than the OEM red though.

[JohnR.]

I hear you. I couldn't afford to buy a short track kit nowadays. Luckily I snagged one complete kit and an extra tank with scoops over 10 years ago when they were still "cheap". I understand that Honda was still making the tanks but in black up to a couple of years ago. I'm sure you know it but if you have a tank and scoops the rest of the kit is really easy to make by modifying the stock radiator brackets, making a couple of simple flat brackets, and then trimming the stops on the lower triple clamps.

John

[DixiePlowboy]

If you find the ST tank, DC plastics makes shrouds for them. Pretty cheap too.
They are a little more off in color than the OEM red though.

I saw DC's a couple nights ago and thought about ordering a couple sets even though I don't have a tank yet. They look good enough for me. Add HRC stickers and get'er sideways!
I'm going to be sure to thank those folks for helping us out like they do.

[DixiePlowboy]

I hear you. I couldn't afford to buy a short track kit nowadays. Luckily I snagged one complete kit and an extra tank with scoops over 10 years ago when they were still "cheap". I understand that Honda was still making the tanks but in black up to a couple of years ago. I'm sure you know it but if you have a tank and scoops the rest of the kit is really easy to make by modifying the stock radiator brackets, making a couple of simple flat brackets, and then trimming the stops on the lower triple clamps.

John

The last kit I had came from a guy in Birmingham, AL(2-hours away). He had an '86 R in the cycle trader that he had sold by the time I called him.

He said he had a smaller gas tank and some other parts he'd sell me cheap. I asked if the shrouds were with it and he said yes that it also had a different bottom clamp as well. Long story short, I was there in 2 1/2 hours, got the beautiful ST kit (made my own brackets out of aluminum at work), Maier red number plate, low-profile rear fender(uncracked) 36-tooth aluminum rear sprocket, and a PT Hi-Rev (one ding) for......wait for it.....$50!!

Man, I'd love to hit that deal today. I don't want an "extra", I just want one....lol

[Mosh]

Yeah definately cool they made them. We snagged 3 sets from them last summer at a swap meet and met up with the guys, and told them we appreciate what they are doing. They were nice enough for me too.
I have a whole ST kit, clamps rad brackets and all. I need to get it mounted on the wifes R.
I am not going to run the tripples though.
R's look so bad ass with the ST kit on them.

[DixiePlowboy]

I have a whole ST kit, clamps rad brackets and all. I need to get it mounted on the wifes R.
I am not going to run the tripples though.
R's look so bad ass with the ST kit on them.

To me they look leaner and meaner with the ST tank/shrouds, but I can remember back in '85 when the first R guy in our class (250cc 2-stroke modified) bought one and didn't spin-out the whole night. The next weekend, there were two more kits on the track, and two weeks later several more.....and a lot less spinning out.

I love the looks, too....but I love the effectiveness even more.

[Maico]

Maico, if I had known you felt that way, I would have done it and met you anytime in the last month to trade. I couldn't have turned down a running Gen. 2 Tecate, even though lately I would prefer the Honda simply because of the parts availability issue.

Want the guy's number to see if you can deal with him?

Sure. I hear ya about the parts availability on Tecates. Damn green rat bastards! LOL

[JohnR.]

That short track kit literally makes the R the force it is on a flat track. I only put in 20 or so laps today but when the ice started getting chewed up and loose the extra turning angle would allow me to save it and get the thing to stick where ever I wanted it to.

[jeffs250Russell]

the DG trx grab bar will fit upside down with some washer shimms.

[ATCeeya]

I think you did good on the trade, on the fork seal topic...how hard are they to swap out? my R needs new ones and I found some on feebay for 25 bucks or sumthin. But I jump the bike and dont want to have to keep doing them.