Finally got a 85 250r and I have a few questions *Pics*

[k00leo]

So I finally got a 1985 250r and I have a few questions about it.
First and foremost, pictures of when I brought it home:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v310/k00leo/1985%20Honda%20ATC%20250r/IMAG0316.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v310/k00leo/1985%20Honda%20ATC%20250r/IMAG0323.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v310/k00leo/1985%20Honda%20ATC%20250r/IMAG0321.jpg

Pictures once I had cleaned it up a little bit:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v310/k00leo/1985%20Honda%20ATC%20250r/IMAG0326.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v310/k00leo/1985%20Honda%20ATC%20250r/IMAG0333.jpg

Now here is one of my concerns…

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v310/k00leo/1985%20Honda%20ATC%20250r/IMAG0319.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v310/k00leo/1985%20Honda%20ATC%20250r/IMAG0335.jpg

What the heck went on here?
Did the guy do that so it’s easier to oil up the carrier?

Good news, the rest of the swing arm does not have anything else wrong with it. No cracks or anything.

Should I take the bike to a shop and get them to neatly weld on a plate to cover the hole up? I dont have a welder.

[Xowner]

Nice clean bike, and yes thats just what they did. Only thing i would worrie about is the water and such getting in there. Try to find some sort of rubber plug to seal off the hole. As far as weakness, there are a lot of bikes with swingarms built with open centers.

[RideRed250R]

nothing wrong with it.. i second x owner.... just find a plug and id spray alittle WD in it after every trip when id was the bike

[k00leo]

Whew that makes me feel better. I was worried that I had to replace the swinger

[350Xccelerator]

Nice R, good job on getting rid of all those stickers

[whipit]

you could slide those forks into their correct position. also, sweet toolbox!!!

[k00leo]

Nice R, good job on getting rid of all those stickers

Yea, the guy went pretty crazy on the stickers. But hey, they protected the plastics from getting scratched.

[edog]

Any plans other than riding it?...mods?

[k00leo]

Well right now it has a bent durablue axle on it, so i am buying a stock axle from seadoo and putting that on there. I still need to decided if i want to send the durablue to dirtcrasher to fix, or possible sell it as is.

I also want to eventually get new radiator shrouds, fork boots, thumb throttle, handlebar pad? (what would that be called?), some new radiator lines, break lines, etc. I dont know if i like the cobra silencer on it, so i might change it back to stock or put something better on there.


If anyone has a thumb throttle assembly for my 250r, please let me know, i will buy it from you.



Question for all of you,

The guy said that he would put a 40:1 mixture in the bike. :wondering

That should be making it run a little rich and smoke a little more then normal right? I know i should be running a 32:1 mixture on the bike.

Here is a little fun face for you guys too, the guy said that this bike was in Italy! How cool is that? he said that him and his buddy were deployed over there and they would go riding all the time. Some of the stickers that were on the bike showed that it may have actually been there. Pretty neat.

[edog]

A safe bet is 32:1.......

[atctim]

Question for all of you,

The guy said that he would put a 40:1 mixture in the bike. :wondering

That should be making it run a little rich and smoke a little more then normal right? I know i should be running a 32:1 mixture on the bike.



no - you got it backwards - 40:1 is less oil than 32:1 the first number is gas parts - the second is oil parts. so at 40:1 it would smoke a little less than 32:1 - albeit not that noticeable of a difference.

[k00leo]

Ah, ok. Thanks for the clarification.

[FastZ28]

you could slide those forks into their correct position. also, sweet toolbox!!!

Actually it looks like someone removed the smaller of the two fork springs. Get a set of Progressive fork springs.
http://www.denniskirk.com/jsp/product_catalog/Product.jsp?skuId=58327&store=Main&catId=&productId=p58973&leafCatId=&mmyId=5968

[k00leo]

you could slide those forks into their correct position. also, sweet toolbox!!!

What do you mean? does the front end need to be lowered?



FastZ28, whats the benefit of those springs? It seems that the front suspension is working well. Then again, i haven't driven it hard since it has a bent axle.

[200XMichigan]

You won't want to spray WD-40 into the carrier, it will act as a solvent and dissolve the grease that is in there. Find a good marine grade grease, they will sell it at any marina. Its for boat trailers that get submerged in water and then driven down the freeway at 70 mph. Holds up awesome to water. A rubber plug and some marine grade grease and you'll be good. You would want to pop the rubber cap off after any wet rides to let any water that got in evaporate. Is there a small hole on the bottom of the carrier for water to drain out of if it gets in? Might want to add that otherwise it seems like water would get trapped in it.

Awesome 250R by the way.

[edog]

Actually it looks like someone removed the smaller of the two fork springs. Get a set of Progressive fork springs.
http://www.denniskirk.com/jsp/product_catalog/Product.jsp?skuId=58327&store=Main&catId=&productId=p58973&leafCatId=&mmyId=5968
The part number is the same for the 1985 350X as well...just saying

It wouldn't hurt to add 1 inch PV spacer in there as well...even with the Progressive springs.

[Xowner]

What do you mean? does the front end need to be lowered?



FastZ28, whats the benefit of those springs? It seems that the front suspension is working well. Then again, i haven't driven it hard since it has a bent axle.


No what he is saying is your front end is TOO LOW. It looks like some one took the short springs out of the front end. Raise the bike up and look at how much the forks extend out. Your losing all that travel. See compair your pics to this one




http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs615.snc4/59524_154110261275902_100000307871281_336627_47952 88_n.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v310/k00leo/IMAG0326.jpg

http://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/?wicket:interface=:4:OEMAssemblyImage:assemblyImag e::IResourceListener::&wicket:antiCache=1297113109665

Its number four, Thats whats prolly missing from the front end.

[FastZ28]

No what he is saying is your front end is TOO LOW. It looks like some one took the short springs out of the front end. Raise the bike up and look at how much the forks extend out. Your losing all that travel. See compair your pics to this one




http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs615.snc4/59524_154110261275902_100000307871281_336627_47952 88_n.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v310/k00leo/IMAG0326.jpg

http://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/?wicket:interface=:4:OEMAssemblyImage:assemblyImag e::IResourceListener::&wicket:antiCache=1297113109665

Its number four, Thats whats prolly missing from the front end.

Thank you Xowner, that is what I referring too.

[k00leo]

Whoa!

Thanks for that comparison! I can really see the difference now.

Haha, another thing to add to the list.



Well, I just ordered some parts for the bike.

Grips
Fork Boots
Bar pads
Oil drain plug

The guy had the wrong sized oil drain plug :-/ It looked like he just went to a hardware store, found something that loosely fit and screw it up in there with some plumbers tape. The threads on the crank case look perfect, not stripped or anything, and there was plenty of oil that came out of the bike. No leaks.

here is the oil drain plug i just ordered.

according to cheap cycle parts, it should fit

http://www.cheapcycleparts.com/products/98238-t-m-design-works-mdp-012-engine-other-t-m-designworks-aluminum-drain-plug-hi-energy-magnet-12mm