Motor differences between 85 and 86 250r

[Rigaman]

I came across this article in 3 wheeling magazine talking about the 86 250r. I was under the impression the motors were pretty much the same in 85 and 86.

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In the 86 250r article, it mentions a bunch of engine differences between 85 and 86. Says Transmission gears are closer together so they create less wear, The case was modified to accept CR cylinders. It also says because of a bug in the 85 kick starter, the kickstarter internals were improved, and the lever is longer.

I thought they were basically the same motors. It also says the reed cage was changed. Or maybe just the reed guide...

It also says the clutch uses heavier springs in the 86, and it has steel plates instead of aluminum.


Now, where it really gets interesting, is it says the frame steel was changed from a mild steel to a new high tensile steel on the 86. And the plastics were brittle on the 85, so they went back to the 84 style plastic.

How much of this is right? Maybe they just got to see a pre production model? I didnt know they made so many changes like that.

[Billy Golightly]

I don't doubt there were some minor changes with clutch springs, plates etc. I don't have any idea how the cases would be different to fit CR cylinders? Bolt pattern never changed any...

[RIDE-RED 250r]

I have '85 and '86/'87 motors. I have not come across any differences in the cases that I could see...

I know there are different kicker shaft spacers through the different years. That's the first I have heard of any changes to the transmission. I would think that if there was a real change in the transmission that the gear sets and shafts wouldn't interchange??? I could very well be wrong though..

Interesting info though.

[bkm]

I know as far as the bikes themselves go, they are very different in many areas. I never realized it until I owned both years.

[Ghostv2]

Pretty much every year they were improving as much as they could with the 250r's so I wouldn't be surprised if they changed all that stuff. I always thought the 3rd gen r's were all pretty much the same.

[Rigaman]

I know there are certain transmission parts on the 85 that are superseded by part #s that are on the 86. So the differences might be very small spacing of the gears, or different counter bores, or who knows, keeping the parts interchangable.