Changes made from 85 to 86

[350xBomb]

I have a lead on a nice '85 for a friend...but he wants one EXACTLY like mine, and I have an 86....I told him the 86s are a little harder to come by. What, if any, changes were made to the 86 250r from the '85? Thanks

[petesatc]

Well there's quite a few changes between 85 and 86.......most of them small though.....here goes...the frame is slightly different, swingarm and carrier,axle, rear brake setup....lots of small internal changes to the engine and the 85 is black and not silver...the carb is different,front barke line holder, headlight garnish,decals, think that's about it??????

[Air-cooled-R]

on an 86, the triples are different colors and i dont remember which, but one of the seats is thinner and another thicker.

[ATCWRENCH]

the 86R's have one degree more rake for high speed stablity as well.

tell him the 85's are faster than the 86's. he'll be all over that 85 like white on rice

[wanta86r]

the front forks have different springs in them, and i believe the rear shock has a different spring as well. The 86 has a thicker seat that says atc on it and the 85 is thinner and says 250r. The 85 and 86 also had different sets of tires and wheels(however both are gold) 85 used dunlap tires and 86 used ohtsu. I think that one of the biggest differences was the carb change. 85 used a roundslide carb, and 86 used a 34mm flatslide. I think just about everything has been covered here.

[deathman53]

also the foot pegs are different, 85 is one year only peg, and 86 uses pegs from a trx250r, so does a 86/87 200x and also so does a 86 350x. the 86 headlight is bigger too. something is different about the front caliper and the 85 caliper used a rubber pin plug and 86 used a screw-in metal plug. wire harness on a 85 and 86 are different, headligt/cluster switch, voltage regulator, tail light and the 86 used brackets that hang from the grab bar , 85 had them in the frame. I know there is more differences, 86 is a better year, it handles better.

[AZ250R]

86 is a better year, it handles better.
Oh reeeehhheehhheelllllyyyy!?!? Glad you can tell the diff. :rolleyes:
Well the 85s ARE the COOLEST because they were made FIRST! :p

[350xBomb]

Thanks for the help...sounds like I got the right one.....he'll just have to deal, or hold out....