1986 Honda 250sx - $1000 - Should I pull the trigger??

[oldskool83]

intake valves are tight, thats normaly the 1st sign

[Xhumeka]

So like I said, it wasn't in the pristine condition he implied, but it was close enough for me. Small crack in rear fender, few scratches on the rims, etc.

It also didn't sit in a showroom along with cars its whole life (I did my due diligence and called the previous owner. had a good chat with him for 10 mins or so!) Turns out the original owner used it once a year for hunting, and kept it garaged the rest of the year (maybe he kept it with other locked cars at the dealership, who knows).

At any rate, here are some better quality pictures and a video walk-around... Thanks again for everyone's input!

[MonroeMike]

Very nice looking SX.

[QCR77]

man that thing is sick. good job pullin the trigger. we need a smiley for "drooling"

[three_wheelin45]

man that thing is sick. good job pullin the trigger. we need a smiley for "drooling"

like this ?

[tri again]

Thanks! I haven't had a chance to ride the 350x since buying it, but my favourite is probably still my 250r.

This '86 250sx seems to have difficulty cold starting... My '85 starts right up cold... just give it full choke and one kick (or one press of electric start) and it purrs like a kitten.

The '86 I picked up last night starts up beautifully once it's warm, but when cold no amount of choke seems to help. Takes a LOT of cranking before it finally starts up, so I'll have to figure out what's causing that problem...

I've got 2 of those carbs on my kitchen table right now.
New jets but the cold start PASSage was clogged in one.
Got real frustrated and blew air thru them both underwater

The good one threw bubbles in 3 spots, and the cold start wenchie one only showed bubbles in one place.

Anyway, there was a factory cold start recall on some of the early 250 models .
Shindy has a kit that actually includes the updated PRESS IN cold start jet.

Looks to be about .010" larger

those choke pistons may have a rubber seal on them as well and helps them get stuck.
I was thinking about dripping marvels oil down the choke cable as preventative maint since I spent 3 days getting them freed up.
Not real interested in doing that again anytime soon.

sometimes the cables will pull out of the piston so it wont do anything

starts and runs perfectly when warm, tho, right?

Sometimes they can be annoying even when they work correctly.

Real interested in hearing what you find