Interesting feedback for Big Red 250 ES -

[MotorCity]

I have a 1985 Honda big red. Was checking out Mondexbrute link about selling his lifted big red. read the whole build thread and his youtube videos.

What struck me what several people put on youtube comments that caught my attention about the big red :

1). "you'll go a lot more places with the 250es than the mojave"

2). "I miss my 250es so much......I pray I never forget the fun I had with my 3wheeler along with the triumph of riding on top of the snow when 4 wheelers sank in need of 4x4"..


These two above comments have me intrigued . while i havent explored with it yet, and pushed it to its capabilities, I would like to. these videos have me stoked, and thinking about the 250es capability. Maybe you all can give me some feedback. What do you think this guy meant when he put "you'll go a lot more places with the 250es than with the mojave"....is there a advantage 3 wheelers have over quads? In certain terrain or circumstances? Or is just maybe the swamp as shown in these videos . What can 3 wheelers / big red 250es do that newer machines cannot do?

Also: 3). can you ride the big red on some snow, as the guy mentions? To what depths?

I'm thinking about how this tall Big Red would work in the snow. I know snow and deep sand sap horsepower, the big red doesnt have a ton (has more torque), just wondering if it has the power to ride through say a foot of powder pulling ice fishing shanty, poles ,etc with the taller tires I know the 4x4 truck guys usually go up in axle ratio when they put on taller tires, this guy did a great build, but probably doesnt have option to change rear axle ratio wondering if this extra load affects motor much , probably takes away some accel maybe more speed on top end??

4). Also, wonder does anyone have any feedback with silverback tires performance in snow?




I'd like to build my big red similar to the one in this thread, and the possibility that I could hit some swampy hunting spots with it, and some ice fishing spots in the winter, has got me thinking...

thanks for any feedback.

Mike

[dougspcs]

1st the snow claim, I am personally on my 3rd 250es. Now one thing I will never claim about my BR is that it handles snow well. Simple fact of the rear wheel drive is that you are 'pushing' the front wheel everywhere you go and with regards to snow. It's the one element that stops the BR on its tracks!! That front wheel just causes too much forward resistance and that limited traction on the rear just isn't enough to overcome it. I say more than 6" of snow(depending slightly on tire choice) and the illustrious Big Red becomes a brick..stuck hard and fast!! True it will go thru more than a 2wd drive quad, but not much..

Now the claim about it going place the Mojave can't..that I will believe. I find my Big Red a very capable machine in difficult trails, mud, water, trees, rocks...now the fact is that when setup with the right tires and rider the BR is as capable as almost any quad in this environment. Specially given that the rider can jump off the machine and assist it himself when stuck due to the automatic clutch and it's relative light weight..many times have I walked along side my BR while it powered itself along with my offering minimal effort to get it out of a deep mud pit. Let's see a guy on a 600lb 4x4 quad do that..he's got 3 guys and a winch pulling his ass out!! He might be able to attack a bit more mud than my BR but once he's stuck he's f&*ked!!

The mojave with it's manual clutch is virtually impossible to accomplish this!! So with respect this claim Big Red beats Mojave as the mythbusters will say..'CONFIRMED'

[atc007]

While I haven't rode it yet ,I am certainly very looking forward to it With 30000 ?? + miles on 250 Big reds,,I will say my guess is,,with the clearance this machine has ,and the tire setup,,there are VERY few places I won't be going ! While Doug is correct on the Physics,,a Snow tire on the rear makes a WORLD of difference! I will NEVER forget climbing a VERY steep hill on a Big Red I had built,,riding with my Nephew,who was on a 250SX I had just fixed the tranny in..There was 4-5 ? inches of fresh wet sloppy snow. I was doing good,,spinning like heck.. My Nephew WHEELIED by me with a Sh!t eating grin ! The customer had Snow tires on that SX.. SO he was giving up ground clearance on me,,but with those diggers,,it didn't matter! What fun.... Search for Thorpes Big Red on here.. It's his plow tractor,and he does VERY Well! Set up right,,you will love your Big Red !

[hublake]

I agree with Doug. I live in Northern Michigan. My BR with OEM tires is not very good in snow once it gets to be 6 -8 inches deep and a crust forms on the top. The front tire will stay ok but once the rear tires cut through the crust you are done.

[kb0nly]

Two things...

1. V-Bar tire chains, buy em, run em, love em. They can be found for $20-$30 online and sometimes just as cheap or cheaper in your local farm supply stores. With a set of them on there the BR's i have ridden will go just about anywhere you want in the winter time, and sometimes where you don't want to.... LOL Depending on your tire type you can also put studs in the tread but i think its a pain and if you lose a stud while spinning it can get punctured into the tire as well because its just a screw after all.

2. If your really really into winter driving, consider a ski for the front. I have seen a few three wheelers running cut down snowmobile ski's on the front in place of a tire, they really go just about anywhere. It's not a hard thing to build, i helped one guy do it a few years ago. We took a ski off an old Polaris snowmobile and shortened it with a chop saw taking length off the back, then we made a mount which was nothing more than a piece of pipe that slipped over the axle and had two pieces of pipe at an angle down to the ski and welded it all up. To put the ski on you pull the front axle and drop off the tire and front brake and tie up the front brake cable, then put the ski in place and slip in the axle through its mounting pipe which has a sealed bearing on each end that rides between the pipe and the forks allowing it to pivot. If he lived closer i would get some pictures but its nothing fancy. I think we bought some bearings from the local farm store for each end of the pipe, so the pipe rides on the outer of the bearing and the inner race of the bearing rides on the axle, it was a cheap shaft bearing with a collar and you just tighten the set screws and its done.

[Keepah Rolln]

You will be good in 6 inches of snow depending on your tire choice. The sx will always rip by a red in snow. Lighter more quick. My sx has new tires the stock ones which are narrow, tall, good tread and soft rubber perfect for ripping in snow. I drive mine ice fishing in as much as 12 inches of snow.. 8 inches or less and she gets unbelievable traction with these tires!!

[Thorpe]

BR on ice, its not gonna do a foot... BR on grass, and a foot of powder, with decent tires, it will do... LOVE my BR!

[110klt]

When I was a kid I lived in NY up on the St Lawerance river, we got a decient amount of snow and the winters were long. So I got board one winter and in shop class i built a ski for my 200m. I mounted a small rudder on an old wooden slolam ski. The idea was being light and reducing the weight over the front and reducing drag on pushing the front wheel. I little angle iron for a mount and bloted the ski on with a pivot point down low. It worked like a champ, in deep snow I was moving. The only problem I had with the ski was inital take off where the snow was extreamly hard packed like a freshly plowed driveway. But a little butt weight to the back of the bike and off it went. Oh and you put the rudder under the pivot point center of the forks not on the tail, and leave the tail as long as possible for floatation. With that a foot of snow no problem, if we got snow here I'd build another for my 200x and make a video........


Of course it might not be fair that my x weighs 123lbs less than a BR, or about 30%

[dustrunner]

i built a ski set-up for my 350x (85) i used 2 skiis together and it worked great. a nice wide footprint and hit the gas... what fun but we just dont get the snow in my town so i cet it apart. then sold all my 350x's and bought 4 more 250es ..

[MotorCity]

Couple more questions:
1). I'd like to do the lift and tire/rim conversion that MondexBrute did on his Big Red. Do you think going with the larger tires will negatively affect my final drive ratio much? With 4x4 trucks, usually guys that put on taller tires they go with larger axle ratios to keep the final drive ratio the same. I dont think we have the option to change anyting in the big red axle, so just wondering if I'l have any issues. (see #2).

2). If I did the lift, do you think I"l have any issues using my (rare) cycle country snow plow? NOt only from the higher height aspect, but also from lower final drive ratio with the larger tires, wondering if the lower final drive will affect my ability to push snow (I think the implications here may be clutch wear, maybe wont be an issue if I go with the kid MondexBrute did; he installed Barnet kit with HD springs).

3). Those tires that are on MondexBrute lifted big red - I have to believe these things grip well in the snow. Anybody else do a lift similar to Mondexbrutes, or use tires similar, and what has been your experience?

Any and all feedback welcome.

[dougspcs]

Couple more questions:
1). I'd like to do the lift and tire/rim conversion that MondexBrute did on his Big Red. Do you think going with the larger tires will negatively affect my final drive ratio much? With 4x4 trucks, usually guys that put on taller tires they go with larger axle ratios to keep the final drive ratio the same. I dont think we have the option to change anyting in the big red axle, so just wondering if I'l have any issues. (see #2).

2). If I did the lift, do you think I"l have any issues using my (rare) cycle country snow plow? NOt only from the higher height aspect, but also from lower final drive ratio with the larger tires, wondering if the lower final drive will affect my ability to push snow (I think the implications here may be clutch wear, maybe wont be an issue if I go with the kid MondexBrute did; he installed Barnet kit with HD springs).

3). Those tires that are on MondexBrute lifted big red - I have to believe these things grip well in the snow. Anybody else do a lift similar to Mondexbrutes, or use tires similar, and what has been your experience?

Any and all feedback welcome.

Hey 'MotorCity' what so you think of these..fit on your BR with some 12" rims and they are close enough to stock tire size that the difference shouldn't affect ratios. Plus they look badazz!!

PM if you are interested..

[atc007]

I'm waiting on it to arrive within the hour..... Mondex's BR that is.

[gunoskey3]

Hey 'MotorCity' what so you think of these..fit on your BR with some 12" rims and they are close enough to stock tire size that the difference shouldn't affect ratios. Plus they look badazz!!

PM if you are interested..

Those are the same tires I have on my Big Red. Never got stuck yet.

[Thorpe]

I am running ITP mudlites, stock size and no lift... I plow a lot, and drag my ice fishing stuff all winter... It does really well. Do I feel the need to lift and get bigger tires, no... Would it be cool, yes. Biggest issue I have with the lifted BR, is you will gain zero suspension travel. All that's really being accomplished is blocking it up higher...