Dual, Purpose Built 250Rs - build thread

Originally Posted by Red Rider

What's going on with the rear fenders in that pic?

Those fenders were on my 500 conversion and were modified for the rear kicker.

I rolled "Danny" outside to see sunlight for the first time ever. The gold PC looks magnificent outside - better than expected. Still waiting on a throttle cable before I can ride it. I am having some rear axle issues as well. I'm hoping this weekend I can figure it out. I'm thinking I have some 85 and 86 parts mixed and matched wrongly on this guy. I'm taking it to Tionesta Trikes South and we are gonna axle swap it and see if it makes a difference. Hopefully Keister and RoscoW are able to help me figure it out. Trikefest is less than four weeks out. I'm feeling good on this one. On the "Arnold" build, I am also waiting on a throttle cable. Next weekend Keister is going to some help me finish it up. I got my Kenny Roberts pipe in hand now and am just waiting on a tank for it. Should be finishing it up in short order also. I have a few "odd" frame issues to figure out, but all is looking good at this point for both these bikes to be at TF for some sweet 3 wheeled action. In the eloquent words of Ice Cube :
"Woke her up around one
She didn't hesitate, to call Ice Cube the top gun
Drove her to the pad and I'm coastin
Took another sip of the potion hit the three-wheel motion"

Regarding the rear axle problems I was having on Danny - apparently rather than having 1 - 1986 rear axle and 2 - 1985 rear axles, all 3 of my axles I had accumulated over the years were all 3 1986 axles. Bummer. I ended up modifying the sprocket hub on the 1986 Lonestar axle for Danny. Basically I cut 1/8" off the bearing side of the sprocket hub. It now fits like normal and all clearances are good. For some odd reason the stock wheel hubs will not slide on easily though. I can get them to go on with a dead blow, but they are not to be a "pressed fit". I called Lonestar and they confirmed that stock wheel hubs should fit, but they do not. I went ahead and ordered a new set of wheel hubs from Lonestar last Friday. They are "Backordered" like everything else I need in a hurry for these builds it seems. They assured me they will be here before June 21, which is the day I leave for Trikefest. WOWZERS.

A good update from the weekend. My brother, Keister, came up and helped me with final assembly of Arnold. When I put it together, I was in a hurry so I could get Danny tore down. I basically put the entire bike together by hand (no tools) so everything on the bike was loose. So after we tightened ( and marked) each bolt, we were able to continue forward with it. We mounted the 39 PWK carb and the KR Pipe. There was other odds and ends we needed to finish up, and we succeeded. Once it was all together (minus the throttle cables I am still waiting on) I put some gas in the carb, and she fired on the 4th kick and sat an idled with no throttle response available (no throttle cable hooked up). Both bike have done this now and I take it as a most excellent sign of times to come. Throttle cables should be here today. I emailed PJ at Motion Pro last week. I explained that I had these cables ordered 7 weeks ago and they are still unavailable. They special made me 2 and shipped them 2nd day mail for free. They really made things right with me and I will spread the word of their good deed.

I got Arnold outside for the first time ever. It's too bad it was gloomy out with no sunshine. Next pictures I post will be both bikes done and ride able. Here is the bike totally finished minus the throttle cable and plastics and baja lights that need the mount modified. Oh, and I still need to install the new Hinson Clutch I have for it as well. It really is gonna come down to the line for the builds and the close approaching Trikefest.

And here are two PDF files with all specs on these two builds for your reading enjoyment.

looks good, cept your paddles are on the wrong sides lol

Originally Posted by atctim

It really is gonna come down to the line for the builds and the close approaching Trikefest.

Doesn't it always...lol. I'm still waiting on parts for 2 machines myself.....But looking really good so far my friend.

That's a good lookin' pipe on Arnold.

Originally Posted by JesseA420

looks good, cept your paddles are on the wrong sides lol

The rotation arrow is going the right way. I think the tire guys mounted right on left and left on right. The SandStar logo is on the inside of the wheels.

Update: The UPS man showed up at 6:57 last night with my (2) Motion Pro 01-0604 "Special Application" cables. I was quick to mount one up on Arnold. I then mounted the tank and shrouds and rear fenders / seat. I put some fuel in the tank and she came to life, breathing fire in 2 kicks. Throttle response is fantastic. The throttle push seems a bit stiff, but I am guessing it is because the large carb has a large return spring. I ran it around the yard a bit. I'm gonna have to take the paddles off it for a real run. It shakes too much on hard pack and gravel with those paddles. I will say that it seems really fast. Just doing some launches out my lane it seemed to take me a long distance to get stopped from the top of 3rd gear, which by the way it gets there lightning quick. It almost seems as though I can not shift quick enough. I'll need to practice and maybe start launching in 2nd gear.

I also had thoughts in my head in bed last night of swapping front sprockets on these two bikes. Arnold has a 14 or 15 tooth front sprocket as I ran that on that motor at Ashtabula last year.

Being new to this "buy new parts and bolt them on" - I never took the carb apart. I pulled it from the box it came in and installed it. After running it a bit, I noticed the overflow line was steady flowing fuel onto the ground. Tonight I will tear the carb back off and look inside. I'm guessing there is dirt or debris clogging the inlet needle or something. Some of my very knowledgeable Facebook friends offered me suggestions, of either this or floats needing adjusted. We will see tonight.

I will also get Danny running tonight and see how it runs. I took the carb apart on it before installing it, so hopefully no problems there. Running these bikes a full 2 weeks prior to Trikefest is a huge weight off my shoulders.

Timbo Slice, I was completely unaware of this but apparantly some people are doing 3rd gear launches. Flyin Brian tipped me off to this at Smith Road last week, and if he is doing it on a stock bore 250r I'm sure it's in your realm. I myself became a fan of 2nd gear starts on my 500 last year. I didn't do it at the start of the season and was getting left behind, but as you can see in this photo it works. In Jon's defense he had just put his goggles on when the light turned green, but there is some serious HP in this photo that I left behind

I'm gonna be practicing on the dragstrip alot at Trikefest. Second gear should not be a problem. Not sure about 3rd, but we shall see. I'm pretty fat - Flyin Brian is pretty lean. I do need to change gearing on Arnold. It is very high because of Pine Lake. This ESR330 with the KR pipe and V-Force reeds and 39PWK is the strongest bike I have ever rode. I'm certain with the right rider it could win trophies. I just need to get used to it. Like Dennis on a Tecate used to it!

Originally Posted by atctim

Update: It almost seems as though I can not shift quick enough. I'll need to practice and maybe start launching in 2nd gear.

The guys with the big motors use 3rd through 6th gears. At some point first and second become rather useless. Between TF and Ashtaboooola, we will play with gearing and dial in both of them. It would be nice to gear it such that all six cogs are useable. Not sure if that is realistic though.

I feel that right now the cogs seem good for 1st or 2nd gear launches, but I can only assume with tire height and gearing - that bike is capable of some seriously fast top speeds. It's sitting on 20" tires with 14 36 gearing right now. I need to at least put a 39 on the rear of this dune / drag bike.

If they are starting in 3rd would it make more sense to use taller final drive ratio? Throw on a 17t front and 30t on the rear?

Lovely builds, btw.

The end is getting close. Last night I installed my Motion Pro 01-0604 (Honda Thumb to 39 PWK) throttle cable onto Danny. A bit of history with this motor first. About 5 or 6 years ago I heard of a 250R for sale about 2 hours from my house. We went and looked at it. It had been in a fire, but was not all that damaged. Mainly some plastics got melted off the front - junked the front fender. We picked it up for a song and a dance. It came with a NOS OEM 86 headlight complete. I sold the headlight and recouped the money spend on the entire machine. I then went to work building it for my now Ex-Wife who insisted she have a liquid R. As I knew nothing about the bike, other than it had had some previous damage, I took the top end off to have a look see. It was remarkable how good of shape the piston and cylinder was. Even the bottom end cases had very little foot wear on them - which generally means very low run time. I had a Hetrick Racing ported cylinder (.20 over) sitting in stock, so I sent the cylinder and a new piston off to my local bore guy. I then installed a new piston and rings and the Hetrick cylinder on the bike. I put an 85 stock carb on it along with a stock exhaust and stock reeds / cage on it to keep it as tame as possible for her. It took her one run down the TF drag strip to flip it backwards on herself when shifting from 1st to 2nd. She was fine, but the bike suffered some damage as it ended up half way up the guard rail upside down. Some of you may remember that. Anyway - we got divorced and she took it (having never run again after that first TF back in 2011). I told her not to sell that bike for less than X amount of dollars. Fast forward 5 years - I got in touch with the ex about buying this bike from her, she still had it. She agreed, and I started this build using most of it's parts. It should be known that the only parts left from the original build is the motor, and a few odds and ends. So here is this motor with like an hour run time on it.

When I fired it up last night, and adjusted the idle, it runs perfect. What really surprises me is just how quiet this motor is. every R I've ever owned has some normal R noises. Not this one - it is so quiet. Just like a new one. As it sat and idled, I stood there grinning ear to ear knowing I have a basically brand new motor for my race bike. I could not be happier with my new race bike. Here is a picture of how it looked when I first built it back in 2011.