ATVonDemand.com Honda ATC250R Vintage Motocross Project, PART 2!

[ATV On Demand]

ATVonDemand.com is restoring and building two Honda ATCs for vintage motocross racing. The machines will be featured in individual test videos on our site and will appear together in an issue ATV Rider Magazine. Our goal is to increase awareness for the sport of three-wheeler riding and racing, while highlighting a number of the companies still producing performance parts for vintage three-wheelers.

After months of phone calls, contemplation and debates, we came up with build lists for our 1985 ATC350X and 1986 ATC250R. We recently received the final components for the ATC350X and building has begun on that machine. Test rider Rob Ray has already won the Open Expert class at Trikefest, aboard our 250R, which was unfinished at the time.

We were amazed how willing the aftermarket was to participate in these builds, considering how limited the vintage trike market is. It really shows how passionate these manufacturers are for the machines we enjoy. If you are in the market for any of the items featured in these builds, I hope you'll consider these brands.

1986 ATC250R
Rob Ray’s 1986 ATC250R was purchased in 2005 for $1,700 and was an excellent working example of why this machine was so popular among high-performance enthusiasts and just how much good running old three-wheeler you can get for the money. It was in perfect working condition, with the exception of tired suspension with heavily worn internal fork tubes. The machine was nearly all showroom, with the exception of Maier plastic and 20in Kenda Scorpion rear tires. It was a steal for someone looking to get into vintage three-wheelers and the perfect platform on which to build a vintage race machine for one of the biggest jumpers on three wheels.

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With the exception of 1 small crack from Rob's relentless jumping with worn out stock suspension, the frame only had one crack that needed to be repaired before painting.

Lone Star Racing +1in chromoly round housing swingarm with LSR billet axle carrier and +4 LSR Axcaliber racing axle.





Race Tech has kits ready to go for the 1985-1986 ATC250R. They installed their Gold Valve emulator in the forks, along with changing the rebound valving and installing a new spring kit. The rear shock’s stock piston is replaced with Race Tech’s high-flow Gold Valve piston, along with a custom valving and shock spring. Not to give away the review, but if you have an old three wheeler you’re riding around and jumping, getting the suspension done is the best thing you can do to help your machine’s chassis survive.

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CT Racing blew up in 1985 after their, “Building a Championship ATC250R” hit magazine shelves in September of 1985. CT has been building winning two-stroke engines ever since, winning Mickey Thompson championships, Baja events, and ATV national championships. We felt they were the perfect choice to build these motors.

The motor mods began with a CT Midrange pipe and silencer with a show chrome finish.







CT Racing National Porting Kit features cylinder porting, cylinder decking, head re-chambering, a modified Pro-X piston, and top end gasket kit.



To feed sufficient fuel to the motor, CT recommended we run a Moto Tassinari Vforce 3 reed valve system and a Keihin 38mm Air Striker carburetor. We acquired our Keihin carburetor through Sudco, who distributes a ton of performance carburetors for 2 and 4-stroke ATVs and dirt bikes.



To harness the extra power, we installed new Hinson clutch plates and a billet Hinson Racing clutch basket.

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A Renthal R3 O Ring chain, 36 tooth Renthal Ultralight rear sprocket, and 13 tooth Renthal front sprocket help keep the drive train light and efficient.

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Choosing handlebars with a wide enough base and tall enough rise is difficult on ATCs. Renthal's Vintage Desert bend bars get the job done well. Renthal ATV grips are comfy.






ASV Unbreakable levers seemed like a good idea on a machine known for tipping over. their F3 Pro Model clutch assembly has almost everything you get with the C5 including the rubber dust boot and quick adjust knob. We're also installing the matching F3 brake lever and dust cover.

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We spent weeks going over online tire catalogs trying to figure out which tires to run, as many of you are well aware. After all of the pondering we went with the Kenda Scorpions, a tire that dates back to the three-wheeler era. We believe they will offer decent forward traction with less side bite then most of today's high performance race tires, judging by their rubber compound and diamond shaped knobs, allowing you to more easily slide the rear end out. The 18x9.5-8 provides a low center of gravity and narrow footprint. We will be running a Kenda front Max tire as well, which is marketed as a good pairing with the scorpions.



These are serious wheels, strong, pretty light, and sexy! OMF went all out when building wheels for these trikes, with their 8in billet center wheel with drain hole beadlocks and reinforcing rings. We can’t stop staring at them. OMF can customize a wheel set to fit your exact application and budget.

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Cosmic Quads made out seat look brand new with a custom seat cover they built to order. We sent in out seat and had it installed by Cosmic Quads. The cover looks exactly like what we had envisioned for these machines, and the covers installation was as tight and perfect as factory.





Maier MFG still makes a ton of three-wheeler plastic. Our R looks super clean with their white rear fenders, radiator shrouds, front fender, and number plate.

[ATV On Demand]

Just after assembling and breaking in the motor, we decided to take the machine to Trikefest, where we could start testing jetting and suspension settings while racing the Open Expert Class. We felt our carburetor's jetting was rather rich, although it still had more then enough power to pull off back to back moto wins. The jetting has been since finalized and the engine is now running crisply throughout the RPM range. We’ll tell you more about how it runs in the articles and videos when they come out. We have since installed the plastic, and will be adding the decals and graphics in the next couple of weeks.



Here is the video we made of the races at Trikefest, in case you missed it.

http://atvondemand.com/index.php?pag...&vid_id=101117

[thestud25]

Man that thing looks nice! I can't wait to see it in person tearing up the MX track at TF!

[rray62]

I'm glad I HAVE got to ride this one

[TatTooL23]

so it now has the white plastic on it? that came after trikefest?

[honda200x1987]

Nice ! I really like what Mosh done for that seat ,sweet build

[pantera1975]

Check out my replacement tank shroud decals and custom big bore number decals on the 3ww shop page if you haven't got them yet http://shop.3wheelerworld.com/catego...=2&pagegroup=1

[stroberts22]

This doesn't look like a air styker to me. A standard pwk I've heard works better though.

To feed sufficient fuel to the motor, CT recommended we run a Moto Tassinari Vforce 3 reed valve system and a Keihin 38mm Air Striker carburetor. We acquired our Keihin carburetor through Sudco, who distributes a ton of performance carburetors for 2 and 4-stroke ATVs and dirt bikes.

[ATV On Demand]

This doesn't look like a air styker to me. A standard pwk I've heard works better though.

Good eye man! When we approached Sudco, we requested a Air Striker. The carb was sent to CT and then on to Rob Ray, (chickenhawk's) house to be installed. I was unaware until you pointed it out, that Sudco spoke with CT regarding the project, and had already shipped the PWK. CT forwarded the carburetor to us, so I'm assuming either one works fine.

We discussed the 36mm vs 38mm issue with them before ordering the carb and CT said we wanted to run with the 38. With 27 years of experience building this motor, we figured which carb would work best with their porting, exhaust and Moto Tassinari Vforce 3 reed valve they told us to run.