I am wanting to buy one, however I do not know too much about them. Is one model year better than the others, or is there one to stay away from? Are the motors the same for all years as far as power output, cylinder design, reliability, gearboxes, etc? Thanks for any info.

 

They are extremely reliable with basic 2 stroke maintenance know how, you can even find some on stock bore to this day. most people i know have the 86 and claim the 88-89 is the best. there is minor updates every year with the cylinder, frame, swing arm and so on and on which im sure some TRX freaks can answer better than me.


The most common thing i see with the R motors, is people stripping the drain plug, and doing a very poor repair/alternative. sometimes they weld with the motor whole, and end up warping he cases or damaging the case halves gasket.


hope this helps some...

 

The 88-89 R's had aluminum swingarms which were one inch shorter than the 86-87 and the 86-87 had steel swingarms. The 88-89 had integrated head light built into the front plastic where the 86-87's head light was a separate unit. You will find more '86's then all others, the '86 frames were a bit more stronger due to a few more gussets in the front of the frame. The 86 has a shorter connecting rod than other years but the bore and stroke for all years was the same, all were 246cc. Most people will tell you the 88 or the 89 were and are the most sought after but I personally never liked the plastic on those 2 years.

 

86 had a bad transmission. The later years used stronger gears and better ratio's. (The 86 had a lower gearing than the others). I think the later models had skinnier seats, too (?). If it were me, I'd want an 89.

 

Say what?? '86's did not have bad transmissions and the later years gears were no stronger than the '86 model. The seats were not skinnier but in 88-89 the seat form was a little thicker than the 86-87's.

 

There was no bad transmission, the 86 were just geared a tiny bit higher on the 6th gear. This is great if you have some engine mods but would cause stock machines to fall off the powerband in deep sand when running in 6th gear, hence the reason for the change.

 

Other than what has been said there are only a few BIG changes. One, all TRX's had the same wheel base. 86-87 a-arms where 1 inch back, and 88-89 a-arms where 1 inch forward. Two, 86 had a longer dog bone. Three, 86-87 flywheels were 2 degrees more retarded than 88-89. Also, 88-89 CDI had a slightly better power curve, but overall every years eletrical system was kind of weak. The port mapping got slightly better as the years went on. 87-89 had a bridged intake, and the 86's didnt. There were alot of other changes that didnt make the younger R's "better" but they are diffrent. Things like foot pegs, colors, bushing, bearings, SMALL change in compression, jetting, ect.

 

Thanks for all the info fellas. What exactly is a dog bone? From the info, I might be leaning towards trying to find an 88-89 R. Which year has the solid red plastics? I think that year looks the best stock. Last, what should I expect to pay for a basically stock 88-89 R in good condition? Thanks again!

 

i believe "dog bone" refers to the bearing carrier. it is an aluminum housing for the bearings.

 

The dog bone is a section of the linkage the rear shock attaches to and the only year that had solid red plastic was the 88.