What are some cheap upgrades i should do to my 250R first?

 

Hey Dan.

Like all two strokes, the pipe will give you the best bang for the buck. I know that DG still makes one for that model ['81 right?] but I do not know of any others still in production. The DG didn't offer the most power of the aftermarket pipes, but unless someone else nows of another brand still available, you aren't going to have much of a choice.

You can mill the head to boost compression if not already done.

A larger carb will help alot after you get the pipe, but causes problems on a stock aircooled 250R if my memory serves me correctly. On a stock aircooled R, the bigger carb moved the power spread into such a high RPM range, that it made it hard to ride. Just my experience....although that was nearly 20 years ago....LOL You may want to contact a longtime carburetor supplier with good records from back then. Try Sudco, they have been a Keihin carburetor supplier for longer than anyone.

I remember you asking about a clutch the other day. I forgot to address that issue.
Find a dealer in your area who carrys a company called J&M Supply. They still have a warehouse full of discontinued aftermarket items left from the late '80s. They did have a clutch kit that was made by the same vendor that supplied Honda when the ATCs were first built. Their entire clutch kit including the steel plates and springs only retailed for around $50

If they don't have them anymore, go with a K&G Clutch Factory kit. They are the oEM supplier for Honda now and make a repro of the early R clutches....but not in kit form. They sell the fritions or just the springs. They can be had from your Honda dealer as well.

Good luck on the R project!!

There used to be quite a few guys on here who had the early R models and shared alot. You may want to search the ATC forums back a bit and find those guys original posts on hop-up parts. There doesn't seem to be any left here now. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

 

hey i got a 81' R still as knows alot pipe is forst for 2 strokes, then get a bigger and better air cleaner! K&N is what i use. bigger carb is next you can get a good used one for like 50-100 bucks depending on size. and yes knows alot is right bigger you get the harder is for the thing to ride so don't go too big if you go big then you have a higher top end range for Rpm's, not sure whats in a 81'R but i think its like a 32mm. you could go with like a 38mm that will give you a good midrange boost. next better thing to do is run premium gas!! i know it sounds kinda dumb but lower octane fuel leaves more carbon that means less hp's. use better oil...IE...amsoil,klotz, maxima what i use, blue marble is good too. hope this helps some

 

thanks for the suggestions. What I'm doing is putting the 81 R motor in an 85 LT250R quad frame. It fits really well so far. It ran really good in the 3-wheeler (I was amazed by the wheelies it did for an old bike) I just hope its still as crazy fast in the quad frame. It has an aftermarket aluminum canister on the exhaust but dont see a brand name on it. The reason i asked about the clutch was that it really wants to bog down when you let the clutch out butit still pulls hard so i dont think thats it. It has 22" tires on back, is that too tall? Or how much would i benefit from a 12 tooth sprocket on front instead of the 13 tooth?

 

hey. yea those as some big nasty's ya got on their lol need to run them quite a bit smaller for more rpm's at the tires! meant for for hilling. also for you gear sizing its if bigger in front and small in back than its a top speed factor going with a smaller front and big in back alot of torque! meaning more weight pull but a slower top speed but a hell of a start/acceleration. i think stockl gearing is pretty good but if you are going to tackle alot of hill than maybe gear it up to it

 

so whats a good size for the back tires? And do you know the top speed on an 81 with stock gearing?

 

i run 22-11-8's on all mine that seems to be a good size gives you clearence still. you may go with a slightly smaller rim meaning a smaller tire but not much too small and you hit a mild bump and bottoms touch stuff[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img] i think the stock gearing on a 81R is 66mph