everyone says the 88 is a better frame than the 86 but the 86 has more supports and 90% of the parts interchange. the swing-arm and the rear motor mounts are the only major differences. anyone have an opinion on why the 88 is better.

 

youre right-
there is not THAT much difference--
here are some:
different stock length swingarm
different set-up on the bridge of the exhaust man.
different way the swingarm/motor mounts
i think the later is better in the mounting area, because the earlier ones are actually using it for
a dual purpose (pivot & mount)
it is really no big deal/difference, though

 

dang, how do you edit?? they have it all messed up....

anyway, the rod/stroke is also different..
so is the clutch in that the 88-89 have a roller bearing

when you send your motor off for mods, they generally want to "make" it into an 88-89 motor, having the stuff done to it that i mentioned above

 

true about the motor mod's
the cdi box is different to but everything can be updated. i think. everybody i talked to before tried telling me not to waste my money on a 86 so i did anyway then i stumbled across an 88 frame cheap. bought it and got to comparing them. i didn't know if i was over looking a major difference or not. i love my 86. the 88 isn't finished yet. i'm doing the motor set-up just to see if the 88 handles better or not

 

The 88 has 1" forward front end. As far as engines go, the 86 cylinder provides a little more power but does not last as long due to the lack of an intake bridge. The heads are a little different also. The stock A-arms on the 88/89 are not adjustable while the 86/87 are. Supposably the 86/87 models had something crooked in the front end by 1 degree or something, it was corrected in 88. I think it was the A-arm mounts or something. The 86 has a better piston design and can be bored .120 over rather than .080.
ERIC

 

When I built my 250RX conversion I bought a 87' frame new, I was told that they were the strongest of the 4 years ( the steering loop area is sopposed to me stronger ( I resently broke my frame behind where the gas tank mounts and I also had to weld cracks at the steering loop) so I dunno