okay so now the time has come
I MUST get a Honda
I have had three yamahas and they were all pieces of you know what!
I am sick and tired of dumping money into my raptor and it still breaking
not to mention it is a pig on the racetrack

I am Definitely going to get a Honda cause my buddy Steve has a 450R and that thing runs great
My other buddies have YFZ450s and have all sorts of problems with em. Ik know they arent horrible bikes but I dont want another yamaha due to my personal problems with them. My buddy Steve who also owns a 400ex lets me ride it when my bike is broken. Trust me I end up riding it more than my own. I have had to ride it all the time. It is bone stock with a slip on.

I mainly ride on mx tracks in and outdoor and wide open trails
We also make at least a few trips to the sand every year

I figured from what I have seen them sell for around here and what mine has on it I could get around 4500 for the good ole Craptor
I have two options
1 Buy a nice used 250R
2 Put a nice down payment on a 450R

What kinda 250R can I expect to find for this much (or for about 5000)
I want a well maintained bike locally even if it has little done to it but is in great shape
trust me anything is better than the raptor on a track. I ma sure I would be happy with either one of the two considering I can beat my buddies on the track with the 400 ex (except for long straits!!)

what are the main differences in the bikes and what should i look for when buying a used 250R
i know that some of the years of 250R 's are better than others which year do i want?
I can be patient considering I can ride Steves 400ex until I find a bike

Please help me
I really need a new quad
Thanks

 

I'm probably a little biased but go with the 250R. You can't beat the simplicity of a 2-stroke with a kick. Nothing is quite as nimble as a 250R. Especially if you have $5,000 to spend....you could probably find a freshly rebuilt one already set up for MX. As far as which year, I in particular favor the '86 because they have a little more power and the frame is slightly stronger due to a few extra factory gussets. I've also heard that you can bore the cylinder of an '86 a few more times than the other years. But it sounds like you race MX, so go for the '88-'89 with the 1 inch shorter swingarm - but really any year R is a good year! Take it from me though, try to find one that already has the mods you want. I rebuilt mine from scratch and believe me $5,000 wont cover it!!!! I would say pretty confidently that you could find a clean fresh R with extended-arms, shocks, and some goodies for 5 bills.

 

As far as what to watch out for....check the frame really well for cracks. Cracks on a race quad that is 18 years old are common and not that difficult to fix. But if there are a lot of cracks or really big ones stay away. Check the front end geometry too. Before I bought mine I looked at 4 others that all had frame damage. One was so bad that the right wheel was about an inch more forward than the left. The guy must have hit a tree or something but tried to cover it up by compensating the tie rod lengths to make the wheels look parallel.