I've decided to call it quits on my 250R. I've got lots of money in it, and the problems just keep coming. Its for sale as of Friday night. I've probably got all the problems worked out by now, and the next owner wont have any trouble with it.

So.. What's next?

400EX? I think I'd spend about as much on mods as I do on repairs, or probably more. As for motor work, I'd let rider skill make up for the HP disadvantage. Practice equals horsepower where I ride, as well as anywhere else. I'm thinking I'd go with a Stage II kit(Yoshimura pipe, UNI filter), a rejet, and maybe taperbore the stock carb, and remove the choke mechanism. Then suspension would have to be upgraded. Elka triple rates SSD with rezzies, Houser a arms, Elka dual SSD rear, Axcalibur axle, and probably Houser swingarm. Total all that up for yourself, but option number 2 would save me lots of money in the long run.

Another 250R? There's a guy that my step father is really good friends with that has decided to get out of the sport. He has an 89 TRX250R with a complete Lonestar frame, and all components, LRD motor work(I think), PEP suspension, and ALL the MX goodies that I'd have to have.. All for $6500. I'm thinking I could offer him $6K cash, and bring it home with me. The only problem is... I'd have to do some cosmetic work to it. It still has the original plastic, and is in great shape. Some new shiny Maier, with red K&K graphics, red backgrounds, custom numbers, Quad Tech scooped hood, and a Quad Tech carbon fiber tank guard would all have to be ordered, as well as a Duncan front bumper.

Im also worried about making the switch from 2 stroke to 4 stroke. I've never had that much seat time on a 4, so me riding it would probably be pretty hard on the engine. There's just something that's not attractive about hearing lugging 400EX in a corner, then popping the clutch[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

So, what I'm asking all-in-all is: Should I gamble on the LSR 250R? or play it safe and spend money on a new 400? I'm a racer, not a wrencher. I fully understand that it takes hours worth of prepping, and mechanicing to be competitive in national motocross, but I'm not a "weekend rider, weekday fixer". So what should it be?

 

Personally, the LSR250R sounds like the best deal, assuming everything is mechanically sound. You know how to ride an R, you know how to wrench on one and it'll be cheaper than the EX plus mods. The only bad thing about the R would be the fact that it is used, and there's always something worng with them. Also, more power can be extracted from the R than the EX(yea I know, an Ex has plenty of power for Mx or XC but I know that you are going to be doing something other than MX at least once. Sorry, guess I wasn't of much help, but hows about selling me the R real cheap[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

PM me the price on your R......I might be interested.

 

Steve, I know what you're saying. I'd hate to jump in the middle of a worn out 250R, and have to replace everything. It seems to me at one point, the problems would quit though. Im sure that point is here on my current 250R.

A friend of mine just put in a full blown, race 440 kit on his EX. $1000.00! Do you know what kind of HP an R with $1K in it would do? Talk to Dave at MP, and for $1K, you can have a screamer!

 

Do you know the history on the R? This guy obviously raced it, and seems fromt he components he picked to put on it that he knew quads, so I'd jump on it ASAP. Not to mention, once you tear into the EX motor, your reliablity sucks, at least from what I've seen and read on these forums. Then again, the Moto is ONLY 12 grand...

 

Hey man, get your R and Shee fixed up and find a good home for them and then who knows... maybe Honda will have pulled their heads out of their @sses and will have a better, faster, more powerful 4-stroker on the floor. I'd wait and see what comes out in the near future. If you do decide to buy something now, don't get the EX cause if you decide to sell it, you won't get **** for it, and if you don't sell it, there will be something better out from Honda in no time that will make you wish you did wait (or atleast thats how my luck always seems to go... until I bought the Dale [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]). The R's will hold their value somewhat, or atleast they will compared to the Ex's. Everyone seems to be going 4-stroke, but man, you know the R and how to ride it, so go with the R.

 

Yeah, its JUST 12,000 one dollar bills.

YoDaddy, I know what you mean. The guy has raced this R, and I'm not scared of that at all. I know what it takes to keep a bike in racing shape, and most racers demand so much more out of their quads, so they take better care of them. I'm not really worried about the R, so I guess I'll go ahead and bite the bullet as they say.

 

It's pretty easy to find a cheep and hardly used ex here in Oregon. My friend bought one for 4500. he did just about every thing other than axle and arms and is under 7500 total cost. when he's finished he'll have just over 8500 in the whole thing, including suspension and some look good stuff. we took the top end apart ourselves and used local shops for the tricky stuff like boring, porting and valve guides. he saved a lot of money by buying all of his parts through one shop and getting to know the manager there. i personally prefer 4 stroke power even after learning on a 2 stroke. it's apples and oranges; whatever YOU prefer.
btw: I'd recommend the Curtis Sparks X6 pipe if you do get an ex. i've seen two or three dyno test shootouts that it won. i also rode an ex that had one. the power hit at about 1500 rpm and kind of gave it some snap like a 2 stroke.