250R Engine Bedtime Story!!...[long]
#1
06-19-2002, 12:40 AM
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[Before people start posting on where to buy new 250R engines....I'm aware that a few are still left.....just bear with me here....LOL]
When I was a Senior in high school, I took a small engine class at the Vo-Tech. Not long after I started, I had to get some things that were stored upstairs.
When I started walking around, I saw a few engines sitting in the corner of one of the rooms. I looked closer and it was [3] 250R engines and [3] 350X engines!!!! They had carburetors and the 350Xs even still had the oil coolers on them. Still had stickers on the side cases that read: 1986 ATC250R and 1986 ATC350X. Wiring harnesses with all the electronics were balled up around these engines as well.
I went back downstairs and talked to the instructor who had been working there since the late 70s. I figured he would know where they came from.
He said that in late 1986, a few schools from across the country were asked by Honda, if they would be interested in driving to Shreveport,LA to pick up some engines that they would donate to the small engine classes.
They accepted and made the drive. He said that when they got there, there were two forklifts bringing crated three wheelers into the middle of the warehouse parking lot.
A crew would take the crate apart, removing the engines and tires/wheels and piling them up in piles.
THEN the crew would take a blow torch and cut right down the center of the frame and throw the remains into a dumptruck..plastic, axles, and all!!!!!!
He said about 10 schools showed up and they divided the engines up. he got 3 each of the 250R and 350X engines.
Each school signed an agreement when they left that if they ever decided to have no longer use for the engines, that they were to be destroyed.
Well.......I never could talk the instructor out of those engines. I tried well after high school.....LOL
Two years ago, the instructor decided that he was going to retire. He called me and said that he was going to keep one of each engine but wanted me to have the others if I agreed to do some work on his Foreman400...Ofcourse I agreed!
I had no need for the 350X engines at the time and sold them asap. I sold one 250R engine and put the other in an ATC250R I had lying around. When my daughter was born, I had to sell a few machines and the ATC was one of them. I didn't want to....but I think some of you dads understand this one.
Last year, I wanted to get the other 250R engine. I called the former instructor at home and he said that one week before he retired, he had went up there to get some things and the other 250R engine AND the 350X engine were STOLEN!! He suspected some of the kids that helped him get down the engines that I got.
OK.......You guys still with me????......LOL
OK......Fast Forward to TODAY!!!!!!!
I had a guy come in and ask me if I knew where he could get ahold of a TRX250R with a bad engine or a frame to base a project on...ofcourse...I told him GoodLuck!!..LOL
He went on to explain that he had an engine that he traded some house speakers on and some guy had told him that it was a 250R engine. He said it appeared to be brand new and never cranked. After further questions from me....It ended up being the missing 250R engine from the Vo-Tech!!!
He said that the guy he got it from worked at a factory that happens to be same town the Vo-Tech is located in.
Before he left, I managed to spiff the poor guy and got the deal of my lifetime.
Right now....plans are for a display beside my computer on the bookshelf. I don't think I could part with it or install it in anything.
Sorry to have bored you guys. Its just that this was the highlight of my day...week..month...and mostly likely the year.
Thanks for being patient and pretending to read.
Patrick
When I was a Senior in high school, I took a small engine class at the Vo-Tech. Not long after I started, I had to get some things that were stored upstairs.
When I started walking around, I saw a few engines sitting in the corner of one of the rooms. I looked closer and it was [3] 250R engines and [3] 350X engines!!!! They had carburetors and the 350Xs even still had the oil coolers on them. Still had stickers on the side cases that read: 1986 ATC250R and 1986 ATC350X. Wiring harnesses with all the electronics were balled up around these engines as well.
I went back downstairs and talked to the instructor who had been working there since the late 70s. I figured he would know where they came from.
He said that in late 1986, a few schools from across the country were asked by Honda, if they would be interested in driving to Shreveport,LA to pick up some engines that they would donate to the small engine classes.
They accepted and made the drive. He said that when they got there, there were two forklifts bringing crated three wheelers into the middle of the warehouse parking lot.
A crew would take the crate apart, removing the engines and tires/wheels and piling them up in piles.
THEN the crew would take a blow torch and cut right down the center of the frame and throw the remains into a dumptruck..plastic, axles, and all!!!!!!
He said about 10 schools showed up and they divided the engines up. he got 3 each of the 250R and 350X engines.
Each school signed an agreement when they left that if they ever decided to have no longer use for the engines, that they were to be destroyed.
Well.......I never could talk the instructor out of those engines. I tried well after high school.....LOL
Two years ago, the instructor decided that he was going to retire. He called me and said that he was going to keep one of each engine but wanted me to have the others if I agreed to do some work on his Foreman400...Ofcourse I agreed!
I had no need for the 350X engines at the time and sold them asap. I sold one 250R engine and put the other in an ATC250R I had lying around. When my daughter was born, I had to sell a few machines and the ATC was one of them. I didn't want to....but I think some of you dads understand this one.
Last year, I wanted to get the other 250R engine. I called the former instructor at home and he said that one week before he retired, he had went up there to get some things and the other 250R engine AND the 350X engine were STOLEN!! He suspected some of the kids that helped him get down the engines that I got.
OK.......You guys still with me????......LOL
OK......Fast Forward to TODAY!!!!!!!
I had a guy come in and ask me if I knew where he could get ahold of a TRX250R with a bad engine or a frame to base a project on...ofcourse...I told him GoodLuck!!..LOL
He went on to explain that he had an engine that he traded some house speakers on and some guy had told him that it was a 250R engine. He said it appeared to be brand new and never cranked. After further questions from me....It ended up being the missing 250R engine from the Vo-Tech!!!
He said that the guy he got it from worked at a factory that happens to be same town the Vo-Tech is located in.
Before he left, I managed to spiff the poor guy and got the deal of my lifetime.
Right now....plans are for a display beside my computer on the bookshelf. I don't think I could part with it or install it in anything.
Sorry to have bored you guys. Its just that this was the highlight of my day...week..month...and mostly likely the year.
Thanks for being patient and pretending to read.
Patrick
#4
06-19-2002, 05:03 PM
#5
06-19-2002, 07:09 PM
A place in Tulas got a couple of those motors. I was looking for gears for my 250R (again!) & called around & found them. When I got there he had the remains of 2 NEW 250R motors laying on the bench he said he got them from Vo Tech. He had already sold the topends, carbs & cases & I bought a complete set of gears for $200 including all the bearings, shafts, shift drum & forks!!
If this guy would have known any thing about 250R's he could have made a small fortune!
This was 2 years ago & last time I needed parts he said they were all gone!
That's gona make a sweet display!!
I know a guy who raced Plymoths in the 60's & he still has a 426 factory race Hemi in the factory shipping crate!!!
He paid $100 in a back door racing deal for it!
The crate is worth a thousand dollars or more to a collector & I wouldn't even guess what the motor is worth!!
If this guy would have known any thing about 250R's he could have made a small fortune!
This was 2 years ago & last time I needed parts he said they were all gone!
That's gona make a sweet display!!
I know a guy who raced Plymoths in the 60's & he still has a 426 factory race Hemi in the factory shipping crate!!!
He paid $100 in a back door racing deal for it!
The crate is worth a thousand dollars or more to a collector & I wouldn't even guess what the motor is worth!!
#6
06-19-2002, 10:48 PM
#7
06-19-2002, 11:30 PM
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Mississippi
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#8
06-20-2002, 09:16 PM
I recently had the chance to buy 3 "new" 250R engines. They also came from a vo-tech school. I bought one of them and I made an engine stand for it and have it "displayed" in my garage , although it may be relocated to my rec room. A friend of mine bought one of the other ones and put in a Laeger frame with a Pro-trax front end and PEP ZPS shocks.He actually plans on running it...LOL. I have 4 other 250R engines so I have no plans on running the "new" one , YET...LOL
Yes there are still a few left , but they are getting harder to find and more expensive!
Yes there are still a few left , but they are getting harder to find and more expensive!
#9
06-20-2002, 09:40 PM
#10
06-20-2002, 10:09 PM
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Mississippi
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