My father has a chance to purchase a 1986 Honda TRX350 4x4. Anybody have any experience with this bike? Is it any good? He will use it for hunting and just regular driving on trails, not very much mud at all. It supposed to be in great shape, he’s going to look at it this weekend. They are asking $2200 CDN $$, about $50USD…LOL! Damn CDN Dollar….


Thanks

Cayman

 

I had an `87 TRX 350 way back when. I liked the engine, plenty of power. It never gave me any trouble. The suspension was horrible. It rode like a tank. I even put Works shocks on all four corners trying to smooth it out. They helped somewhat but it still beat the cr@p out of me. I wound up selling it and buying an `88 TRX 300. The 300 didn't have near the power of the 350, but the handling and ride were far better.

 

I have an '86 250 fourtrax and it is still as good a bike as the day I bought it. I would purchase the 350 if it is in good shape but I think $2200 is a little steep. $1800 sounds a little better. I had a guy tell me I could still get $1300 for my 250 though. The only thing it needs is new front plastic.

 

My buddy picked up a 1986 350 4 trax this past fall. It had sat for 7 years because the motor was bad and the buddy didn't wan't to play with it any more. It was under a pile of saw dust and he bought it for $1200 with a cycle country plow. It is in the shape of a 1 year old bike now that it is all cleaned up. They rev really funny (nice and smooth) because of of the 4 valve head. Turns out that it had a bent valve. We stripped it down and fixed the top end but that is when we noticed the carb problems. Apparently there is an issue of flooding with these bikes. We tried to fix the carb but it would not idle without flooding so we got another carb off of a parts bike and it is much better but it still eats a plug every couple of trips. They have all the power you could ever want even with 2 people on it. I think 2200 is a good deal if it is in really great shape. As long as you don't drive it when it is flooding you won't stick a valve and just make sure you have an extra fuel pump with you at all times. If that goes in the woods you are SOL without a replacement.

 

If its in good condition yes its well worth it i have an 87 and it does not ride like cadilack but it sure is a dependable work-horse

 

Overall they are good. I have lots of customers still own one and have good things to say. However, they did have a few recurring issues that came up. I think Honduki hit on the main ones pretty well. I have done a lot of head work on those things. Mainly from dropping intake valves, breaking guides, a couple even with fragged pistons. I wouldn't let this scare me as it is not real common. You may want to avoid severe high sustained RPM tho. The spark plug fouling problem is not really an issue as it is easily fixed with a new needle jet set, a 35$ part that takes an hour or less to replace. The hole in the brass needle jet just wears too big over time. If there isn't much time on the one that your looking at it may not have that problem. I always put one range hotter spark plugs in them too, except maybe in the heat of the summer. I concur with Honduki that the fuel pumps fail more often than they should. If you own it for a few years I wouldn't doubt you will replace the pump once. Once in a while I crack one of these open and usually the "points" are all corroded. So avoid the pressure wash right there, and don't take it swimming. Also recall putting a few cam chains and tensioners in. Rebuilding the starters once in a while. Oh yeah, If the starter clutch sounds clanky or it makes a sharp noise when when you shut it off, replace it and put the updated starter gears in it. It's a little spendy in parts (maybe 300$), but if your starter gear teeth break, and they do once in a while, it's much worse as it usually takes out the stator, flywheel and starter armature too, really ugly costwise. Hope I'm not scaring you. I only see the broke ones it seems! If it's in nice shape I say go for it definitely. If it has problems, check them out before you buy and deduct from that price.

 

dzzy said it better than I did. My buddy is waiting for some cash to rebuild his carb and then his will be perfect again. People say you are always replacing the fuel pump on these machines but when you ask them how many they have replaced they only say one hahaha. Not to shabby for a 1986 if you ask me. After driving my buddies I would buy one in an instant. Good luck

 

Thanks guys, wow what great information. He's going to go look at it this weekend, I'll let you know how it works out.

Thanks



Cayman

 

I have an 87' 350TRX that I bought in 89. I've beat the heck out of it and gotten my use out of it. I recently rebuilt the whole engine. Before that it has been a really reliable machine. It does ride a little like a tank. There is definately a problem with the fuel pumps. I replaced it with an aftermarket pump. (You have to find a hot wire from the fuse box since the wire for the OEM fuel pump is a pulse).
I think it should be worth about $2000.
Enjoy!!

 

hey, any place specific to get an aftermarket fuel pump or any fuel pump for that matter for this machine? went through 2 in 2 years, getting kinda spendy and unable to find anything online for it. any help would be greatly appreciated.