my friend is looking into buying a late 80's polaris trailblazer 250r/es. the only thing wrong with it, other than sitting, is the transmission.

been told that it will run all day in reverse, but if you put it in drive it will go 10 feet then stop. the chain is not getting power. the guy says its a clip in the transmission thats holds a gear in place. as momentum builds up the gear slips on the shaft and it stops moveing.

does this make sense? and how difficult of a fix is this?

 

its either a shiftfork which could just be a simple adjustment on the shifting rod or the silent chain inside is stretched. the chain requires you to pull the trans out and split it in half..theres not hardly anything in there. put a new chain on and put it back together.

how long has it been sitting? if more than a year your going to have to clean the carbs and prolly blow the exaust out from wasp nests and mice nests.

 

2+ years of sitting. ok, so not that hard of a fix once it gets pulled apart?

 

not hard at all..its easier to me to replace that chain (after pulling the tranny of course) that replacing the drive chain lol

 

don't stroke him!

thats a big job , its hours just getting the tranny out ,thats if all goes good . them splittin the tranny , replae the shift fork and silent chain
clutch pullers 40 bucks
shift fork & silent chain 100 bucks
tranny fluid 10 bucks
plus you better double that cash for unexpected stuff along the way .. clutch buttons , belt, drive chain & sprockets ,carb kit it has been sitting 2 years ,brakes rear bearings .. the list goes on
save the headache unless its real cheap (300 or less) and buy something you can test ride first craigslist has newer( 2000+) trailblazer 250's all day long for @ 1000 bucks

 

Depends on the price, old bikes like that may be cherry from sitting in a garage for years or
trashed from who ever. If you are mechanical at all you could spend a weekend fixing it and have a decent ride for a while. till you look at a new one then the money starts flowing cause your hooked on four wheeling. Two wheel drives are fun but four wheel drives are great.
Talk to a long time tech from a dealer and find out what you are in for.
I have heard of snap rings moving on the shaft like that but dont recall details. Maybe stiffer snap ring.

 

its not mine so i dont really care. i wouldnt have bought it myself, but my buddy did, he found out today it has no airbox