I used to ride and race atv's but I haven't in about 6 years due to the Army and bieng shipped all over because all of this crap going on in the world. I have rode just about every 2 stroke model from 87 92 that was made due to my friends all owning them and my self have owned 3 or 4 2 strokes. I only had one quadracer however and it was an 87 model and i loved it. It was bored ported ect... is it was strong. I just got back from the middle east and found a real good deal on an 86 model suzuki quadracer. I only got to ride it one day before having to go back to the army base. I never fooled with the 85 86 models and didnt know as much about them except they dont have the powervalve which was introduced in the 87 model. Although the 86 is strong ( bored .80 over jetted ,reeds ,ported , and heads shaved) it just doesnt seemt the machine my 87 was which if i remember right was bored only .70, ported and i dont even think i even fooled with the jets and stuff. Point is could anyone please tell me if they know if there is a significant difference in the powervalve motors or has the years i have been outta the game just playing with my head. Also I cant remember but can I put a later model motor with a powervalve or will it not bolt up right. Any help would GREATLY be appreciated.


Thank you,

Staff Sergeant Wooldridge US ARMY

 

Tyrus,

Glad to hear you are back, brother. I own an 85, my lil bro has an 87. Your seat of the pants impression is correct, the 85/6 models are not as strong as the later years. The only difference between 85 and 86 was carb size. in 87 Suzuki put a different style swingarm on, changed the frame around, a little better suspension/longer travel, and of course upgraded the motor from a trail bike engine to the RM style w/ powervalve. Also 87 and up had a 6sp tranny vs 5sp for the earlier models and probably a few other changes also. Our bikes have about the same amount of engine work, but the 87 kills the 85 anywhere but in tight trails. The earlier bikes are a bit narrower stock and just overall feel smaller and a touch lighter. The 85/6 engine has a great low end/mid range stock. The newr bikes can be a bit more pipey, and have much more potential. If you just want something to play around on and price is a big factor, go with the 86. otherwise if you plan on racing and/or riding in wide open places, I would look for something else. Having said that, I bought mine because I wanted something fast and cheap to ride after having been out of the sport for a while myself. This has been a great bike for me and is definately keeping me happy until I decide if I really want a new $6500.00 + quad right now.

 

Thanks for the info man. I have been doing some reading the last day or two and sounds like im gonna need to do some serious stuff to this 86 to get what i want or maybe just sell it and get 87-92 model. It prolly wont work but would still like to know if the trans on the 86 would work with a 87+ model motor since it has only five gears as opposed to 6 in the newer models. If i could do that I might try it and just gear it real high due to the lesser number of gears. If I cant get that to work i will probably modify the frame and put a whole new motor, trans, and swing arm. Again any more info is greatly appreciated, and thanks again Scooter86.

 

Hey, Tyrus, email me your phone number =) and shouldn't you be in bed? =))

 

Nothing interchanges on the motor, and almost nothing on the rest of the bike.

 

I have a quick question.
How much does HP the 85 250 r produce. If anyone knows that would be awsome. I own an 85 with a fair share of upgrades. And its fast, i mean scary fast. It gives everything except a raptor or a tricked ban. a run for their money especialy in the dunes at pismo. I put some new gears in ita and it took the top speed down from 65-75 down to 45-50 or so. I used to be able to keep up with my dads 600hp sandrail untill about 60 now i top out at around 50. It gives me better acceleration to climmb the hills. If any one knows the stock hp for the 85 year that would be nice cause ive got a sneaky pete nitros kit to put on but it would nice to know the baseline. Ive also proted, bored, and balanced the motor and use only 105 octain gas.

micah

 

Just a little helpful info. First, as others have said, there isn't much interchangeable on the 85/86 motors with the later years. Also, you cannot interchange the 87 & up motors with the 85-86 frames with out some mods. The main difference is the front motor mounts. The 85-86 frames have one down tube in the front of the engine where the 87 & later had two. There are several other more subtle differeces as well. For example, the 87 - 90 models had a very similar rear linkage to the 85 and 86, but they are not exact bolt ons either (although they can easily be made to fit.) The 91-92 had an altogether different linkage more similar to a Zilla. The 85 and 86 also had slightly different front shocks and A-arms, as well as a round housing axle carrier swingarm. Also keep in mind that 87 had a much bigger intake than any of the other engines, even 88-92.
For all of it's shortcomings, the 85 & 86 250's did have one advantage. They only weighed 293 lbs dry. (Same as 86 250R THREE wheeler!) In 87, that weight jumped to about 320 and went up even a little more in later years when they added the factory steel foot gards. However, the LT was always the lightest 250 quad even in it's later heavier years.
As far as power, the 85/86 models probably didn't have quite as much low end compared to the power valved motors, but they can scream when moddified. Problem is there's getting fewer and fewer parts for the later model LT's much less the 85/86 models.

Hope this helps.

 

thanks it does. I really love my quad. I bought it a couple of years ago from an old indy driver who bought it for his wife. It was 15 years old and had less than 2 hours on it cause the wife's leg got caught between the peg and tire so she never rode it again. The best part about it was he sold it to me for 400 dollars and the plastics were still bright. The thing looks brand new. I started tricking it out a little and it made my new 4500 dollar 300ex look like a toy. I love its low center of gravity and quick rev. and acceleration. But ar you sure on the weight cause mine feels so much hevier than that.

 

I'm positive on the weight assuming Suzuki is correct. I have lots of vintage Suzuki brochures and literature, and they all list the dry weight of 85 and 86 LT250R's as 293 lbs. Looking at the differences between it and the 87 model, I would assume that's about right. The wheels where slightly lighter, the frame, a-arms, and swingarm & axle housing were all lighter, the engine was probably a fair bit lighter (being a non-power valved 5 speed), the grab bar was lighter, and the exhaust was quite a bit lighter. (The 87 up models had very heavy rectangle looking stock mufflers - much more than the 85/86 round mufflers). They also didn't have a key. Heck, now that I think about it, even the seat is probably a little lighter since 85 and 86 didn't have T-seats. By the way, I freaking love the look of the seats on the 85 (hollow yellow lettered Suzuki) and the 86 (hollow white lettered Suzuki). Very vintage looking.

A lot of these little changes probably don't matter too much with regard to the weight. But when you add them all up plus the major differences (motor, frame, muffler), it's easy to see how the weight was close to 30 lbs lighter than the 87 model.

BTW, I have some old magazines that compare the 86 LT versus the newly debuted Honda 250R and the LT beats it in the hill drags everytime to the "surprise" of the very biased dirwheels writers. So just because you don't read about the old LT's much anymore, don't think that they aren't great machines. It's just too bad there aren't as many performance parts for them as there used to be.

 

Thanks for all the info guys. I also agree about the quadracers bieng good bikes. I just bought another one (92 model/motor done by duncan racing). Take care all [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]