I am looking at purchasing a 89 lt250r, however I am unfamiliar with the machine. I want it for a second machine and would like to have a sport machine. It has fresh top end and the bottom end is good. the bushings are good and the swing arm bearings are good. All of that is according to the owner, I have not looked at it first hand yet. It does need front tires, a seat cover, a front bumper and grill peice. The plastics have no cracks. The owner says that it is running rich, but the carb needs to be adjusted??

After all of that, what is the going price for this machine and what are some trouble areas to look at on these machines. I never had a two stroke machine so I am asking the experts in hope to learn something. Thanks for you time.

 

These are great machines and the problems you've listed that this one has are not serious things at all. It's really hard to put a price on it with out seeing it because the shape of these machines can vary so greatly. You can buy these machines for under $1000 if they are not running and need a lot of work. With no serious flaws, the bottom dollar of a good running 89 should be around $1500. If the plastic looks great and everything is in exceptional shape, the value could easily be $2500.

As for things important things to check, look over all the welds on the frame for cracks, especially near the front end. Also make sure the frame is straight. A lot of these are tweaked a little bit. Ride the bike and make sure it shifts into all 6 gears good and doesn't jump out of gear.

 

Thanks for the quick info. Are there any other reasons the bike would run rich or act like it is running rich?

 

Yes. Saying a carb needs to be adjusted can mean a lot of things. A lot of people struggle with getting their carb's adjusted correctly. If it is actually rich, your carb might need to be jetted down. If he thinks it's rich because it fouls plugs, it could be other things also. He could be mixing his gas with too much oil. Good stroke racing oil can and should be mixed much leaner than factory Suzuki 2 stroke oil, somewhere between 32 and 40 to 1. Also, he should try a hotter spark plug. This will sometimes fix problems with fouling plugs.

 

i would be careful. I bought an lt250 engine that had a "fresh" top end,but he was a big fat liar and not only the top end but the bottom end was garbage. always keep in mindthat you are buying a 16 year old machine.just like a car,if it is well maintained,it should be ok,but if it wasnt,it could be a nightmare

 

Superevil,

Are you the one on ebay trying to sell and 87 motor that is garbage? That guy said he got scammed too.

 

CLICKY

here is the link the the machine on Ebay. You can give me your opinons if you want, even if it that I am crazy for looking. It is close enough I could go look at it before bidding.

 

It's certainly worth his opening bid. I'd say up to $1000, you couldn't go wrong. It could well be worth a little more than that, but it's hard to tell without looking at it in person and testing all the stuff he says is good on it.

 

I personally would look at any quad before I purchased it. But that is just me.

Are you working a deal with him??? There is still alot of time left in this auction. You do not want to get caught up in the bidding wars. I would not spend more than a $1000 for this quad. That is because the quad in A1 shape is only worth $2000 and I would assume that this quad needs about $500 worth of work. That way it'll leave room for profit when I sell it.

On a side note,

If you don't know how to work on these older 2-strokes, they can really nickel and dime you death. I maintain mine religiously and I spend about $100 a month on parts and oil etc... And that is with me doing the work. If you don't know how to work on them, it'll cost even more. For example, the local guy (and he is cheap) wants $175 plus parts to correctly jet a quad.

 

Thanks for the help guys. I guess it is at least worth a trip down to see it.

It is not that I can not work on the older two strokes, I have just never owned one to work on. I do all my own work on my other stuff(atv, car, truck, old 69 charger) so I am mechanically inclined enought to rebuild things I just do not know what the common problems are on these. emmerth, what do you spend $100 a month on? Is that just gas and oil? Do you really need to fix your machine every month?