Honda is an innovator, and I was a bit chagrined when I first saw the deleted oil filter on a 99 Recon. But they have not seemed to have long-term reliability problems.

Now other 250-class quads from other companies seem to have deleted them, too. Exceptions are the Suzuki Ozark 250 and the Polaris Phoenix. Perhaps others still have a filter.

BTW, Honda might also be the first major to drop gear oil from car manual trannies, too, also with no reliability issues. Since about 25-30 y ago, they have used motor oil in there.

 

Could this be due to many manufacturers do not even build their smaller displacement ATVs any longer but just rebadge a subcontracted model from china or twain?

I know Yamaha's smallest ATV they "actually build themselves" is the 350 Grizzly, the newer 300 Grizzly is subcontracted out to some Asian company.

 

Honda originally brazed the bung onto these steel tanks, and that is the first area to leak, usually, from corrosive sediment and water.

My TRX250 Fourtrax was treated with Kreme, the tank coating. But that was breaking down from the same corrosive sediments that we all get from 10% ethanol fuel.

At the risk of diverting the thread, here are the pix of the tank fix. You can buy aftermarket plastic tanks, but they are spendy. I once bought a Clarke tank for my Honda ATC250SX. The tank and the fulltime 4x4 are perhaps the only downsides to the 88-2000 TRX300FW 4x4.

Before cutting or welding, I drain the tank and leave it open overnight. Sometimes I blow them out with air.

 

I've been meaning to get a trike for the last 10 years... if for no other reason than to help knock the berm down in the middle of my trails

The honda is unique. The engine is sideways so that the crankshaft and driveshaft are in line and the driveshaft tube is part of the swingarm. That's kinda neat display of efficiency.

Another thing I don't like about the honda is if the battery dies in the woods, you cannot start it. It can't be pushed down a hill or pull-started. There is no kick starter or pullrope. I had to rewire the thing to get around the "safety" mechanism so I could start it in gear. Other quads prevent only the starter from working while in gear... they don't disable the entire ignition system. Many things honda has done has left a bad taste in my mouth for honda: This starting issue, diff lockers, non-adjustable shocks, driveshafts, no oil filter, etc. I can't see an advantage to not having a filter... especially when an atv shop sold me one! LOL

My ford truck takes atf in the manual tranny. Bearing tolerances must be tighter not to need the heavy gear oil nowadays.

 

I do not know where the Honda TRX250EX Sportrax or TRX250 Recon engine is built, or if it is the first of the smaller (300cc and under) that no longer have an oil filter.

I do know that several Taiwanese makers (Aeon, Herchee, and Kymco) are makers of some of the those quads for the majors. Mainland China sources are a different beast entirely. Yamaha has been sourcing numerous parts from HSUN (aka HiSun), tho they are not very open about it. I had an 07 HSUN 400ATV 4x4 that shared numerous parts with BigBears, Grizzlies, and Bruins.

Now, HSUN is selling UTVs openly in the US under their own name. They are the same as the Yam UTVs.

Kymco makes an excellent quad. I have the entry level utility here right now, and it stands up very well to the other 250-class competition. It comes stock with a speedo gauge cluster with electronic fuel gauge and gear indicator. No oil filter like most of the competition. The Kymco MXU 300 is also the same as the Kawasaki BruteForce300 and ArcticCat300. I have also had a couple of Kymco Mongoose 300s, same unit as the AC DVX300.

 

Honda has actually been doing without a traditional oil filter in the smaller motors for decades. The little 70/90 used in the mini quads and bikes doesn't have one either. There actually is a permanent internal filter that needs to be serviced every so often though. Not sure if that is the case with the 250ex motor?

 

Yeah, you are right, the small engines have a "filter screen", usually just above the drain plug that you cleaned off during an oil change. In this photo, it is #14 on an 85 Honda ATC110, which I sold a few months ago.

I wonder is Honda the first to delete the filter in 250-class machines (1997?).

 

There is a screen inside, but that's it. They don't have a filter because they want you to buy a new atv and/or bring your old one in for service

 

I guess the smaller motors really do not need a dedicated oil filter ,you just change the oil more regularly like on a Snow blower or Generator.

I was surprised my 350 Grizzly had a spin on automotive type oil filter because my old 1989 350 Big bear with the same 348cc motor only had a small paper insert type oil filter about the size of my thumb that went in the side of the crank.

 

The thing about a snowblower or generator is it's only an engine. Atvs have clutches and trannies in the same oil. But I guess bits of clutch debris in the cam bearings is no big deal

As bad as not having a filter seems to be, my honda is still in brand new condition after 10 years of hard use.