Which year 250es

[BigSkip]

Are there any differences between the 1985,'86,'87 Honda Big Red 250ES's. Is any one year any better that I should be looking at when looking for a Big Red. Somebody told me something about seals being changed or updated on the 1985 due to them leaking...but I can't remember which seals...thought it was axle seals but I can't remember...

[muddog]

the 85 axle seals were leaky indeed

[Chillian]

86, or 87 would be better overall. Rearend was less complicated(less moving parts) internal spline on clucth shaft was smaller on 85's although wasn;t a huge problem makes it harder on parts because only made 1 year. rear brake housing diffrent as well only works for 85 only, plus don't forget the carb cold starting issue's. 85's are fine but 86/87 better.

[dajeepman]

86, or 87 would be better overall. Rearend was less complicated(less moving parts) internal spline on clucth shaft was smaller on 85's although wasn;t a huge problem makes it harder on parts because only made 1 year. rear brake housing diffrent as well only works for 85 only, plus don't forget the carb cold starting issue's. 85's are fine but 86/87 better.

you saying the internal spline inside the motor?

I thought all BR 250 motors are the same?

[Thorpe]

My 85 starts just fine in the cold, and I dont have any seal issues.... Its a Honda, what could go wrong??

[Chillian]

you saying the internal spline inside the motor?

I thought all BR 250 motors are the same?

Yes the clucth bell housing spline is smaller on the 85. I thought they were all the same motor wise as well. learned that lesson the hard way after i bought some used parts thinking they are all interchangeable. There are some diffrence's between the 85 and 86/87 motors. Like i said i prefer 86/87 but also like i said nothing that bad with 85's if a good price came by on I wouldn't pass it up.

[Woodsrider]

86, or 87 would be better overall. Rearend was less complicated(less moving parts) .

So you're saying that the '85 has more moving parts in the rear end. I'm really curious to know exactly what these extra moving parts are.

[Chillian]

The 85's are a 1 piece swingarm assy. with a thru axle the 86 and above were a 2 piece swingarm assy. the parts break down is 39 total parts for the 86 and 42 for the 85. not much of a diffrence but from experience the 86 is a little easier to work on also. because of the design diffrence there is an extra cork seal, bearing and bearing cap. But they simplified the 86 and above rearend. I would photo copy the manuals, but my all in 1 thing is down nothing is working on it now. i learned all this through trail and error over the years. Found out alot of stuff is not interchangeable. But for the most part alot is, just the rearends are diffrent and the internal clucth spline is diffrent, so that means the clucth is diffrent also. I bought the whole clutch assy to replace just the sprag and found out 85's don;t work on 86's the sprag does but clutch housing and such doesn't. The whole clutch used, was cheaper then just a new sprag. But beware beacuse you'll be like me and have alot of extra parts lying around. Which in my mind isn;t a bad thing.. lol..

[Woodsrider]

But beware beacuse you'll be like me and have alot of extra parts lying around. Which in my mind isn;t a bad thing.. lol..

LOL..I hear you on that one...I'm a terrible parts hoarder...I just keep getting any old machine I can find for my parts collection...I gotta stop...running outta room in my garage.