My 1985 250ES just got a little brother....

[OKSTATE#1]

Just brought home an 86 250ES. other than the front rack and the missing key ignition.....its a good start for a facelift. The plastics are not cracked, no dents in the tank, no rust in the tank, it runs GREAT, shifts smooth, and appears to be all there except for the rear cargo box and a battery. Need to reconfigure the wiring so that the electric start works again.

But the cool thing was when I raised the fenders and wiped the mud off the frame...its cherry! shiny black paint. And I started trying to bring the plastics back to life, looks like theres some good red under all that age. One cool part was when I lifted the seat and found a nice tool kit. The bag is wrinkled but not punctured, the tools were spotless, and there was a little Honda tire gauge in the set. Did the 86 come with these? I have only seen the tool kits on 85's. And I have a tire gauge that I got in 85 for my old Big Red, but it was brown and shaped different and didn't say Honda on it like this one.

Probably could have got it for less (paid $900), but oh well. It was worth it to me. Never had an 86 and always wanted one, and I wanted a nice project so here it is.

I had more pics, with the little honda tire gauge, the frame and of me doing some quick plastics work, but I am having an issue at the moment...but heres the ride home anyway....its really dirty and its going to get some Ohtsus put on it first thing in the morning....189739189740

The seat and the side covers are off during the trip home so I didn't lose em...

[OKSTATE#1]

Ah, heres the other pics. Took me a bit to get them off the phone. 189741189742189743189744

I hate the seat. That will be going quickly too. I want an original style seat cover.

[MickeyC]

Nice find man, your other BR looks beautiful too!

[atc007]

Congrats ! Can't wait to see her all primped back up ! Tire gauge was standard.

[clmeue37]

Nice find! I really wanted something with reverse (250es, 200es, 250sx) but I found the 83 200e a couple weeks ago and couldn't pass it up. The "brothers" look great together!

[OKSTATE#1]

Did some sanding on the plastics yesterday and got past all the spider webbing and surface crud with 80 grit. I tested to see what I could get with going back up in paper and ended at 600 so far with great results. Will go up to 2000 to finish it all out....but wow....it looks nice and red again and appears I will make it back to dam near original finish.

It's amazing what you can do with these old plastics. Makes me think twice about shunning some of the old fenders I have seen on eBay. This restoration process on these old trikes is easier than having to completely dismantle an old Jeep and restore from the frame up. Next, the tank will get some sand blasting and paint. Hope to have the brothers looking like twins soon!

[OKSTATE#1]

Ok....problem.


My 86 leans to the right a bit. I can't seem to figure out what it making do that. There's no real bend in the frame that I can see, and the rear tires are now original style Ohtsus that are in great shape. It was leaning with the tires that came on it as well. Anybody else ever encounter this? If so, what was the deal? This is driving me bonkers. I had to run my mouth about this being easy to do....

[OKSTATE#1]

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A before and after photo after hours of sanding, buffing, and little polish....I was able to get rid of the deep gouges and cracks, but I was unable to save the original embossed warning label for the 86 fender. Oh wellski....I have it just hangin there by a bolt just for kicks. Now comes round two....the right rear fender...

[OKSTATE#1]

This may be my best work yet on sanding these fenders....190778190779

Also just restored the front forks....painted and bought new boots190780

[Flyingw]

Very nice work!!!!! Did you get a replacement ignition switch for it?

[OKSTATE#1]

I did in fact get a replacement switch. I have just about everything I need to bring him back to spec...now if I can find a matching NOS tool box, speedo, and headlight guard so the brothers can both bling it :D

[honda200x1987]

A little expensive but here is a NOS OEM seat cover on ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-1985-Honda-ATC250ES-Big-Red-OEM-Seat-Cover-ATC250-/301146364974?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item461db8dc2e&vxp=mtr Looks like that 250 is going to get a good face lift. I know first hand it's a lot of work to get the shine back on those plastics, nice job on that front fender, looks great.

[Flyingw]

I did in fact get a replacement switch. I have just about everything I need to bring him back to spec...now if I can find a matching NOS tool box, speedo, and headlight guard so the brothers can both bling it :DYou going to come out next month and ride?

[OKSTATE#1]

I might. Depends on work, got a new business starting soon....so hopefully i can get away some

[Flyingw]

What kind of business?

[OKSTATE#1]

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Starting to get excited!! Seat cover came today. I did the Thailand cover lol. Shoot me I guess. This is gonna be a daily rider so I didn't need a spec cover, but it looks like it will be a good one anyway. I'm using a nice 85 keypad for now, I have a couple of the grey ones for the 86-87 years, but they would need some work prior to mounting. I found a nearly mint kill switch. All new bearings, grips, bar ends, etc. Just painted the tank today, going to clear coat it and then I just have the rear rack to blast and coat. Everything else is painted (except the foot pegs lol). I have to sand out the rear hatch and the right side panel. Finished sanding out the fenders and the left panel. The photo is fuzzy, but the front fender is almost perfect. All new cables. Re-wrapped the wiring harness and hooked it up for a trial run, it worked great. The front headlight cord had never been unraveled, had to unravel it to clean it then I'm going to reapply the tie. Found a NOS stator and flywheel on eBay (wasn't cheap, ya probably saw it lol), my stator wire was sort of chewed up and it drove me nuts. I may or may not use the NOS flywheel, haven't decided yet. I guess this will be a daily rider, that what I started out thinking I was going to do, but my OCD kicked in and I before I knew it I was standing over my blast cabinet with every little piece I off the bike, buying every little part, and just plain going nuts. I will post photos when I put the tank and seat on this weekend....hopefully lol.

[OKSTATE#1]

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First ride tonite since I tore it down. Used my 85 tank, my 86 is still in my paint booth lol....,it ran good, but it did die on me once. I haven't changed the spark plug or anything yet. The seat turned out good. No seams and no folds showing. Looks like an 86 seat.

[OKSTATE#1]

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HALLELUJAH!!!!! I am about 97% finished, just have to tidy up a bit tomorrow, add the rear moldings, front brake cable stays, some minor house cleaning details and the little brother is resurrected!!! It's been a fun time but I'm ready for the ride!!! Added the before photo lol

[OKSTATE#1]

Had to use an 85 key dash for now, waiting on a decent 86-87 one later. I have a couple but they need some work. Also have to flip the front tire around and repaint the wheels. The rears are nice but they are the wrong color.

[MojaveRider]

Looking good, very nice pair!

[Flyingw]

Very nice. You going to stop by LS this weekend?

[OKSTATE#1]

Prolly not, have to work this weekend unfortunately. Tomorrow morning though, it's Friday morning coffee and big red rides lol.

Can't wait to have the two BRs out side by side....my wife has now gotten the big red bug. Was going to sell the 86, but she's definitely hooked and I am glad, I didnt want to sell it after that all that.

[Flyingw]

Oh bummer. Oh well, there is always next year.

[OKSTATE#1]

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COMPLETE!!!!

Finally got everything in it's place....all shined up and ready to ride. 4 day weekend coming up, my wife and I are taking the brothers out for a ride this weekend!

[OKSTATE#1]

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The wife and I posing on the Big Reds. Helmets are off since she wanted to post them on Facebook lol.

[Pryme]

Very nice transformation. No idea sanding the plastic could bring them back like that.

[OKSTATE#1]

It wasn't easy as far as the sanding goes. I had to keep going back over some areas. The photos don't even tell the tale really. These were as bad as you can get without severe cracks and bubba Frankenstein repair jobs. The top layer of plastic was like a grey crystal substance. Looked like dead skin on the heels of your feet. I was using 60 and 80 grit at first on the fenders in some spots just to get through that crap. Using that made the final sanding just that much longer. Not to mention I painted my tank twice...had a run the first time. Blasted it again and did all the prep, only to have a little dog pecker gnat fly into the paint and start doing a back stroke just after I had finished up. Luckily I was able to pull his little ass out with a set of tweezers and a steady hand. The paint ended up flowing in and it was right over where the tank decal went, so it essentially covered up that area. I was livid lol. There were other little issues that popped up, but I have almost all the bugs worked out now...heh.