250r gearing???Also exhaust Question.

[WannaRace400ex]

Im new with 2-strokes. Are the 1st and 2nd gears supposed to be so short? It seems like I have to shift very quickly from 1st to 2nd but then 3rd is like a rocket.
Alright now the header coming out. When I start it I see a poof of white smoke coming out. I looked at the gasket and its not coming from there but from in between the pipe and the shield thing. Whats causing this?
Thanks Eric

[hondatrikesrule22]

I have never ridden a 250r, but if you want longer gears and more top speed, throw on a 40 tooth rear sprocket.

[RichinMO]

I have never ridden a 250r, but if you want longer gears and more top speed, throw on a 40 tooth rear sprocket.


Actually a bigger rear sprocket would decrease speed and cause you to go through the gears faster. the stock sprockets on a '85 250r are 13/39, so you'd have to go with a 38 or smaller rear sprocket to gain speed. And yeah it doesn't take long to go through the gears on a 250R. As for the smoke deal, if its coming from between the pipe and the heatshield, sounds like a hole in the pipe.

[hondatrikesrule22]

Damn, I thought the 250r had a 50 tooth rear sprocket. Yeah, you might wanna throw on a 38 tooth sprocket if thats the case.

[TimSr]

If you change one tooth on the back, you probably wont even be able to detect the difference! About 4 teeth on the back = one tooth on the front.

If you do any trail and woods riding your going to find that the stock 13/39 gearing is way too high, especially if you do any hill climbing. Its hard to negotiate a rough hill will holding the clutch halfway in. You also find that you are eating clutchs and fouling plugs while trail riding because you have to drive around with the clutch halfway in. If you are geared low, you can keep the RPMs up where they need to be on a 2 stroke, keeping it cleaned out, and without slipping the clutch, at typical trail riding speeds. Its also nice to have that first gear way down there to shift into when you need it, because the 250R is super lame in the low end power department. You do go through the gears fast on any big 2 stroke, but your not likely to run out of them unless you plan on using it for freeway driving. My 86 TRX250R with the same motor was geared 11/46 with 22" tires, and I rarely saw 6th gear, and never saw it running Harescrambles or MX when I switched to 18" tires. It probably topped out at about 55 (with 22" tires) which is slightly faster than anyone hit on the overlengthed dragstrip at Haspin Acres.

I recommend you ride it for awhile, and see which end you run out of gears most. If you find yourself wanting to downshift lower than it can, more often than you run out of gears topped out and screaming, you need to gear down. If you never use 1st, and you top out all the time in high gear, gear up, but I doubt youll have that problem.


Cant tell from your description, but your exhaust leak may be that rubber boot that connects the silncer to the pipe.