250R Or 350X What Should I Choose???

[Yamaha Tri-Moto]

Im gettin a new trike soon and i would like to hear your pros and cons about the 250R and 350X i know there both great but what do you think??

[Maine_Triker]

350x Pros:

Reliable, good for woods riding

Cons:

Gets beat by most 2-strokes

250R pros:

Kills anything in it's path

Cons:

Not the best in the woods, Not as reliable as the 350x




I just gave you a simple list.... it could go on and on.....

In the end it all depends on what you are going to use it for.....

[ATC crazy]

The easiest question to ask, is what type of riding are you going to be doing?

What are your experiences with 2-strokes and 4-strokes?

How experienced are you?

[250r'en +TCB]

^^^ definatly MUST ask yourself these questions first!!!!!!

[nouseforaname90]

I'd go for the 350X just for the fact that it is a 4-stroke.. but thats just me.

[NOS_350X]

It comes down to this, do you like maintince? (if yes the the 250r) and Do you HATE to mix gas (if yes the 350x)

If your worried about the X being slow with about $200 you can make the 350x run with the 250r's

[250r'en +TCB]

^^^ run with......not out run....

But anyway, he's right

[DX Rider12]

I say 250R only b/c I've never had a two stroke... But then again the X is bigger ,but I still say go with the 250R. :Bounce

[DX Rider12]

Look at 250r'en +TCB's signature. That might say something.

[Blown 331]

When I get my 250R running it usually blows up in about 3 weeks so keep that in mind. lol.

J/K, I think I've just had some bad luck. Everyone else's seems ok. I really want to get a 350X but my vote goes to the 250R.

[TeamGeek6]

Theres no beating the power of a 2 stroke but they can be a bugger to tune because of the oil premix, it tends to foul spark plugs. 2 strokes have twice as many power strokes per RPM as a 4 stroke and no valvetrain to fool with. Nothing wrong with the 350X either, they are fast. If you are leaning towards a 250R, there are factory design flaws in the 86 Keihin PJ flat slide carb that make tuning difficult, best to go with a PWK or another improved carb. Ive raced with several 350X, they ran great back then.

331, how much you want for that blown up 2 stroke? LOL

[Dammit!]

I've had my R for 16 years and have only had to rebuild it once. Never had much trouble tuning that factory flat slide carb either. Only times I've fouled plugs were when it needed a new top end and whenever I'd wipeout I'd usually have a fouled plug afterward. The stories of their unreliability and difficulty in tuning are greatly exaggerated. Maybe I just got lucky with mine but I doubt it. 2-strokes are pretty simple engines as well so when it does come time to rebuild (and they do wear faster but not like every year or something) it's much easier to do than a 4-stroke.

Both are awesome trikes. I wouldn't let any alledged maintenance or tuning issues make your decision for you. I plan to pick up a 350x myself sooner or later. I wouldn't trade my R for anything though.

[edog]

350 X will make you very happy.Good gas millage ,good power,great on straites and woods riding.I do not have one...but i have done alot of reserch on the 350 X,from what i have studyed they are excellent machines.A 250 r is not a good choice for a first timer woods trail rider.You mite be alot happyer on the 350 X.Just my 2 cents

edog

[dovesprings250R]

Having looked at both 350x and 250r before I boght mine I went with the r's. The guy I bought mine from also had a clean 86 350x. I rode them and the r 's just killed the 350. Mine are stock and bought from the original owner and he didn't have any trouble either of them. Getting them to run perfect does require a bit of carb tweeking but nothing terrible. Buy the r if you ride open fast terrain or dunes. Buy the x if you never pull any maintenance or ride slow technical trail which require tourqe which a built 350 x has lots of. Both great machines.

[OldSchoolin86]

I've had my R for 16 years and have only had to rebuild it once. Never had much trouble tuning that factory flat slide carb either. Only times I've fouled plugs were when it needed a new top end and whenever I'd wipeout I'd usually have a fouled plug afterward. The stories of their unreliability and difficulty in tuning are greatly exaggerated. Maybe I just got lucky with mine but I doubt it. 2-strokes are pretty simple engines as well so when it does come time to rebuild (and they do wear faster but not like every year or something) it's much easier to do than a 4-stroke.
^^^ Well said. I've had good luck with 2-strokes too. Can't say I've done a 16yr stretch but I've never owned a machine more then a few years either. My 250r was very reliable and easy to tune, even with that stock carb. I ran a shaved head, FMF exhuast and a uni filter. I think the most important part to my success is high quality pre-mix oil. After I dropped the wal-mart and auto-zone oils my cylinders lasted a lot longer. I ran it and my Z's at 50:1 with super techniplate.

I'm hooked on 4 strokes now. The 350x is a fine machine but take a bit of some money to run with the 250r's in drag racing. In the woods it's got more then enough power if you have the skill. As far as skill goes I've seen 200x's fly in the woods.

The question is what do you want? Do you want a low end, easily gruntable machine or do you want a top end screamer? Both will do any job but they will do some jobs better then others.

[86250RZ]

If your worried about the X being slow with about $200 you can make the 350x run with the 250r's[/QUOTE]

I want to see that! As a matter of fact I would like to see it with $600.00 spent on the X (and no NOS). It's not going to happen. As far as reliability goes, tune the R correctly and she will give you many years of satisfaction.

[Mr. Sandman]

I've had my R for 16 years and have only had to rebuild it once. Never had much trouble tuning that factory flat slide carb either. The stories of their unreliability and difficulty in tuning are greatly exaggerated. 2-strokes are pretty simple engines as well so when it does come time to rebuild (and they do wear faster but not like every year or something) it's much easier to do than a 4-stroke.

I'll 2nd that Dammit, but I'll also add that I've had my R for 20+ years and haven't been disappointed yet. You take care of it and it'll take care of you and you'll smoke any 350X you happen to cross paths with.

[Kintore]

I say go with the 2 strokes!
My 86 Tri-Z is almost 20 years old with original piston and everything(except reeds)
What does that tell ya, as far as 2 strokes being unreliable, well I havent any problems ever since I replaced my 20 year old reeds. First kick starts everyday now. I went to camp for almost 2 weeks, came home and about 2-3 kicks later she was humming.

Long live the 2 strokes!

[MO350X]

I've owned and loved them both but sold my X to buy my present R.

Why I love my '86 ATC250R:
Just look at 'em! They're MEAN! :naughty:
I don't know about you folks but I LOVE my R on the trails, it's never let me down or put me in a bad situation.
Once you get used to riding it, it's second-to-none in the trails (except for maybe a nice Tri-Z :))
LIGHT weight! 30 lbs.+ lighter than a 350X.
It's dead-on reliable. I could go out there in the garage right now and she'd fire up on 1-2 kicks, even after sitting for more than a month.
If it does need a rebuild, it'll be a LOT cheaper and MUCH simpler to perform than a 350X.
The HUGE aftermarket support of the 250R is fantastic.
I NEVER had a plug fouling condition. EVER.

Why I loved the 350X:
TORQUE! That thing would chug along like a tractor whereever you pointed it.
It was an aggressive-looking trike.
GAS SIPPER! WOW, that thing would make a tank last forever. :)

"BADS" about the 350X:
Weight.
Sometimes hard to start.
Complexity and expense of rebuilds and performance modifications.
Mods ARE necessary to "Keep up with" a 250R.
Lack of aftermarket support.....at least reasonably priced support. :rolleyes:


You want a trail and wheelie beast? 350X
You want a trail rider AND speed? 250R

In my book, the 250R is a better "all around" bike since it'll truck through the woods with the best of them AND pull your arms out of their sockets on demand. :w00t:

[Yamaha Tri-Moto]

well sounds like the 250R is the way to go. Ive owned a number of 2 strokes and would be able to preform most of the maintence myself and yeah they are a sweet looking trike. Thanx alot for the input guys.

[Dammit!]

You can't really make a "bad" choice between the two really. I'd love to have a 350x but like I said, I wouldn't trade my R for anything. I can honestly say if someone offered me a brand new TRX450R for my 20 year old trike, I would turn it down. Some of that is simply emotional attachment (I've owned it for half my life after all) but part of it is that it's a damn fine bike that's treated me extremely well over the years.

One of the cool things about the 250R's is that you can easily set it up to suit the type of riding you do. If you do mostly woods riding, put a low end pipe on it (I think ESR still makes one), gear it down a little, jet it right and you're good to go (or just keep it bone stock for that matter). You can take a step farther and get it ported for extra low end or get a powervalved top end and it would be a total beast in the trails. The suspension is second to none in the trike world for whatever kind of riding you do. Just a matter of adjusting it to what you want.

R's sometimes get a bad rap as a trail machine because people put top end pipes on them and larger front sprockets and get them ported or what have you. These things can shift the powerband to hit really hard in the upper rpm's and not have much power down low which is not good for trails (but freakin' awesome for sand dunes). My R is not setup for tight trails but I don't use it for that anymore either. When I did use it for trail riding in Ohio I just took the paul turner pipe off and put the stocker back on, put the stock sized sprockets and wheels back on and it was very much at home in the woods.

I have plans to build myself a 2nd R someday down the line and set it up completely differently from the one I have now. Something for the more slow paced and technical desert trails around here. I think a 250R setup for trails would be more at home in the dunes than a dune bike would be in the woods so that's probably the most versatile setup. A dune bike usually just wants to pull your arms out of their sockets and beat you with them. :lol:

[MO350X]

Dammit, you hit the nail on the head on all accounts. :beer
AWESOME post!