Introduction + Question about 250sx repairs.

[AttoirRE]

Hey guys, my name is Joseph. I'm 22, and never had three wheeler or atv growing up. I just recently (a few weeks ago) decided to try and get into ATV's. I live in NE Texas (Texarkana area) and there are just way too many places to ride and people to ride with to not have one.

So then I started looking for a cheap way to get into the hobby, just to see if I'd like it. Place up the road from me had an '83 ATC 200 for sale for 350 bucks. So I bought it.

Big pic. (http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/files/1022871_3scrz/IMG_0053.JPG)

It's a base model, pull start only, but it runs flawlessly. In the past two weeks I've gone riding with a Honda 250ex and 400ex quads, and didn't get abandoned. :-P What more can I ask for for 350 bucks?

Anyway- I'm now already wanting to pick up a second trike. A childhood friend has a 250sx (don't recall what year) that still runs and looks excellent. However, *something* in the rear end locked up. I haven't even looked at it yet, but I'm planning to offer around 200 or so for it.

What I'm wanting to know is- Is it worth it? I'm pretty mechanically inclined, I've done everything in the world to automobiles, just never 3 wheelers. Nothing difficult about swapping in a new rear end is there? Is that probably the course of action i'd have to take (swapping a whole new rear end vs replacing say, a gear)? What're some commons causes of the rear end locking up? How can I tell what is wrong?

Thanks for the input guys.

[edog]

Welcome to 3ww world.

[SYKO]

yea get it and the 250sx gurus will help you out for sure! you can get rebuild kits or rebuikt rear ends for them I think (check ebay!) but any way HOLA GRINGO!

[honda250sx]

Hello my friend and welcome to the boards and the end of all spare time. What year is your sx? If she is an 85 get that right side wheel off, remove that there brake drum and see if your brake shoes have come un-bonded. 90% of the time water will infiltrate that drum and ruin those brake shoes. I know i have had it happen once myself. Others know this to be true too. As for the differential itself. Drain it. If the oil has a milky consistency then you have another problem. Water can come in from all around on these rear swingarms. Check your swingarm boot for tear's. Water will get in through the boot and eventually end up in your differential. You want to run a bead of silicone on each end of the boot and reclamp it down. The capacity for the differential is 100cc or about 3.3 oz. You should use a good 80/90 weight hypoid gear oil. Also be sure to grease that seal on your brake drum. Or even in your case replace that bad boy. When you get the new one run a nice bead of grease along the edge so that it will somewhat seal against the drum. Keep us posted. There are lots of us SX guys here and we are always willing to help another!

[Tri-ZNate]

What I'm wanting to know is- Is it worth it?

The SX is the best trail trike IMO. Auto clutches were a wonderful invention. But BE WARNED! If you get it you wont want to ride the 200 ;). If it ends up not being the brakes that are just locked up and needs a new rear end many guys can help. One name that comes to mind is dirtcrasher. They are one of the most reliable machines (honda :TrikesOwn) and will almost never leave you stranded (I had a CDi box go bad on a Poker run, boy did the quad guys have a field day). Basically it is well worth it and an entire rear end can be had for under $200. Good Luck

[honda250sx]

Steve -aka DirtCrasher is the main sx man. Although he has moved on to more agile and sportier machines with his 200x and 350x he still is one of the most knowledgable guys when it comes to the SX. Been there done that type of guy. Tons - o - tech support from him. Talk to the guy on a regular basis.

[Name Brand]

The pinion bearing on my rear end failed and wiped the gears out. Basically just lots of miles and moisture. It would be easier to swap out the whole differential than just the gears themselves. I couldn't find another differential and ended up getting creative and swapping the entire swingarm and driveline from a '86 Fourtrax 250 into my SX. Nice upgrade using parts I already had or made; there's a thread here somewhere, follow the link in my sig.

On the other 250SX I have, the right side axle bearings had blown apart and the balls were running around the brake drum destroying both the drum and pads and making the machine not want to roll. Easy to fix, just swap in new parts where needed.

Your best bet would be to tear the entire rear end down. Do an inspection and rebuild it with new bearings and seals. Run the vent as high as you can; mine's in the top of my airbox which is snorkeled. The '85 rear has to be taken apart piece by piece which is a pain, the '86-'87 rear can be taken apart in sections; much easier. Becuase I'm running an '86 model swingarm, I can have the entire rear off my machine in about 40 minutes.

Any year of SX is a good machine.

[Billy Golightly]

Atlanta TX? You musta bought that 200 from Will? He's actually a forum member and goes by Lomax, really good guy. Welcome to the forum :)

[Dirtcrasher]

Hopefully it's just the brake shoe linings. If the rubber boot over the driveshaft is torn plan on a total rear differential failure.

Any year SX can have a bad diff but the 85's are much more prone to allowing water inside. Myself, I swapped every 85 rear end assembley for an 86/87 style and after hours of filing things perfectly flat and siliconing every surface I never had a water problem again.

Yes, you can simply buy a rebuild kit but-

The front pinion bearing is in the diff housing behind a whacky nut that can be a bear to get apart and at the very least you'll need to make or buy a tool to get it out. Worse than that is that if water has got in there then the kit is basically useless. When water gets in there it pits every journal that rides on a bearing or a seal. Even a thorough rebuild will still have journals that will start tearing away at the new seals right after it's rebuilt. These journals are ground at the factory to hold a perfect tolerance.

My advice is to find an 86/87 rear end and swap it all. Best key in finding a good SX rear end is to look at the driveshaft journal that rides in the front pinion seal. If it is shiny along with a plain metal color to the driveshaft itself, then that is most likely a very good rearend. I also look for zinc coating on all the key parts which shows a lack of use and that it was most likely stored indoors.

Good luck!

[Natalie's dad]

did you get the 250es,
how much did you spend on it
how much to fix it?