250R basket case..my new project

[bp739]

Well I just picked up a 1985 250R.....she's looks pretty rough but has a lot of good points.
Lets start with the good:D
The motor runs strong, has less than 20 hours on a new set of rings, and shifts through all gears. The frame is straight, no cracks or repiars. The seat is in fantastic shape, and 2 out of 3 rims are almost perfect. Almost all the parts are there.
The bad....
Carrier bearings (and possibly the carrier itself)are destroyed, fork seals are blown, rear shock is bad, slight bend in the axle, along with the obvious cosmetic stuff.

All in all not to bad...should make a nice addition to the stable...

[bp739]

A few more pics

[edog]

Welcome to the water pumper club!!!


Looks like a good start.

You got big plans for it?

Wanna sell the headlight guard?:D

[Blown 331]

I like it! Looks about like my first 85 that I sold (dumb). I would like to find something like that as a project but it's not like I don't already have enough projects. lol. I'd like to have a liquid R with all the gold removed but the one I have is really nice and all original so I don't want to do it to that one.

[bp739]

Welcome to the water pumper club!!!


Looks like a good start.

You got big plans for it?

Wanna sell the headlight guard?:D

Thanks,,,Ive been wanting a water pumper for quite a while now...as for big plans...nothin crazy....a complete frame up resto..gotta make her as pretty as my 350X and 200X.:p ...might throw a nice big shiney FMF fatty pipe on her

[Blown 331]

If you're gonna do a pipe I'd highly recommend an ESR. I've actually had a DG, FMF and now the ESR on mine and the ESR is by far my favorite. It's chrome and it's fatter than the FMF fatty. lol. www.esr250.com they even worked with me on the price, of course I did buy 2 at 1 time.
Damn. I just looked at their site and I think it went up about $30 in the last month! I got mine about 3 or 4 years ago for nearly $100 less than what they are showing now! Wow. But in my opinion it is still well, well worth the money.

[edog]

Missing grommets.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h196/edog_02/250r024.jpg

[bp739]

Hey edog...what am I missin ...this is my first R....?

[Dammit!]

I wouldn't call that a basket case. It's just ugly. :lol:

I'll trade you that seat for a freshly recovered black one. I'll even throw in some rad shrouds. I need a stocker to trade to somebody else for something I want. I just don't have anything he wants. If that makes sense. :lol:


Hey edog...what am I missin ...this is my first R....?

Looks normal to me.

[edog]

It is stock.The rubber grommets are missing.

Are you going OEM or Maier plastic?

[250rfan]

Looks stock to me edog, minus the front & side seat rubbers?

[Yamada]

What's up with the right tire. I thought my 225 had worn tires :lol:
Nice project

[rdlsz24]

Nice collection you have going. Your 350x and 200x are drool worthy

Rob

[edog]

What's up with the right tire. I thought my 225 had worn tires :lol:
Nice project

It has a limeted slip.The tire suffers from the one wheel squeal.:D

[brrcuda]

Fix it mechanically (bearings, shock and fork seals and such), ride it hard for 2 years and have a fun with it. someday stash a set of oem fenders to restore whenever. go buy a 20 dollar seat from ebay and put that one away. Then restore it. thats what i would do with it. nice score.:cool:

Thats no basket case.................but i would expect to put a hacksaw on that swinger bolt..

[edog]

Restore it and ride it.Just don't beat the chit out of it and take care of it.

[dirtface]

I see your in PA, was that the one that was on the Pittsburgh Craigslist? Definately a good start to a nice trike.

[Dammit!]

Restore it and ride it.Just don't beat the chit out of it and take care of it.

I say restore AND beat the chit out of it. :twisted:

[bp739]

I see your in PA, was that the one that was on the Pittsburgh Craigslist? Definately a good start to a nice trike.

Yep...it was on the Pittsburgh Craigslist.....but heres the whole story....

About 2 months ago my buddy was out working and stumbles across a three wheeler sittin in a guys front yard. He immediately calls me and tells me about a red trike that has 250 printed on the seat. My first question ....is there an R after the 250 and are the wheels gold?....to which he replies...yep! Twenty minutes later I'm at the guys house...I knock on the door but no one's home,,,so I leave my name and phone number on a note to call me if he wants to sell the R.

Two months pass and I've given up on the R....I was doing my daily craigslist check when i see "85 Honda ATC..liquid cooled, fresh motor........ " So I know there's only ONE liquid cooled ATC....I called the guy up, asked where he lived...and it's the same 250R...I explained to him about me leaving the note on his door...and he knew exactly who I was. I went the next morning , met him and picked it up after work that night...

I'm gonna restore it to ride...just like my other two, I actually ride my 350X all the time...I ride the 350x hard but I NEVER beat it...this one will be the same.I actually tooik the 350X to WV this year and rode it at the Hattfield McCoy trails for a day instead of my KFX700..:crazy: ..see the pics below...its actually dirty:D :D

The seats gonna stay like it is..this is the first one I wont have to send to the Mosh's to get restored.....I'm gonna use Maier plastic,,,OEM is just to hard to find and costs way to much for me. I'll get repro decals from Harlan and get her as close to original as I can....or at least reasonably close.

[dirtface]

That was a great deal, I have one here that I paid more for, but it was in about the same condition. Low hours, but when it was rode it was rode hard. I see yours still has the rear skid plate which is usually gone, the front sprocket guard mounts aren't broken and it looks like it might still have the original fork boots, to me this means it is probably a low hour machine. I "restore" mine the same as you, not NOS perfect, But nice clean and tight. If you are up by my place, stop in and I'll show you my collection. Make it nice like the other two.:beer

[edog]

The OEM plastics aren't that hard to find. You just don't want to spend $280 on the rear fender. :lol: I only paid $320 for mine shipped. You can still get the headlight bezel, rad shrouds, front fender from Honda still. The rear fender can be found on ebay new. I bought mine from Chaplin Kawasaki on ebay.

Very nice 350X by the way!!!

Have you ever rode a Water Pumper R ????

[fabiodriven]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a basket case a machine that you buy and it comes all apart? Like, with all the parts thrown in bins, or baskets? I know, I'm a jerk- just had to say it.

By the condition of those rear tires, I'd guess Chuck Norris was riding that thing at some point- (sorry)

Nice score though! :w00t:

[dirtface]

bp739, Any updated pictures? If your like me you have to work on it whether the money is there or not.:lol: If you have a parts list, Pm it to me I have some stuff laying around. Will help a fellow PA triker if I can.:beer

[Mrs.Mosh]

That is a nice foundation Brant!

It isn't all that much worse than mine when I got it.
Yours still has a good left side case,with the sprocket cover and bolts still intact,and not busted.
That swinger bolt, if it is not wanting to come out, take the nut off the right side, tip the trike on its side, and drown it with PB Blaster for a few days and let it run down in the bolt and swingarm. Then spin it with a impact wrench, and then use a air hammer with a punch bit. Mine came right out unharmed that way, and it was siezed so bad, that the suspension wouldnt release after you compressed it.
Other than cosmetics, it looks really good.
You are gonna love this one!

[bp739]

bp739, Any updated pictures? If your like me you have to work on it whether the money is there or not.:lol: If you have a parts list, Pm it to me I have some stuff laying around. Will help a fellow PA triker if I can.:beer

Sorry bud, no updated pics yet.....she's gonna have to sit for a while, Ive got a lot of home improvement projects going at the moment....The good new's is that I've got the money in the bank to build my brand new 16'x24' workshop in the back yard...so the 250r will be the first project to come out of the new shop :Bounce . I've just got to finish all the other home improvements first...(keep the wife happy = more trikes for me)

I'll definitely take you up on the parts offer....let me get a list together...Thanks a bunch.

[bp739]

That is a nice foundation Brant!

It isn't all that much worse than mine when I got it.
Yours still has a good left side case,with the sprocket cover and bolts still intact,and not busted.
That swinger bolt, if it is not wanting to come out, take the nut off the right side, tip the trike on its side, and drown it with PB Blaster for a few days and let it run down in the bolt and swingarm. Then spin it with a impact wrench, and then use a air hammer with a punch bit. Mine came right out unharmed that way, and it was siezed so bad, that the suspension wouldnt release after you compressed it.
Other than cosmetics, it looks really good.
You are gonna love this one!


Thanks Tammy its good to hear from you, I think I'm more excited about this trike than either of the other two.....I love my 350x ... but everyone I talk to tells me that the R is a completely different animal...
Thanks for the info about the swing arm bolt...thats a good piece of info. This trike is really not in bad shape...your right its mostly cosmetic stuff....I'm hoping to get my new shop built before the snow starts flyin...then I'll have all winter to restore the 250R.....should be fun:D

[Dirtcrasher]

Nice base to start with!

My definition of a basket case usually includes a motor completely taken apart and thrown in a box :lol: and of course, missing all the valuable and rare parts :D.

[russell56443]

Yeah Yamada,I was wondering about that right rear tire too lol!!???
Nice R BP,wish I could find one in that good of shape!

[bp739]

Dont know if this has anything to do with it but that is the side of the axle with the bend in it....maybe caused the tire to wear funny.......

[atc vending guy]

good score:beer now ive gotta get one:Bounce

[Tri-Z Pilot]

yea, ithink its got a great foundation. how much did you snag it for if you dont mind me askin? paul turner high revs are also great pipes too, i wouldn't go with fmf.

[bp739]

yea, ithink its got a great foundation. how much did you snag it for if you dont mind me askin? paul turner high revs are also great pipes too, i wouldn't go with fmf.

$700.....I figure there's at least that much in parts there.......not to mention...250R's aint the easiest thing to find around here...This things actually in way better shape than my 350X was when I got it...and I paid $400 for it.

[bp739]

Well its been quite a while since I started this thread, and a shame that this weekend was the first chance i had to work on my 250R project and that was only because I was on-call for work and couldnt really do anything but sit at home. Hopefully now that I've started it will be a more consistent part on my free time, anyway heres a couple of pics. All and all a prety uneventfull tear down, only broke one bolt...but of course its the six inch motor mount bolt throught the front of the case..and its seized,,,.should be fun to get this one out....:(

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b72/bp739/250ra005.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b72/bp739/250ra002.jpg

[Mosh]

I just went thru one of those broken bolts BP.

Dig that exhuast goo out of that little hole in the case below the pipe, and soak it for a few days with PB blaster.

Then take a propane torch and heat the bolt thru that same hole.
It will loosen up the exhuast goo and make it slimy.
Then rap the bolt with a air hammer and straight bit.

If it doesnt come loose that way, reheat the bolt, get some bees wax, and as the bolt is still hot, melt beeswax down the hole, and at the end of the bolt too.
Then repeat air hammer procedure.
Should come out good that way.
If you dont have those tools, take it to a machine shop,and tell them my procedure with the wax, and they can get it out for about 40 bucks.
Once it is out, you will have to clean the hole out.
I have small hones to do that with, but you can use a proper size drillbit with pliers,and use hand force to run the bit thru the crud, and get the hole back to its proper size.

250R cases are now discontinued...So be careful.

[bp739]

Hey Rob thanks for the tip ,heating it up was gonna be my next step,but Ive never heard about the beeswax before. Hopefully I dont have to go the machine shop route, but one way or another its coming out

[oscarmayer]

GL mna, it sounds like that bolt is gonna be a pitta! it's going to be a nice ride when done for sure!

[3Razors]

Candlewax works well too for that trick. Everyone keep there fingers crossed for the swingarm bolt. The hardest looks yet to come

[bp739]

Candlewax works well too for that trick. Everyone keep there fingers crossed for the swingarm bolt. The hardest looks yet to come

Another great tip thank you, I actually loosened up the swing arm bolt and it spins freely so it might not be to bad.

Well now for the bad (or good) news.... Today at work I stepped off the back of my truck , into a ditch and broke my ankle in two places..:( .....tore a ligament too...:( not sure what there gonna do with it yet, gotta go see an orthopedic surgeon in a few days to find out...:( So it looks like I'm gonna be having quite a bit of time to restore my 250r...:p

[bp739]

:w00t: Well I got the bolt out of the case, just kept heating it up and shooting it with penetrating oil, it finally broke loose and I was able to pound it out. I'm gonna finish pulling the motor and maybe tackle the swingarm bolt later. I'll post some pics tonight, the wife has the camera with her at work.

[bp739]

Well seems like this project is taking forever, just not enough spare time, and Ive been building an 87 250x right now also...

Got some parts painted...:D.....hers a pic of the 250x project too...so you guys know I havent just been slackin :D

[bp739]

Well gettin a little closer, long way to go yet

[Bill]

Looks like a great start I am just finishing mine.

[MonroeMike]

Nice work, so far.

[code200k]

nice build will be even better when done

[bp739]

Well, it’s been ten year’s since I put this project on the shelf. Funny how life gets in the way of the things you like to do. So, things have settled down, and there’s time for three wheelers again. Workin on two at once this time, made some real progress this week.
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[jasong_10]

Well, it’s been ten year’s since I put this project on the shelf. Funny how life gets in the way of the things you like to do. So, things have settled down, and there’s time for three wheelers again. Workin on two at once this time, made some real progress this week.
263827
263828

Glad to see you were able to get back to it. There was about a six year gap between when I tore down my R and the final assembly. I ran across a supercharger for my car right after tearing the R down and dove into the car big time so I tabled the ATC project. When we decided that my wife was going to retire from teaching after the birth of our second child four years ago to be a stay at home mom, I knew that if I didn't finish it then, I wouldn't ever have the money to do it. So I know what you mean about life impacting projects, lol. It looks great so far, enjoy the build.