250R Maintenance?

[R*89]

Hey guys,

I'm looking into getting a '89 250R. It looks like it's in great condition, but I've heard 250R's take alot of maintenance to keep running? How much maintenance would you say it would require compared to my friend's banshee? Any help would be appreciated!

R*89

[jjthekj]

Well R '89, The banshee has 2 carburators, 2 cylinders, 2 pistons, and 2 exhaust pipes. Mods in any of these areas cost about 150% of your single cylinder R. My R is an '86 and has been rebuilt twice. The second time was just recently. It's almost 20 years old! It will dust the new 450's. And out handles most anything (with a few choice mods).
You'll be laughing at your buddy's banshee if the 2 of you clean your air filters at the same time. You might be done before he has his lid off his air box!
Take your time and get to know the machine. A sticky throttle, or a slow tire leak can result in 4 - 6 weeks of no fun. Landing the big tripple is a bad time to discover you've got blown front shocks!

[beak7707]

What he said man! I change my oil run good gas and 2 stroke oil and thats it. I drag it out of the barn every weekend and ride it and its almost 20 years old and runs with all the new quads. Dont kid yourself your gonna have maintenance with any quad you get. You take care of the quad it will take care of you. The main thing I would check on the R is if the bearings and bushings are tight.

[Live2Ride300]

When you go to look at it, go through the machine as thoroughly as you can, check the frame out for cracks, look behind the footpegs, at all the welds. Bring a compression tester with you, and a 13/16" wrench. Make sure the plug looks good to tell if it is properly jetted or not. If the top end was recently rebuilt with a stock headgasket or equivalent the compression should be aroudn 180lbs. Check all chassis bearings, make sure the motor isnt making any funny noises. Run it through all the gears. Check tie rod end tightness, ball joints, loose rear hubs might mean the splines are screwed up, so check that out. Flip it up on its grab bar and check out the bottom of the frame for cracks, and cracks on the bottom of the engine case. Check the coolant. Check the oil. Pull the airbox lid off. If you can, take the front fenders off too, so u can see more the frame and the electronics. With a machine this old you bound to run into some problems, so its better to know about them when you buy it.

You can easily find a good deal out there, put a lilttle money into and you have a great machine. 250Rs are awesome quads, when they are running stront. I change the oil after every ride, clean the air filter, and go over the bike make sure nothing is loose. Just keep up the maintenace and they can be very reiable machines. My friends are trying to convince me to get a new four stroke, but I love two strokes. :devil: