Which is cheaper......

[ZeroLogic]

Okay, well heres the deal. By the end of the summer of 06' im hoping to have 3 grand by selling my 300ex and working. Now I want to buy a 250r.

I would like to build it from the ground up. But would it be cheaper to buy an already built one or would it be the same price as building it?

I am looking for some engine mods as in porting and exaust but nothing drastic. As for the suspension I'm looking for +2 a rms and either 450r shocks revalved or aftermarket suspension.

I usally ride trails ( I know two stroke isn't good for trails but I love the 250r) and i want to start racing later. Plus I'm new the two strokes, I know how they work but I don't know every detail about them. Could you guys give me some information about them?

So what would be cheaper?

Thanks for any help and sorry for being such a pain in the ***.

[TheFontMaster]

It is alot cheaper to buy a whole quad, than it is to build it ground up. I know from experiance. At time I wish I had just saved up money, because I know I could have ended up with a better quad than what I have. But building it from the ground up you learn practicaly every aspect of the quad. If something needs to be fixed or replaced you will know how to do it since you most likley did it while you were putting the quad together. You also have alot more pride in the quad. As for porting, sparks racing does a good port job, I hear alot of other places that do more custom porting, but I don't know them. I would look into aftermarket shocks, and not 450r stockers. If you look around you will find a deal on a used a arm/shock combo. Stay away from FMF for pipes, they are an improovement over stock, but there are better pipes out there. LRD, Sparks, and I think Bills pipes are some of the best out there.

[Eddiesanders250]

I think building it yourself is more fun, although ive never done it. Its a lot cheaper to buy a quad already built close to how you want it, as far as the suspension and motor etc.... If it was up to me i would buy an already built bike that is up to my standards. but thats me.

[hondardr4life]

I bought mine for $3200, and it's got almost everything you could want. If you end up building one of your own, look into Hetricks for a good, but reasonably priced port job. About pipes, I was under the impression that FMF sucked, but I have gotten the opinion of Mark Baldwin, and he said that they are good, not the best, but good. Then Rich Hetrick told me that as long as you make the silencer a shorty, they are just fine. I was going to buy a sparks MX pipe, but Rich told me that after the first few gears, they die off and have no power, while other pipes keep pulling. He said it will give you the illusion that you are going exrtemely fast because they hit so hard. Overall, he told me that LRD is the best.

[wilkin250r]

Building from the ground up is usually very expensive. Sure, if you look around, you can probably find a decent deal on a used motor and a frame, but it's usually the little items that kill you. Brake calipers, handlebar clamps, hubs, rotors, throttle cables. You end up spending hundreds of dollars in nickel-and-dime parts.

Building from the ground up, looking for bargains, you usually end up spending $2500 or so on old, worn-out components, and the finished product is an old, worn-out quad. If you buy new, you'll spend alot more. If you wanted to buy a used frame, used motor, used A-arms and swingarm, but EVERYTHING else new, you'd spend $4500, and have a bone-stock 250r.

Or, you can spend $3500 on a decent 250r with a 265 kit, new plastics, decent frame, Elka shocks, extended arms, axle and the whole bit. Spend another $500 to $1000 revalving the shocks, new porting and pipe, and a graphics kit, and you have spent $4500 and most components are aftermarket, race-ready, and set up exactly how you want.

[ZeroLogic]

Alright thanks. I have another qustion though. I'm going to try my best to get atleast $3,000 dollars at the end of summer. Do you think the prices of 250rs will go down, go up or stay the same? Also what kind of machine could I expect to get will three grand?
Thanks.

[250r4life]

i would imagine they are gunna stay right around where they are at, unless some kind of disaster like 911 happens. i remember stuff got a lot cheaper in the months right after 911, as a lot of people were pressed for cash and toys are the 1st things to go... 250rs are 17 years old at least, they've pretty much done all their depreciation:devil: well, unless honda announces they are going to start making the 250r again, and then old ones would probably drop and old original ones would probably go up some:D i would be so happy with if they did that, i wouldnt even care that it would drop the value of mine:D