400ex or 250r

[snacob14]

Well, I've got an 86 R. It has just been rebuilt before I bought it. fmf fatty pipe, xc holeshots, oversized tank, bars, steering stabilizer are some of the parts on it. they are all about 8 years old. I have the chance to trade this for an 04 400ex. would you guys trade. I think the ex is stock, it has low hours on it as well. I ride a lot of trails and will race this in my local cross country series. I'm kinda torn, i've had n ex, but that was a while ago. give me your opinions. Should I trade, or stick with the old R. I do love the R, but I'm wondering if I will fair better on the ex.

[rigger]

I had a nice 400EX not to long ago. It was great in the woods. But if it were me, I would not give up that 250R for a 400EX.

I am going to be building up a 250R frame soon. If it ever gets to a point where I will call it comeplete, I would like to say that I will probably never sell it.

But that is just me. I like the old bikes and atvs better than most of the new ones. I just like old school stuff.

Now that I think about it, I like most of the new stuff too. :D

[rustyATV]

How seriously are you going to race? Are you going to just play around in a few events, or make each one every year and try to move up?

If you're just playing around, I'd hang onto the R and tweak it as you go.

But if you're going to try to make every race year in and out, I'd go with the 400EX so I could switch it out through the year and reduce my maintenance chores.

I used to race seriously on my R and, man, what a hassle it was to keep up the same quad.

[rigger]

That is a good point. When or if ever mine gets done. It will be a play machine. I never have raced and probably never will now that I am getting a little older and the funds are tighter and time is less too.

I have always really enjoyed the machines that I have owned and just hard core play riding. Just enjoying the sport.

[snacob14]

That is a good point. i haven't really decided yet if I'm going to race the full schedule, or if I'm just going to be playing around. I love the R. I've had all three hondas 450, 250, 400, I think they are all great bikes, I'm also thinking of reliability and maintenance also. I know the ex's are tractors.

[turbo69bird]

If your gonna race the 250 R and you want it to live I will give you a tip.
forget the wiseco piston and put a WSM piston in it. take that piston and have it gold coated on the crown and poly moly the sides. I used to sell these to guys who had alot of rebuilds on thier 250R's and they would get a season or more on a piston that previously would last them a race or 2.

The problem with 250R's is that they cool down quick between motos.

Then your late to the next moto so you jump on quick fire it up and hammer the piss out of it to the starting line. All the while the forged piston set up loose for expansion is beating itself to death in the bore and rocking like crazy. The wsm can be set up tighter and will not expand in the bore with heat especially when coated.

For messing around with will be vertally indestructible.

Good luck.
I'd Keep the 250R. Back when we did the ATV thing you wouldn't be caught dead with a 4 stroke.
I know alot has changed, My cousin used to test the cannondales and we were pretty impressed back then. I still love a good 2 stroke. I have a 89 250 R and I love that quad.
When I used to go to glamis I Would kill to get an R when I was out there.

Also nothing I have ever ridden has the balance of a 250R

[dunatic]

get both

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1193082/IMG_1408.jpg

[turbo69bird]

very nice!

[my88r]

i had both a xc 400ex and 250r. i parted out the 250r. just because of so many problems with it. i plan to get another one in better shape. i bought the 250r from a mechanic and i put to much work into it. the 400ex was the same. traded a kid my 05 z400. for my 400ex. which was a great move bike wise. but had many problems with it. cost me a top end and was given a hard time. there both great bikes. the 400ex is a great tight woods quad. the 250r tends to wear me out more.

[rigger]

Here is a similar comparison for you.

Not to long ago, I had an XR400 and then a KX250 soon after.

In the woods, I rode the hell out of the XR. I was pretty fast on it, with some light mods. It was easy to ride and I could ride it all day long. But I got where I wanted more power and better suspension. Those two I could have fixed. I also wanted it to loose about 30-40 pounds, that one I could not fix.

So then came the KX250. Great bike, lots of fun and fast. In the same trail I was no faster at all. My average times were about the same. But I had to stop a hell of a lot more to take a brake. The bike was so much more work to ride. I spent about a year messing with suspension and jetting To get her right and when I got it right, I had a lot more fun on that bike.

Pros and cons,

Pros- the XR was easy to ride, could ride it a long time at a pretty fast pace.
The KX was way FUN, really easy to work on, and just as reliable as the XR

Cons- The XR was heavy, a little boaring to ride (It lacked the really fun factor) . The KX was a lot more tireing to ride.

If I had to pick one of these bikes to race, with some training I would still pick the KX. Going on a really long trail ride, take the XR. Out riding for fun and playing, the KX. Working on the bike, the KX.

I know this is 2 wheels vs 4 but I think the comparison is the same. I am not a racer, I like my machines, I like working on them and I like to have fun when I ride. There needs to be the cool factor too.

To each his or her own. You have to pick your riding style and what you like. Both of those machines are great.

[turbo69bird]

Speaking of bikes And trails If it gives you any insight into how I am I ride a 86 CR500 in the woods of CT.

Not exactly an easy ride but I wouldnt want it any other way.

Even on a track I can run faster lap times on a smaller bike or a 4 stroke but theres nothing like fighting with a CR500 for your life!

Its kind of the same on my 250R but scalled down.

I have been wanting to do a Cr500 engine on the R for a long time but am just plain getting to old for all that.LOL

[dunatic]

Take that thought completely out of your head. I did one once (well, actually I finished one for a guy that had no idea what he was doing)

The CR500 motor vibrates soooooo much and the TRX frame is so rigid it was a numbing ride to say the least.

We spent the whole year and 100's of hours making vibration dampening mounts and still never could get it ridable.

The bike frame was designed to absorb the rattles from the get go.

We ended up scraping the project and mounted a xr650 motor in it and that was way better with a TON more torque and endless supply of power.




Originally posted by turbo69bird
Speaking of bikes And trails If it gives you any insight into how I am I ride a 86 CR500 in the woods of CT.

Not exactly an easy ride but I wouldnt want it any other way.

Even on a track I can run faster lap times on a smaller bike or a 4 stroke but theres nothing like fighting with a CR500 for your life!

Its kind of the same on my 250R but scalled down.

I have been wanting to do a Cr500 engine on the R for a long time but am just plain getting to old for all that.LOL

[rustyATV]

Before we go off on a CR500 hybrid bashing tangent.......


Originally posted by snacob14
That is a good point. i haven't really decided yet if I'm going to race the full schedule, or if I'm just going to be playing around. I love the R. I've had all three hondas 450, 250, 400, I think they are all great bikes, I'm also thinking of reliability and maintenance also. I know the ex's are tractors.

To me, what's most important for the regular racer is seat time, and anything you can do to maximize that is worth gold.

If I were to start a serious racing effort again, I'd buy a couple of gently used 450R's (a year or two old at most), build one with a minimum of go fast parts (tires, shocks, ergo's, cam, pipe, stabilizer) and every few months swap the go fast parts with the other quad, sell the first, and buy another one for backup. I'd keep rotating them out like that so I'd always be on something reasonably fresh.

What really did me in on the 250R was when I was practicing mid week and trying to turn the thing around for the weekend. It just sucked up all my time cleaning and fixing.

[turbo69bird]

you know I have heard that but I rode a few out in glamis and they seemed to run just fine to me. All were rubber mounted on the frame the onces I asked about used Jeep leaf spring bushings.

My buddy Sabi is in orange county CA area and owns recreation unlimited and he knew the guys. Thats who I used to ride with out there.