Hmmm Found some stuff out tonight! DO NOT TRUST ANYONE FROM CRAIGSLIST!

[Dustin_Drews]

Well as you guys know I just bought an R last week from a on craigslist the guy told me that it just had a top end in it! From a local shop and I believed him he seemed trustworthy... I asked him how many bores were left on the cylinder he said it just had a new sleeve in it... I was thinking great I have a lot of bores left before I need to resleeve it!

Then I noticed it also had a really stiff clutch pull... LIKE U BETTER MILK COWS BY HAND for a living to pull in this clutch... He explained it was a set of aftermarket clutch springs! I knew some thing was not right but I thought if I gotta put different clutch springs in it that is no big deal!
Well I took it out and drove it for the first time this weekend and found out I could not start it in gear...
So today I pulled it into the shop to see what was up. I thought now would be a good time to to pull the motor look for cracks in the frame and grease all the pivots and maybe give the frame a new coat of paint.
I pull the engine and take the clutch cover off and what do I find... 4 different styles of bolts holding the clutch basket togeather... I am like this cannot be good! What else did they half ***... I took the spings out they look like they came out of a gxr1000 they were so thick! No big deal new springs and a new inner and outer basket and we are back on the road! Then I remembered saying it was ported so I grabbed a light and looked in the exhaust port to see what kind of job they did and noticed it almost had a cold seizure once in its life... So I pulled the cyclinder and noticed something did not look right? I looked and looked and looked.... Finally I measured the piston with my calipers! 71.95mm... I was like what the ..........
Well what do you know it has a 310 kit in it.... Errr But at least it is on its virgin bore and the porting looks good...
Now I do not know why he did not tell me it had a 310 sleeve but I can only think he is hiding something else!
What happened to honest people? Is this normal in the R community?
God bless,
Dustin Drews

[woodsracer144]

its mostly the craigslist... some of the guys are d bags... most they guys that are on here and talk alot in the 250r fourm are good guys.. .also check out feedback... i got Fed on my atc motor, it was junk and i paid 400 for it and he said it just needed a piston but it need a piston rings, clutch (everything basket the whole works) and a counter blancer... and crank shaft...

[Saul76]

I must be missing something? The guy told you it had a new sleeve on it's 1st bore, you inspect it and - surprise - new sleeve on 1st bore. I don't get your beef here?

And what does the clutch have to do with any of that? Did you ask about the the clutch beforehand and he lied somehow?

As for the stiff springs - you do realize most people favor stiff springs because it puts more tension on the plates causing your clutch to grab harder, right?

I'm not trying to bag on you one bit friend - but - I feel I'm missing something in this post cause I don't get why you're angry at the seller? :confused:

[Saul76]

One more thing - did you check your clutch cable and lube it or replace it to see if maybe it was causing some of this 'stiff pull' you are mentioning?

[Jonny B]

Sounds like the clutch is an easy fix but are you upset that it had the 310 kit? I would choose a 310 sleeve over a 250 sleeve if it was time for new one...

The seller was definately not familiar with his engine though...he should have known more of what he was trying to sell.

[woodsracer144]

im sure he was expecting a OE cylinder... not being resleeved and it being fresh, not being toasted...

[Jonny B]

Did you ask what size sleeve he put in it or did you expect it to be 250cc like woods is saying? Lets face it, these engines are 20+ years old and most have had hard racing lives...you shouldnt EXPECT anything.

[woodsracer144]

you got a point Johnny, but at the same time there are alot of dishonest people in the world, esp. how with the eco the way it is. im not sayin it to take your side or his side, im just sayin its the way it is, i got a ford ranger from my gramps buddy, they were buddys since kids, he didnt want it and he said if i gave him 800 bucks i could have it cause he doesnt drive anymore, well now 2 grand later after a transmission and tires and other parts i got the truck i was looking for. it kind of bugs me but im not gonna say anything,

[D Bergstrom]

Originally posted by woodsracer144
i got a ford ranger from my gramps buddy, they were buddys since kids, he didnt want it and he said if i gave him 800 bucks i could have it cause he doesnt drive anymore, well now 2 grand later after a transmission and tires and other parts i got the truck i was looking for. it kind of bugs me but im not gonna say anything,

I guess I will use your post as a example. You paid $800 for a running vehicle and it had problems, what did you expect, for it to be "showroom fresh", you paid $800 for it! I know the one guy one here complained he was ripped off due to the condition of a stock frame that he paid $100 for even though most stock frames in good condition go for what, $300 or so. I was always taught that if something is to good to be true, it probably is. I just do not understand people who buy stuff for much less then its worth, then complain they got ripped off. Maybe I am wrong, maybe the truck you bought is only worth $800, but I have not seen to many good running vehicles at that price.

As far as the original poster, I guess my first questions would be what did you pay for your 250R? As as stated above, if it was less then what you thought it was worth, then that should tell you something. Now, if you paid top dollar for this 250R, heck yes, you have every right to be upset. Although, I do not see where you say there is anything wrong with the bore/piston. You did say it "almost" had a cold seizure, how do you know that? When I bought my 250R four years ago, I figured I was buying a 20 year old quad. If you buy a 20 something year old anything, it is going to have some problems. Lots of people out there think they can fix anything!

Sorry if I seem kind of rude, it has been a long sh***y day.:D

Doug

[destey]

I hear ya man.

Bought my 86 off craigslist. The ad made it sound like a brand new mx build. Got there and it looked as described, just with cruddy plastic. He said all it needed to go was an electrical system. Said he rebuilt the top end with a new piston. Decked head and ported.

Well got the electrical off ebay and then it had trouble starting. Trying to upgrade to cr250 I f'd up the crank bearings getting the flywheel off. Tore it completely down

Found he didn't get it even honed before new piston. Huge slop between the piston and cylinder. The porting job looked terrible. The clutch was shot, many of the gears had the dog collars worn way down. The brakes were toast, run on the metal part of the pads for a long time, all the bolts were rusted solid. Swingarm bushings bad, axle bearings bad. Tires went flat after 3 hours of getting it home. Frame was bent in the rear subframe. I paid $1300, was told a much different story than what I got home.

Then just bought an SRX700. Told it was completely gone through by dealer, no problems whatsoever. Pffft. Carbs all varnished. Jets clogged up. About 3 cups of gas sitting in the pipes. Powervalves hadn't been cleaned in a long time. One barrel had pulled through the top of the PV. Missing clutch helix friction pad (metal on metal, wore the ramps down). Basically neglected

Lesson: If someone tells you machine has few/no problems, THEY ARE LYING. Only if they list out what is wrong are they being truthful. Every machine has a list of things wrong with it. Honest people will tell you this list. Dishonest people lie and will say anything to get you to part with your money.

10:1 dishonest to honest

[latheboy]

You are buying stuff that is used. Sometimes abused. Some people will say anything to encourage you to buy. You better know something about what you are looking at before you buy it. Dont blame Craigslist, its buyer beware. Even on the cleanest machines and from the honest seller, you may find something that needs maintance.

[destey]

Originally posted by latheboy
You are buying stuff that is used. Sometimes abused. Some people will say anything to encourage you to buy. You better know something about what you are looking at before you buy it. Dont blame Craigslist, its buyer beware. Even on the cleanest machines and from the honest seller, you may find something that needs maintance.

I'm sorry but this is not acceptable. Growing up my dad sold a lot of used items and disclosed everything that was wrong with it and gave as accurate history as possible.

Anything less is dishonest and needs to be spotlighted to stop this **** from happening

[Dustin_Drews]

The seller did say it was on a stock bore.... I was cool with the clutch being stiff but when people use springs that are a half inch longer and do not fit in the outer basket hole correctly plus use 4 different lenths of bolts to put them in it gets on my nerves. Why half *** it?
I am not angry that it had a 310 sleeve in it. The cold seisure if I would not of taken it apart would have fried the cylinder. I know they happen being in the engine repair business!
But look at it this way say your kid works his whole summer and saves up enough money to by his dream atv! He find one he likes the sell seems honest and says it runs and had all this work done to it and it is ready to ride. Your kid gets it home rides it and some thing goes to pot you tear it apart like I did and find everything is all cobbled up inside! How do you explain it to your kid that just got taken advantage of?
Me honestly if he would of told me everything wrong with the quad down to the last detail I still would of bought it for the price I paid... 2500.00 Money is not the issue at hand! Honesty is....
God Bless,
Dustin Drews

[kouki]

I know what you mean. I bought an 88 250R about 2 years ago. The seller told me it had a 310 sleeve in it. Quad was pretty nice, got it for a decent price given the mods and condition. I got it home, pulled the carb to see where it was jetted, seemed way off for a 310. I rejetted it, and went for a few runs. Got the jetting pretty close, plug looked perfect. I thought it seemed a little week for a 310, but just figured it was bad porting. About a week later I went for a ride, was pulling pretty good, then boom, lost power. Pulled the plug to see a melted/pitted electrode. When I got home I pulled the head to find a hole in the piston from detonation. Bore looked perfect. Figured I'd order a new piston and put it back together. I measured the piston to find out it was exactly stock bore, never sleeved. That's why the jetting seemed off. Also turns out that the stock head had been shaved down to raise compression, thats why I had detonation when running 92 octane. I called up the kid I bought it from and he gave me the run around saying he didnt know, this and that. In the end I ended up putting on an ESR 310 kit and got nothing in return from the seller. It kinda sucks when you are expecting one thing and find out it's not even that close to what you were told.

I see you're from Nebraska. You should have bought my 250R, I just sold it a couple months ago. I let it go for $2500 and it was set up pretty nicely and had a fresh 310 kit on it!

[mcboomport]

I actually agree with not trusting anyone when your buying anything from a stranger, but, man, I still don't know what your complaint is.

You always have to assume the buyer is a complete moron. He obviously is if he is selling the quad and not bragging that it has a 310 kit. It just doesnt seem like you got ripped off. And, if you work in the engine business, you should know 90% of people that do there own work do it half @$$ed.

Maybe I missed something in your post. Did you have to put a new piston/ have it bored/ honed?