86/87 or 88/89

[TheFontMaster]

I know that there were a few changes like a shorter swing arm and the a-arms moved up like an inch on the 88 and 89's. I'm going to start building a 250r from the ground up and I was wondering which years you liked better. Is one better for xc or mx? or is there not much of a difference.

[wilkin250r]

The shorter swingarm helps put the power to the ground coming out of corners and stuff, so if you're building for MX then I would definitely recommend the 89. Same for flattrack, power out of the corners.

I'd imagine it probably doesn't matter much for xc. The taller gearing of the 86 motor might be better, but you can still put an 86 motor into an 89 frame if all you want is the gearing.

[310Rduner]

The 86's rev the fastest of all the years as well. Plug in an 89 year cdi and it will give you the best powercurve/cdi in all the years.

[1988R]

I'd get which ever frame you can find,if it happens to be 86-87 just get -1 from stock length swing arm and +1 foward a-arm then you basically have the same as 88-89.