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Looking for opinions
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Posted by: troybilt

I have a virtually stock 89 250R, and I was debating on doing a complete tear down and rebuild. My question, is should I just keep it like it is since it is in a great shape and mostly stock, or tear down and rebuild, change colors etc... Which is worth more?

Here is a pic of what it is now, the only things that have changed are 38m A/S, and I removed the DG nerf bars...

Posted by: troybilt

another

Posted by: 86 Quad R

taking in account that its an '89(the toughest/rarest year to find). i'd keep it stock. in fact, its in such good shape. i'd start looking for the OEM stuff thats been taken from it and put it back on.

Posted by: Master LTR450

if i were you i would change it back to totally stock since they are nearly impossible to find in that kind of condition stock. but then at the same time it all depends on what your planning on doing with the bike. is it going to be ridden all the time or just once in a while? but as far as whats worth more stock is worth more in that condition since its a stock frame.

Posted by: TRR440EX

quote:
Originally posted by 86 Quad R
taking in account that its an '89(the toughest/rarest year to find). i'd keep it stock. in fact, its in such good shape. i'd start looking for the OEM stuff thats been taken from it and put it back on.

yea im with him.... i wish i had a bone stock 89 in that condition

Posted by: troybilt

quote:
Originally posted by 86 Quad R
taking in account that its an '89(the toughest/rarest year to find). i'd keep it stock. in fact, its in such good shape. i'd start looking for the OEM stuff thats been taken from it and put it back on.

No need to buy, I have all of the stuff to convert back to 100% original. Including the tool kit...

Posted by: TRR440EX

my vote is for that then!

Posted by: Flyin_250r

Like stated above. Definately put it back in stock form and itll be worth more.

Posted by: j450rking

i would put it back to stock and try to find a collector to buy it from you. you could get alot for a 89 in that shape. and then i would get another r and go crazy with that.

Posted by: beerock

heh, i dunno. if you bought the bike, enjoy it. GO CRAZY

however might be better to put it back to stock sell it then buy a aftermarket frame, new case new crank, newbig bore, used tranny, long travel front end ,new shocks, aftermarket swinger

Posted by: timritchieblue

i got the same prob, i don't get to ride that much, so im getting my quad back to better than stock. new everything, just race cut fenders, pipe, and tires. keep all the stock stuff, and enjoy.

Posted by: troybilt

I was all but ready to start a build. I have a group of guys I ride with at the dunes and all 8 of us ride '87-'89 250R's with the exception of one ATC250R. So after this last trip, I was ready to build mine like some of my friend's were. I was getting sick of getting waxed by the modded 250R's. ...just need to swallow my pride.

I think I heard a pretty sound message, that since this is in great shape and not needing too much to be perfectly original. It would be better served to restore completely back to original, and keep and enjoy.

Thanks for the advice!

P.S. Does anyone have the Dirt wheels issue that tests the original 89 Trx 250R? I have a perfect condition 3 and 4 wheel action magazine but not the Dirt wheels.

Posted by: 250Renvy

It's not that you shouldn't mod it, it's just that you shouldn't molest it with a purple frame and black plastics or candy red or blue like everybody seems to have these days.

The beauty of a stock original 250R is that there are so many slightly modded or full out race 250r's that the stock one that looks like it did off the factory floor is the one that stands out.

If you leave it the way it is and/or improve it but keep all the original stock parts - no matter what you paid for it, it'll retain a value of around $3000 or possibly go up. So you can basically ride it for many years for free. Think of it as if you bought it new for $3800 20 years ago and now it's still worth $3800 but if you change it, it'll go down each year.

Anyway if you want more power, just go to ebay as there is a ton of ported cylinders on there and replace your stock cylinder with something bigger or ported. I'd get some shocks too - makes a huge difference over stock.

Posted by: norcalduner

I just parted out a similar 89 because I just got tired of looking at it in the storage and waiting for the price to climb. I got most of the money I spent buying it and still have a few choice parts that I am keeping for resale later and does not occupy a lot of space.

I know it already is a classic but these things are meant to be ridden.

And you know how WE like to ride all our R's ......

So if you have the space, money and time, Id say go for it. And then get a beater R and mod it fully.

There IS also that difference between an all original low hour quad and a restored to original OEM .

Posted by: troybilt

It is an all original 89. the only mods are as follows:

FMF pipe
38 Airstryker
K&N Filter w/outerwears and lid removed, (still have the lid)
Front and Rear paddles
Boysen Reedvalve
grab bar (DG, i think)
12 tooth primary sprocket.

Thats it.

I have all the parts for it, orig pipe/silencer, toolkit, manual, orig grab bar, etc... everything is in great shape. Plastic is ~80% good... needs freshening up, i wish you could still get OEM plastic for it.

I wouldn't ever part out the bike, makes me sick to see perfect 250R bikes parted out cause they bring more money.... just my opinion.

Then again, I'm glad they do cause I can buy parts cheaper...

Its just I prefer the MX bike look with 310PV power.

Posted by: j450rking

to freshen up the plastic you can use a heat gun and it will make them much shinyer.

Posted by: 86 Quad R

quote:
Originally posted by j450rking
to freshen up the plastic you can use a heat gun and it will make them much shinyer.

really!!! explain how this works.

Posted by: troybilt

quote:
Originally posted by j450rking
to freshen up the plastic you can use a heat gun and it will make them much shinyer.

Interesting. I have a heat gun. How do you get the very fine cracks out of the plastic? ...other than that plastic renew stuff and sanding. The plastic has very fine spider cracks that you can only see when its dusty, other than that they are invisible. Any thoughts?

You might be on to something here.

Thanks!

Posted by: j450rking

dirt bike racing teams have been doing it for a long long time and i got it out of a dirt bike mag. it melts the vary surface of the plastic so it makes that faded look go away and become shiny again. it may also fix the small spider cracks your talking about too but i don't know for sure.

just don't hold it in one spot too long and do it when the plastic is mounted or it will slightly warp the plastic but not if it's mounted.

hope this helps

Posted by: 450killer265R

dont mess with a heat gun! a hair dryer will work fine lol a heat gun is way to hot!

Posted by: j450rking

a heat gun is not too hot. i have been doing it for about 8 years now and it works fine. the high setting on a hair dryer is close to the low setting on a heat gun anyway (i use the low setting) and the stock plastic is harder then aftermarket plastic like maier so it will need a bit more heat.

Posted by: troybilt

quote:
Originally posted by j450rking
a heat gun is not too hot. i have been doing it for about 8 years now and it works fine. the high setting on a hair dryer is close to the low setting on a heat gun anyway (i use the low setting) and the stock plastic is harder then aftermarket plastic like maier so it will need a bit more heat.

I was at Home depot last night looking at heat guns, and they have one and the low setting is 570 degrees and 1000 degrees is the high setting. Is the 570 OK? I didn't buy yet I wanted to check to make sure I was looking at the right thing. Also it was 70 bucks.

I was thinking of taking the plastic off and wet sanding with 80-1600 grit sand paper, Then use the heat gun to make the plastic shiny again. Any thoughts on this?

Posted by: j450rking

that should work fine. i would start with like 220grit and work up from there up to at least 1500 grit to make sure you have a nice surface.

Posted by: j450rking

i think that might be a bit more then my gun puts out. and thats way too much for a heat gun. go to harborfreight.com and they have on for less then $20 thats what i have.

Posted by: troybilt

quote:
Originally posted by j450rking
i think that might be a bit more then my gun puts out. and thats way too much for a heat gun. go to harborfreight.com and they have on for less then $20 thats what i have.

Thanks, that sounds better. The one I was looking at was a Milwaukee... in other words expensive.

So start with 220 and go to at least 1500 grit paper. Wet sand - probably?

Then put back on the quad and heat on low with a heat gun to get a smooth shiny surface.

Posted by: j450rking

yeah wet sand. it should work good but if you ruin the plastic it's not on me. (i just needed to say that)

Posted by: troybilt

quote:
Originally posted by j450rking
yeah wet sand. it should work good but if you ruin the plastic it's not on me. (i just needed to say that)

LOL!