ojcool Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 My neighbor and I are considering buying an old LT250R from a guy in my neighborhood. He claims its an 84 but from what I have read they didn't make them till 86... Anyway it's in pretty rough shape and he claims it has bad crank or rod bearings. Also there is no third gear. He says it runs but we didn't try to start it since it's got crank issues. The plastics are screwed of course. Front brakes work but the back mastercylinder isn't holding anything so it need replacement. The price is right $125 I am wondering if it's worth screwing with or not. From what I have seen the parts are pretty cheap. The original goal was to set it up as a sand drag bike. I'm wondering how fast we can get it on a budget or if we should just clean it up as a trail bike or what. Whats everyones opinions on the LT250R. Is it worth screwing with? I figure it prob needs new bearings all around in the engine and maybe a shift fork in the trans. I don't see these issues as very expensive to fix but without splitting the case it's hard to say what else could be wrong with it. Please advise. He has the exhaust off of it and it looks like the piston is free of scores. You can see it moving when you kick it so it didn't throw a rod.. You don't hear any bad noises when you kick it. Is there any chance there is major damage in the case anyway? Is there anything we should look for to tell us more about what kind of condition it's in internally? How bad can the trans be? He claims it has a brand new jug on it and new piston. It is holding SOME compression but it's not impressive. Course it's been sitting for a good 2 years. Can the jug be bored? Apparently some cannot due to some coating on the cylinder walls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bladesracing Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 I just completely rebuilt one last year. The parts can be hard to find and the resale isnt great. I was gonna use mine as an extra beat around bike, but ended up getting a honda 250r cheap and kept that instead. I dont think you'll ever get the performance you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mullet Man Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 i would think @ $125, you could atleast part it out and get your money back and then some. if you have patience in hunting parts for it, it could turn into a cheap fun toy, especially for the price Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ojcool Posted November 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2006 Anyone with any experience with this bike? Please post any advice.. Here a quick video of what I have found so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nightmare Posted November 22, 2006 Report Share Posted November 22, 2006 A friend of mine just did one this spring. His is a 85 I think. Ithink the started making them in 85. Not sure. I know the early model motors are not as good as the newer ones, and harder to find parts for. The older ones are not power valve motors. The only pipe to fit those motors is a fmf unless you have a custom one made. For 125 you can't go wrong though. It would be a better trail bike than drag bike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nunyabinness Posted November 22, 2006 Report Share Posted November 22, 2006 for $125 you can't go wrong. you could part the thing out and make more than that. if you do part it though let me know, i will want the front shocks. if you are gonna keep it i would port it for more bottom end and run it as a trail bike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dajogejr Posted November 22, 2006 Report Share Posted November 22, 2006 85 and 86 are the same bike, and 85 is the first year. They are most easily visually distinguishable by the lack of a "T" seat. In other words, first two years had a flat, square seat in the rear, 87 and newer had a "T" in the back. First two years also had a black front radiator cover, newer had blue. I THINK they were made to early 90's...maybe 92? Not sure....been a while. No power valve, you'd have to get an 87 or newer motor, the jug won't fit on the old style case. As said in the PS thread, oj....I had an AAEN pipe back in the day, it was cool. My little 85 ran like raped ape, and kept up with piped/jetted banshees until it topped out in 5th, but...ported shees smoked it. (And my 250 was drag ported)... You're going to spend more time hunting down parts because the 85 and 86 are rare, first generation bastard years...but, you should still be able to make due... Good luck...I'll try to dig up an old pic or two of my old "sweetie". They handle better than a banshee hands down, and are very light... The nice thing is the 85 and 86 swingarm had the round Honda Style bearing carrier...for some stupid Reason 'zuke went away from that in 87...dumb dumb dumb. Good luck!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ojcool Posted November 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 I started porting the jug today. I hope I didn't screw up by opening up the exhaust passage to match the pipe flange. There was a big drop in the port roof right before the exit so I took it down to match the flange. So far I have not touched the intake ports. The transfer passages a huge so I don't see the need to fool with those. I'm still not sure what to do with the intakes. I guess I'll just do what I always do which is enlarge the passages and work them for flow. I won't change any port timings or sizes cause I want the torque. Now we come to the case reeds. They are TINY! Is there any way to upgrade these? I'm just going to work the passage some and match the port to the reed block. I would appriciate any guidance here. Should I work the reed passage into the intake more? I don't want to cause a bunch of turbulance in the intake by changing the angles unless that is considered a good thing. How about another vid to show what I'm talking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dajogejr Posted November 23, 2006 Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 OJ...for 150 bucks on this bike, if you screw it up....SO WHAT!! Good learning tool for you! I would just massage the openings, smooth them out...and remember, do NOT polish anything in the intake tract. I know they make boysen reeds for that bike, and they're like 20 bucks. My old bike has mossbarger reeds, but...good luck finding those. That little bike can be made fun to rip around on.... If my current shee wasn't draining my time, money...etc., I'd like to have that project back!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ojcool Posted November 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 OJ...for 150 bucks on this bike, if you screw it up....SO WHAT!! Good learning tool for you! I would just massage the openings, smooth them out...and remember, do NOT polish anything in the intake tract. I know they make boysen reeds for that bike, and they're like 20 bucks. My old bike has mossbarger reeds, but...good luck finding those. That little bike can be made fun to rip around on.... If my current shee wasn't draining my time, money...etc., I'd like to have that project back!! $125 heh heh. Yeah I just want to clean it up and make it into a trail ripper. Hopefully the trans isn't screwed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Washburn Posted November 24, 2006 Report Share Posted November 24, 2006 125 dollars. You cant lose. Wont lose. And if the tranny is messed up let me know cause I have a good one off of an 86-87 Im pretty damn sure I will check either way. The bolts are seized up and stripped so I am having a bitch of a time getting the motor out. The motor is seized and the cylinder has a little coat of surface rust inside so I might just ditch it. Here is a pic of the motor. Damn theres more rust in there than I thought. Its been kept inside its whole life. All it took was one night in the rain for that to happen. DAMN :: http://s95.photobucket.com/albums/l137/Was...nt=100_0098.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprntr81 Posted November 24, 2006 Report Share Posted November 24, 2006 looks like youll need to rebuild the crank,looks like alot of side to side slop in the rod.But for 125 bucks you cant beat it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dajogejr Posted November 24, 2006 Report Share Posted November 24, 2006 $125 heh heh. Yeah I just want to clean it up and make it into a trail ripper. Hopefully the trans isn't screwed. Funny you should mention that. When I sold mine, after beating the shit out of it for 3 years, it would only go into 2 and 4th half the time. I offed it pretty cheaply... Whitaker Racing does override trannys for most of the bikes out there, but...they MIGHT rebuild and/or fix a stock tranny... On Planetsand.com his handle is yama007, and on ebay it's WCR or something like that. Give him a call when you're ready. You have an excellent trail bike when you get it back together, I promise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brock_fuzzy_69 Posted November 24, 2006 Report Share Posted November 24, 2006 i have an 87 that i got from a member here last year i ended up putting it back together after it lost some powervlve parts down int he clutch basket which soon exited the case it was all that bad of a fix really and the machine hasnt failed me at all they make pretty good power and its a lot more reliable than i ever imagined Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ojcool Posted December 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2006 Well as you may have read earlier this particular one is before they redesigned the engine to a powervalve. It has a different reed configuration than I have worked on before.. Course that only includes the banshee. I wish it was the 87' and later model but for $125 I can't bitch much. Anyway.... Case is split. I found nothing broken or out of place inside so I'm thinking there was nothing wrong with the trans, at least nothing obvious. When I put it back together I may find something different though. All the bearings (in trans) feel nice and tight. With what they cost it's hard to justify not replacing them.. Especially since the fluid that came out of said trans was the thickest grey good I have ever seen. I would hate to put it all back together and suddenly have bearing noise. On the reeds. The stock ones are steel and in order to do anything to them you have to pull off the jug. They look like they would flow like crap but the whole design of the engine makes it appear that it dosen't make power via that pathway. From what I see the reeds only come into play when the piston is on it's way up, and the intake ports are covered by the piston skirt. (prior to exposing the skirt intake holes) I guess what I'm getting at is there any power in changing the reeds. I have to say I was not impressed with the performance gain on the banshee when I went to different cages and reeds. It was pretty hard to feel any difference at all except for throttle response, and that was borderline if you ask me. But being that it's such a pain to change them with this configuration I don't want to leave power on the table. Anyone got any advice on the reed situation? Funny you should mention that. When I sold mine, after beating the shit out of it for 3 years, it would only go into 2 and 4th half the time. I offed it pretty cheaply... Whitaker Racing does override trannys for most of the bikes out there, but...they MIGHT rebuild and/or fix a stock tranny... On Planetsand.com his handle is yama007, and on ebay it's WCR or something like that. Give him a call when you're ready. You have an excellent trail bike when you get it back together, I promise! What do you think was wrong in there that made it miss gears? A LIST OF STUFF I FEEL LIKE I NEED TO BUY FOR THIS PROJECT - Case gasket set $20 -New rod bearing $18 -New piston $78 (wiseco) -New wheel bearings $38 for all -New control cables $50-80 -Swing arm bearings $40 -Ancillary crap $100 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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