Hello my Honda comrades,

I have a friend that is willing to sell me
his 1987 Fourtrax. Here is the specs
with some throw ins and the asking price.
I need your help, is this a good deal? As I
am a Polaris owner not too up on the Honda's.
Some good points are that he is trustworthy and
honest in which is a BIG sell for me, but let me know
your opinions and what to look for in pursuing this
purchase. Thanks all opinions are WELCOME!

Regards,

R'

---------------------------------
4 Wheeler:
-1987 Honda 250X Fourtrax
-2WD, 5-speed
-price: $900

Specs:
Quad Maxxis Razor tires on Douglas Aluminum rims
E.B.C. Brake pads (front, rear)
Steel braided brake lines (front, rear)
Sunstar chain & sprockets
New rear axel/spindles/axel carrier & bearings
E.B.C. clutch kit-plates, springs, etc.
New clutch basket
Replaced left/right side gaskets
Motion pro throttle cable and clutch cable
K&N air filter & oil filter (outerwear)
D.G. Excelerator race exhaust system (full system)
Aluminum swing arm armor plate
Hard plastic under-belly full skid plate


From the Owner:
"Bike has always been garaged. There were 2 other owners before me. A girl sold it to me and her
cousin was the original owner. The bike has been ridden anywhere from 25 to 35 hours since I've
owned it for the past 3 years. I do have a written bill of sale...if I can find it, but don't have the
title.

Accessories:
Helmet worn 3X $280
goggles $20
gloves $25
Honda oil $5
K&N air filter cleaner $30
Chain/wax lube $20

 

Well, since you have a utility machine I think you would really really really enjoy the 250X.

They are such a fun little trail machine. They are reliable and right at home in the woods.

 

Duster -

Thanks for the reply. No doubt I think this would
be a good small wood-trail machine. My wife and I
want to buy this for her 15yr old nephew. He rides
ours when we go over the in-laws house (11 acres field
plus woods).

Since I haven't bought used ATV's and Honda to mention
that, I wanted a sanity check here on IF this is a good deal
for the money asked. What are the knowns and unknowns?
I figure if I put this money out and he gets a couples years
of fun riding w/o breakdowns/breaks then it would of served
the purpose of a good starter bike.

Thanks again and looking forward to much input in this
thread!

Cheers,

R'

 

If it makes you feel better, that bike's engine is the same as the '86 250sx/big red. I have an '86 250sx that is still running strong, and I recently purchased an '06 300ex because I liked the style and size so much. As long as they took decent care of it, it has every chance of running as well as my old trike! (Which, by the way, has never had the engine apart in almost 21 years).

 

these are very good 4-wheelers.I had one myself and really enjoyed it.the only problems I had was rear axle bearings.one of the toughest 4-wheelers I ever owned.$900 dont sound bad unless its just really beat up.

 

Well, there is a reason they are still around at 20 years old.
There's also a reason why they are still made almost unchanged over the last 20 years (300EX).

Dang bulletproof reliable bike that comes in a hit package.

 

So what are the common issues I need to look
for when I go and check out this quad?

Thanks,

R'

 

great bike. what i would check out is. does it start easy? start with a cold motor.

does it smoke blue oil smoke?

are the front or rear shocks shot? it will bounce up and down like a pogo stick if blown out. it wont make that cool ssssssssssstt noise on the rebound

are the front wheel bearings shot out? is the stearing shaft bearings shot out? tierod ends slopy to?shake it all around to test and ride it on a paved road to feel it all out.

are the rear axle bearings wore out? the bike will woble side to side in the back when you shake it back and forth.to test it.

head light work? just a bulb or more to it than that?

brakes all there? missing brake parts?

look for repairs to the frame from crashes or cracks.

some dumb $#!T cut up the front fenders to look cool? seat riped? air box cover gone? air filter not on it?
shreded fenders all ziptied together and a homemade denem seat cover grandma made?

rear axle hubs welded to the axle or through bolted to the axle? this is a redneck repair method of striped out hubs.something to look for.

ATF or blue 2 stroke oil in the crank case?

any extra 250X junk they can throw in they may not be telling you about ,that you can talk them into giving you?

dry rotted wallmart tires?

most of this stuff would not stop me from getting a 250X but this stuff would efect how much i paid for it.

these are good bikes. there even better with a ATC 350x motor in them.but thats another thread.

 

Carlw -

Thanks so much for the good info. this is
exactly what I need. I hope all the grandma
made cover seat, rip ties fenders and redneck
axle-hub wields are the not case here...8)

But you never know on a 19yr old Quad. I
think what I am hearing here is if the condition
is good (seems to be?) and everything listed as I have
done is the real deal for the asking price
then this will make a really good starter
quad for my wife's nephew in which is
my main goal to achieve here.

Thanks again everybody for all your posts.
And BTW, what would be the single most
expensive thing I would look to replace on
this quad if (God forbid) I need to repair/replace
(engine maybe?) as I will inform my nephew's mother
of potential future costs (19 yrs old)?

Much obliged!

R'

 

well engine repair is expensive and if you dont know how to do it your self it can cost a prety good penny.

you can get tons of good used parts on ebay. for cheap. i get everything on ebay for my bikes. nothing is realy that expensive for a 4 wheeler used on ebay. i buy tons of bike parts on ebay and have not been riped off yet.i think it is the greatest thing ever for keeping old bikes in shape.like my 250r. so look there if you need stuff on a budget.i am always on a budget when it comes to stupid 3 and 4 wheeler parts.you are just flushing money down a toilet anyway on these things so you may as well get the best deal you can ,is the way i see it.

a used bike seems to always need rear axle bearings. no big deal at all and usualy easy to do for 20-40 bucks in parts. rear brake pads are common to and are 20 bucks no big deal

what to look for that is expensive is this....................you start up the bike and it has a very noticeable fast sounding top end noise like this TACK TACK TACK TACK TACK TACK TACK. at a very fast and abnormal sounding level. and the dude will tell you that it just needs a valve adjustment. more times than not there is more to it than that. what is often the case is the poor engine has been run the hell out off with low dirty hot oil for most of it's life and the cam is worn out.

so if it makes this noise have him take it to a shop and have the valves adjusted and make them show the the recipt. if the guy says he will adjust them himself he may just make the adjustment way to tight to get the noise to go away and that will burn every thing up in the head if it is not allready for sure. if the repair shop goes to adjust them and finds the thing to far gone to service they will tell you about it.

this is what could happen when you find that you bike needs a head job. you find that the rocker arms are worn out you find the valve guides sloppy the cam and cam sprocket worn out .you find a few striped bolts with silicone all over the threds to seal them. you pull the threds out with one of the exhaust studs when removing the header pipe.all of these things mentioned above are very very common
so you finaly got it off and the head needs a total rebuild. you notice a score in the cyilider wall while the head is off and the piston slaps around in the cylinder to much for you liking so you figure you will pull the jug and put a new piston and rings in it to freshin it up while it is apart.
now the jug is off and you notice the cam chain is sloppy and the cam chain guides are worn out to from hot dirty oil all it's life and they need to be replaced.so to do that you need to pull the clutch cover side of the crank case off to get at them and you figure while you are at it you may as well put new clutch disk's in it because you have gone this far and you dont want to be in there again for a good long while.so 500 to 1000 bucks in parts later depending on how you get your parts and plus or minnus whatever else is wrong. add to that give or take a few a good chunk for labor cost if you dont do it your self. you get the idea.

this is not to scare you i am just letting you know how a little blue smoke or a little ticking noise can rapidly get out of hand. so dont let anyone tell you something wrong internaly in a engine is no big deal.these are high stressed high output little motors and they need to be pretty much top notch shape and maintained if you want to ride them hard and for a long time without any reliability issues.

and i recomend you get a manual for this bike.and do all of your own work. it is fun anyway to work on them .

there is more to a bike than just fun times bashing through teh mud and woods. a kid can get allot out of a bike. the kid will learn about taking care off $#!T or he will be walking more than he is riding.he will learn about tools and maintence,pride in owning something cool and fast he fixes up.

so good luck

this sounds prety damn good to me though.i would go get it rite now.

4 Wheeler:
-1987 Honda 250X Fourtrax
-2WD, 5-speed
-price: $900

Specs:
Quad Maxxis Razor tires on Douglas Aluminum rims
E.B.C. Brake pads (front, rear)
Steel braided brake lines (front, rear)
Sunstar chain & sprockets
New rear axel/spindles/axel carrier & bearings
E.B.C. clutch kit-plates, springs, etc.
New clutch basket
Replaced left/right side gaskets
Motion pro throttle cable and clutch cable
K&N air filter & oil filter (outerwear)
D.G. Excelerator race exhaust system (full system)
Aluminum swing arm armor plate
Hard plastic under-belly full skid plate


From the Owner:
"Bike has always been garaged. There were 2 other owners before me. A girl sold it to me and her
cousin was the original owner. The bike has been ridden anywhere from 25 to 35 hours since I've
owned it for the past 3 years. I do have a written bill of sale...if I can find it, but don't have the
title.

Accessories:
Helmet worn 3X $280
goggles $20
gloves $25
Honda oil $5
K&N air filter cleaner $30
Chain/wax lube $20