Lighten Up

[88TurboCoupe]

What can I do to lighten up my 250r? So far I got wrid of the headlight and put carbon fiber wheels on the back. Got wrid of the stock exhaust and replaced it with a FMF pipe and silencer. anyone have a on/off switch so I can get wrid of the light/on/off switch of would a tether switch be best?

[Mr. Richard]

the little amount you shave off won't really make enough difference in handling to notice ,,, what are you tryin to accomplish? drag racin ? you could go to aluminum axle and hubs ,, have an aluminum front hub made , aluminum bars , aluminum kicker and shifter ,,, go to a no link shock and throw away the linkage,, aluminum pro pegs, you can get lighter stainless discs with aluminum hub, i think you could spend $2500 to get 15 to 20 lbs off maybe,,,,

[88TurboCoupe]

My thought is if I cut some weight off it is alot cheaper than spending alot of doe on a power valve engine. I also got wrid of that heavy weight, boat anchor, stainless steal bolts the previous owner put on.

[88TurboCoupe]

Oh, I forgot to mention that a lighter bike handles better too. Doesn't it??

[Mr. Richard]

stainless bolts are not any heavier than stock,,, and a titainium bolt kit might save a couple of pounds .. GOT$$$$$$$ ,, LOL
a lighter trike wil handle better if you don't lose the balance of the machine by moving the weight around to much....

[225DXfreak]

carbon fiber wheels?!!! I didnt even know there was such a thing, they must be really expensive

[88TurboCoupe]

YES THEY ARE!!!! Hiper technology makes them. Just get 2 more jobs like I did and get wrid of the girlfriend for a while and you can have a set too!!!! LOL

[Black Sheep]

well no surprise but i totally disagree with Kasey on this one. saving weight is one of the best performance "mods" you can do to your trike. also i don't know what Kasey considers a "little" weight but you can save almost 40lbs off a 250R and have it stronger for hard use (IE. MX.) as far as cheaper then a powervalve cylinder well that may not be the case but here are some ways to do it. some you have already done.



replace the stock pipe/silencer
remove parking brake setup
CR twist throttle
CR front brake master cylinder
CR kill switch
CR ignition (lighter flywheel and wire harness)
smaller gas tank (HRC)
aluminum radiator guards
aluminum handlebars
carbon fiber wheels
aluminum hubs
aluminum brake hub/axel locknut
aluminum sprocket (rear)
aluminum subframe/airbox
aluminum seat bracket (rear)
aluminum swingarm
titanium bolt kit
aluminum wheel nuts
aluminum axel nuts
aluminum cylinder (stock cylinder has a steel liner in it )
aluminum swingarm skid plate (PRM makes a really light MX version)
stainless steel footpegs
aluminum motor mounts
aluminum kickstart lever
aluminum shift lever
dougless front wheel
aluminum rear caliper mount

[88TurboCoupe]

Holy S**t--- Way to go ATC. I bet the factory team of the day wished they had that list. Dayum!!!

[Mr. Richard]

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: who would be suprized??????

[Black Sheep]

Originally posted by 88TurboCoupe
Holy S**t--- Way to go ATC. I bet the factory team of the day wished they had that list. Dayum!!!

well as a matter of fact the Team Honda and privateers had acces to a lot of the stuff. back in the 80's they could easily save about 30lbs. with the addition of newer parts its now easily up to 40lbs.


out of this list here is what was avalible then...


replace the stock pipe/silencer
remove parking brake setup
CR twist throttle
CR front brake master cylinder
CR kill switch
CR ignition (lighter flywheel and wire harness)
smaller gas tank (HRC)
aluminum radiator guards
aluminum handlebars
aluminum hubs
aluminum sprocket (rear)
aluminum subframe/airbox
aluminum seat bracket (rear)
aluminum swingarm
aluminum cylinder (stock cylinder has a steel liner in it )
aluminum swingarm skid plate (PRM makes a really light MX version)
aluminum motor mounts
dougless front wheel


when you add the new stuff...


carbon fiber wheels
aluminum brake hub/axel locknut
titanium bolt kit
aluminum wheel nuts
aluminum axel nuts
stainless steel footpegs
aluminum kickstart lever
aluminum shift lever
aluminum rear caliper mount


an extra 10lbs is easily within reach.

i also forgot to mention the following...

remove the overflow tank.

and with some modifications a rear master cylinder from a current CR can be used. the current CR's have the resevoir built into the master cylinder thus saving weight

[88TurboCoupe]

I've never seen a list like this in ANY magazine or web site. Nice!

[225DXfreak]

so what kind of riding are you gonna do with this thing? thats pretty cool that theres carbon fiber wheels but thats the last thing i would do to decrease weight, i think that would make it balanced really weird. because if there isnt much weight below the suspension it will be a lot more top heavy and can probably roll over alot easier, decreasing overall handling, i dunno its just my theory

[88TurboCoupe]

I just want my 250r to handle better and to be faster than the next. I like to ride fast so why shouldn't it handle better too? Its alot easiser to sling it around with less weight. A good comparrison is when I ride my 89 TRX. What a lump that is. Don't get me wrong, its a nice quad ride but heavy. You need HP to do anyhting with it to get it to do what you want it to do. Look at MX bikes. Check out the front and rear travel. How high do you think the top of the seat is? The riders really don't have any problems that I can see falling over. When I had my Elsinore I didn't have any problem being top heavy! Just fast as hell. And they are the fastest rides out there. You will never here from anyone that "my" ATC or quad beat a CR. If they do they, know somthing that the whole riding community doesn't or just plain are lying. Ride Hard

[Black Sheep]

ooops i also forgot one more thing...

the rear caliper uses steel pistons. they are the same size as the front caliper pistons that are made from a resin. if you replace the pistons you save almost a 1/2 pound.


225DXfreak, don't take this the wrong way but your theroy is wrong and here is why...

Wheels are part of what is called unsprung weight. what is unsprung weight??? unsprung weight is any part that is below the springs wether it be front or rear. this weight is not supported by the springs and therfore effects handling performance greatly. similar to rotating weight that in that 1lb of rotating weight = 7lbs of dead weight, with unsprung weight 1lb of unsprung weight = 6lbs of sprung weight. SO saving severall pounds of ROTATING UNSPRUNG weight is a HUGE performance gain.

[225DXfreak]

i thought about the unsprung weight but it didnt make sense to me at the moment, because it just seems like the thing would flip over more easily with a decrease in weight below the suspension, I know with my rc cars I try to keep a certain ratio between spung and unsprung wait on the car otherwise it wont stick to the ground very well, and it will go on two wheels when I make a turn if its not right.
But yeah performance and horsepower will definately increase if there is less rotating mass and acceration will definately increase.
Another way to decrease weight is if your just doing short drag races with your friends or whatever, just put enough gas in the tank to finish the race.
You could also get some crappy fenders and cut them so its more aerodynamic, and then keep the nice ones for show.
And if theres nothing else you can do, you could lose some weight if your heavy? Or get one of those horse jocks that only weigh like 80 punds to race it for you lol :lmao:

[Dan10]

Heres one that nobody mentioned. ATKINS diet. Im sure I could stand to lose twenty pounds. Would that be unsprung, or sprung weight? :D

[pomona51]

Mr. Atc you are a god when it comes to trikes:hail:

[deathman53]

here a 3&4 wheel atv project 250r, and I already called CT and they don't make many of the parts anymore.

http://pictureposter.allbrand.nu/pictures/deathman53/ultra%20light%20250r-1%2034%202-86.jpg
http://pictureposter.allbrand.nu/pictures/deathman53/ultra%20light%20250r-2%2034%202-86.jpg
http://pictureposter.allbrand.nu/pictures/deathman53/ultra%20light%20250r-3%2034%202-86.jpg
http://pictureposter.allbrand.nu/pictures/deathman53/ultra%20light%20250r-4%2034%202-86.jpg
http://pictureposter.allbrand.nu/pictures/deathman53/ultra%20light%20250r-5%2034%202-86.jpg

[88TurboCoupe]

Hey Deathman, Your pics wond download. Whats up?

[Black Sheep]

Originally posted by deathman53
here a 3&4 wheel atv project 250r, and I already called CT and they don't make many of the parts anymore.


you are correct. however CT racing is not the only one to make these parts. if i was only focusing on that artical and CT i would have mentioned the ultra lite front hub as well.

[utahlugers]

Originally posted by 88TurboCoupe
Hey Deathman, Your pics wond download. Whats up?

They work on mine, they are just FREAKIN' HUGE.
:D :D :D lol :D :D :D
Its helps to be on a fast connection at work. :)

[Rocketman]

Mr ATC, where can I find a titanium bolt kit for the 250R?
More than anything I'd like to find the rear sprocket bolts and the brake rotor bolts.
Thanks

[Black Sheep]

Originally posted by Rocketman
Mr ATC, where can I find a titanium bolt kit for the 250R?
More than anything I'd like to find the rear sprocket bolts and the brake rotor bolts.
Thanks


look in the back of the magazines (mostly motocross action or Dirt wheels) you will find severall companies that sell titanium bolt kits and misc. bolts. be prepared to spend some serious cash.

[Rocketman]

That's just it, no one puts together a "kit" for the 250r. So are all
Honda brake rotor bolts the same?