250r steering

[WI 250r]

This past weekend I drove a 350x. Day and night difference from my 250r. The only thing I liked better was the steering. So my question is this, what can I do to make mine steer as well as a 350x. I noticed his forks were opposite of mine, that is to say his front axle was in front of the forks, were mine was behind the forks. Last night I turned my forks around and dropped them 2 inches hoping to duplicate the steering characteristics of the x. I plan on testing this setup tonight, in the meantime does anybody know what I am talking about, or if what I have done will improve the steering on the r?

[Fuzzy]

It could be your front shocks are worn out. If they are worn out the thing wont steer worth a darn. The front end will be all wishy washy.

What year 250r do you have?. If it is a newer one it should handle better then a 350x.

And i had also read awhile back that turning the shocks around was unsafe. Something to do with the design of the 250r is why the forks were reversed in the first place.

[WI 250r]

It is an 86r. Also, if I may, what do you mean by worn out? Are the springs bad or the forks just worn enough and need to be replaced? Sounds like I got taken when I had them rebuilt 3 months ago!!!

[MR ATC]

the reason for the differances has less to do with wheel placement as it dose Fork angle. the 350X has a steeper fork rake then the 250R. this allows the front end to turn a sharper radious the 250R forks are streched out more (like a chopper) this gives it less of a turning radious. turning your lower sliders around will only lenghthen your wheelbase and make your turning worse. if you want sharper turning Honda made a "short track" kit that includes lower triple clamp new gas tank ect. the allows sharper turning but at a cost of less fuel. these kits arerare but they have been on ebay recently also i may have one for sale if the deal falls through.

as for your forks when you say rebuild do you mean oil & seals??? a true fork rebuild consiste of new bushings,damping rod ring,damping rod springs,fork springs,seals and oil. replacing leaking seals and putting in fresh oil is not a rebuild. also progressive suspension has a fork spring set up that works real good i've used them in my 86R since 86.
also how much do you weigh? what weight oil did he use? you might need new springs after so long they do get worn out.

p.s. the reason for the leading axel on the 350X is to give it a lighter front wheel and shift weight to the back.the 250R has trailing axel to put shift more weight on the front

[MR ATC]

this picture helps show what i'm talking about the foreground trike has 250R forks. the back ground trike has 350X forks. notice how much steeper the 350X forks are. this is what makes the 350X turn so well. if you were to measure the front wheel location between the 2 forks the wheel sits in the same spot. by rotating your forks and placing your wheel infront you efectivly lengthend your wheelbase the oposite of what you would want to do for better turning

[ATCnut]

If I understand what you are saying, the 350X frame is longer, because the forks are steeper. To have the same wheelbase with steeper forks the crown has to be further forward. I want to compare the rake of my 200x's and my 250sx to the 350X.

[MR ATC]

no you misunderstand. what i'm saying is the steeper forks give it a tighter turning radius. i used the picture as a example because you have to trikes with same frame but one with 350X forks and the other with 250R forks and they both have the front wheel in exact same position the only differance (besides tube diameter and travel but that is irelevent to this) is the rake the one with the 350X forks has a tighter turning radius not because of wheel placement but because of fork angle

[christopher21]

most likely this won't apply to your bike , but if your front wheel bearings are bad enough- they will make it a little harder to turn also. good bearings are always good for smoother steering.

I also agree with the steeper forks making it turn better. If you are good with a torch and a welder :demon: and can get some 350 forks you can make yours match the 350. With the tire being closer I would watch making high speed turns. You probably would not want to do this, but if you are just using it to go through trails this may not be such a bad idea.

[Unregistered]

I think you are all over looking an important factor. The difference in weight between the R and the X have alot to do with this because the X weight is greater due to it being a 4 stroke it puts more pressure on the front wheel so it then has more grip to turn.

[Unregistered]

i did not overlook anything thats exactly why the 350X has a leading axel by placing the wheel in the front less weight is put on the front wheel.

[88TurboCoupe]

Does anyone know of the web site for Progrerssive Suspension? Thanks

[jenndnn3]

http://www.progressivesuspension.com/

[Caterpillar]

I have that progresive fork spring upgrade, and, it does NOT blow MY hair back. The springs came in with a light coat of RUST, worse yet they are designed to fit like 6 different machines including street bikes. They are longer than the stock 85 springs, and a real bitch to jamn into the tube, and get the cap on after. The rear spring showed up PINK..........needless to say I had it VERY lightly sand blasted and repainted it blue. :fire: Progresive