Atc 250 r

[fastfredracing]

Any of you guys ever have one of these ?
My good buddy had an 84 air cooled, then an 86. I had it most of the time, we would always trade, he wanted to ride my xl 250 on the road, and I liked being in the woods .
They were pretty fast and scary for the time .
We used to jump on the turnpike and ride about 3 miles to one of our riding spots, and I remember being able to keep up with traffic .
Somehow, I never killed myself .
I bought a cherry 1986 later on , but sold all my toys when I bought my building .
I sometimes think about getting another. Makes quads seem boring. I thought they were the coolest thing on the planet when the liquid cooled ones came out. I was 15
Yamaha later came out with the Tri Z 250, and Kawasaki also came out with something to compete .
What fun times to be a kid .

[varmint]

Neighbor has a couple. Kids doing donuts in the road all summer long.

[sammyg2]

Just make sure you put your foot down to take a sharp turn

[fastfredracing]

Rip you right off the bike in an instant ! . They were not nearly as bad as the early trikes, with no suspension, and those big bouncy tires 2 inches behind your heels . The swingarm was pretty long on these .

[Tim Hancock]

I had a bunch of variants starting with a blue 1974 atc90.... Did my paper route on it with a custom built rack on back. When fully loaded with newpapers early in the route, I had to sit way forward to keep the front end down enough to steer.

I mainly rode mini and dirt bikes most of the time, but the 3 wheelers were fun in the winter. When I was about 14 or 15, I bought a nearly new 1981 ATC250 from my summer job boss who was scared of it. I ended up face planting by coming off the back doing a 5th gear wide open wheelie on a paved road (back brake foot was on the rear hand hold bar... so no saving it via rear brake action). I was doing probably 50-55 mph and had no helmet or riding gear on.... I was a mess with road rash but never went to the hospital.... My parents made me return it to my boss.

[asphaltgambler]

They're about the only motorcycle related thingie I haven't owned but a group of friends; 10 or so all bought them at the same dealer same day. Most bought the short non suspension while 2 guys bought the one pictured. So O had a chance to ride both of course. Lots of fun, really weird in a way, yes ran over my own foot, clipped a tree branch.

[Embraer]

We had an ATC125 growing up. Lots of fun. No suspension on that one. Dad sold it, and we got a TRX (also with no suspension....which made it super easy to get on 2 wheels, anyway). It's still sitting in our barn with maybe 200 hours total time on it.

[pavulon]

Loved the 350x version and still dream of doing the ATC 650r conversion.

[Eric 951]

Loved those, but liked the 350X better (four strokes seemed better suited for our mostly-woods trail riding). I had a Quadsport and my riding buddies had a Yamaha BW 200, another 'Sport, XR-100, an XL250 and (2) crazy SOBs had Quadracer LT250s which they upgraded to Quadzilla 500 when those arrived on the scene.

Marty Smith was a terror on the ATC 250R.

[unclebilly]

I had a Honda 185 when I was 11 and 12. I nearly rolled it over on myself towing my brother’s snowmobile up our driveway (rope tied onto the rear grab bar).

I’ve had a Yamaha Warrior 350 quad for a long time and we also have a Honda Rancher 4wd 350 that my 9 year old has confiscated...

[Eric 951]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

and Kawasaki also came out with something to compete .
What fun times to be a kid .

Kawasaki had the Tecate. The first year (84 or 85 IIRC)was a strange beast with the headlight mounted above the "traditional" position to allow for radiator cooling. They redesigned it later making a btter looking machine. Soon thereafter the quads took over making the 3 wheelers obsolete. I am sure you remember the 3x4 conversion sold for a time to convert a trike to a quad. Gary Denton was the man to beat on quads--rode LT250 Quadracers. The mags at the time were great as well- Gary "Wolfman" Webb cracked me up.

[Embraer]

I think manufacturers would have kept making 3 wheelers, if they weren't banned

[LEAKYSEALS951]

PPOT needs a "ultimate 3-wheeler" thread!

I always lusted after a tecate (I'm a kawasaki guy)-
But I always remembered riding a lower class honda in nags head nc-





On pavement, it would pull to the right (or was it left?) like a SOB, but on sand.... ohhhhhhh yeah!!!!

I also remember the throttle being a thumb lever, not a twist grip like the motorbikes.

Judging from these tires, I could buy my lighthouse and float out to it on this beast.

(still never compared to the long travel forks of the 250r....)'drool'

Now all sorts of memories flood back- my KDX80 (which rode more like a kx), a friend's Cagiva 250 (holy gawd...) , another friend's kx 250, another friends kx 250, another friends yamiha xt.... perhaps the thread should read "2 stroke (or 4 stroke) things I rode as a teenager"- the phrasing might need some help though!

[porsche930dude]

x2 on the three wheeler thread! Love my atcs iv got a kawasaki klt250 and a honda atc 110. iv ridden a few big reds and one with full suspension but 4 stroke i dont know what model it was. But if you want a 250r better get one as soon as you can the prices have really gone up the past few years and still going. Three wheelers are really getting quite collectable and hard to find ones that arnt too trashed

[pavulon]

It's not Project Binky and the music stinks but the water-cooled wheeler is terrific.

https://youtu.be/ATvBkXSXQ3M

[Tim Hancock]

Several years back a good friend picked up a couple and started icing his driveway down
each winter to have friendly drunken 3 wheeler races. I ended up with a 125 and a 185 (which I still have). We had as many as 8 of them on track at once. Big fun for all! He had track making down to a science using a water trailer with 32 degree water to pump onto the driveway on cold nights (vs 50 degree tap water). We also built a snowmaker using his pressure washer and air compressor to make piles of snow to then move with his tractor/loader over to the berms. Only rules were no studded tires. We all eventually ran a smaller left tire and gutted the mufflers etc.

I crashed in this video... lol

https://youtu.be/BgZ0xxdLads

[sammyg2]

This one looks practical and safe.

[sammyg2]

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by unclebilly

I’ve had a Yamaha Warrior 350 quad for a long time and

I had one of those too. AND I have the scars to prove it. DANGEROUS.

[Eric 951]

I remember one of the mags featuring a street-legal ATC 250R. The guy had put turn signals, DOT tires, etc. on the trike. The article featured how often he was pulled over by the cops and pics of the trike smoking the tires on the street. It was a beast.