Upgrading Honda 250 ex’s.

RiverDave

RiverDave

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So after the San Felipe trip my son has finally crossed a bridge (he’s 11). Where he wants to trick out his quad a bit. Our little fleet of kids quads is a Yamaha 90 raptor (newish), a 2006 250ex which is a trainer quad (auto clutch with a clutch! This is my oldest daughter she’s 13). And a 2002 250ex auto clutch which my son is riding currently. 1/2 of me wants to just sell this and get something more sporty with a clutch but still has reverse.. or option 2 upgrade it a little to make it more sporty.

He definitely wants a twist throttle.. but I was thinking maybe some suspension/ wheels and tires / bumper? It’s his birthday pretty quick.

Back when I was young we just subscribed to dirt wheels and ordered parts out of the magazine. These quads are twenty years old. I’m not even sure where to start?

Who makes a good suspension kit for this 2002 Pipe / carb combo? Twist throttle? Etc? Wheels and tires for Parker havasu? Figured I’d run the stock balloon tires for Glamis?

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If his size and/or skill have outgrown the 250 then it's time for a 400 or even a 450. A good option if first switching to a clutch is to stick to knobbies the first season in the sand... let those wheels slip and spin a ton vs standing the quad up on end after dumping the clutch on accident. That's the path that a lot of people take and it works well in the sand. After a season on knobbies and learning some clutch control move to the paddles and air up accordingly. Hardpack... not as forgiving with the dumped clutch.

Those 250s are stupid reliable and hold their value well beyond the 400s out there. As far as shocks, very few people even touch quads anymore... I'd assume there's someone local in Havasu but I don't think you'll see much performance/comfort return on that 250 platform.

Who is bigger or more close to being ready for the next size quad? I always hated giving one of my boys a present for his brother's birthday but if the daughter is ready and he isn't quite there putting her on a 400 and him on that black 250 seems like it would be an upgrade as well.
 
Get them the Suzuki 400s... better suspension, reliable...simple mods make them fun to ride...
 
I got some 450s and a 660 I’m gonna list
Rocky Mountain atv online store for most parts needed
Suspension, best price will likely be I-shock online.
Not a whole lot of options on Honda 250s, yamaha 250s have more but you don’t have sooooo, time to upgrade to 400-450s. Lol
Chapparal, Burt’s, mountain Motorsports etc all have parts departments and sell online also

Cant think of the name of havasu dealer or if still open. The son just did the bike to bars last week in havasu.
 
Putting upgrades into that will be really pointless. I'd try and sell it and go for a 400, 450 or Raptor. Maybe even a Banshee, but those prices are a bit dumb right now.
If he's into riding, he's going to want a full size quad by spring.
 
Bansh88 said:
Putting upgrades into that will be really pointless. I'd try and sell it and go for a 400, 450 or Raptor. Maybe even a Banshee, but those prices are a bit dumb right now.
If he's into riding, he's going to want a full size quad by spring.
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He’s 11 and weighs 102 lbs..

This is more an exercise in working on shit then performance. He’s ok on a quad and more aggressive than the other kids we ride with. But I know how I used to ride at this age and he isn’t anywhere near that.. mostly small shit around campsites not open desert yet.

San Felipe kinda changed the game on him ready to roll farther and through more serious stuff.

To be clear I’ll keep all the stock shit and put it back to stock when I sell it understanding resale values. lol. But I have three kids so I get triple usage out of most this stuff as the next steps up.

RD
 
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Intro2Rhino said:
And still have reverse
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When I was 12 my dad got me a Yamaha warrior. I loved that quad and it was great from
12-16?

Even at 12 reading dirt wheels every month it was only a few months before it had the carb and pipe combo on it.. nerf bars.. the. Hole shot tires, then fast trekkers, then cepek spider tracks I think they were called? (Way too heavy for desert).

Part of the fun was working on it and making it my own. Way to much quad for a skinny 12 year old.. I could ride up the steepest of shit in 4th without having to downshift. Loved it.

I kept it until my mid 20’s even though I never rode it much.. and regret selling it to this day.

I just sold my xr80 and an xr100 that I got when In 1984.. which ironically enough I had a 250 auto clutch arc before it that I hated because every time you’d go into second you’d damn near loop it.
 
Just went from a Yamaha 250 (extremely reliable) to a Yamaha 450. My daughter sprouted like a weed in 3 years and outgrew the 250. I would bypass mods and get a 450, it’s inevitable anyway.
 
Move him up to a TRX400EX, when he masters that, a TRX450R and his sister can get the 400.

The 400 is great all around, so many out there and as reliable as the 250s you have.
 
Twins ride Raptor 250s. Moved up to them from lt80s 3 years ago.They are 14 now and moving up to Suzuki 400s this year.
The Raptors are fun. Sporty little machines. No reverse. But super light and easy to move around. More of a motocross type bike than the Honda 250s. Tons of aftermarket parts.
Honda 400 reliability is great. But I like the Suzuki 400 better for handling and ride quality. Resized_20240315_184555.jpegResized_Resized_20241013_181532.jpeg
 
Crusty said:
Move him up to a TRX400EX, when he masters that, a TRX450R and his sister can get the 400.

The 400 is great all around, so many out there and as reliable as the 250s you have.
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I have a Honda 400 here it is way too much quad for him
 
I think any upgrade options for 250ex are limited and futile unless you just like wrenching for the sake of fun.

I’d probably switch him to a Raptor 250, or look out for a Honda 300ex. The 300ex’s are easy to ride and have reverse but physically smaller and not as powerful as a 400.
 
xtracrispy said:
I think any upgrade options for 250ex are limited and futile unless you just like wrenching for the sake of fun.

I’d probably switch him to a Raptor 250, or look out for a Honda 300ex. The 300ex’s are easy to ride and have reverse but physically smaller and not as powerful as a 400.
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Agree with this. If your just looking to get him into wrenching more and learning about that sort of thing theres some affordable decent parts on ebay for the 250ex like bumpers, nerf bars, exhaust tips etc. However not much out there for performance upgrades on these machines.
 
xtracrispy said:
I think any upgrade options for 250ex are limited and futile unless you just like wrenching for the sake of fun.

I’d probably switch him to a Raptor 250, or look out for a Honda 300ex. The 300ex’s are easy to ride and have reverse but physically smaller and not as powerful as a 400.
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Is the 300 an auto clutch as well? I’d really like to get him away from that..
 
Call Todd at TCS and see if he would be willing to build you shocks.

www.tcspowersports.com

Motorcycle Suspension | TCS Powersports | United States

TCS Powersports is a motorcycle suspension shop located in Riverside, CA. We also specialize in race prep and ATV suspension.
www.tcspowersports.com www.tcspowersports.com

Let him know, that you have multiple generations that will be using this quad. If he can make them, the springs will have to be for a specific weight, so be sure to let him know what that will be.

If anyone Can do it, he can. Better suspension, will be the best mod that you can make. (y)
 
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