What to look for:
This is an effort to help out with people looking to pick up a used TRX250R. These tips could probably be applied to buying any offroad vehicle or ATV, but there are some specific tips for the R itself.
There are R's out there that have few hours or were ridden lightly. Here in So Cal there are R's sitting in garages that have only ever been to Glamis. I bought an 89 not long ago that was one of these quads. Anywhere in the southwest I think has an opportunity with some patience for some nice, rust free, low hours R's.
Otherwise, the frame is the most crucial part to be intact. Right now most other components like case halves, cranks can be replaced or repaired, but if the frame is shot or been ridden hard it could be expensive or time consuming to find a replacement. Plus if your state requires a title, then you may have lost your registration and title fees.
I think you can get an idea how much life has been drained from the bike the easiest when the paint is original. From here you can look at welds and see if there are a) cracks b) paint flaking from around the welds indicating flexing and/or metal fatigue. Mechanical failure happens when the steel (or aluminum, 88-89 swinger) has been flexed too hard too many times. At that point the overall integrity of the chassis is in question because the metal is getting "tired".
Of the various frames I've seen over the years the ones that have been around start to show evidence of stress:
* at the upper stem mount
* around the bolt holes in the front engine mounts. it seems bikes with nerf bars attached or pipes mounted here have this problem more frequently - just a speculation though
* at the rear engine mounting cross bar on the 88-89
* of lesser importance is the subframe at rear most end. could indicate wheeling or roll overs.
I think those are the first places they crack. Obviously damage can appear anywhere though. Your best bet for a long term investment is to hold out for a low hours or one that hasn't been ridden/stressed hard.
In my opinion the engine will last the longest if you just tear it down and spec all the internal components and repalce all bearings and seals. If yo'ure confident the bike was owned by grandma and hasn't been ridden hard, you can get away for a while probably with a compression test and maybe a fresh piston.
Also, plastics. Good OEM plastics are the best you can mount to them for fit and in my opinion looks as well. They're also pretty expensive. You can save a sold amount of cash by picking one up with plastics you can live with for a while.
Lastly, TRX's that have been around the block with any number of aftermarket parts attached and any number of circus tent colors are in my opinion like shooting in the dark. The market shows it as well. Unless it's race condition and totally clean, these bikes are probably the cheaper variety. If it doesn't have the original paint, you have to take the owner's word on the condition and history of the frame. The engine could have had hack porting, bad crank and old or previously blown bearings. These bikes could be great or could be a dissapointing money pit that may or may not ever run the way you would want. Conversely a well maintained TRX can feel and corner like brand new and run like an friggin beast.
Back
Just to give you a better idea where to look, here are some pictures of problems areas on well used TRX frames. Cracks can happen anywhere, but these areas seem to be common trouble spots.
This frame happens to be an 89 version:
This is the first place I look mostly because its easy to spot. Nerf bars that people often stand on and pipes with custom bolts/brackets are often attached here. Notice the crack working it's way under the bolt hole:
Here's trouble area too that may pop up. This is the left bottom mount. You can see a crack running across the right side of the weld. It's harder to see in this picture but it actually creeps up and over the bracket as well. Look too at the missing paint drawing a line along side the weld. This is a sign of hard flexing. The strongest point is at the weld, so the moving metal flexes at the next weakest point sometimes lifting the stiff, dry paint off the surface.
Just for reference here are both lower mounts together. You can see that the right is clean and trouble free. There isn't even any stress flaking of the paint.
Some stress paint flaking at the rear cross member. This bar only exists on the 88-89 TRX (not the 86-87). The other side on this frame looks good still.
This is a common compaint on all year TRX250R's. This particular frame has this crack on both sides. This one is slightly worse. A lot of these cracks happen along side a weld where the material is thinner.
This is the right front shock tower mount. Some stress flaking behind the weld. The other side looks fine.
Stress flaking at the lower subframe:
Here's why there is stress showing at the lower portion of this structure. Looks like someone has been dragging the rear end doing wheelies possibly or rolling the quad. The subframe is relatively weak compared to the rest of the chassis. It's designed mostly just to hold the riders butt in place. This one has been welded either unsuccessfully or the stressful conditions continued after the repair (or both).
