This has got to be my favorite atv of all time. So dang reliable and versatile you can't beat a Honda 250. my favorite is the big red es version. I wish they just made every atv with this engine.
Hey Joe. I really enjoyed this video as it was extremely informative and I was able to watch you diagnose while explaining what you're doing and why you're doing it. Thanks again for the awesome video and keep up the great work!!!
Neet bike. That was the 1st bike I owned back in the early 90s. Got it for 100 bucks cuz the final drive unit bearings were fried. Rode it for many years. Nice job. God bless
bro your a beast doing all that for free!!! wish I was your neighbor...aside from probably hearing the sound of A ATV starting at 2:00 am!!! LoL keep it up👍
Had the same one. It was the cam chain. I welded the tip of the tensioner to build it up some rode it for many years after. Guy I sold it to is still running it.
I can never understand how people go "hmm, can't get spark, let's replace the stator and rectifier." That's just throwing money at a problem without trying to understand it.
@@derryjones1029 I haven't encountered any bad stators either, but the point is that the charging system has little to do with the ignition system. This is like replacing your tires when the drivechain is broken; you need both but you'll get a lot further without tires and no charging than you will without spark and a chain.
@@VyantQuijt i do this for a living. Hondas and yamahas are notorious for eating regulator rectifiers as well as stators. Suzuki is known for throwing magnets from the flywheels and destroying the stators. I have a collection of burnt and mangled stators i made into christmas wreath's lol
I have come across this problem a few times now myself. The battery has to be in the bike and hooked up, Just a jumper pack hooked up is not good enough from my experience. The other problem I come across is the front brake switch but I see you are on top of that one, nice video m8
Used to fix these up as work, had a 250sx in with electrical problems too. It seems like the longer it runs the better the electrics work? maybe building up voltage in the capacitors. Those switches, solenoids and fuses are killer so i always have extras on the trail
That's my exact three wheeler! Woot woot! Flywheels for those can be Nippon Denso or Mitsuaba, I think they only work with the coordinating stators from what I've read.
Sporty big red, nice atc . Had one back in the late 80's. Still see lots of ATCs cone in the shop. Honda dealer wont touch em, i do. Do compression check syraight away. See that a lot. Great bike!
Little story about "spark". Mid eighties and I am working at the BMW Dealer. Concern (on a new 535i) was uneven engine performance when what is wanted is steady cruising. Everyone was so sure the problem would be easy to connect the problem to a certain cylinder. Heck this is the Dealer and we have all the tools. Sure there is a host of hardware that goes along with the coil but there is also, software. The vehicle had an uneven unsteady cruise due to how he software was written
Great vid Joe I did an Artic Cat that had been to multiple shops and a few different people and I was the one to get it going again. It feels great knowing you have the know how and common sense to do it. Common sense these days is not to Common lol. Great vid Joe you do great work
Lol that’s to funny I had the same issue with a Honda 300 couldn’t get spark finally did some digging and found out the person before me that put all these new parts in it had put the wrong cdi box in it I only realized by looking at pictures on the internet noticed the plugs where on opposite sides was like wow hold up😂glade you got man
Its smoking pretty good bud I'm thinking it's in need a top end job. You had that thing running enough to warm it up and it is smoking bad. Put the time in on it and get him to do a top end job. Good video boss
Check out this by mrc_builds titled "no spark, bad cdi? Best cheap fix". This video shows how to check all of the ignition components on a Honda ATC using an ohms meter to each of the wires going into the cdi through the plug (6 wires I believe). If any one of the parts are bad the ohms will be out of range (low). In the video he gives the range for a good part and what each colored wire goes to. Very informative and no need to just throw parts at it and also no need to destroy the wiring harness either (ouch).
The 250sx was classified as a Sport Utility i believe, i had one years ago i loved it, i think it had the same engine as the Big Red but geared a little different, the 250sx was faster but not as torquey
Kick start not working is the centrifugal clutch one way bearing it needs to be replaced or it will destroy the starter reduction gears and tear up the crank shaft where the centrifugal clutch rides on it. Very important fix absolutely needs to be done asap. Some of the noise is the bad bearing.
When testing for spark at the spark plug, take off thee boot and touch the coil wire to the head, and see if that sparks! Takes the boot and the plug out of the equation.!
Ain't that thing illegal in the states? Great job on the electrical. If you want a quick, cheap, and permanent fix for the torn seat. HH-66 and old billboard works amazing.
Hey it's a grand fathered in 3 wheeler/atc. I own one of those. the none kick start version. try the cleaning the points on the top half of the motor. when I got it no sure on miles but I got close to 10,000 km's on it so far and still running strong. after sitting 10+yrs in the back of a shed!!!
People dont know the difference. They do an amazon search and see "oh $10 CDI well ill buy a bunch of random shit and throw it on there They dont even know how a carburetor works
You'd be surprised if you'd ask your nearby Honda dealer a price quote for a replacement 1985 ATC 250 SX CDI. Maybe more so with car parts, but still. Give it a try next time.
35:27 use a big flat washer and vise grips it will take it loose alot easier and the valves are stickie i can hear the offset sound of the motor more than likely from sitting should clear up over time if not the they need to be worked
If the kick starter isn't working, it is likely the one-way clutch. Mine went bad. I never got around to replacing it. The bad thing is going down hills the 3-wheeler would free wheel instead of holding you back with the motor.
Old School love it I had a 110 Honda I woos asked to dump it and it still drove a boat okay ok I wish I still had it lol good video pall cep the up from c samby West Coast to Scotland 🏴
These are actually quite rare. The 200x, 350x, 250r were very popular. Should be a 200s also -I think. -This ATV is sort of forgotten, but very cool. That rack was added later = this is actually a sport atv like the 200/350x.
I have a 1990 polaris trailblazer 250 4x4 or trailboss, I forget but it doesn't get spark. I was not sure the first thing too look for. and cant find any videos on it and tonight I well be trying what you did. anyways great video 👍
🙂🙂Take that tensioner out and free it up, compress it then reinstall and release the spring tension should be fixed unless chain is stretched but I wouldn’t drive it like that🙂🙂🙂
Man , your skills are amazing especially for a young guy and the common sense approach is a winner . It would be interesting to know what your background is ?
I was able to replace carb,cdi,regulator,ignition coil,sparkplug and cap,solenoid and a couple other things for 200 dollars. No trouble shooting needed. AFTERMARKET parts of course. Honda trx300 4×4 for 250 dollars. Just checked for rotation and compression first. Total 450 dollars. Looks good, runs great. Yes trouble shooting is nice to know, but if the bike is old and you got it cheap, it doesn't cost much to replace wiring components. OEM is fine, but over 80% of the people I sell to, don't care when I tell them the price of OEM repairs. They just say, fix it cheap.
@@krotchlickmeugh627 you are correct, there's only one way to fix things, and that's to just fix it. When I'm poor, I trouble shoot the problem to avoid expenses. But other times, if I have extra money, and many old parts, I will replace many of the cheaper ones. Just an alternative for people that don't like or know how to troubleshoot the problem.
black and red wire is 12v from magneto to provide 12v positive green is ground for frame battery and engine the blue and white is pulse generator that picks up the pulse to send to cdi box for spark then comes out of cdi box as black and yellow to the ignition coil then throws spark to plug all white and all yellow are your charging wire. easy diagnosing is add 12v positive to the black and red wire to the cdi now it has 12vlts then add ground to green wire now the cdi box is on then add blue and white wire to magneto blue and white wire now should start. to kill the engine ground the black and yellow to ground it will shut the engine off and or disconnect the red and black wire from cdi it will also shut off disconnecting green from ground will also shut the bike off ... YOU NEVER PUT YOUR BLACK AND RED TO GROUND YOU WILL FRY YOUR CDI BOX
Everyone does a fat big wheel motorcycle conversion on these. But I'd like see someone do 2 front tires , 1 rear drive tricycle wheel conversion. It would be far more stable tricycle in that form
Nice diag work Joe ( you had a bowl of spaghetti for wiring lol ) I just picked up an 82 185s that doesn't run , will be starting on it soon -20 degrees today in Duluth MN, brrrrr not braaaaaaaap
I'm 63 years old,and I learn something every time I watch your videos thanks for taking the time to make them
Mine made cam chain noise also. Make sure it has oil in the final drive. We called ours Herbie the Honda.😁🇺🇸
You’re a hell of a neighbor and a hell of a mechanic! Great video to keep up the great work sir👍🏼🤩
This has got to be my favorite atv of all time. So dang reliable and versatile you can't beat a Honda 250. my favorite is the big red es version. I wish they just made every atv with this engine.
Hey Joe. I really enjoyed this video as it was extremely informative and I was able to watch you diagnose while explaining what you're doing and why you're doing it. Thanks again for the awesome video and keep up the great work!!!
Thanks for watching!
His name is 2vintage
STEVEEEE
@@2vintage hope your Neighbor is going to keep it after he puts the work and money into it y let go of it
was there spark at the pick up coil? i must have missed that
Neet bike. That was the 1st bike I owned back in the early 90s. Got it for 100 bucks cuz the final drive unit bearings were fried. Rode it for many years. Nice job. God bless
God bless you for helping a friend out doing something you love great job
bro your a beast doing all that for free!!! wish I was your neighbor...aside from probably hearing the sound of A ATV starting at 2:00 am!!! LoL keep it up👍
They probably think Joe be doing some snow in there or sum
Karen for sure
Thats a fun looking old school 4 stroke double suspension 3 wheeler glad to see it running again with your expertise.
The more I watch you the more I Want to work on small engines keep going up bro
Had the same one. It was the cam chain. I welded the tip of the tensioner to build it up some rode it for many years after. Guy I sold it to is still running it.
Really great video! I love how you explain your step by step process and great camera angles always you can actually see what it is your looking at
You are a trouble shooting master. Good job figuring that one out.
I almost always roll my eyes when youre checking lights all the way up until these randomly started working. Love the channel keep chugging along
I can never understand how people go "hmm, can't get spark, let's replace the stator and rectifier." That's just throwing money at a problem without trying to understand it.
Thats true Ive never had a problem with a stater plate on any bike ive ownd to b honest had problems with other electrical stuff👍
@@derryjones1029 I haven't encountered any bad stators either, but the point is that the charging system has little to do with the ignition system. This is like replacing your tires when the drivechain is broken; you need both but you'll get a lot further without tires and no charging than you will without spark and a chain.
we've all utilized the parts cannon at one point in life lol
@@VyantQuijt i do this for a living.
Hondas and yamahas are notorious for eating regulator rectifiers as well as stators.
Suzuki is known for throwing magnets from the flywheels and destroying the stators.
I have a collection of burnt and mangled stators i made into christmas wreath's lol
verry true
I have come across this problem a few times now myself. The battery has to be in the bike and hooked up, Just a jumper pack hooked up is not good enough from my experience. The other problem I come across is the front brake switch but I see you are on top of that one, nice video m8
I learned a some time ago to not trust cheap aftermarket cdi’s (or rectifier’s for that matter). Good job troubleshooting Joe 👍🏼
Yeah i have had a few fail in the past, but I have actually had a few work as well!
You are a good man for helping your neighbor for free. Very interesting video as always
Awesome! Love watching the process step by step to rule out the reasons why no spark. Thoughtful and calm analysis!
The 250 sx is my all around favorite ATC, the big red 250 is my second. Glad you did this video. Great job.
I seen the thumbnail and though he finally got one and clicked on it before reading, let’s hope a test ride on this makes you want one!
That's awesome that he helps his neighbors out
Awesome video. True diagnostics at work. Don't have a 3 wheeler but watched the whole thing. Great job
My 85 250SX has that exact same rattle up top. Valves are perfect, chain is tight, no smoke. Just has that damn rattle.
Used to fix these up as work, had a 250sx in with electrical problems too. It seems like the longer it runs the better the electrics work? maybe building up voltage in the capacitors. Those switches, solenoids and fuses are killer so i always have extras on the trail
That's my exact three wheeler! Woot woot! Flywheels for those can be Nippon Denso or Mitsuaba, I think they only work with the coordinating stators from what I've read.
This is a blast from the past. I had a 200sx brand new in 83!
Been watching your videos for a while now dude your a excellent problem solver…a young version of fellow youtuber mustie..all the best young man.
Thats the best way 2 start a shop.Word of mouth and great rebuilds turn into flips.B safe..peace
Very nice work. I'm sure your neighbour would of been very happy to get this back running.
Top end rebuild time. Been on there a very long time. Rode hard, now new top end and all good for another 30+ years.
By the way, you're my favorite youtuber, the videos are really great
You gave the expression cold case an additional dimension. Good work.
Top job joe and to do it for free says a lot about you man top bloke 👍👌🔧🔧🔧
dude i love your vids man, keeps me so entertained and you teach me a lot. keep doing exactly what your doing and more!
U can check spark without plug cap & spark plug, just grounded bodycoil cable in any ground surface...
I had one some fond memories. So, tough and great engineering.
Sporty big red, nice atc . Had one back in the late 80's. Still see lots of ATCs cone in the shop. Honda dealer wont touch em, i do. Do compression check syraight away. See that a lot. Great bike!
Got er runnin? I knew you could bubba!
Now you have a friend for life. God bless.
Good job done bud, Eddie from north of Scotland , your videos are really good 👍
I was invested, was super happy when you finally got spark lol.
Sometimes it just takes a set of fresh eyes diagnosing stuff. It always seems to end up being something simple. Good job brother 👏👍
Little story about "spark". Mid eighties and I am working at the BMW Dealer. Concern (on a new 535i) was uneven engine performance when what is wanted is steady cruising. Everyone was so sure the problem would be easy to connect the problem to a certain cylinder. Heck this is the Dealer and we have all the tools. Sure there is a host of hardware that goes along with the coil but there is also, software. The vehicle had an uneven unsteady cruise due to how he software was written
Watching you move that spark plug around all i could think was a doctor with his stethoscope saying deep breath in lol
hahaha I feel like that sometimes
Great vid Joe I did an Artic Cat that had been to multiple shops and a few different people and I was the one to get it going again. It feels great knowing you have the know how and common sense to do it. Common sense these days is not to Common lol. Great vid Joe you do great work
When he fixes subscribers and friends are the best vids awesome too help ppl out ♥️♥️awesome my dude keep the good content coming
Love the videos! Very informative and educational, keep them coming!
He supposed to work on them and couldn't get spark. That's hilarious. Once I seen that cdi wasnt OEM I had a slight feeling that was the colporat
That is cam chain noise, if you take the tensioner off, you can take the metal cap off and make a new longer one, it will quiet her right up.
Lol that’s to funny I had the same issue with a Honda 300 couldn’t get spark finally did some digging and found out the person before me that put all these new parts in it had put the wrong cdi box in it I only realized by looking at pictures on the internet noticed the plugs where on opposite sides was like wow hold up😂glade you got man
It's the best feeling when you finally figure out the issue!
Job well done Joe ! You do a great job working on these old bikes ! I really enjoy watching your videos !
Its smoking pretty good bud I'm thinking it's in need a top end job. You had that thing running enough to warm it up and it is smoking bad. Put the time in on it and get him to do a top end job. Good video boss
I enjoy your trouble shooting ability. Great work.
Check out this by mrc_builds titled "no spark, bad cdi? Best cheap fix". This video shows how to check all of the ignition components on a Honda ATC using an ohms meter to each of the wires going into the cdi through the plug (6 wires I believe). If any one of the parts are bad the ohms will be out of range (low). In the video he gives the range for a good part and what each colored wire goes to. Very informative and no need to just throw parts at it and also no need to destroy the wiring harness either (ouch).
I’d love to get a nice big red. Those are awesome. I have an 86 200x but a big red is in my future hopefully soon.
The 250sx was classified as a Sport Utility i believe, i had one years ago i loved it, i think it had the same engine as the Big Red but geared a little different, the 250sx was faster but not as torquey
Kick start not working is the centrifugal clutch one way bearing it needs to be replaced or it will destroy the starter reduction gears and tear up the crank shaft where the centrifugal clutch rides on it. Very important fix absolutely needs to be done asap. Some of the noise is the bad bearing.
Stopped at 12:00 to suggest checking spark from the raw exposed wire from the coil. A bad resistor in the cap can prevent spark!
Totally awesome man, hard to kill a Honda! Good work sir.
Great job man keep making these videos liked and subscribed
When testing for spark at the spark plug, take off thee boot and touch the coil wire to the head, and see if that sparks! Takes the boot and the plug out of the equation.!
Ain't that thing illegal in the states?
Great job on the electrical.
If you want a quick, cheap, and permanent fix for the torn seat. HH-66 and old billboard works amazing.
Hot Damn,,,,, it's fun watching a PRO work!!!!
Hey it's a grand fathered in 3 wheeler/atc. I own one of those. the none kick start version. try the cleaning the points on the top half of the motor. when I got it no sure on miles but I got close to 10,000 km's on it so far and still running strong. after sitting 10+yrs in the back of a shed!!!
Timing chain is a slap, slap, slappin up a storm homie.
Somebody needs to sponsor this dude and get him some heat in his garage..
u should get one of those test lights for.your spark plug would.gomits a.lightnunuse instead of the sparkplug
A REALLY important thing people neglect to check is if there machine has a DC or AC CDI .. both are not compatible with each other .
People dont know the difference.
They do an amazon search and see "oh $10 CDI well ill buy a bunch of random shit and throw it on there
They dont even know how a carburetor works
You'd be surprised if you'd ask your nearby Honda dealer a price quote for a replacement 1985 ATC 250 SX CDI. Maybe more so with car parts, but still. Give it a try next time.
35:27 use a big flat washer and vise grips it will take it loose alot easier
and the valves are stickie i can hear the offset sound of the motor more than likely from sitting should clear up over time if not the they need to be worked
If the kick starter isn't working, it is likely the one-way clutch. Mine went bad. I never got around to replacing it. The bad thing is going down hills the 3-wheeler would free wheel instead of holding you back with the motor.
Old School love it I had a 110 Honda I woos asked to dump it and it still drove a boat okay ok I wish I still had it lol good video pall cep the up from c samby West Coast to Scotland 🏴
These are actually quite rare. The 200x, 350x, 250r were very popular. Should be a 200s also -I think.
-This ATV is sort of forgotten, but very cool. That rack was added later = this is actually a sport atv like the 200/350x.
All hondas came with racks on utilities most like minded people took them off
@@Southized the racks were a option from the dealer some didn’t come with them
@@Mtn_dude07 every honda with a trunk has a rack on it.
Great job diagnosing.
Man those "Beeps" are loud for headphones, I do enjoy watching your vids, helps in finding ways to solve some issues one may come across later on.
Looking good man keep it up
I have a 1990 polaris trailblazer 250 4x4 or trailboss, I forget but it doesn't get spark. I was not sure the first thing too look for. and cant find any videos on it and tonight I well be trying what you did. anyways great video 👍
🙂🙂Take that tensioner out and free it up, compress it then reinstall and release the spring tension should be fixed unless chain is stretched but I wouldn’t drive it like that🙂🙂🙂
I love those threewheelers
Love the vids. Install a furnace. Tired of seeing you cold my guy lol.
I agree. Lol
I love those old big reds 😎
Man , your skills are amazing especially for a young guy and the common sense approach is a winner . It would be interesting to know what your background is ?
I love the 250sx, awesome machines
I was able to replace carb,cdi,regulator,ignition coil,sparkplug and cap,solenoid and a couple other things for 200 dollars.
No trouble shooting needed. AFTERMARKET parts of course. Honda trx300 4×4 for 250 dollars. Just checked for rotation and compression first. Total 450 dollars. Looks good, runs great. Yes trouble shooting is nice to know, but if the bike is old and you got it cheap, it doesn't cost much to replace wiring components. OEM is fine, but over 80% of the people I sell to, don't care when I tell them the price of OEM repairs. They just say, fix it cheap.
Thats not how you fix stuff
@@krotchlickmeugh627 you are correct, there's only one way to fix things, and that's to just fix it. When I'm poor, I trouble shoot the problem to avoid expenses. But other times, if I have extra money, and many old parts, I will replace many of the cheaper ones. Just an alternative for people that don't like or know how to troubleshoot the problem.
Always feels good when you fix something. :D
black and red wire is 12v from magneto to provide 12v positive green is ground for frame battery and engine the blue and white is pulse generator that picks up the pulse to send to cdi box for spark then comes out of cdi box as black and yellow to the ignition coil then throws spark to plug all white and all yellow are your charging wire.
easy diagnosing is add 12v positive to the black and red wire to the cdi now it has 12vlts then add ground to green wire now the cdi box is on then add blue and white wire to magneto blue and white wire now should start. to kill the engine ground the black and yellow to ground it will shut the engine off and or disconnect the red and black wire from cdi it will also shut off disconnecting green from ground will also shut the bike off ... YOU NEVER PUT YOUR BLACK AND RED TO GROUND YOU WILL FRY YOUR CDI BOX
Dang I would have guessed the kill switch or some other safety switch at first.
@ 32:13 I liked and subscribed. Good stuff man 👏 👏 👏
Good job Joe
You could have tested the red and black wiring coming from stator to see if the stator is good
Genius troubleshooting.
Excellent job again 🍀👍🏴🙏
Love my 85sx it’s a trail beast!
Take a shot for every time he says he’s gonna get shocked and doesn’t get shocked
We had 1 of them on the farm it broke the shaft a couple times but great bike an reasonable fast for wot it is. Is there a high an low gear box?
Everyone does a fat big wheel motorcycle conversion on these. But I'd like see someone do 2 front tires , 1 rear drive tricycle wheel conversion. It would be far more stable tricycle in that form
Nice diag work Joe ( you had a bowl of spaghetti for wiring lol ) I just picked up an 82 185s that doesn't run , will be starting on it soon -20 degrees today in Duluth MN, brrrrr not braaaaaaaap
really cool video and another job well done! be safe my friend :)
awsome got me worried bout my new cdi for a kodiak shall c