[Wioffroader]

In a couple days I am going to look at a 2004 crf250r. I was wondering what to look for when I go to look at it. I am most likely going to use it as a trail bike. So what should I look for? I don't want to get it home and have to dismantle the whole thing. Thanks!

[JimDirt]

Welcome to the site !!

Most common is to look for excessive wear , if the seller claims low hours , then the coating on the clutch and ignition covers should not be worn thru , if its heavily worn , then expect the bike to have a lot of time on it

Next would be to look for obvious signs of neglect , like excessive dirt covered in oil , this is a sign of either lack of maintenance or just poor upkeep , which means things will be worn out or on their last leg

Turn the bars and feel if it feels chunky/notchy , if it does then that means it is in need of Steering Head Bearings , not a biggie , just part of normal wear and tear , but its a added expense that should be considered at time of purchase to be included in the cost by way of a price break , this goes for anything that "needs replacing" , including tires , since tires are now in the $200 neighborhood for a front and rear Dunlap , again , a factor as to the asking price

Mainly look for neglect and claims that cant be backed up with receipts , if the owner is not producing receipts for claimed service or repairs , chances are he is not being honest and you could be getting a major repair bill in either parts and/or labor to get the bike up to standards

I am sure others here have suggestions as well that i have forgotten to mention

Hope that helped some

[Wioffroader]

Awesome thanks looked for all that and made the purchase 😄

[JimDirt]

Great , hope you have good luck with it and enjoy the riding !!

[Wioffroader]

Great , hope you have good luck with it and enjoy the riding !!

I am enjoying it. The only thing I would like to do is make the suspension softer. Seems really stiff. What is the correct procedure to softening the suspension?

[JimDirt]

If its sprung for your weight , then your going to need to revalve it , if you can't get what your looking for out of the clickers, this is the only option , other than finding some 250X forks and shock and slap them on , the stiffness is caused by a few things , the valving is stiffer on a R because the intended purpose is for MX , not trails , the other issue is the fork tubes themselves are physically stiffer , so that transfers back to the rider

So you have

Proper Springs for your weight/skill


Clicker Adjustments (Compression Clickers: counterclockwise is softer , clockwise is stiffer


Valving

Fork Tubes