+-

Author Topic: In the years to come what will their legacy be?  (Read 1247 times)

Offline

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Newbie
  • **
  • Posts: 34
Re: In the years to come what will their legacy be?
« on: September 26, 2013, 10:16:04 pm »
I think the quadracers and TRX250, and other vintage trikes and quads from the 80's will eventually be like the 60's muscle cars of ATV world. The 85 LT250 will always have some nostalgia being the very first race quad, and to this day still the lightest full sized race quad ever made. (At 293 lbs dry, it weighed exactly the same as the 3rd gen Honda ATC250R's, and was actually lighter than a Tri-Z!) The 87 LT250R will of course be special because it was the first 6 speed powervalved motor, and also the only year of the large reed 250 motor.

The Honda TRX250 will also be remembered because it became so popular among MX racers and became the basis for so many aftermarket parts. But I think the quadzilla will be the most haloed and most valuable ATV simply because it had the largest high performance two stroke engine ever put in an ATV, and had a powervalve and counter balancer to boot (making it a more desireable engine for an ATV than someone simply putting a CR500 engine in a TRX frame.) The suspension was way ahead of it's time, and for the size of the machine, it was incredibly light. Similar sized machines that were made later (think DS650) weigh almost 100 lbs more. It was simply the baddest ATV ever. Period.

There will never be another ATV with a motor that has the power to weight ratio that the zilla had as long as 2 strokes aren't produced anymore, or until some sort of mini Wankel engine is developed for ATV's. That fact is what already makes these machines legendary, and their value will go up as people realize this when they look back years from now and 2 strokes are a distant memory.

As for which year of the Zilla, I'm not sure. 87's were the first year, and had the larger reed cage which is sought after for those trying to make crazy power. However, they also had some issues that were corrected in later years (extra head stud, larger hub flywheels, better carb). I've also heard there were about as many '87's sold as the other three years combined which makes them a little less rare. (It sure seems that way when you see them for sale. My experience is about half of them that I see for sale are 87's)


 

+- Suzuki Quadracer HQ Store Zone

http://www.suzukiquadracerhq.com/index.php?action=store