I have an 86' LT 250R. The quad needs a  suspension overhaul. It's all stock. Money isn't an issue. Just want to make sure I can take it out jumping sand dunes and not have the suspension fail. Do I need the 2+ a arms or the 2+1+? Is +4 swing arm good enough? DuraBlue or lone star? Is works the premier shock?

A lot of guys that want a better set up on their 85-86's cut the upper shock mount off and put it over the frame to allow for a longer shock cause the 85-86 lt250 had a shorter shock than the 87 and up

85-86 lt 250's had an issue with their swingers cracking people typically weld a plate over the crack I would get that done before it is in 2 pieces. Or upgrade to the 87-90 swinger. you can reuse your shock but the cusion and the link will have to be changed

If you can send your stock Swinger to proformance, shawn can make you a new one out of chromoly any length and axle carrier you want. I'm working with him on these for all years right now, I just don't own any 85-86s to send him parts. Swingers will be less than $400 raw.

The lonestars tend to be really heavy and as you see way overpriced. Also proformance will use what ever axle carrier you like so you could go with say ltz or ltr style carrier, which would allow using axle and brakes from them which are much cheaper and easier to get than old 250 stuff plus the brakes are better the axles are wider and because of the bolt pattern you have many more wheel choices. Mine is getting a 40mm banshee carrier 

Well I definitely think its worth talking to him about it. As long as they are better than the fmf exhaust and they look sweet. If he could do those two things, I would buy them. Don't know about you guys, but I'm looking to squeeze a few more hp out of this Dino.

Um,,, as I've said several times Matt Hatfield/MHR is making 85-86 mx/dune pipes.

I thought MHR was way backlogged on pipes or wasn't building them anymore?
For some reason I thought he was out of the 85-86 pipe building.

Yeah, it sucks. I kind of wanted to keep it original for nostalgia reasons but then that's meaning I can't do much but rec. riding through Missouri woods. I want something I can take to the dunes and do some big jumps if that just so happens to come up. It's a arms are too weak for that I'm afraid. As well as swing arm. So what's the point in keeping it stock. What I want to know is if this factory motor is going to be under powered when I'm trying to go up a big dune. It's not that impressive right now, which is where you guys come in. lol

I'll let you in on a secret...a bone stock 85-86 250 that's been tuned and running good has more power than anyone has the balls to use on a jump.
That is, on a naturally occurring dune, not a calculated exhibition jump with school buses, sparklers, flaming hoops, and a landing ramp.
Most jumps on the dunes don't require that much horsepower unless you're trying to jump Olds Hill or something, and if that's the case you should probably join the Nitro Circus.
For the most part, a sane jump on a dune is only going to be in 3rd gear or lower, depending on the curvature of the dune itself.
A long, sloping hill takes more speed to get airborne, but doesn't require much throttle because it doesn't rob HP like a steep dune.
A steep dune, especially one with a razorback on the top, is a lot easier to get airborne from, so less speed is a necessity (that also means you'll be in a lower gear with more grunt to make it up).
If it's a smooth approach to the dune, a blaster can keep up with an LTR if you're tough enough to land the jump with a crappy suspension.
I've out-jumped guys on 450's and craptors with an LT230, just had to take a little longer run to the dune.

Rule of thumb...if you can force the quad to wheelie in 2nd and 3rd gear by shifting your weight and gunning it, you have more than enough power to control the quad during a launch.
You're better off thinking about a suspension to soak up those landings and frame reinforcements instead of pursuing more power if you're interested in getting airborne.


My 87 250 was demolished from jumping it so much, the tubing underneath the swingarm/engine pivot point broke in half, then my pegs were the next part of the frame to go.
If I had been standing up, my foot would've wound up underneath the axle when I landed in 4th gear.
It was so out of shape and out of square that it was rendered scrap...I've cut it up and used the pieces to fix other frames.
Gusset, reinforce with additional tubing, get yourself a solid shock bridge for your frame, and upgrade or strengthen your swingarm along with suspension upgrades and you'll be much better off.

LOL, that happened to me on my LTR, except that the peg didn't break...my foot slipped off.
I even had the OEM heel guards on, and somehow my foot managed to get wedged up in there.
The paddles on the left tire clawed their way up my leg and started pulling me down off the quad, lost my grip on the right side of the handlebar and made the tires cut to the left.
By this time I was almost to a stop, but there was just enough momentum coupled with the slope of the dune that it slowly and dramatically rolled over while I stood up and watched it roll over without me.
Felt like I broke my femur, the paddles felt like they shredded the meat off my leg, and it felt like I was being split in half starting from the crotch...I don't think I've ever done splits except for that one inadvertent moment.
Nothing needed stitches, and I still have no idea how my foot slipped off the peg.
210Zilla and atvmxr were there and we were taking videos of each other's jumps, but nobody managed to film that one...it was at least a 50ft jump and 6ft of air.

Just my .02 but if it was me I,d make sure everything is tight and in good working order on your stock setup.Try it and see how it handles.No sense spending alot of $$$ on something that is overkill for what your doing plus after running a good stock setup you,ll know how much of an improvement you made.Its your quad and $$$ so its whatever you really want to do.Like others said dialed in right a stocker can work pretty well,if your a real good rider you can also make up for some deficiencies within reason.

AA, You don't need wider a arms or an extended swinger for jumping in the dunes.

As everyone else has stated, the upper shock mount and the swing arm are the weak points on the 85 and 86's. In 86, Suzuki added a small gusset to the swinger to help prevent cracking at the rear housing as they didn't realize so many people would abuse them to the point that we do. I have an 85 and have managed to crack a few swingers, but I took one of my **** ones and added my own gussets to the rear and haven't had any problems since then. Here is a photo of what I did to beef mine up.



The front shocks are a different story, they are short, which means not much travel. I have bottomed mine out jumping more than a few times. The works shocks for the 85 have a bit more spring rate but your still going to bottom them out on jumps. I decided to live with my stock shocks as I am not constantly jumping. They are fine for all around duning. I have beefed up my front shocks mounts and haven't had problems with cracking in that area either.
My point is, you don't need to go out and spend a bunch of cash if your going to be trail riding the majority of the time. Add some gussets to your swinger and gusset your front shock mounts and you should be good to go. Put your money into building a solid motor and get the bike tuned well and you'll be just fine. A good running 85/86 motor and a decent set of paddles will climb just about any dune with a good rider aboard.

If you really want the longer travel shocks from an 87 up, you'll need to relocate the front shock mounts.
If you want to upgrade to a different pipe, talk to people who have the brand/model your looking for and see what they like about it, dislike about it, how they ride, where they ride. Not all pipes are a bolt on and go, you want to consider how you ride and where your bike makes power when considering a pipe. A motor built for low end is not going to run as well with a pipe made for top end and vice versa. Of course, with the 85 and 86's, we are VERY limited in what is available. I haven't tried any of the other brands, but I have found the FMF pipe to work well with how I ride and how my bike is set up.