Retro Survivor: An Original 1986 Honda FourTrax 250R

Aug 20, 2023

The Honda FourTrax 250R is arguably the most important quad bike that was made in the 20th century. It was only in production from 1986 to 1989 however its design would prove so enduring it remained a favorite for competitive racers well into the 2000s.

The quad bike would quickly rise to take the mantle from the three wheelers that had been wildly popular in the 1970s and 1980s. They had also been wildly dangerous and production was voluntarily ceased by all manufacturers by 1987.

It’s relatively rare in the motoring world for a model to continue to dominate its racing class for over a decade after it leaves production. It does happen occasionally and in the world of ATVs it happened with the Honda FourTrax 250R – a quad bike that remained in serious competition until over 15 years after it left production in 1989.

Above Video: This race footage shows the Honda TRX250R dominating the Montréal Supermotocross well over a decade after it left production in 1989.

To develop the Honda TRX250R FourTrax Honda had essentially taken all the parts that had made the earlier three-wheeled Honda ATC250R so competitive and used them on the new four-wheeled design.

The engine, transmission, rear suspension, and rear end were all used – though they were modified to suit the new vehicle and its slightly increased curb weight over the earlier trike.

A number of colorways were available for the Honda FourTrax 250R including this one shown on the cover of the brochure from 1987. Image courtesy of Honda.

The engine used in the Honda FourTrax 250R was a modified version of the engine used in the earlier Honda ATC250R three wheeler. Image courtesy of Honda.

The mid-to-late 1980s was a time when the ATV world was beginning its transition from three wheelers to quad bikes. Due to the sheer number of serious and sometimes fatal injuries incurred when riding three-wheelers they had begun to develop a negative reputation in the USA and other places like Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.

Media coverage of these accidents was drawing in significant bad publicity and as a result the production of motorized all-terrain three-wheelers was ceased by all manufacturers in 1987 on a voluntary basis.

The manufacturers agreed to a 10 year stop on production and together they funded a $100 million ATV safety campaign. Production shifted to quad bikes which were inherently more stable, and even after the 10 year production moratorium expired no manufacturers restarted production of three wheelers.

Quad bike racers hang off each side of the bike as they go through corners, sometimes reaching their knees and thighs all the way down to the ground below. Image courtesy of Honda.

Honda was perfectly positioned, and not by accident, to take advantage of the shutdown on three wheeler production with their new FourTrax 250R but it’s unlikely that they knew just how popular and enduring the design would become.

The quad you see here is a remarkably original 1986 Honda FourTrax 250R, it’s from the first year of production and represents the ATV as the world first saw the design. Many three wheeler riders switched over to quads arounds this time and the FourTrax 250R was a bid reason why.

This FourTrax is finished in classic white and red with red, white, and blue graphics, and it was initially delivered new to St. George Honda in Utah back in the 1980s.

It’s now being offered for sale in what appears to be remarkable condition out of Fort Myers, Florida with a 1987 owner’s manual, a photocopy of the Manufacturer’s Certificate of Origin, period literature, and a bill of sale.

If you’d like to read more about this quad or place a bid you can find the listing here on Bring a Trailer.

Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer

Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.

Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.