The 1985 Honda ATC 250R: The Two-Stroke Trike That Ruled Before the Ban

Long before four-wheeled quads became the default choice for off-road riders, three-wheelers had their own brief, glorious era — and the Honda ATC 250R sat at the very top of it. A restored 1985 example now up for sale shows exactly why the model still commands so much attention from collectors, decades after the category it defined was legislated out of existence.

Honda introduced the ATC 250R in 1981 with a clear mission: win races. Until then, the company’s three-wheelers had relied on four-stroke power, but the new machine used a 248cc air-cooled two-stroke single — a format far better suited to competition. It also arrived with front and rear suspension, a rarity for trikes of the period, plus a chassis built specifically for racing. The formula worked immediately. The first-generation 250R was comfortably the quickest machine in its class, and Honda kept the model at the front through steady, frequent revisions. Among the details were a balancer shaft to tame high-rpm vibration, a five-speed gearbox, and a live rear axle mounted to a swingarm with a fully adjustable monoshock. Early bikes used a four-piston front disc with a rear drum, and by 1982 the rear had switched to a disc as well.

The 1983–1984 generation brought Honda’s Pro-Link suspension and disc brakes at both ends, with travel growing to 8.7 inches up front and 8.1 inches at the rear. But the versions enthusiasts chase today are the 1985 and 1986 machines. Suspension travel stretched to 9.8 inches, the frame was reworked for greater strength and rigidity, and — most significantly — Honda fitted a new liquid-cooled motor that extracted substantially more power from the same displacement. A six-speed transmission followed, pushing top speed past 70 mph, a figure that felt genuinely alarming on three wheels.

By the middle of the decade, the writing was on the wall. Thousands of lawsuits were moving through courts around the world, arguing that three-wheelers were inherently dangerous. Experienced riders could manage them, but many buyers were weekend riders with no training at all, and the machines punished mistakes harshly. Production of the ATC 250R ended after 1986, and persistent stories suggest a 1987 model was built and sent to a small number of dealers before Honda ordered the engines pulled and the frames cut in half.

That history is precisely what makes survivors so desirable — and so hard to find in clean, accident-free condition. This particular 1985 ATC 250R was restored under previous ownership before being acquired by the selling dealer in 2025. It wears replacement red Maier bodywork over a refinished red frame, with reproduction red, white and blue graphics and a blue vinyl solo seat. Power comes from a liquid-cooled 246cc two-stroke single paired with a manual clutch and six-speed transmission, driving the rear axle by chain. Electronic ignition, a kick starter, twin high-mounted radiators, a UNI foam air filter and an expansion-chamber exhaust round out the mechanical package. The engine was refreshed under earlier ownership, with a more recent spark plug change.

As with every ATC 250R, the specification includes a telescopic front fork, Pro-Link rear suspension with a remote-reservoir monoshock, front and rear disc brakes, and 9-inch gold multi-piece alloy wheels on Serwa Pro-Vector tires. There is no odometer or hour meter, so total running time is unknown. The machine is offered for off-road use only, with a bill of sale and no title or registration, out of Franklin, Pennsylvania.