Hello! My name is Justin Reardon and I am a senior Marketing student at the University of Northern Iowa. Project Rebuild is my blog highlighting the progress of a 1986 Honda TRX250R rebuild, the greatest and most dominant racing machine ever built.
Purpose
I will be using this blog to highlight the progress I make while rebuilding this legendary race bike. As a Marketing student, it's a dream of mine to one day end up working for a company in the moto industry. This blog came about as a social media assignment for a class I'm taking during my senior year. We were challenged to create content related to something we are passionate about. Choosing to write about my rebuild was a no-brainer! As I make progress, I will be highlighting and reaching out to the various parts and companies that helped make this rebuild a reality.
Backstory
I've been riding and wrenching for as long as I can remember. Dirtbikes and ATVs have always been a factor in my life. One day after school when I was 10 years old I had a brilliant idea on my bus-ride home. Instead of getting off at my house, I rode the bus into town and got off at the local Polaris-Suzuki dealership. I walked in the door and asked for a job, and to everyone's surprise, they handed me a time card. I couldn't believe I was getting paid to clean and polish dirtbikes, ATVs and snowmobiles! It was a dream come true.
Fast forward a decade. In the summer of 2010 I found my dream bike on CraigsList. After some dynamite persuasion (that's why I'm studying Marketing!), my parents finally caved and let me drive the two hours to purchase my 1986 Honda TRX250R with my hard-earned money. (Some of you may be wondering why I'm gushing over such a vintage machine... don't worry, I'll explain that in my next post!)
Needless to say, it was a little rough and needed some major TLC! However, it was exactly what I wanted. I knew I wanted something I could rebuild with my dad before I ever started looking for something to buy, that's half the fun! This is what it looked like the day I brought it home.
I rode it as you see it for a couple of riding seasons. As a college student, I was lacking the necessary funds to start a rebuild right away. However, one fateful day in March of 2012, the 26 year-old engine components finally decided they had enough, and a bearing in the bottom end seized, causing damage throughout my entire motor. Thus, the rebuild was forced to start a little earlier than expected, but I've had a blast working on it with my dad so far! In the upcoming blog posts I will unveil a little bit of progress at a time, so stay tuned! Here is a picture of the motor damage.
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