Somewhere near Osbnorne lookout on my first TRX250R - Glamis CA

I started my riding journey in Southern California being addicted to anything that made me go faster and with less effort than it took to walk. I also couldn't resist taking anything apart and putting it back together. Not much was safe in my family's homes if tampering with it didn't get me into (too much) trouble. Learning how anything mechanical worked was an involuntary childhood focus.

Later, with family and friends I also got to expand my childhood wheels riding skills on motorcycles and ATC's in the mountains of San Pasqual valley, the deserts of So Cal like Ocotillo Wells, the vast world of the Glamis sand dunes, and anywhere else the neighbors wouldn't call the police on us.

After graduating with an MS is software engineering in 2002, an old friend took me out to Ocotillo Wells with his 400ex trying to get me back into riding offroad (really he just needed a new riding partner). The memories and love of riding came back to me, and 2 weeks later I bought my first TRX250R for $5k. It was a nice 1988 with new OEM fenders, an FMF pipe and a durablue axle - otherwise the bike was completely stock. That 2002-03 riding season, we were constantly in the Imperial sand dunes and other deserts. After solid seat time, and making a few basic adjustments to my new 250R, I quickly grew to understand how special the design was.

That first year I also found macdizzy.com. Rick's clearly written articles and forum exposed me to the fascinating mechanical engineering of 2strokes and the R engine. I sent macdizzy my engine to inspect for maintenance issues, and performance gains. In the meantime, I fixed a few chassis issues, including new Elka suspension and JDPerformance a-arms. The engine came back to me mid-range ported, higher compression and a 38mm PWK. With my riding skills quickly improving, Glamis, the most incredible dune system was now on a new level of fun for me!

While riding my refined R, I brushed up on my physics lessons, poured my attention into Graham Bell, Blair's books, SAE papers, writings and sometimes technical calls with other 2stroke builders. One day totally out of the blue in 2006, the inspiration to create my own 250R technical FYI site came to me as "All250R". After re-building my now tired engine, and a couple others, I created a forum and posted different self-authored technical articles and findings and began working on customer's engines who I had contact with on different forums like exriders and trx250r.net.

Not-good times of around 2010...
Life takes a dip sometimes. Family court laws being what they are derailed many things including my drive to build 2stroke engines for people, and even the time to build and ride my own. Though I'd periodically check the forums, scout for parts, and handle some of my own work, I wasn't involved publicly anymore.

Surviving to 2020...
Gaining some breathing room, I turned my attention to what it would take to re-create the R's wiring harness. After some discovery I decided I wanted to create a new one from as many OE materials as were feasibly available. After huge hours of study and experimentation, I found that I'd improved the original product, and was again inspired to share with other people. I put all250r.com back on the web. The brand name that came to me from this effort was "R₂".

R₂ is now the product name of the old "All250R". The sub-scripted "2" means a second iteration of the original R's design, like how most of us might think Honda would have released it if they were to design it for us die-hards! For me individually, R₂ also means the highest quality possible, in every detail, seen and unseen, unburdened with the constraints the brilliant Japanese engineers had, but who still made the most pure and correct production racing ATV that may ever exist.

Most importantly, I am just another guy that loves riding and admiring the engineering of these bikes, and always will. I share what I do to make them better for me, also be better for you.

Thanks, Jason Barton