Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Above) Detailing on the Honda is f irst ra te. (Bel ow) Some riders complain that the kickstart lever is awkward to use . Pipe is tucked in nicely. (A bove) The f ront disc brake works excellently, as does the five- speed transmission. (Be low) New porting gives the Honda more low end; less top-end. radiators, th e same as o n the CRI25, are lon ger 8.5 in ch es from 7.8 inches, with thicker walls an d tubing. The radiator hoses a re now inj ection molded into one hose, instead of three sepera te hoses.The convent io na I seal in th e wa ter pump h a s been replaced by a T eflon sea l. The n ew exhaust p ipe m ates with th e cyli n der 's cent er p ort and winds its way up the righ t sid e of th e bike. At th e en d ofth e p ipe is an o val aluminum silence r . It is rebuildable by removing two hex h ead screws. A 36m m ova l-bo re Keih in ca r buretor rep laces la st year' s round-slide Keih in . The new ca rb is li gh ter an d has an easy-to -use id le sp eed adj us tment. A pull-typ e choke knob is located on th e rig ht sid e o f th e ca rbo T h e car b feeds into a six -pe ta l reedvalve induct ion cham ber. Th e a irbo x desi gn remain s th e same, but a n extra brea th ing h ol e is cru de ly cut into th e box on both sides. Also new is the air filter el emen t. T h e foam h as a h ig her de nsi ty, and it h as been resh a ped fo r bett er seali ng . A five-speed close-ra tio tra ns m issio n is used a long with a wet m ulti p la te clutch . T he fo ldi ng shift lever is made ou t of a lum inum, and to improve sh iftin g under a full load , each gea r n ow has four engageme nt dogs ins tea d of three, a nd two o f th e three shift forks have been beefed up . At th e a lso air adj usta ble. The front disc brake rem ains th e sa me as la st year, with a tw in-piston caliper. The rear brake is a drum with a lightweight magnesium backing plate. A stra ig ht -p u ll ca ble co n nects th e rea r brake p edal to th e bra ke a ct uatin g lever, a n d th e pe da l is mounted to th e inside o f th e fra me to g ua rd agai ns t da m age. Both fro nt and rear a lu m in um alloy rims are laced with stra ig h t-p u ll spokes. Bridgestone tir es co me stoc k, a n M22 in the rear, a nd an M23 up front. T h ese tires are best suited for dry, hard-packed su rfaces . All th e co ntro ls a re easy to reach a nd use. The CR radiat es confid ence a n d has a co m forta ble feel: It sta nds ta ll, th e sea t is firm - a nd , like th e gas tank, is n arrow - th e handl eb ars hav e a n agreea ble bend a nd th e grips a re still by far th e best in th e bu siness. Wh en co ld , th e C R u su all y starts by th e third or fo urth ki ck with th e choke tu rn ed on, and no gas a p p lied . On ce th e eng ine is wa rm , it a lm o st alwa ys fires to life o n th e firs t kick at a bo u t ha lf throttle. It only takes a few laps to adapt to th e H onda, and we were impressed with its performance at first, even though it lacks power o n top compa red to la st year's C R. The '85 has bett er low end and more precise steering - this was th e most no tabl e cha nge , and every th in g else seemed to be on par to la st year 's H o nda. pivot point th e new sh ift fork s ar e 27mm instead of 22mm, and all have been h eat su rface-trea ted for added strength. Final drive is a #520 D.I.D. chain ; th e front sp rocke t has 14 teeth, th e rear 5 J. The sem i-do u ble-cradle frame still has the bolt-on works-type sub-frame, but th e fram e geo me try ha s been cha nged . T o give the Honda better tu rn ing a bilities , th e steering h ead has been lowered sligh tly, a nd th e swingarm p ivot has been moved for ward 0.4 in ch es. The front downtube is n ow sq uare in stea d of round, a n d th e low er crossp ipes are no w stra ight for additio na l streru h . Footpeg bra ckets a nd the head stay are now forged steel. Wh eelbase is 58.3 in ch es, sea t h eig ht 37.8 in ch es a nd gro u nd clea ra nce 13.4 in ch es. The fuel tank h olds 1.9 ga llo ns, an d claimed dry weight is 212.8Ibs. T h e single-shoc k Pro-L ink rear sus pe n sion has new lin ka ge ratios, a nd th e lin kages now pi vo t o n needle ro lle r bea rings in stead of bush ings. T he shock body and shoc k da mpi n g p iston a re both larger, a nd shock o il capaci ty is increased to red uce fading. Longer shoc k stroke increases wheel travel to 12 in ches. The sh oc k has 18 co m p ressio n a nd 21 reb ound ext ernal adju stmen ts. Up front , th e Sh owa fork h as 12 inc hes o f wh eel travel , has 43m m sta nc hio n tubes a n d 12 external co m p ression dam ping setti ngs . It is However, when we sta rted to push the C R ha rder and harder on th e track, our first impressions took on a new flavor. First of a ll , th e en gine' s powerband isn 't so im pressive wh en try ing for fast lap times. The new porting definitely gives th e CR much better low end, but now it revs out too quick ly and the power flattens out o n top. When coming out of a tu rn , th e Honda h its very strong down low, co nt in ues to pull through m id- range; th en , when yo u 're waitin g for th e pow er to h it o n top like last year's CR, it sig ns o ff a nd q uits revvin g. All this happens wit hi n a narrow pow erba nd . The Honda must be sh ifted co ns ta ntly, because it is very importa nt to be in the ri gh t gear a ll th e time to keep th e CR in th e p roper portion o f the pow er ra nge. For in termedia te a nd pro -level rid ers, th e engine j us t doesn 't h av e enough power on top. It is m ore fa vorable fo r beg in ner a nd novice ri ders, beca use it does have good lo wend and isn' t pipey. T hrottle resp o nse is crisp a nd clean a nd very pred ict a ble. T he H o nda 's eng ine is idea l for the no t-so-ser ious ra cer, who co mpetes once o r twi ce a month and trai l rides on the side. It has just eno ugh low- end gru nt for tight and twisty trail s, a nd ca n motor up the steepest h ill s. With minor gearing cha nges, th e Honda can perform ni cel y in the desert and at grand p rix races . Even 13

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