Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

The Delta-shapedrear suspension linkages (above ) are refined for a new ratio. The CR (below) works well when it's ridden aggressively. CR fast (m aybe not th e fa stest o n the track, bu t it is fast ), ithas a super; mana geabl e powerba n d th at shou ld keep everyone from th e beg inner race r to the interme diate ride r very ha p p y, The rear wheel starts d iggi n g for tract ion as soon as th e th rottl e is barel v cracked, a nd as it is' ro lled o n even' more, th e ride r is rewa rded with smoo t h pull in g po we r through ou t the po wer range. T h ere's no maj or pow er su rge a nyw he re in th e pow erb and , whi ch mak es th e CR feel deceivi ngly slow. But it 's ac tually a very fast motorcycle, ca pa ble of stea ling hol esh ots on an y track. As far as hand ling, the H onda is first-ra te. Its well though t-ou t seat/ h an dl e b a r/f o o tpeg rela tio ns h ip mak es i t ex tre mely ea sy to fli ck arou nd o n the track a nd in th e ai r while sailing over jum ps. As far as turn ing, the H o nda is to ugh to bea t. Tha n ks to its co mfortable la you t, it's ea sy to pos itio n your wei ght o n the motorcycle to just the right spot wh en negotiating th e tu.rn s. The CR goes w here it is poi nted withou t m uch bac k tal k. Tradi tio na lly , C R rno iocro ssers hav e h ad good brakes. For 1990, th e tradi tio n co n tinues wi th pow erfu l stoppers at bo th ends. A ligh t sq ueeze o n the front br ak e lever is a ll that 's needed to ac tivate th e smooth a nd progress ive front d isc, w h ile th e sa me is true for th e rea r di sc. After many hou rs of rid in g o n the C R, the pad s still stic k to th e d isc as if th ey were brand new . The bottom line ~ B ~ If it sounds lik e we ar e ra ving o ver th e 1990 Honda C R250 , we a re. Combining th e CR 's improved sus pension wi th its alrea dy so und powerp la n t, po werl u l brakes, stun layout an d smooth-working co nt ro ls, it 's a motorcycle th a t will p lease a wide range riders with few adj ust ments o u t o f th e cra te. H o wever; mo st peop le will wa n t to ta ke the time a nd do so me Iine- um ing to th e sus pensia n wit h the man v fro nt a nd rear co mpression a nd re'b o und da mpi ng a nd preload sett ings. For th e majority, the C R ca n be dialed in without havi ng to make a tri p to th e loca l a fterma rket suspension specia lists. T he new C R250 is goi ng to be the bike to bea t in 1990, b ut we do ubt th at it will. • Specifications Honda CR250R Eng ine type CR , is m ore comfortab le th an before and the new ga s tan k is very n arro w, giving th e H onda a ligh t a n d well ba lanced feel. A co u p le o f jabs on th e right-sid e kicks ta rt er lever bring s th e two stro ke m otor to life a n d after a short warm -u p period, th e red machine is ready to roost. Wh en we hi t th e tra ck on th e new C R, we just d id n 't want to get off o f it, We immedi atel y no ticed th e im p ro ved fork, wh ich grea tly contrib uted to the motorcycle's n im b ler feeling and impro ved straigh t-li ne stability over ro ugh grou nd. At firs t, the C R 's suspens io n fel t a littl e stiff and did n ' t wa nt to " sin k in " over the whoops and bumps. But a fter so me mi nor ad justin g to th e shock's prel oad a n d co mp ress io n and re bou n d dampin g sett ings, we got th e C R 's sus pe nsion worki ng q u ite we ll, Not pe rfect , b ut much better tha n last year 's. The fork h as a much smoother and m ore pro gr essive feel a nd is less twi tch y, or busy. You ca n n o w co nfide ntly p ush th e fork th roug h the , gnarly wh oops an d hol es a t speed . With its improved mid-stro ke damping, th e H onda performs much bett er u nd er h ea vy brakin g wh en its weigh t is bei n g transferred to th e front w hee l. Instead o f resis ting th e ex tra load , th e new fork absorbs th e bumps with eas e a nd rar el y sha kes. It st ill twitch es now a nd th en, b ut no t with the inten si ty of last year's m od el. . \ With th e fron t sus pe ns io n n ow h o ldi ng its own, th e rear P ro -L in k suspens ion is no lon ger spe n ding all o f its tim e ba ilin g th e fro nt end out o f trouble. Instead , the back end feels p lush and stab le. At fir st, we so me ti mes h ad problems with the back end kicking sharp ly over th e bu mps under heavy bra ki ng, but; again , ad j ust ing the d ampin g se tt i n g s. helped elim ina te this problem. Both th e fork an d shock seemed sens itive to each click on the da m p ing ad j ustm e nts. So th e C R ' s su s p e ns io n shou ld be easily adjustable for a wide variety o f riders a nd terrain. One wo rd d escribes th e CR 's motor - aweso me. Not o n ly is the A bigger and redesigned airbox is found on the new Honda. Liqui d -coo led. two-stroke, sing le Bore x stroke 66.4 x 7 2 m m Displacement , 249cc Compression ratio B.5: 1 Carburetor (1) 3 8 m m Kei hi n Horsepower , . , ,NI A Torque N /A Starting system Kick Ignition COl Lubrication •. . . . .. .. ... Prem ix Primary drive Gear Final drive Cha in Frame Chromemoly steel semidouble cradle Rake . . . .•... . . . .. . . .. . 28°03' Trail 5 .0 in . Front suspension Showa inverted cartridge forks Fork tube diameter 45mm Front wheel travel 12.0 in . Rear suspension Swingarm w i sing le Showa unit Rear wheel travel 13.0 in . Frontbrakes , Disc Rear brakes Disc Front tire 80 /1 00x21 Rear tire 110/100x18 Claimed dry weight 213.9 Ibs Overall length NI A Overall w idth NI A Overall height NI A Wheelbase 58.6 in. Fuel capacity .. . ... . . • . 2 .0 gal. Ground clearance NI A Seat height _ 38.2 in. Color . . . . . . . . .•. . .. . . .. . . Red Retail price $3998 25

• Cover