Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127689
1995 Honda CR250 OF mind. In more tractable cond itions, the new CR still lacks the adrenaline-inspiring punch of old, but once th e rider becomes accustom ed to the new- style powerb and, it can be bru tally effective. Power down low is a bit uninsp iring, an d the way in whic h the m id-ran ge and top-end power are delivered to the rear wheel is a bit deceiving. It may not feel like it, bu t this bike is fast - very fast. O kay , okay - e no ug h about the moto r. Greater rigidity was the theme when the new chassis was designed - no sen se building a better motor .if the pow er can't be put to the ground, right? The frame re ceived a new one-piece frame gu sset and lar ger head pipe, as well as new triple clamps tha t hold the forks further apart. The wider stance, combined with a wider, more-rigid front hub , keep things flex-free up front. The wider fr on t hub also boa sts a larger diameter a xle (17mm to 20mm). Ou t back, a new swinga rm with a thicker vertical se ctio n and a stronger cross br ace carry on the "stiffer" them e, while platform-style footpegs and a new 19inch rear wheel round out the package. Su spensi on-wise, a Kay aba shoc k and forks replace the Showa units of yesteryear. The Kayaba fork boasts new valving and - surprise - stiffer .41 fork springs! (Last year's Showas came with .39 springs, and most riders replaced By Donn Maeda L ast year, the 1994 Honda CR250 was the popular 'winner of our . annual 250cc MX shootout. An awesome motor, fantast ic brakes, razor-sharp turning characteristics and decent handling made it the favorite of the majority of our testers . We couldn't wait to see what ' 95 would bring. Unlike the '95 Honda CR125 (Honda opted to leave the all-powerful motor alone and concentrate on other aspects of the bike), the '95 CR250 has undergone a slew of motor changes, in addition to a number of suspension a n d chass is refinements. Honda's goal was to produce a toned-down version of Jeremy McGrath's championship-winning CR. Ultimately, the result is an easier to ride, better handling machine that should please the masses. To our surprise, Honda tossed aside e . tdhe~r harthd-hitting, long-revvin g engind eSlgn at we h ave come to love, an set out to create a motor that produced a broader, more tractable powerband. . Notice that Yamahas grabbed the holeshots at the majority of 250cc ~ National and Supercross events last 0\ - year? Though its broad powerband was ~ initially criticized for feeling slow, it ... turned out that the linear power deliv~ ery of the YZ250engine was jus t what it l-< took to get to the first tum first. Il) Honda wanted those holeshots, and ..0 wanted them bad. Yamaha-style power .... 0 wa s the theme in th e Ho nda R&D department, and Yamaha-style power, is what they 'v e come up with . To achiev e this , Honda engineers mod ifie d the exhaust p ort shape and p ort tim ing, e e o 14 shortened the expansion chamber, and modified the reed valve assembly. The reed valve alignment was changed from vertical to horizontal, for better airflow. Finally; the piston weight was reduced by six grams, and the silencer was lengthened 35mm. As was the case with last year's YZ250, our initial impression of the new CR250 engine was that it was much slower than its predecessor. Our first ride on the new CR came at the Rainbow MX track, a fairly tight, trad itional ly styled course. Traction was abunda nt early in the da y, as the freshly watered dirt remained tacky and consistent. It was in these conditions tha t we drew our initial impressions. Though the engine produced an awe-insp ir ing exhaust note, it just didn't have that "CR hit" that we have grown accustomed to. - ~read of the arm1~king bmst that the '94 bike had, the new machine produced a steady, somewhat boring spread of power. Blipping the throttle to gain greater altitude over jumps didn't yield the same results, and slipping the clutch in turns didn't produce the same bermexploding effect. Needless to say, we were confused. Wh en the track began to dry out, how ever, we finally began to take notice. Suddenly, the CR250 had gone from a he-hum-feeling sled to a tractiongr abbing monster. By eliminating the violent burst of power, Hond a has produced an engine that produc es no traction-robbing wheelspin, but ins tead powers through dry, slippery corne rs as if it were on rails. Following the afternoon water break, , traction returned to the track and we remounted the CR250 with a n o pen (Above) The 1995 Honda CR250 is a lot more than purple radiator shrouds and new graphic s. In addition to a numbe r of engine changes, the new bike has Kayaba suspension, a stiffer chassis, and a 19-1nch rear wheel.