Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ings, as well as a set of "stay put" collars, are included. Before long, a set of gold Talon/Excel wheels graced our machine, and we were ready to start with the cosmetics. An Answer Radialite rear sprocket (manufactured by Talon) completed our wheel set. Acerbis USA offers a full selection of OEM replica fenders, side panels and number plates. Though we experimented with various purple and white combinations, we elected to stay with the stock glow-red color. We did, however, opt for a set of white side panels and white fork guards. All the Acerbis pieces fit perfectly - no drilling was required. Because one of our testers wears knee braces, the Honda's stock seat foam and cover were in poor condition. Jamie Stearns bought Wide Open Racing recently, and has taken over the position as the sole MXA product importer for the United States. Like the Talon hubs, MXA products are manufactured in England. Stearns suggested a High-Grip seat cover and a chunk of green seat foam. The texture of the cover is shocking at first, almost extreme. The ribs on the cover are extremely grippy and do a good job of holding your butt right where you want it. In addition, the cover is the toughest we've seen. Knee braces, crashes and close encounters with other bikes - and no sign of wear or tear. As for the foam, the chunk we were provided with was of .05 density, slightIf stiffer than stock. So far, the foam has shown no signs of breaking down. To go with the seat cover, Wide Open Racing installed a set of MXA graphics. The thick vinyl stickers are held on by an incredibly durable adhesive that even resists gasoline overflow. The tank sections are perfora ted to allow gas fumes to escape through the plastic fuel tank. . N-Style pre-cut number plate backgrounds and numbers round out our project. But what about the motor, you ask? Well, in all honesty, we find the stock CR250 motor to be ideal for most track conditions. The bike's broad spread of power makes it easy to hook up on dry, slippery, hard courses, but at the same time the engine can be revved out on loamy, soft tracks. On supercross-style tracks, the snappy burst of low and midrange power make it a breeze to blip over jumps. While building our project CR250, we tried four different aftermarket pipes and silencers. To our surprise, our tester returned to the stock exhaust system each time. While all of the pipes made the CR250 hit sooner and harder, or pull further and longer, we found that the power produced by the stock setup was the most user-friendly. Many racers immediately bolt on a new pipe and silencer without exploring the capabilities of the stocker. Try it - you'll like it! Use that pipe money to buy a new piston and rings - a fresh top end is a happy top end. Upon completion, the most noticeable personality change that our project CR250 underwent was in the front end. The combination of the Enzo Racing fork mods, the Applied Racing triple clamps, and the Answer Pro Taper handlebars made an incredible difference that was apparent from the moment we pulled on the track. On jump-laden courses, the forks handle slap-down landings much, much better than stock. The jarring jolt that is associated with such landings is eliminated, and in its place is a soft "thud" - virtually no shock is transmitted to the rider's arms. When coming up short on large tabletops, it was almost more confidence- (Below lett) The gold anodized Talon hubs end Excel rim gave our bike a ''works'' look, and Went much stronger than the stock pieces. Check out the overstze Braking front disc. Serious pucker power. (Below) The most notiCable improvement was yielded by the Enzo Racing forks, Applied RacIng triple clamps and Ans_ Pro Taper bars. The modified front end Is a dream come true. inspiring to land front wheel first, as the forks would soak up the harsh landing with aplomb. In square-edged braking bumps, the front end tracks straight and true. The increase in feel and rigidity between stock and modified is nearly as great as between upside-down and conventional forks. Are we exaggerating? Well, maybe - but the improvement is truly incredible. Out back, the modified shock initially had us puzzled. Though Enzo Racing didn't modify the stock rebound valving, we were convinced that the rebound action was slower. On our first outing, it seemed more difficult to use the shock's rebound action to gain height over jumps. In actuality, the forks' rebound had been sped up, resulting in the "slow" feeling out back. A couple of clicks in on the fork rebound adjusters brought back the more familiar rear-end action. Perhaps the biggest improvement made to the rear shock was the addition of the Works Bottoming Bumper Kit. In comparison to the stock bottoming bumper, the new piece is more conically shaped and delivers a more progressive feel. The taller bumper does a better job of absorbing severe impacts that would normally leave black marks under the bike's rear fender. The "metal-topmetal" feel of harsh bottoming was never again encountered. All in all, the suspension and triple clamp modifications turned the Honda CR250 - already a good-handling bike into a great-handling bike. As for the brakes, the new Braking oversized front brake kit was just as incredible as the last version we tried. After a somewhat lengthy break-in period, the front binder came to life and possessed more power than most mortals could possibly require. One finger was all that was needed on the brake lever - two or more could be hazardous to your health. But while the Braking kit was ultra-strong, it was also exceptionally progressive - never grabby. Out back, the semi-metallic carbon-fiber pads stopped as well as the stockers, but seemed to last much longer. After experiencing the oversized front kit, we predict that turning up your carburetor idle would be necessary with the oversized rear kit. As for'the wheels, we would be stretching the truth if we reported a noticable gain in performance with the Talon-Excel wheels. What we can say, though, is that having a spare set of wheels is a welcome convenience. Don't want to buff out your good tires while practicing? No problem - practice on your stock wheels! So far, the Excel rims have held up well and have resisted dings and dents. The gold color of the rims and hubs attract attention wherever we go. Whether that's good or bad depends on how AlIIIiI USA EnIDIlIIiIg we're riding that particular day. At ..........Cut. SUIt A ll15BSlnClnll* s.., CASI!I7l Fonil ¥IIIIJ, CA I2llIII over $500 each, the White Brothers 619!ilI2-122t 71~ wheels seem a bit pricey - until you compare them to the stockers! A set of WIde ~ RIciIg trick wheels from White Brothers will 12l54vnn8llld. cost you less than a set of stockers. SIdoClr, CA9lIl4 White can attest to that. "A few years 818I1IHl23I ago I won about $1400 in Honda bucks in the Senior class, and I used $1100 of AppIed RIciIg bllnJll8ls it to get a spare set of stock wheels:' 1115nuN1 24845 CodIil PIa VadlIliIIII, CA 92li87 EIanIdo. CA9llrl9 said White. "I wish I had known then 61a'74U190 714'8112-3404 what I know now." With the arrival of the 1996 model CRs just around the corner, we wonder... would most riders be better off building a Cycle News replica, or buying a new bike? Initial reports have a new set of oversized forks gracing the front end of the '96 bikes, but other than that, it seems as if the 250 is AcelbIs lrord lender .........•......•..............$16.95 mostly unchanged. Small AcelbIs IllIII'Iender .....•.............•......•.....$18.95 refinements here and AceItlis side panels " $39.95 there grace the rest of the AceItlis ltlIk guards .................•.•...••.......$29.95 bike, but surely nothing that can't be duplicated or Ar6IIer RatiaIile Sprocket •.....•....... ".....•.....$54.95 Answer Pro Taper HlIndIebars $99.95 matched with a '95. The AppIed Racing BiIIel Abniun Clampset, ~ .$129.95 new front end remains the Applied Racing BiIIel AlumiuTI Clampset, lower $98.95 biggest question mark. As usual, we can't Applied Racing chai'I guides" ....•......•....•.......$24.95 Braking Oversize FronI Brake Kll .$249.99 wait for the '96s to Braking I8lIf brake pads .$29.99 arrive. But this year the Enzo Aacing ESP Type KltlIk l1Dls .....•......•.......$400 story is a bit different: Enzo Racing ltlIk revaJve .... " .........•....•.•.......$150 . we look forward not only For1t springs .•.........................•.•...•..... .$75 to getting new bikes, but Enzo Aacing shock revaNe .$150 more so to comparing Enzo Aacing Worts 8oIIoning ~ Kll .".$45 our '95 project bike to its Wide Open Racing MXA Graphics $69.95 successor. We're willing Wide Open Racing MXA Hi G~ 8eet Cover .$79.95 to bet that our beefed-up Wide Open Racing MXA 8eet FolIm ...........•..... .$59.95 front end keeps pace While Bros. TalonIExceI wheel. fIOnl ".....•. .$504.71 with the new 46mm WIilB Bros. TalonIExceI wIIlIeI. 1811" ••••••••••••.•..•$590.91 Kayaba units. Time will tell. CN Who ya' gonna call? What they cost 21

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