Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

AIDING IMPRESSION ' 1997 Honda CR250R By Kit Palmer Photos by Cameron Coatney 'and Palmer ' ast year it was the XR400 - the most "eagerly waited for" motorcycle .in ... well, a long time. Now, it's again a Honda that everyone has been dying to see and ride. This time it's the all-new, twin-spar, alum.in,!-m-framed CR250R. It's beep. years since anyone here at Cycle News has truly gotten excited about a new production motocrosser. Here's proof: Cameron and I had just finished riding the CR for the first time and before we even began arguing as to who would get to take the bike home, Cameron had all ready loaded the bike into his van, and the last thing I saw was a trail of dust tapering off into the sunset. The next day, the entire CN editorial staff, at least those who hadn't seen the trick new CR "live" and up close yet, blew out of the office and converged (after work, mind you) on Cam's garage, swarming around the CR like vultures on a fresh kill. Whoa! Getting. excited ,over a new dirt bike. What a concept. Actually, such occurences like this used to happen qUite often around here until major teclmological advancements of the production motocrosser seemed to run dry. Sure, every so often a manufacturer will come up with an all-new look or some significant changes to one of their bikes, but nothing like it used to L be, say, back in the mid-70s and early '80s when production MX bikes were improving by leaps and bounds on a yearly basis. First it was angled shocks, then long-travel suspension, followed by liquid-cooled engines and singleshock, linkage suspension systems, Those were some exciting times. Allnew bikes every year. Things have settled down a lot since those days, but the new '97 Honda CR250R has certainly brought back some of those memories. Ever since Honda unveiled the aluminum-frame CR at its corporate offices in Torrance, California, a couple of months ago, we have - just like you - been chomping at the bit to throw a leg over it and, finally, last week we got our chance. That chance came when Honda officially introduced the CR250 at its own testing facility in the high desert of California near California City (the famed Honda Proving Center of California). Ironically, this is the same part of the desert were the U.s. government builds and tests all sorts of secret military aircraft, similar to what Honda's been doing with its secret weapon, the '97 CR250, for the past year and a half. After passing through a number of security booths, offices and gates, we were eventually escorted onto the Honda proving grounds, where we followed. the signs to the motocross and supercross test tracks. There sat Our CR250 waiting to be ridden: As you probably know by now, the '97 CR250R is the first production motocross bike to feature an ail-aluminum-alloy frame, a,nd it's the first perimeter frame design for Honda (in a motocrosser). Of course, perimeter frames are not new to motocross, as Kawasaki has been using perimeter frames in its KX125 and 250 MXers for years now, but the key difference between Kawasaki's frame and Honda's frame is the material they're made of. The Kawasaki's frame is constructed of heavier, high-tensile steel, while the Honda is constructed of lightweight aluminum-alloy. Both are rigid, but Honda claims that its frame is eight pounds lighter than the Kaw.asaki's. The funny thing is, !'l0nda's claimed dry'weight for the seemingly lighter '97 CR250R is'identical to that of the '96 CR - 213.8 pounds. Huh? This leads to a couple of questions: What's the advantage of having a lighter frame when the overall weight of the new CR is basically the same as it was last year? And why, since 250cc production MXers are required to - and already - meet the AMA's minimum weight standards, would Honda go to such great lengths to lighten the frame? We've had, in fact, a few Cycle News readers call us up and ask us these same questions. Basically, the whole idea of lightening the frame wasn't so much to reduce the overall weight of the bike. According to Honda, one of the main advantages of going to a lighter, aluminum perimeter frame - other than being overall more rigid - is that it allows heavier and stronger components to be used elsewhere on the motorcycle, beefier parts such as bigger and more rigid forks and other suspension components, without adding to the overall weight of the motorcycle. Another advantage is that MX bikes are becoming more and more powerful year after year, and more power means more heat; and more heat means the need for bigger, more effecient (and heavier) cooling systems. By going to a perimeter frame, Honda can mount a 50percent-larger, one-piece radiator to the CR, not to mention mounting it lower on the frame to lower the bike's overall center of gravity and to better centralize weight. This is another big design bonus of the perimeter-frame - better overall balance. Not only is the now-bigger radiator mounted lower on the frame but so is the fuel tank, which also sits more centralized in the frame. With traditional, single-backbone-type frames, the majority of the gas tank hangs off the sides of the frame. In addition, since the fuel tank is now better protected by the massive twin-spar frame pieces, Honda can make the gas tank walls significantly thinner, thus saving more weight, so heavier parts can be added elsewhere where it's needed. The new frame's geometry is claimed to be nearly identical to that of the 1993 CR frame. Team Honda's Jeremy McGrath likes this geometry so much

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