Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

RIDING iMPRESSION 1997 Honda CR250R ,'. the front end, giving the front tire a bet-. ter chance to grip the dirt and rail the turns. Just point it in the direction you want to go and you're there. Awesome. We absolutely love the CR's fork. It soaks up the hard slap-downs like nothing we've felt before. You'll be able to leap off those nasty, flat-landing, skyshot jumps a little farther now on the CR, thanks to its rather cushy yet solid fork. We did manage to bottom the fork a couple of times - you could hear a slight "ling" at maximum compression, but your arms don't really think much of it. CRs have al~ays been known to exhibit the tendancy to headshake at high speed over the stutters - after riding the CR a few times, we're not completely convinced that headshake is gone. One tester said he still felt a little Uneasy at times, claiming that he could feel the early stages of an ugly episode of headshake coming on. He also admitted, however, that it never blossomed into anything he couldn't handle and rarely occurred. Our other tester said he felt no headshake. Out back, the rear shock has a good balance with the front forks and works quite well. It is not nearly as stiff as last year's pogo stick and, although it's hard to tell if you're bottoming modem rear shocks with the massive bump-stops that come stock, we did. feel that we were using most of the travel. The 5.3 kg/mm spring rate seems fa be pretty close for most riders. The shock is plush over small track irregularities, and sucks up large whoops and jump-faces in a predictable manner. As usual, we don't need to say much about the CR250's brakes, which are the best in the business and the model for all others to emulate. They offer excellent feel and great power without having to exert much lever pressure. The new handlebars and well-placed footpegs, and the CR is extremely comfortable. This bike should agree with a wide range of riders because of its neutral ergonomics. Honda recommends the ride height set at 95mm, and they also recommend not messing with the "clickers" until the bike is fully broken in (which doesn't take long) a.nd until you have a real good feel for the bike. "We've spent countless hours coming up with the best settings for this bike," said Crippa. "And not just for one track. We've tested this bike on a variety of tracks, from hard-packed and rough tracks to loamy and whooped-out tracks. We finally came up with a combination that all of our test riders liked, Yeah, you'll probably want to make small adjustments for specific tracks, though. But nothing too major." As Crippa promised, we did like the stock settings. The '97 CR250 is by far the best-handling and best-suspended CR yet, but this doesn't automatically mean that's it's the best-handling bike out there. We truly -won't know that until we ride all five (including the KTM 25OSX) of the 250cc motocrossers backto-back, which is something we plan to do in the next couple of days. But for now, we can tell you that the CR handles great. Better than the new Kawasaki KX250? It'll be close. Still, the new CR250 feels good. It simply feels well-balanced, inspiring confidense in the turns and down whoop-infested straights. Ripping through the turns is what the CR likes to do best. Now that the tank is mounted lower in the frame, and with the flatter seating arrangement, it's super easy to slide forward to get your weight over (Above) By going to a lighter, aluminum frame, Honda can use heavier and stronger components (auch as forks) elsewhere on the bike without Increaalng the overall weight of the bike. The nell\( CR has a better balance which you can certainly feel In the turns. (Right) No lack of horsepower here. (Below) Early In the frame's development stages, Honda had problems with hairline cracks appearing st the top of the steering stem. Stronger gusseting has ellmlnsted this problem, Honda claims. 1997 Honda CR250R SpeciflcaIlons hgIne.". DrlpllCI _d e- xltrolre ernlIo CnrbuNllon . . IpItIan T . liquid·~, single-cylinder two-strol

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