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/128629
Rlllln~ goal for an already-strong motor w o u l d obvious ly re quire extensive cha nges, p lacing Honda in a precari ous p o si t i on ( si n ce t h e posstb l l ity exi ste d of.. . we ll , screwing up a good thing ) . But CR fans can br eath a sigh of relief t o know that Honda m ad e no such sc rew- ups in its tampering with the CR's already-proven powerpl ant. Honda cl a im s the ' 0 1 CR250R 's peak power is up by three horsepower, and we have no rea son to do ub t this , because th is bike has no sho rt age of power. But it's not the added horsep ow e r on top t h a t really im presses u s; it 's t h e w ay i t gets there. Co m pared to th e 2000 model, the bik e pu lls as hard (if not ha rder) from midrange on up without any glitch, hiccup or hard -hitting explo sion along the way - it just gives you lot s of smooth, controllable power when you need it and when you want it. If there's anyone area that feels a little off, however, it' s way down low in the rpm range, w h ere the motor strains a little bit if you let it fall off the pipe and you're rel uct ant to d ro p do w n a ge ar . Th i s p r o b ab l y isn't bec ause the Ho nda lo st pow er down there , but instead bec ause it gained power everywhere else, causing it to fee l that way. Oth erw ise, the Honda 's motor is quite impressive. Our Pro caliber test riders fe lt right at hom e on the CR, as di d our Novice -classed riders - the Pros praising its improved By K IT P A LM E R P HOT OS BY JOE B O NNELLO H onda is obviously ser ious about its CRs. T ak e th e 2000 CR250R. - wi n ner of last y ear's Cycle New s 2 50cc shootout - for example: Here is a m ot o rc y cl e that was arguably the b est 250cc p ro d u c t i o n motocross bike of the new mi llennium , and Honda co uld very well have gotten by another year w ithout doing hardly a th ing to it. But t h at j ust wou ld not have been the company's style; j ust " getting by " doesn't c ut it with th ese guys. Instead , Honda t ried h ard to ma k e the new CR2 5 0 R eve n better than l a s t year's CR , and t h e y attempted this fea t by making some im portant changes, such as swapping the Keih in carburetor for a 38mm Mikuni TMX flat-slide carburetor; sig nificantly changing the cylinder's port ti m ing and going to an all-new exha ust pi pe and silencer; dev elo ping a new ignition curve an d reed -pedal sto pper sha pe ; increasing suspension spring rates both fro nt and re ar wh ile decr easing damping sp ecs ; and doing every thing else possib le to shed so me weight. (See issue #23, J un e 14 , fo r m ore details o n t he 20 01 CR250R updat es.) Hond a ' s number -one obj ec ti v e w ith th is year's CR250R m ot or was to "g iv e it more po wer acro ss t h e bo ard." (Oh , is th at all?) Such a lofty 36 S EPTEM B ER 6. 2000ยท eye 2001 Honda CR250R I e nevus An im proved cha ss is now su rrou nds the Honda's awesome motor. outr ig ht power outp u t a n d sn a p p y throttle respon se for clea ring the long d oub l es and tab l et op s , and th e Novi c es enj oyi ng th e Ho nda ' s now bro ad er pow erband and mo r e tra ctable power delivery . Rarely does a motor plea se both sides of th e fence. So fa r, all of our t esti ng o n the CR has ta k en p lace at Glen Helen Racewa y in So uth ern C a lifo rn ia , w here su mmerti m e t empera tures ro utinely reach t he ce nt u r y m a r k a n d a re joined by mild hu m idity , and our CR needed some jetting fine- tunin g t o clea n thi ngs up a bit . In these ste am y con dition s, o u r Honda ra n cris per going to leaner settings. O f course, anything else that has to do with the Honda 's motor and/or drive system works mag ically, like the clutch and transm ission in particular (thoug h the gearbox was a little rough until b roken in ). Nothing has cha nged here. But the suspension has changes . Every year , the CR 's suspension gradually gets better and better, and this yea r is no exception. The stiffer sp rings an d lighter dampi ng ra tes have com bined to help smooth out the C R ' s r ide, though it's st ill no Cadillac. The back end still feels a lit tle on t he harsh side , but the CR 's Showa shock , with i t s new larger internal piston, always keeps the b ike tracking straight and the wheel close to the ground, which are th e two most im po rt an t qua lities you want ou t of the rear suspension, anyway . Our Pro riders, however, d id not seem to m ind the back end 's seeming ly stiff ride, just the slow guys. None of our testers , however , had an yth ing but pra ise fo r th e 47mm Showa cartridge fork, wh ich , right out of the crete , had no problems handling everything from th e h igh -impact slam -downs to th e at -speed stutters. The heavier springs and new damp ing rates , in fact, do wonders for the Honda 's fork and overall ride . W e have yet t o m a k e a si ngle tun ing adj ustm ent to th e fork . Th e CR 's f o r k tub e s a r e 7 m m long er , i n order to a cce p t, sho uld y o u c ho o se , a 20 - inch front wh eel _ for th e Honda . Yo u can onl y purchase th e CR250 with the tr aditiona l 2 1-i nc h front wh eel , but if you want, you can b uy an additi o na l 20 - inch wheel through Honda . If you do so , you w ill hav e to slide the fo rk tubes The ne w Showa forits do wonders for the CR.