Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

200 1 Ser vice Honda CR50 0AF Serv ice Ho nda at G len Hel en Race wa y , and quick l y f o und out tha t he was n 't kiddi ng - th e b ike does feel significantl y lighter than the st ocker and handles better, too . One of ou r test riders used to own a 1999 edition of the Serv ic e Honda CR500 and lo ved th e bik e, but ex perienced reli ability prob lems w ith th e frame w h ere it was mod ifi ed . Tha t prob lem , h e sa ys, appears t o b e a thing of th e past with th e newer versio n . " It [t h e Ser v ic e Ho nda m o d if i ed section s of t he 2001 frame ] l o o k s much better and more polished than t he o ne I used t o o w n ," h e sai d . " I d oubt th er e will be prob lem s an ymore. " As far as perf o rm ance, "T he motor is an animal ," our test rider said . "If you l i k e Op en b i k e s , it ' s got t he power , but better hand ling. Ov erall , I reall y like the bike; yo u point it in th e direction yo u wa nt to go , turn on the thr ottl e and go . It 's so m uch fun . " F o r so me reason , I like the alu minum frame better in th e 500 tha n I do in the 250," he added . .. B y K IT P A LM ER / ooking fo r an Open -class MXer , ~ but y o u are not yet sold on th e (Above) A CR500 motor in an aluminum frame" a match made In heaven? Nope, In d i a n a. (Right) Service Honda, In Hammond, Indiana, builds and sells these hybrid Hondas. idea of owni ng a thump er an d a re t ired of the same ol d big -b ore two strokes bei ng offered yea r after year? Th en yo u m ig ht b e inte rest ed in a m ot or cycl e sho p in Ind iana that m ay have just th e bi k e fo r yo u . Th e gu y s at S e r v i c e H o nd a , i n Ham m o n d , In d i an a , are t w o - st rok e O p e n - cl a ss f a na ti cs, so wh e n it bec am e appa ren t tha t Ho nda wasn 't going to fit th eir CR50 0 R w ith an al um inum fr ame lik e th ey d id with th eir CR2 5 0 an d 12 5, i t w as time, th e y decide d , to b u i l d a n alum inum framed CR500 of their own . The project, as it t u rn e d out , wasn 't as eas y as they first thought, as it took a lot of fabricat ing, w iggl ing and finessing to make the big 500cc motor fit in t o the 250 's alum inum chassis , but it was , as it tu rn ed out, worth the effort. " W e have a lot of guys around he re that like and rac e Open bikes , and they all wa nted one ," said Serv ice C i t y ' s Doug G o in s . " M o s t of th em di d n' t wa nt a fo ur-stroke, but w e r e ti red of t h e same o ld [ t w o stroke] b ik es, so thi s was someth ing fre sh and exciting . We saw a need fo r an imp ro veme nt in th e O pen c lass, a n d s t a r t e d o f fe ri ng [ t he S e r v i c e Honda CR500]." T h i s yea r, S e r v i c e H o n d a sol d a p p rox imate ly 12 0 of th ei r h y b r i d Hond a s and are a lrea dy ful filling o rders fo r their 2001 versions. 24 NOVEMB ER 29 , 2000 ' EO U EO " " B a sic a ll y, w e bu y brand new C R2 5 0 s from Honda , remove the engi ne. and modify th e fram e to fit the 500 engi ne, whi ch we als o bu y from Honda , di stribu to rs, wh ere ver ," sa ys G o i n s . "Al l of the m anufacturing [engi ne hanger and m od ific atio ns] are done here, but Pro Circu it specia lly builds the pi pe and silencer just fo r us. Th e rest of the bi ke is all Hond a. All of th e work is done ca refully, reliably and as easil y as possible. We try to ke ep it be yon d even Ho nda 's [high ] sta nda rds ." ( In cas e yo u're wondering , I e n e vv s (Left) It's a tight fit, but the CRSOO motor can be squeezed Int o the CR250 frame w ithout t oo m u ch fabrication. Service Honda sells the 250cc motors, mostly , Goi ns says , to k art race rs .) Wh en all is sa id an d done, "You have a much lighter and better ha n dling CR 500 : Go in s c lai ms . " T h e bike i s ro ughly 12 p ou n d s heavier than the CR2 50 and ab out 20 pounds lighter than th e stock CR500," Go ins says . "It ha nd les so much bett er, an d the 5 00c c m ot o r rea lly com pliments the fra me; th e bi kes ac t s totally d ifferent [th an the stock CR50 0 ]." W e re ce n t ly go t the chance t o challe nge Goins' cla ims by rid ing the Purc has ing one o f th e Serv i ce Hondas is relatively simple. All you have to do is call Serv ic e Honda and m ake yo ur ord er. They wi ll , howev er , req u ire a $ 1000 deposit and th en the ba lance p a id in fu ll befo re th e bike is shipped to you . ( Cu rre nt ly, o rder s are tak ing approximatel y a month and a hal f to c om p let e.) Your H ond a w i l l s how up i n a c r a t e , requi ri ng some asse m b l y , an d will b e race- rea dy , " a ll lu be d u p a nd g reased , to o ," sa ys Go in s. Yo u can even order your bike with custom pa r t s a nd / o r m od ific ati on s , fro m hand leb ars t o port in g. The pric e for th e Serv ice Ho n d a st a rts at $7 8 50 (pl us sh ippin g ) . Fo r m ore information , contact Serv ic e Ho nd a a t 5 6 34 Hoh m an Ave ., Ham m o nd , IN 46320, 219/932 -3588 , gregg@service.com. eN

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