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/141044
. '" e '"n c, '" . .... '" ~ ", ' .ci '" u. ~ w Z W ..J U > U Rid i ng f or the f irst ti me on a b rand new production m ot ocr osser w ith aweso me t orque and respon se makes y ou rem ember wh a t it's all abo ut in the f ir st place. Yo ur bl ood pumps faste r and you r head ge ts very st ra ight . - Dave Sc hoonmaker ph o to . by J ohn Huetter and Dave Schoon maker Perh aps no produ ct io n m ach in e has b ee n so lon g awai te d or ta lke d ab o ut o r rum or e d a bou t . Ta l es of th is m otor cycl e's existence go b ack a t leas t four ye ars and the prototypes hav e b ee n buzzin g secr etl y abo u t for about a yea r and a hal f. Finally, it is her e. The Honda tw o-strok e en gin e motocrosser is in production an d will be available in thi s co un try within a m onth after y ou re ad this. Some deale rs m ay alr eady have them in limited quantitites. T he rumors ran the gamu t o f possibl e con figuratio n s. The ' new Honda was . • going to be a " works" m achi n e t hat would get Honda an in ternational mo tocross cham pions hip but it wo uld be im possib le fo r the privateer to obtain ... o r t o ride . The other en d of th e rumo r spectru m h ad that it would j ust be another J apanese at tempt t o build a m o tocrosser and the Euro pean impo rts would still rei gn supreme on the lo cal tr ack s. Ho nd a's versio n of reali ty p revailed over all th e ru mors. What th e new Hon da reall y is -can't be summed up in a n ea t sen tence, if y o u're honest ab out it. It is a Jot cl oser to th e w orks machines than anything else bu t easier to rid e. The CR :!50M Elsinore is, o ut o f the crat e, a m otocross . m ach in e th at an exper t can get o n , sta rt up a nd w in a m ot o cross. No q ualificati ons. It w orks well enough to d o th e job. What makes it that w ay ? Mai nly a lo t o f t ho ugh t in design and a lot of feedback fro m Am erican Honda R& D to th e h ome o ffice whic h resul ted in a m otocrosser th at a lot of Americans are going to wan t to own. (Hond a h as also been clever enough to prod uce a very sligh tly d etuned enduro version on th e sam e fram e and suspension .) It is one of th e few b ike s that seem s to be exactly th e sum of its paris. Everything fit s t ogeth er a n d all t h e quality c om p an e n e t s ad d up, wi th co m p uter-lik e p recisio n, to a q uality mo t ocross m achine. No more and n ot a whi t less. HONDA'S ENGI IE TWO-ST R OKE The fir st co m petitio n two-stro ke mot or fr om th e King of the ' Fo ur-st rokes sounds pretty co nven tion al in d im ensions and looks, with its flat bl ack paint job, .like a Su zuki en gin e. It's slightly oversquare bu t nothin g to o radical. However, th e port design is so different from anything el se available in a production engine th at it looks wrong! It is largely th is radical porting that results in the Honda 25 0' s immense and HONDA CR250M ELSINORE A pr oduct ion t o dat e . motocrosser th at is more " works" (ike in powe r a nd components th an a ny mach ine Length . .. ... . . .. .. • • .. ...•. ... .. . ..... ..•.............84.3 in. Width ..... .. ....... . . . .. •. . .. . . .. .... . . . ... . . .. .. ....35.0 in . Height 44.9 in. Wheel Base ... ....... •... ........ •...•. .. ...•. . .... ....57.1 in. Seat Height .. • •.... .. . .....• ... • • .. .•. ... •. . • . .........32.7 in. Foot Peg Height .. . . .. •......... ... .............. .... ...12.2 in. Ground Clearance . ..... • • . .... . . ... . . . . .. ... .............7.5 in. 214.0 lb. Dry Weight ... •...... ... . ......... ........ .... : Weight Distribution F/R (Dry) 97 Ib./ll 7 lb. Type of Frame . . ...• ... . .. . . . . . . . Semi-double cradle; 31 degree rake F. Suspension, Travel 7.1 in . Telescopic Fork R. Suspension, Travel 4.1 in. Hydraulic Shock (Honda desiqn) dual rate sp rings 3.00-21 (4PR) Knobby Dunlop, 14 .2 PS! F. Ti.re S !ze, Type, Pressure R. Tore SIze, Type, Pressure 4.00-18 (4PR) Knobby , 14.2 pSI F. Brake, Sweep Area 15 .5 sq . in. Internal expanding shoe R. Brake, Sweep Area 15 .5 sq. in . Internal expanding shoe Fuel Capacity 1.8 U.s . gal. Caster Angle ' 59 Degrees from Horizontal Trail Length 5.7 in . Front Fork O il Capacity 165cc at full capacity; Shock oil capacity - 11 Occ Type of Engine 2 cycle, 6 port Cyl inder Arrangement Single, 15 degree inclined from vertical Bore and Stroke 70mm X 64.4mm Displacement 248cc Compression Ratio 7.2: 1 Carburetor 34mm Keih in Transmission Oil Capacity 1.0 U.s. qt . Fue l Requ ired Pre-mixed Fuel·oil mixture 20: 1 Air Filtration Oiled polyurethane foam Engine Dry Weight (w/carb .) ' 64 lb . Type of Clutch Wet , multi-plate type Transm ission 5-speed , constant mesh Primary Reduction Ratio : 3.300: 1 Gear Ratio I _ 2 .055: 1 Gear Ratio II 1.571 :1 Gear Ratio III 1.250 : 1 Gear Ratio IV 1.037: 1 Gear Ratio V 0.862: 1 3 .360: 1 drive spr 14 T , driven spr 47T Fina l Reduction Ratio Gear Sh ift Pattern Down I -N-2-3-4-5 Up , left foot operated return system Ignition " Flywheel magneto