W
hile the old adage "it is
more fun to ride a slow
bike fast than to ride a
fast bike slow" still rings true, a
spirited ride on a 125cc moto-
cross bike will convince anyone
that it is even more fun to ride
a fast bike fast! It might take
some detective work to find that
ultra-narrow powerband, but the
right combination of gear selec-
tion, throttle position (open to
the stop) and clutch-feathering
will leave a smile on the face of a
rider and cause them to wonder
why any motocross bike ever
needed a bigger piston.
In the 1970s, nearly every MX
kid spent time on a 125, and
there was a good chance that
bike was a Honda CR125R. It
was the leader of the pack for a
few years, and Cycle News put
the very first model to the test in
its July 10, 1973, issue. The staff
must've quickly grasped the truth
about small bikes, as they titled
their feature "The Mini Elsinore.
Better than Big Brother?" Sug
-
gesting that the 125 version was
somehow a better machine was
walking on the fighting side of
Honda 250 Elsinore riders, as the
big bike was already making a
name for itself on both the local
and national levels. How could
the little bike be better than the
hottest new 250 on the track?
"The CR125M," CN wrote,
"is so uncompromised that in
execution it actually exceeds the
250 Elsinore. While the motor is
like a mini-Elsinore, the chassis
components are different and de
-
signed specifically for the 125. In
the end, the lessons learned and
the weight saved through careful
design have produced a bike that
decidedly outhandles the 250
Elsinore."
It was not uncommon for
some manufacturers to treat
their 125 racers like kid broth
-
ers, giving them hand-me-down
parts like frames, fuel tanks and
suspension components. Some
bikes, like Husqvarna's 125 CR,
looked like they were wearing
a frame two sizes too big; their
Swedish mom probably told
CNIIARCHIVES
P144
THE
MINI
ELSINORE
BY KENT TAYLOR
In 1973 the Honda CR250R
made its historic debut,
but was its little brother, the
CR125R, the real star
Cycle News tested
the first Honda
CR125R Elsinore in
1973 and was more
impressed with it
than the CR250R
Elsinore.
