Looking forward to the reviews. Think you'll be real happy with the Hlebo shock. He'll make that dog hunt!!!!!!  wpb230f

The 2001 XR250 forks and triples came in today and I will say that I am more than happy. After a 10 minute freshen up with brake cleaner, they look almost new. I've got new Daystar fork boots on the way, so forget about those hideous, crinkly old accordions. The forks compress perfectly and don't leak a drop. I think I'll be able to just bolt these right on!



The only flaw is a small patch of rust--any remedies for this?



Also, it looks as though someone has had the caps off to get inside. Aftermarket springs? Wouldn't that be the jackpot. I'll continue to try to get information from Motorecycler, who I bought these from.



Here are the triples, in great shape after a light clean. They are going right to my friend in Connecticut to be powdercoated, as soon as I figure out how to get the damn stem out. I'll probably have to go to the crank man at GRC racing a few towns over to achieve that.



And the bottoms, which look untouched.

Confederate said:

Confederate is corect - I think there's some confusion on terminology - shock travel is how much the shaft moves inside the shock before the shock body bottoms out on the bump stop.  Changing out the 'rocker' moves the connection point of the shock and will push the swingarm down (actually push the frame up) and raise the rear ride height.  A longer shaft will do the same thing, but neither will actually give you more suspenion travel.  You would need a longer shock body.

Do you want more travel because you're worried about blowing through the travel and bottoming out, or do you just want the height of the rear of the bike to match the front so the bike sits level?  Since the XR forks are a little longer, you can take before and after ride height measurements and then slide the forks up in the clamps a little until the bike sits level with the new suspension components.

BTW - I got the Hlebo revalve for my wife's 230 shock and he did a great job.  You're going to like it!

mdtoney said:

Totally--both of you are right! I was confusing travel with ride height. I've got a CRF150 rocker on the way to raise the rear about an inch, which will compensate for the XR250 forks, which add an inch.

What got me was that the XR250 forks have 10.6 inches of travel while the CRF230 shock has 9 inches in the back. I was thinking that the shock would need to match the forks in terms of travel, but with the Hlebo work, that's probably not necessary.

Professor XR said:

I don't know the 'best' method to fix the rust - maybe some WD-40 and a Scotch Brite pad??  The good part is that it's located between the triple clamps and not on the lower leg where it would tear uip the oil seals.  

Professor XR said:

Buying used forks that are already sprung for your weight would be a true jackpot!  It's possible that they only had the caps off to raise or lower the fluid height to fine tune the suspension, or maybe to do the regular fluid change.
Since they're used, and they're already off the bike, it's a good time to  freshen them up with new seals and fluid.

I'm looking forward to seeing pics of them on the bike, and hearing what you think of them.

Well, I learned the hard way how to press a stem out of triples today.

I took them to legendary crank builder Stan Gardener of Gardener Racing Concepts. We tried to press the stem out from the bottom. Whoops! "Hey, I'm a crank builder," he said.



I think the stem is definitely still usable--all that happened was the little lip blew off. The thing was pressed in there so tightly, I don't think it'll come out when we press it back in.



Regardless, I'll make this stem the experimental stem while I find another. My initial idea was to cut the base of the stem to match the length of the 230's to avoid using spacers. But, I'd be cutting the wider circumference of the stem, which needs to be pressed into the hole, so that wouldn't work. Maybe we'll take some material out of the middle and weld it back together. Wish I knew what Coeshow did to his!

The triples were sent out to the powdercoater's today. I have to go to Vegas to cover CES next week, so there should be a lot of goodies waiting when I come back. Stay tuned!

We modified a 230 stem to press into a 250 clamp (before Emig had a conversion stem). R&D took some trial and error so a couple of removal and reinstallations was required. When heat is applied to the aluminum it expands quicker than the steel stem making the removal very easy.
ST O.D.

I came back from Vegas and found a few boxes at home! Daystar fork boots, CRF 150F rocker and XR400 kickstand. Here's the thing about the XR400 kickstand on the CRF230--you need to use the CRF230 bolt and nut and the XR400 spring.



CRF230 rocker on the left, 150F rocker on the right.





XR400 kickstand vs. CRF230



The XR400 bolt is too long for the CRF230's chassis



XR400 kickstand installed with the XR400 spring and CRF230 bolt and nut



The shock is going on this week and the triples should be in also, so the big front end swap is just around the corner!

Changing the rocker and/or link will change ride height and alter wheel travel a bit.  I went thru this when modding the rear suspension and installing a larger wheel on a XR200R.  To determine what effect each mod or potential mod would have I did some tests on the chassis to measure travel with different combinations of linkage to make sure there was no interferance at full compression.  All you need is an 18" scale and a tape measure, and the extended and compressed length of the shock (assume no bumper). Here is a pic of an early setup with the 17" tire at full compression with the shock installed (no compression bumper). When testing other combos of linkage I did the tests with out the shock and wheel to make it easier to move the swingarm:

The lower end of the scale rests against the shaft of the lower shock bolt and I measured to the  center of the upper bolt (just add bolt radius for C-C distance).  I measured wheel position from the top of the axle to the rear seat mount on the frame. the only important thing is to use the same measure points for all of the tests. Because I was installing an 18" rim and a tall Trials tire I wanted to verify seat heigth and interferance at full compression. I finally settled on a linkage combination that reduced the compressed height 1/2" and increased travel about 3/16".

Thanks, Chuck! I'd love to see the final outcome of your XR200 project. I had a '99 200 back in the day and loved that bike. As far as the shock on the 230, using the 150F rocker will raise the rear about an inch, which will match the inch increase in the front from the XR250 forks.

Final outcome is a 01 XR200R with 03 XR250 shock, disk brakes and USD forks, but here is a pic of the 90 with a XR250 SA and wheel, Powroll 218 motor, etc:

I got the Hlebo shock and put it on today, but I ran into a bit of a snafu. The shock looks great, and already feels stiffer just sitting on the bike. However, the linkage is hitting the swingarm when the shock is fully extended. I'm using the 150F rocker. I wonder if Hlebo lengthened the shock a bit, and if he did, would it cause it to hit the swingarm like this?

Honda usually, but not always, configures parts for proper assembly but looking at the pics I wonder if the dog bone can be reversed?

The other thing is to measure the extended length of the Hlebo shock and compare it to the stock shock.

chuck4788, on 17 January 2012 - 09:01 AM, said:

Just talked to John Hlebo. He said I should take a grinder or file to the bottom shock mount so there's no interference. He said a lot of guys have to do this with the CR80/85 shock install. Easy peasy!

UPDATE: I just ground grooves into the bottom shock mount using a file and there's no more interference!





Finally installed.

Edited by Professor XR, 17 January 2012 - 01:00 PM.

Hey Professor XR, How much longer is the XR kickstand and is it any lighter? wpb230f

wpb230f, on 17 January 2012 - 05:21 PM, said:

It's about an inch longer, which makes up for the inch increase in the front and rear from the XR250 forks and 150F linkage. Weight is about the same, but it sure looks nicer! I went with all new parts though because my friend has a Ron Ayers dealer account.

Thanks XR, Gonna have to order 1. Are the CR forks longer, because I had my forks shortened about 11/2 to 2 inches and still need about an inch of kickstand? wpb230f

Hey WB, I'm not sure what the length of the CR forks would be compared to the XR250 forks, but if you need an extra inch, the XR400 kickstand should do the trick!

Back on the progress, I got the XR250 triples back from my friend Joe in CT. He does awesome powdercoating for great prices. Here's his contact info:

Joe Fecher
Pratt and Whitney Military Engines
F119 Nozzle Customer Support Engineer
Monday-Thursday: 860-565-1681
Friday: 860-884-0355

If anyone is in the New England area, I highly recommend Joe. If you're from out of state, ship your parts to him--his turnaround is wicked quick.

Here are the triples he did--he even put the Honda tag back on!



I also had Joe do my footpegs:





And here's a look at the bike with the Hlebo rear shock and 150F rocker--as you can see it's a bit higher in the back.



Next stop is the XR250 fork conversion!

Edited by Professor XR, 28 January 2012 - 03:04 PM.

Whats that white stuff on the ground, its 85 degrees today. Bikes coming together gonna look tits. wpb230f

Can't wait to see it all together!
I have been really loving the XR forks on my bike. I just wish my exhaust can wasn't torn open at the moment so I could go ride!