My 1996 CR250 rebuild! (pictures)

[Ilove2strokes]

Here is my 1996 CR250 project I completed last winter.

 

I have always wanted a '96 CR250 since the day they came out, I just never did anything about it until now! It was a total impulse buy as I was browsing craigslist one day. I called the owner and drove 45 miles to his house to check the bike out. He was asking $1,500. It was in decent shape, but still needed lots of TLC. He was the 2nd owner and didnt know much about the bike. The original owner knew what he was doing because it had a good amount of nice aftermarket parts on it.  After a thorough inspection, I told him the most I would pay for it was $1,000 dollars. He thought it over for a minute and finally agreed to my offer.

 

I loaded it into the truck and headed home!

 

 

Here is what I got for $1,000.  I couldnt use the riding gear but I took it anyway since he did not want any of it.

 

 

I rode it around the yard for 30 minutes to see what the bike felt like and then I snapped some pictures before I disassembled the bike.

 

 

 

Next up, disassembly!

[Ilove2strokes]

I made some space in the 3rd garage and started to take the bike apart. I now realize I didnt take that many pictures while rebuilding this thing

 

 

I got the bike completely pulled apart and made up a lengthy parts list.

 

 

All of the suspension bushings needed replacing since they were 16 years old.

 

 

At the end of the day and many beers later, I was down to this point.

 

 

Next up, Reassembly!

[Ilove2strokes]

I dropped the frame off at my local powder coater. They blasted and powder coated the frame for $140. While they had the frame, I got online and ordered everything on my parts list. For the next week, box after box of awesomness showed up on the front porch.

 

1 of many boxes...

 

A week later, I picked the frame up from the powder coaters.

 

 

I started cleaning everything and piecing the bike back together, one bolt at a time.

 

 

This is where I apparently stopped taking pictures until the bike was finished

[Braap91]

Cool, looks like a nice platform for 1K. Subscribed!

[Ilove2strokes]

After a few weeks, I rolled the bike outside for its debut. The birds, squirrels, and rabbits applauded loudly.

 

Finally she was complete and ready to ride.

 

 

Looks way better than the day I brought it home!!!

 

 

Of course, you cant have an awesome '96 CR250 without have 1995-1996 riding gear

 

 

One day, I realized that I looked like a TOTAL CLOWN after coming home from riding one day LOL

 

[Ilove2strokes]

I always loved the 1996 Team Honda Fox 1-800-Collect Supercross bikes. I ordered some throttle jockey graphics for it and that is the way the bike looks today!

 

Aftermarket parts include:

Renthal RC High #609 Fatbars

Renthal Soft 50/50 grips

Renthal R3 O-ring chain and 13/49/51 tooth sprockets

Race Tech .43 fork springs

FMF Gnarly pipe with Turbinecore silencer

12 oz. Steahly flywheel weight

Boyesen Carbon Pro series reeds

Keihin 38mm Airstryker carb

Pivotworks complete suspension/swingarm bearings

Devol radiator gaurds

Works connection frame gaurds

Excel 18" rear wheel

Dunlop MX51 tires

 

 

 

 

 

....of course, you cannot own this bike without have some awesome diecast toys in the house. ?

 

Edited August 14, 2013 by Ilove2strokes

[Ilove2strokes]

Here is a screen shot from my GoPro Hero3 black with the chest mount, and some pictures from Moto Mountain Park near Jasper, GA.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking, hope you enjoyed it!

 

Stay tuned for my next thread because I just completed rebuilding a 2001 CR250!

 

Edited August 14, 2013 by Ilove2strokes

[KGAWDTSi]

Nice restore.  The 1-800-Collect graphics are the best.    Love the bike and the die cast toys.  Made me laugh as I have the same McGrath die cast still in the box also like you

[HRC27]

Wow man, you totally knocked it out of the park on this. Makes me want one. Congratulations!

[wykyd450r]

Awesome job!! Shes purdy!! ?

[dadon46]

that is really a great job. well done.

[sherco67]

I am in the Augusta area and in the process of doing the same to a 96 CR250R that I just picked up (only on a tighter budget), yours looks Great! where did you get the 1 800 Collect graphics? and if you have any decent items not needed that you may want to sell let me know, Thanks Again! I also got a complete front end from a CRE 260 if you know anyone that maybe interested.

[Ilove2strokes]

I am in the Augusta area and in the process of doing the same to a 96 CR250R that I just picked up (only on a tighter budget), yours looks Great! where did you get the 1 800 Collect graphics? and if you have any decent items not needed that you may want to sell let me know, Thanks Again! I also got a complete front end from a CRE 260 if you know anyone that maybe interested.

Thanks! I got the graphics from throttle jockey. They are the best 1-800 collect graphics out there. For the seat cover, it's a factory 1997 cr125 seat cover. The OEM covers are no longer available so I got a replica off eBay that is really great; identical to the factory one. The rear fender is an OEM '97 cr125 fender.

Throttle jockey website-

http://throttlejockey.com/product/x_5UTN93QWawZSN1EY2lkPT/RETRO%20REPLICAS

Seat cover-

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HONDA-ELSINORE-CR125R-CR125-R-97-1997-SEAT-COVER-HALTS-/281049692731?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item416fddfa3b&vxp=mtr

[sherco67]

Thanks for the links, just got mine done, not as good as yours but ready to go, BTW what do you think they might be worth? die-casts included

[DMC707]

Thanks for the links, just got mine done, not as good as yours but ready to go, BTW what do you think they might be worth? die-casts included

I think this model CR occupies that netherworld of bike values where financially, it makes no sense to restore a machine to this level, but may be totally worth it emotionally ---- How do you evaluate value or worth? sometimes its very tangible when you are dealing with known quantities -- 83 CR480's and MAico 490's are worth 3k and sometimes 4k, - the old Elsinores are worth some coin

Others have far more intangible value than tangible value --- the value in spending 5k to restore a 17 year old bike is that you get to go out in the garage, crack open a beer , and enjoy looking at it as much as riding it

(I have an '82 CR125 that is much the same way -- that generation of CR's is not very collectible unless it has Mugen parts or is one of the aforementioned 450's or 480's

[Ilove2strokes]

The diecast CR250s are worth somewhere in the 20-50 dollar range each. Mcgrath bike, new in the box, is worth 50 bucks. I never see them go for more than that. Doug Henry NIB usually goes for 25ish and Steve Lamson goes for 25-35 NIB. I see them pop up on ebay a good bit and always watch the auctions to see what they are going for. I see a lot out of the box, rear suspension broken or missing and they go for 10-20 bucks....

 

I totally agree with DMC....

 

A 1996 CR250 like mine, that is in excellent shape and needs NOTHING but a rider is probably worth somewhere in the ~1300-1500 dollar range. To the right person, they might pay more....   I have around 2300 dollars in the bike, all said and done.  I built it because I grew up just LOVING that bike and had to own it one day.

 

I really enjoyed building it and I was pretty sad when I was done. Thats why I just finished restoring a 2001 CR250 (another thread on this forum...) Now Im sad because both bikes are done and I dont have a good reason to disappear into the garage for hours.

 

During the last family get-together, My uncle told me he still has his 1979 CR250 thats been sitting in his garage since 1981.....   My face when I heard this =   He bought it new in the crate in 1981 and ride it maybe 20 hours. Everything is original on the bike. He is thinking about selling it because its been sitting and he wants someone else to enjoy it while they still can.  Im debating on taking it home and cleaning it up...  what do you think?

 

Edited August 27, 2013 by Ilove2strokes

[DMC707]

During the last family get-together, My uncle told me he still has his 1979 CR250 thats been sitting in his garage since 1981.....   My face when I heard this =   He bought it new in the crate in 1981 and ride it maybe 20 hours. Everything is original on the bike. He is thinking about selling it because its been sitting and he wants someone else to enjoy it while they still can.  Im debating on taking it home and cleaning it up...  what do you think?

That would be awesome -- a collection spanning 3 decades and eras --- If you have the room or could make room. I don't even like 2 strokes very much anymore and I would have a hard time passing that up -----

I wonder what would be better with a bike like that though -- a full restoration or a "fluff n buff" , as in just replace the bare minimum and use as is ------- I know in the musclecar community, people typically don't touch original barn finds that are in great shape other than maybe replacing dry rotted tires and detailing the heck out of them

[Ilove2strokes]

Yeah- I would go the 'fluff n buff' route. I would just clean it up and rebuild the carburetor.  I might find another rear fender for it since it was damaged after a really aggressive wheelie ?

 

I know he is interested in selling it but, but i think he expects it to bring a lot of money, which it wont. Its just not super desirable. Someone who would want it as an AHRMA vintage racer would pay the most for it. Otherwise, its just not going to bring the money he is expecting out of it.

 

If I got it, I wouldnt ride it except for around the yard for a little bit.

[DMC707]

yes, the longer travel red Elsinores just don't have the dollar value the earlier ones do, that's for sure --- I passed on a very cherry 125 (either 79 or 80) for $1250. It was nice, but I really didn't have the room -- between a couple other vintage projects and all my modern stuff.

I will make room for an old open bike someday though, preferably a 81 Honda 450 or 82-83 480 --- that would be fun to ride today with some suspension and brake work --- but a non power valved air cooled 125 sounds like a lot of work to ride now. The 250 would be fun though . There are just some really neat vintage races out there that would be too cool to go to (Unadilla hosts one)

I mean, who wouldn't want to race Unadilla on an old open bike, or even on that '79 250 ?