buying a 90´s Honda CR250

I found a 89 CR 250 for 900€.

I'm thinking about buying it, i think it would be cool to have a vintage bike. Although a 89 bike would be older than me haha.

I had a 94. Rode a 93, 95 and 96. Out of them all, the 96 had the best package. The motor in my bike ripped though. It had a factory Honda ignition and a shaved cylinder so I wouldn't say it was a stock motor. Thing would pull the front wheel 1st to 5th.

I dont know what years are best but know Mcgrath preferred 1993
I want one as well

Like 92-96 were the best. Don't get a 97-99 with that shitty frame!

92 through 96 ....you can't go wrong with any year between then, I had a few of those models and I couldn't tell the difference between any of them, they were all fast, twitchy, and had crappy suspension. But in the early 90's if you were serious about winning, that was your machine. If you were in shape, those years CR worked great with suspension work and a pipe/silencer.......but if you were not in shape that was a foul working bike if you tried to ride it fast. You would feel like a hero at the start of the moto and by the end of the race you were fighting it tooth and nail just to not die... But that was not the bikes fault. Those bikes worked better the harder/faster you rode em. Good Times.

I think the 93 and 94 had an 18" rear wheel. The 93 had a slightly faster turning frame, and I think the front axle was shorter than 94-96. The number plates were a little different in 95-96. All the engines seemed closer to a 500 than a 250 and were hard to control. A flywheel weight would make these bikes ride like magic. The forks needed springs and revalving for all years. I would get a 93 and put a 19" rear wheel one it.

I would probably rather have a 93 125 and put 95 plastic and a 19" rear wheel on it.

I had a 94, 96, and in likely my most regrettable life decision, a 97 that I got rid of the 96 for. I was on 125s before 94 and Kawi after the 97 CR. My 96 was one of my favorite bikes ever. Swapped fork springs and played with oil height and the forks were liveable. Engine was a rocket and it handled great.

92-93 for sure hand an 18 inch rear wheel. I think 94 they went to the 19. Not a dimes different between a 92 & 93

I had a 96 about 10 years ago. It was a great bike with the best CR250 cylinder porting of all. Only the 2001 came close to the engine package. Maybe drop a PWK carb on it to replace the older style Keihin. Suspension definitely needed work. A set of Showa Twin Chambers from a 2003-2008 CRF450 will fix the front end. Shock can be revalved and will work fine or find an Ohlins and put it on.

1995 is when they put the 19" rear wheel. I would Say 1993 and 1996 are the best bikes. 1994 and 1995 are Solid. 1992 could have a few reliability problems.

Lucky enough to have a few different 4T's and 2T's in the garage, but my 96' CR250 puts the biggest smile on my face every time! Swap the forks for some newer twin chambers, revalve the shock, and run a Hinson bulletproof steel basket (much better mod than the comparable flywheel weight option) for best results

Can't go wrong with any 93'-96' CR

The 96 CR250 has the most to work with, since you are going with an older bike. I had a chance to ride a 97 CR125, the last steel framer, and it was quick, and handled decently. Those would be the Hondas of that era that I'd go after.

I had to scratch that itch this year also. The sound, smell and hit bring a smile to my face every ride. Found a super low hour 1994 for $1700. It's purely for fun and nostalgia purpose- we don't race it. Funny how more people ask to ride this bike than our new 16's haha.

Great looking bike Old&New!

My '96 CR250 was probably my favorite modern bike ever. Put a PC or FMF pipe on it, clean up the suspension, and it was good to rip. Broad powerband, lower seat height (I'm a short guy) & reliable as a hammer.

IMO 93 was best.
93 was basically a 92 frame with more gusseting. Stanton and Bayle had some flex problems in the swingarm pivot area early in 92 during Supercross, Some breakage as well.. There was a recall (or at least a T.S.B.) on the 92 swingarms, for cracking around the welds. so the frame and swingarm was beefed up in that area as well as around the steering head for the 1993 production bikes.
94 had slightly different steering geometry and a different clamp offset that relaxed the steering a bit and was suppose to increase stability.. I much preferred the 93 cornering but I did add a steering dampener to mine. 95 and 96 were alot like the 94 with suspension changes.
Forks were junk on all of them so a modern fork and shock on a 93 would be the best bike ever IMO. My friend built one and sold it without letting me know..
The motors in those bikes, 92-96 were the absolute best I've ever ridden.
Honestly, Any semi clean 92-96 would be an awesome bike to build. but if you want to narrow it down, my preference is 93.

They are desirable bikes for sure. I have a 94 CR250. Suspension is a bit whack but can be sorted with a newer front end. The main problem is getting spares, especially OEM, no right hand radiators left, rad louvers, kick starts, rear brake levers & plenty others no doubt. Pro Circuit don't make the Works pipe anymore unless they have an order for 10 of them (so I've heard).

Old&New's bike looks awesome but to get it to look like that, takes a lot of time, a lot of money & a lot of patience.

90's CR's are great. I've restored and raced both the 93 and 96. In my opinion, the 96 is the best of the steel framed CRs. The 95/96 turns just as well as the 93, but it's a bit more stable and feels less cramped.



They complained about the suspension back in the day, but I don't think it is too bad. Pro Circuit still has, or at least they did a few years ago, the non-recirculating works kit available, so I had them install that and revalve it. It works great...nearly on par with he SSS stuff on my 06 YZ250.

If you still want to put newer 47mm twin chamber showa forks on, it's pretty easy and you can do it a couple different ways. The 95/96 clamps are 24mm offset like most Honda CR/CRF's before 2008. The top clamp is the correct bore, but the 96 lower clamp bore is a few thousandths to big and the 95 is a few thousandths too small. You can shim up the 96 clamp or bore the 95. Another way is to just use the clamps off the 2002+ aluminum framed CR/CRFs on the steel frame by welding an extension to the steering stop on the front of head tube to meet the stop, which on the CRF is meant to butt up agains the main frame rather than the tab on the head tube. The 92-94 head tube is smaller so you will have to press in a shorter stem or put spacers under the top clamp. All Balls sells bearing kits to mount the different clamps.

I use the rubber mounted top clamp off a 2002-2004 CR/CRF because it has the number plate mount on the front rather than the top.

If your a weight watcher, the 47mm Showa forks are just over a pound lighter than the open circulating 96 KYBs. YZ Titanium shock springs are 1.5 lbs lighter and fit the KYB 95-96 CR shocks. The stock spring rate is 5.5 kg/mm so if you find a YZ450 5.5 spring your good to go. The YZ Ti Pegs fit pretty well too. The 95/96 shock, which has the high/low speed compression adjuster, can also be used on the 92-94 CR250.

The 92-2001 Engine is pretty good. My 06 YZ250 puts it to shame with a much wider power spread but my 96 gets it done with a nice midrange hit that starts just low enough and pulls pretty far. It's a good engine, especially for it's time.

I built a lot of these 90s Cr250's and held onto the best one I built. It's a 96 with all new 97 CR125 plastic and the factory 100% graphics. I had them screenprinted from the original artwork and ink, so it's got the correct Fluorescent colors to match the nuclear red plastic and seat cover. I have some sets of these graphics left if anyone is interested

Wow awesome bikes in here. Not much I can add here other than some pics. My 96 has twin chambers, an aluminum subframe and an Ohlins. I rode it this entire last season, like others have said it's fast and reliable. I'm 6'1" and 240 pounds on it as well.







Its ok to make fun of my butt whip, everyone else does!

Sweet! Looks like you've got that old CR working good!

Those are great bikes. My friend built 1991 Bayle replica few years ago. I was surprised how good bike handled compared to newer ones.



https://get.google.com/albumarchive/100091857805186061651/album/AF1QipO…

I had almost every year till I got the 97. I went with a kawi after that. My favorite was the 96. Awesome bike for sure.

Damn, that's beautiful! I wish I had a '96 to put the graphics on.