83 CR250 about ready

Kevin,

I have done vintage racing in the past, however do to my work schedule i have not been very consistent with it. Last time I raced was 2012 (finished 2nd nationally with AHRMA in GP 125), however prior to 2012 I hadn't raced since 2006 (I raced a 78 CR250 that year). i rode today after a 3 year layoff and man was i rusty and the bike while looking the part does need some adjustments. The motor ran awesome! I didn't build this motor but the power is unbelieveable. I need to make some minor tweaks with the brakes (i had the front arched and its way to sensitive) and the feel of the rear is not to my liking. This was my first ride on a track in 3 years. I had spent time on this track years ago but they have changed it significantly so I'll just need to spend a little more time with the bike and track to get myself there. Here's a photo of the bike at the track before I trashed it. Mike

The shock is stock but it was built by Race Tech as were the forks. I had Race Tech build me a shock for my 83 480 as the shock on the 480 while similar to the shock on the 83 250 had several issues (mostly with the shock oil breaking down). So it was cheaper to just replace the shock on the 480. i am not sure why the 250 shock did not suffer the same fate…weird. I have not been on a dirt bike or a track in over 3 three years. When I took that 6 year layoff from 2006 - 2012 i had rode at least 3 times at a friends farm (not a track, it was more or less a field). But when I came back in 2012 I rode a 1980 YZ125 with full Race Tech suspension, but dailing in the 125 is way easier than a 250 (you don't have power issue). So this 250 it going to take a track day or two to get figured out.

Yesteday when I rode the track it was really soft and loamy and the first thing I noticed was my tire pressue was way to high as the bike makes huge power and it was violent (almost got away from me literally). Front brake was way to sensitive and the rear did not have enough feel. Those are just a couple of the things I noticed, but I am also not in rider shape yet so that is going to take a couple rides as the arm pump kicked my butt. 3 years ago I literally got on my 125 for the first time and raced it with only a few jetting issues to work out, but this 250 and going to require a bit more dailing and throttle control.

I use a MSR on the fly clutch adjustment but the clutch pull itself is pretty easy for a vintage bike. I do use a Moose Racing EZ clutch on my 78 CR250, which makes the clutch pull feel like an 80cc clutch (I highly recommend this).

I actually agree with you on those bars. I have a set of the standard Renthal fat bars on my 76 Elsinore, so I'll likely ditch these at some point for a regular pair of Renthal fat bars with a crossbar. But in truth, I really wasn't going for a period look as my main goal was safety first (i.e. fat pegs, the latest suspension, fat bars, etc...but you are right). Mike

I took Hellion's advice on the bars and switched to a set of standard Renthal Twinwall bars as they do look more period correct. The Renthal's I had on the bike were extremely wide and tall (made for a larger rider in my opinion) so I after I rode the bike last week at the track, I had a bar change in the back of my mind so thanks Hellion for giving my the nudge to make the switch. I will not use standard bars, only fat bars because should I fall in a race I don't want to be spending time kicking bars back into shape. I haven't rode the bike on the track yet, just around the house, but it feels a lot better with these bars as it seems like I have more control so we'll see how it goes at the track this weekend hopefully. I also took the pipe I had in the last set of photos off and put another one on (same pipe, but the last pipe was new and I did not want to trash it). This pipe has been well used to the point I had to take a brass wire wheel to it, but functionally, it works fine).

Donny O'show,

Nice and I love the Bailey theme. And yeah you guys are really putting it too me on that number plate so I'll see what i can come up with now that I have the correct style of bars on the bike. I arrived in NC for my first second ride and first race/AHRMA national in 3 years and came up a day early for practice. There was too much rain to practice so I walked the track and then decided to check the bikes for jetting as it was a bit cooler down here and the 83 ran awesome. I then jumped on my modern bike (98 RM265) and it ran sweet too, however when putting it back in the trailer I ran head first into the trailer (don't ask me what I was thinking), but it resulted in blood, some Alev and a neck brace, so unless by some miracle my neck is better in the morning (I have it resting on ice), I'll likely be a spectator tomorrow which sucks. This is one time I really shouldn't have used my head. Mike

Almost forgot, the pipe is Vintage Iron. Rick has made a couple of pipes for me.

Kevin,

When you get a chance please send me a picture of the one you made. Thanks, Mike

Hey Roadrider,

Great meeting you as well and I'm really pissed i couldn't ride. My neck is doing better but I'm going to wait a couple of weeks before I try and ride. That track was really 125 friendly (not too many long straights to open a 250 or open bike up) but it would have been fun just the same. Hope to see ya at some of the other events. Mike

After Max Power & Donny O'Show got on me (just kidding), I started looking into a vented number plate and everywhere I looked I could not find quite what I wanted, so I decided to try and make my own. I started with a 24x24 sheet of plastic (similar to ABS) and went from there. Below is how far I have gotten to date as I am awaiting the diamond mesh screen to arrive. Once it get's here I measure and cut then sand the plate to even the shape out a bit with super find sand paper & paint it and that will be that. More to come, Mike

Been working on the number plate again now that I have a new Dremel tool (the old one died). Anyway, I ended up making two other plate as the first one in the my last forum was just too big. Here's the latest one. I still have to sand it a bit then paint it and fit the mesh. Mike