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Only $10 for all 2024 SX, MX, and SMX series (regularly $30).
718 is building the motor, we found a correct replacement factory-style rear sprocket and of course the bars have got to go -- but it's pretty close to done.
BTW, the graphics kit is one of the last of the original TJ kits; a buddy has a small stash of these and I bought one. He also has some '96 kits but I opted to go with the '95 seat-- the seat is from a stash of old Skip Norfolk works parts they bought.
The '95 CR250 came with 43mm KYB forks.
As barkhard mentioned, installing Showa Twin Chamber forks on the steel frame bikes is a great upgrade. I had a new set of 08 CRF450 forks laying in my garage so I installed them on my '95. Big improvement. The conversion was pretty easy. In addition to the 08 forks, I had to install a 08 caliper hanger, 08 left side axle spacer and 08 axle. The top triple clamp will work with the newer forks, but the 95 lower clamp will have to be either replaced or bored. For replacements, you can use a 96 CR250 or 97 CR125 lower clamp and shim it down with .010" thick aluminum, or you can buy a new clamp from Emig Racing or Applied. I found a good deal on a 96 clamp and shimmed it down on my conversion. The stock top clamps put the bars way back in your lap, so replace it with an aftermarket clamp with more forward bar mount locations if you are tall.
I found this page awhile ago when looking at parts and engine/chassis numbers, I'm not sure who made it or if it is 100% correct but the things I have looked into have been correct. Its been a big help so far in my build.
http://www.oem-cycle.com/HONDACR250BIKEID.shtml
Anyway time for some pics like I promised!!
Bad news, not gonna get the motor done tomorrow but hopefully sometime soon! Ill post some pics when it is done
that's a nice build, i'll be keen to see it when you have finished, I think those 95 seats look cool!
The Shop
Then I stand corrected.
>I also would like the find a 96 MC Honda graphic kit. because I would like to build a 96 McGrath CR250.
Good luck on that one.
Shoot MCfan4life a message. He had some really good quality graphics for sale. I bought myn off him. I have posted a picture of them earlier in this forum
Yes, thanks Col and I are friends. I was offered a chance to buy a kit back when he and a buddy of mine originally bought up the old kits late last year... My comment was directed at someone else, thanks though Bono.
There are a couple of ways, reasonably I think, you can treat these threds. One-- I hope the best way-- is as an avenue to comment or contribute in some way to the thred project.
On the other hand, there are others who vulture these threds, in the hopes they will be able to solicit free advice and access to parts (at a discount, of course!), from those of us who have spent years (and a lot of money) to build our contacts.
My biggest issue with this guy is, learn to play it forward. If you want something, give something. Some of us long-time posters (I've been here since '09) have made good friends as a result of this philosophy.
Others have run off would-be contacts-- and angered my friends-- with multiple postings/rants, thred hijacks, serial Emails that border on stalking, and childish, in-your-face/"give me this because I want it" demands.
Am I referring to anyone here? I'd like to say no-- but let's get back to your project.
1) OEM or NOS ("New Original Stock") plastic is getting really hard to find. You can still get UFO kits from Motosport (they I believe ship to OZ?). The aftermarket fork guards are white plastic, so if you can, try to stay with as new as possible stock Honda guards.
Clarke Mfg here in the States makes a pretty good copy of the Honda tank. The new OEM tanks have (pardon the pun) about dried up.
The PlasticWerks front numberplates are kind of a saga in themselves. These are very, very close copies to the real deal HRC front numberplates. In fact they may have actually BEEN the HRC numberplates for some time.
The owner maintains the site to keep out cybersquatters, but in the real world he lives on royalties from the "MX vs. ATV Unleashed" video game franchise, and so hasn't made any plastic in years. DJ and I bought out the last of his inventory (we've used all of them on projects), just before PlasticWerks effectively shut down.
DocWob Imports from the UK on eBay has a few of his reproduction clear front numberplates left. These are as close as you can get to the factory numberplate unless the royalties to "MX vs. ATV" run out and PlasticWerks starts making the numberplates again.
2) If you haven't already, read Col's "1996 McGrath CR250 Build" here on Vital -- it's the Bible for the '95-6 bikes. There are other cheap upgrades you can do, like add a bigger rear rotor (which I'd do anyway if your stock rear is shot). Plus, it's deluxe cool looking and very simple to do.
There was a link in that blog to a guy in Sweden who had a stash of Technosel '97 CR125 seatcovers that were very close to the factory seatcovers. Check it out for more information, although they may well be gone.
There's also another great blog (it's closed now, but you can still view it). It's on All Things Moto under the heading "1993 CR250 Build Finally Completed." It's by the great Dogger315 on his '93 build, even though different years the work Don did on that project is INCREDIBLE with a lot of cross-over with the '95-6 bikes.
3) With those graphics NEVER -- I mean NEVER-- put gas into the tank. And don't put the graphics onto a tank that has EVER had gas in it-- it's guaranteed to bubble. Even if you completely drain the tank immediately after putting gas in, it will still discolor the graphics. Ask me how DJ and I found out :-(
So the rule is-- as you're building this bike-- use the existing tank to tune the engine and ride. BUT-- you're either going to have to pay big $ on eBay for an OEM tank, or get a new one from Clarke. Linings and all that other chemical junk won't work.
Here's the thing on the graphics, which you may be aware of already. The owner of 100% had a long-standing relationship with HRC here in the States from the mid-eighties (he started out making grips, brake cable stiffeners, and numberplate backings, and the relationship developed from there).
Sadly the owner of 100% died suddenly some time back-- which threw the US copyright for the graphics into a cocked hat. This is why the '96 set was not reproduced for some time, even though everyone and their uncle has wanted a set.
There's another twist. Back in the '90s, they used silk screen printing to make the original graphics. ANY new set today is going to use dot-matrix printing. Who cares? The problems is, the modern printing methods can't properly match the nuclear red (what you get is an orange-red color), and the Honda wing is noticeably more yellow and less golden.
So be very careful with those original graphics you have! We looked *everywhere* to find a way to make copies but once these originals are gone, baby-- that's it. Nobody will silk-screen anymore, and everyone gets freaked out about the copyright (this problem may be going away, but anyway the dot-matrix printing is still a deal-killer).
Having had the new Throttle Jockey graphics and the real thing side-by-side there's no comparison (I hope the color differences I'm talking about show on the two pictures).
You have answered a lot of questions I had in one post!! Yes I have read bit and pieces of Col's build but yet to read every page. He has been great in answering any questions and pulling me on my mistakes which I'm really appreciative of.
ATM I don't have much info or tips to share but hopefully after this build I will. Already think of what bike to do next haha
I'm glad u told me about the graphics bubbling even without fuel in the tank. I have had myn empty for about 6 weeks thinking this would help. Might have to try and find one of these Clarke tanks.
Thanks for your advise
Hey also the pictures you added didn't come up?
Yep, it's got to be a virgin tank or it will bubble or discolor. If you were using the TJ repro kit, I'd say don't worry about (it's still going to bubble, but who cares). These original graphics kits are irreplaceable, so ALWAYS use a virgin tank.
>Hey also the pictures you added didn't come up?
I was referring to the two pictures I'd posted previously. The bike is at 718's shop, when the engine is built and a few other details are completed, I'll be posting more pictures. It's very, very close to Col's build except it's a '95 and the motor will be built. I even used the same 280-mm front rotor. CRFStuff made a very close reproduction (well, a flat-out copy) of the HRC rotor and Col and I scored the last two of the old circular style.
If you take anything out of these long posts: 1) treat that graphics kit like the family jewels and 2) do the 47-mm Showa TC upgrade. Trust me, bang-for the buck and ease of use, this is the single biggest improvement you can make on the bike. You even get a much better Master Cylinder if you go with an '07 up front end. And you lose nearly 3 pounds! Do it.
The '96 KYB shock has hi-lo speed compression dampening adjustment, and can take the Ti spring that was commonly found (and swapped) off the KYB YZ250 and YZ450F shocks. This is what I have on my '95 -- and '96 shock with a Ti spring from a YZ250.
Pro Circuit at one time was offering a "Works Kit" which was an advanced bottoming system for the stock KYB forks and gave you a larger, anodized reservoir bladder and pre-load ring. Dana (DJ Flesche) has this on his '07 YZ250 and '96 CR250. Supposedly PC told DJ that they sold him one of the last kits when he did his '96, but I'd imagine you could get much the same work done by Race Tech... Just without the cachet of having "PC suspension" (which is overrated anyway in my opinion).
If I was going to keep the stock forks-- well, I wouldn't keep the stock forks, they're junk compared to what you can do with a later-model swap. But if I did keep the stock forks I'd install a set of Race Tech Gold Valves and I'd get the larger reservoir bladder on a '96 shock with a Ti spring.
Just my .02, your results may vary.
Can you send me an email if you decide to sell you tank please. Address is danieljboniface@gmail.com
Thanks mate
Pit Row
I think the NOS tank will be out of my price range so I'm not even going to make an offer haha. The Clarke tank is $218 plus freight so I'd hate to see what a NOS tank is worth.
Hey Cam. I haven't seen one in a while, but you know how it goes with these out-of-production parts. They get more and more expensive. Heck, a guy has a set of brand new in the bag '87 CR250 shrouds on eBay -- and he's wants something near to $500 for them.
If I had to guess, maybe $350-$400 for a tank? These '96 replicas are really popular, so there will probably always be a market for them.
The alternative is to CONSTANTLY check eBay. I scored a set of NOS shrouds and sidecovers for my '93 for $150. It turned out the guy had also pulled off the seat when he'd bought his bike along with the shrouds and sidecovers, so I ended up buying him out for about $325 for the whole lot.
So you can never predict what will pop up on eBay, but you sure have to be quick on the draw.
>Thanks barkhard I'm glad we had a chance to talk.
Me too, DJFMXpro. Happy holidays to you and a great 2014.
I have to respectfully disagree. Plastic is a petroleum-based product, so it's permeable to gasoline. Once gasoline has been run in the tank, it gets absorbed into the pores of the tank.
I too have tried setting aside a tank that has had gas in it-- and even with the "Extra Super Sticker" graphics with the aluminum backing, the graphics eventually bubbled and finally peeled off. My experience -- and my buddies -- has been, if the tank has EVER had gasoline in it, any graphics will eventually bubble and/or discolor, or both.
You can use some of the different tank sealant compounds, but since the tank is flexible, sooner or later the sealant will flake off and end up in the petcock screen. Plus those tank sealants are crazy noxious.
As rare and as hard as it is to get the correct graphics, I say while not cheap, the $218 + shipping for a Clarke is sound insurance to not EVER have to worry about losing the graphics to bubbles or discoloration.
Wow, that's cool to know. So did you put on the graphics and then cover them with the wrap? Or are you using the wrap on a bare tank with no graphics? That could be a heck of a way to protect the tank finish!
I got some carbon fibre 3m wrap to cover the air box, this was VERY painful but im pretty happy how it turned out
I painted the swingarm and linkage with a clear coat, put new bearing in the swingarm, linkages and wheels. All were seized in place but a mate with a hydraulic press gave me a hand.
A mate came round today and gave me a hand to put the motor back together. We got the new crank in, all new bearings and seals and put the gears back in. Hopefully get the rest done tomorrow.
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