1986 CR 250 will live again.

4/15/2013 6:36pm
I finally got my motor back together minus FMF silencer, which is back ordered until the 4/23. Poured in some gas and 5 kicks later it came to life! Sounded so badass and snappy and idled perfect with the stock jetting which I couldn't believe. No water leaks yet but both radiators are dented enough that I couldn't mount the lower fastners for the rad shrouds. So I think Im gonna order the ebay rads + hoses. The new DC plastic looks pretty good with yellow # plate background. It's been a hand full but so close to getting this bike dirty. Pics soon!
mad300exc
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107
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Location
USA
4/16/2013 3:03pm
ledger wrote:
Well dayum.I've had to put this project on hold due to so much going on in this thing called LIFE.Job loss,very sick father who is taking...
Well dayum.I've had to put this project on hold due to so much going on in this thing called LIFE.Job loss,very sick father who is taking chemo and trip's back and forth to TN.Absolutely no time right now,so if you good folk's on VitalMX would try to keep this alive I sure would enjoy checking in time to time on anything you guy's have to offer.I'm not giving up,I'm just putting this bike on the back-burner for awhile.Ledger.
Life does take over, best wishes to you and you or family.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Take care
Mike
mad300exc
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4/16/2013 3:07pm
I finally got my motor back together minus FMF silencer, which is back ordered until the 4/23. Poured in some gas and 5 kicks later it...
I finally got my motor back together minus FMF silencer, which is back ordered until the 4/23. Poured in some gas and 5 kicks later it came to life! Sounded so badass and snappy and idled perfect with the stock jetting which I couldn't believe. No water leaks yet but both radiators are dented enough that I couldn't mount the lower fastners for the rad shrouds. So I think Im gonna order the ebay rads + hoses. The new DC plastic looks pretty good with yellow # plate background. It's been a hand full but so close to getting this bike dirty. Pics soon!
I just installed new eBay rads and hoses on my bike. The rads bolted on just fine but the y hose was tight.
I had to loosen up both rads and connect the y hose then tighten up the rads.
Don't take them all the way off.
It took some tweaking a bit.
mad300exc
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USA
4/21/2013 5:54pm
Hey guys, had out first race of the season at Winchester speed park mx.
What q great track!
Had 5 guys in pre 90's class along with about 10 guys in evo on the same gate.
Great group of guys, some nice battles, and lots of pit racing.

Anyone with a vintage bike near southern New Hampshire, come and race.
This was my first mx race and I had a blast.
This track is perfect , all loam, nice berms, and totally doable table tops.

Be nice to get a couple classes of each going.

Mike

The Shop

ledger
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4/21/2013 10:05pm
mad300exc wrote:
Hey guys, had out first race of the season at Winchester speed park mx. What q great track! Had 5 guys in pre 90's class along...
Hey guys, had out first race of the season at Winchester speed park mx.
What q great track!
Had 5 guys in pre 90's class along with about 10 guys in evo on the same gate.
Great group of guys, some nice battles, and lots of pit racing.

Anyone with a vintage bike near southern New Hampshire, come and race.
This was my first mx race and I had a blast.
This track is perfect , all loam, nice berms, and totally doable table tops.

Be nice to get a couple classes of each going.

Mike
Happy for ya Mike,sound's like a great time.How did the bike handle for you ?
mad300exc
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4/22/2013 4:16am
Hey ledger,
I'd say the suspension was too soft as the track got rough late in the day.
I need to spring it for my weight for sure.
For woods riding you can get away with too soft, but not on the track with whoops and jumps.
Motor ran great, but I also need to drop to a 51 rear sprocket.

It's amazing how much you learn in a couple of short motos.
ledger
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4/28/2013 4:33pm
My Dad passed early Saturday morning.I'm very thankful for the time we had together before he took his last breath.I thank the good Lord that he did not suffer.Death is certain,life is not.RIDE !!!
4/28/2013 8:23pm
ledger wrote:
My Dad passed early Saturday morning.I'm very thankful for the time we had together before he took his last breath.I thank the good Lord that he...
My Dad passed early Saturday morning.I'm very thankful for the time we had together before he took his last breath.I thank the good Lord that he did not suffer.Death is certain,life is not.RIDE !!!
Ledger so sorry to hear this , my thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family.
zaz696
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Phoenix, AZ, USA
4/29/2013 9:14am
Very sorry to hear that, Ledger. I hope he lived a great life!
jtracing6
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Dundalk, IE
4/29/2013 12:12pm
Ledger, sorry to hear that.
mad300exc
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USA
4/29/2013 4:23pm
Very sorry for your loss Alan.
My dad passed away just before Thanksgiving. About the only thing thing that kept my mind off things was being out in the garage all though the winter working on that CR.
All the best to you and your family.
Mike
ledger
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5/3/2013 10:34pm
Thank's to everyone for your kindness,prayer's and concern.My Father lived a great life,he was a hardcore fisherman, lived life to the fullest and never made an enemy .The only time I heard him say the word TIRED was two week's before he passed at the age of 79.He was a VERY GOOD MAN and tough as nail's.And Mike,sorry to hear of your loss and it's my time to head to the garage.Thank's again.
mad300exc
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5/4/2013 5:28pm
So Ledger, where are you at with the project?
Haven't heard from Bart in a while.
5/6/2013 8:04am
Mine is almost done. Still awaiting on a FMF silencer which should be in this week. I'm down to little stuff that needs replaced like a front brake line and of course my gas tank is faded a bit. Oh and this beast is a bitch to kick start w/o boots on. Can't wait to actually test ride!
ledger
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5/6/2013 1:26pm
mad300exc wrote:
So Ledger, where are you at with the project?
Haven't heard from Bart in a while.
I think I'm gonna work on the swingarm and rear shock when time allow's.The next 3-4 week's will be spent running back and forth to Nashville,TN.1300 mile's round trip=NOT FUN.
mad300exc
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5/6/2013 3:48pm
Second race of the season is coming up June 1. ACR vintage mx.
Should be a great day. I'm going to bring a modern bike also.
After my first real ride, found the following.
-Stock springs are way too soft for my 230# butt. As the track got rough later in the day it was noticeable.
- the 53 tooth sprocket that my parts guy recommended was way too much. Dropping down to a 51.
- front fork oil level is too low, can't remember exactly but I think it was 5 inches from the top. 5wt oil.
-clutch pull was heavy but okay for a short moto.
5/8/2013 6:34am
Anyone have any idea where I can find a mid pipe to connect my new silencer to my Fatty? OEM part not avail. 18328-KS7-000. Couldn't find on Ebay.
jtracing6
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Dundalk, IE
5/8/2013 7:50am
bart,
They appear on ebay from time to time. Have you tried a motorcycle breakers? For example oem cycle up in Oregon (I think).
http://www.oem-cycle.com/hondamain.shtml
It took me a while to find one but I did you have to just keep looking. Or you can try to fabricate something but I couldn't find the correct diameter tube with the correct wall thickness.
5/8/2013 8:37am
Yes, been looking for awhile now. Really hard part to find. You would think FMF would have something or extended a pipe off silencer to connect to Pipe. I'm at the point where I might try a exhaust shop and see if I can find some tubing. silly!
supergreg
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Washington Court House, OH, USA
5/8/2013 8:51am
Give me your address and I'll mail you mine to use until you find or fabricate one. I'm tearing my bike down to get ready for the season to start. You can use it if you want. Greg
supergreg
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Washington Court House, OH, USA
5/9/2013 10:26am
Oi! That looks just like mine. You have to rotate it along its long axis for everything to mate up right if you have an aftermarket pipe.
The Sneak
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USA
5/10/2013 9:05am
mad300exc-

I plan on attending the Central Village ACR race, just to check it out. I haven't raced in almost 20 years and was not good at it back then either. Last time I even rode was almost 8 years ago on a 2001 CR125 I borrowed for a weekend, and then it had been 5 years prior to that on a borrowed 97 KX125.

Pre 90 interests me, as does EVO. Just wondering how hard it would be to pick up after so long and where the F one can even practice? I'm down your way, by the way. Will say hi in the pits @ Central village if I spot your setup.
mad300exc
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5/10/2013 11:51am
Hey Sneak,
This was my first time ever mx.k I'm 48 and have been riding turkey runs mostly.
Practice areas are hard to find, that's why most of the guys I know race enduro, jdays or hs.

I haven't raced acr but expect that they will have enough guys in the pre90 to have ABC classes.
Doesn't matter anyway.
It's a great time. I really just do it to ride non competitive and be able to ride some nice tracks.

I got back into it after 20 years also. No problem, it's more fun now doing it all over again.

There's a decent kx250 in Narragansett , Craig's for sale cheap. Just needs a kick return spring. Go get it, fix it up and come out and ride central.
mad300exc
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5/10/2013 5:49pm
mad300exc wrote:
Hey Sneak, This was my first time ever mx.k I'm 48 and have been riding turkey runs mostly. Practice areas are hard to find, that's why...
Hey Sneak,
This was my first time ever mx.k I'm 48 and have been riding turkey runs mostly.
Practice areas are hard to find, that's why most of the guys I know race enduro, jdays or hs.

I haven't raced acr but expect that they will have enough guys in the pre90 to have ABC classes.
Doesn't matter anyway.
It's a great time. I really just do it to ride non competitive and be able to ride some nice tracks.

I got back into it after 20 years also. No problem, it's more fun now doing it all over again.

There's a decent kx250 in Narragansett , Craig's for sale cheap. Just needs a kick return spring. Go get it, fix it up and come out and ride central.
Look for #52
Had to change the number.
mad300exc
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USA
6/16/2013 12:13pm
Bought a set of Eibach front springs from Race Tech.
These things are way too short.

Stock Springs are 562mm long with a 30mm spacer
Eibachs are 506mm long (they list510mm)
No spacers provided.

I can't see where this spring length is correct.

Have you guys used these springs? I spoke to the Race Tech guy and he seemed to know what I needed.

I'm pissed.
johanfl
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SE
6/17/2013 5:18am Edited Date/Time 6/17/2013 5:19am
Well, RT use short springs as they explain on their website, you have to make spacers for the correct preload:

"Many of our customers have questioned us on why our fork springs are so short, particularly on vintage applications. Here's the long (or short) answer.

In the past the material that manufacturers used to make springs was pretty poor. This meant springs would not only often sack-out but it also meant that fairly heavy gauge wire needed to be used. The heavier gauge the wire the less stressed it is at maximum travel. But this also means that the spring designs were pretty heavy (they weighed a lot) for a given rate.

Let me back up here for a moment. Springs can be made with a variety of wire gauges or diameters. The larger diameter the wire, the more number of coils are required for the desired rate. Thinner wire could also be used requiring less number of coils. I explain this in much greater detail in "Race Tech's Motorcycle Suspension Bible" if you're interested.

These two examples; thick wire, lots-o-coils vs. thin wire, fewer coils introduces us to the concept of a Hi-Performance Spring. The thinner the wire the lighter the spring for a particular rate. These are Hi-Performance. This also requires better materials that weren't available back-in-the-day. In fact it is very rare (and pricey) even today (note: there are only two wire manufacturers in the world that can produce the quality of material we require for most RT Hi-Performance Fork Springs).

It may have crossed your mind that a spring design using thinner wire with less coils would have more travel for a given length than a spring made with thick wire. This means we can design our springs shorter and still have the required travel. This also means we will need to use longer spring spacers but they are generally much lighter than spring.

Using a shorter spring has the added benefit that it will fit in more bikes if we employ different length spacers. If we tried to chase all the original spring lengths we could never make enough of any one particular design to be economical.

So there it is folks. You're gonna have to cut some spacers. But really that is the only down-side. The up-side is less weight, more applications and super-tough hi-performance springs."
mad300exc
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Location
USA
6/17/2013 5:34am
Thanks for the reply.
Much appreciated.
mad300exc
Posts
107
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Location
USA
6/17/2013 4:26pm
johanfl wrote:
Well, RT use short springs as they explain on their website, you have to make spacers for the correct preload: "Many of our customers have questioned...
Well, RT use short springs as they explain on their website, you have to make spacers for the correct preload:

"Many of our customers have questioned us on why our fork springs are so short, particularly on vintage applications. Here's the long (or short) answer.

In the past the material that manufacturers used to make springs was pretty poor. This meant springs would not only often sack-out but it also meant that fairly heavy gauge wire needed to be used. The heavier gauge the wire the less stressed it is at maximum travel. But this also means that the spring designs were pretty heavy (they weighed a lot) for a given rate.

Let me back up here for a moment. Springs can be made with a variety of wire gauges or diameters. The larger diameter the wire, the more number of coils are required for the desired rate. Thinner wire could also be used requiring less number of coils. I explain this in much greater detail in "Race Tech's Motorcycle Suspension Bible" if you're interested.

These two examples; thick wire, lots-o-coils vs. thin wire, fewer coils introduces us to the concept of a Hi-Performance Spring. The thinner the wire the lighter the spring for a particular rate. These are Hi-Performance. This also requires better materials that weren't available back-in-the-day. In fact it is very rare (and pricey) even today (note: there are only two wire manufacturers in the world that can produce the quality of material we require for most RT Hi-Performance Fork Springs).

It may have crossed your mind that a spring design using thinner wire with less coils would have more travel for a given length than a spring made with thick wire. This means we can design our springs shorter and still have the required travel. This also means we will need to use longer spring spacers but they are generally much lighter than spring.

Using a shorter spring has the added benefit that it will fit in more bikes if we employ different length spacers. If we tried to chase all the original spring lengths we could never make enough of any one particular design to be economical.

So there it is folks. You're gonna have to cut some spacers. But really that is the only down-side. The up-side is less weight, more applications and super-tough hi-performance springs."
I spoke to RT. typically they provide spacers with RT springs. eibach springs do not have spacers.
They were willing to send me spacers but for the most part they use standard PVC.

They should probably include that in their tutorial about spacers.
I was going to use
PVC but figured metal is better. Why over think it I guess.
6/17/2013 4:47pm
I always figured PVC would crack or at least flake a bit and find its way in oil passages in the valving. No proof but like you I figure metal would be better for dirt bikes. Good to see you at the open house.

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