1992 Honda CR 250 back to mostly stock.

Tank, airbox and whatever else I can fit in...

So the tank I used on this one is the tank from that 95 I already restored. I bought a Clarke blemished and I should have bought like 5 of them at the price they were asking.
I sent that 95 tank off to have it restored. JSD Plastic Restore-Press Me
$165.00 is the cost.

Before...






And after...




I was pleased with the work.
Going forward I plan to just do it myself. I recently partially restored a 86 CR 250 tank that was sun bleached in places but still need to learn how to get the shine.

That airbox. Man a huge tip of the hat to those of you who spend the time restoring these. These are way harder to do only because they are white to begin with. Honda obviously no longer makes them and despite the immense popularity of this model and the years they spanned no one made a replacement. I get it since it’s an airbox and not something commonly replaced.
So the above along with the age create an item that is difficult to find.
I have a couple extra now but not without spending some time searching for them.

After removing the black rattle can paint



Second clean up









Hours spent getting all the little nooks and crannies... So I got fed up since I couldn’t get it to shine up and painted it. I shot some adhesion promoter and cerkoated it. Off to the hot box and hopefully it holds.

I have seen the corrosion before on fork outers here on the forum. I’m not sure what starts it to delaminate. But it is uncommon.
I try to incorporate my process/tools to help others who may consider restoring. Just giving back since there have been many others who laid down excellent tracks for me to follow.
The guys who video their exploits on restoring is incredible. If I wasn’t so challenged about the learning curve for video editing I would do this.
I may have said it but will say it again. Restoring a bike that was in such bad shape creates so many unknowns. I would not challenge myself with another one.
Just make sure you do your research on what parts/plastic/rims are still available. With bikes prior to 1990 this can become even more critical.

I have seen the vapor blasted plastic.
Anything that is cleaning up plastic is also removing at least some of the finish. If it left say a 500 or higher grit finish than all you would need is go up to 1000 or 1200 and start polish. As I see it there is currently no bypass to needing to hand prep plastic prior to polish.

Thanks Aaron. High praise from you.
I have 4 more to do in the mid 90 Honda CR 250. I start soon a 88 CR 500.

Subframe.
This integral part can easily be overlooked when restoring. Obviously if your bike was complete you have few worries. Buying one used I suggest careful examination. So basically do what I didn’t do.
Careful examination.
It looked straight and was only missing the the narrow piece that holds the front of the seat down.
I went and cut some metal and welded on the tab. First go around it was too low and such pulled the upper shock mounting location too closed. Had to go back to my buddies and we moved it.
If you buy a used sub frame no matter how nice mount it to the frame and check out how the side panels align with the seat bolts. I could have saved myself a great deal of misery if I had done this.
I wrongly assumed it was fine since it looked straight. I even went and had it powder coated prior to checking it out on the frame and alignment.


The black one was the sub frame originally on the bike. This weighed several pounds more and obviously had been crudely repaired.

I mounted it and found those alignment issues with the side covers. So I rolled it outside for some beauty shots while also intending to tweak it so the rear fender would be more aligned to the back.

Beauty shot…

I had enjoyed some success with just applying careful pressure to this or that area to get it back in line. This consisted of laying the bike down on blankets and standing on the opposite side I wanted the frame to move to. Maybe not much precision in that.
I should have taken a picture of the ridiculous arrangement I tried in using a come-along. I had my truck backed up as a attachment point for the come-along. I used my trailer as a way to anchor the bike.

Predictably (not for me) this worked horribly.

The bike would torque in such a way where there was no way to isolate out the force to just the sub frame.
But I discovered a crazy issue after picking up the bike and rolling it forward.
It would go into gear without touching the gear shifter.
Find neutral and roll it fine. But a slight lean in one direction caused it to go into gear. I’m probably typing this as to suggest I quickly figured out the lean thing caused it to go into gear. It took longer to even know leaning would cause it to go into gear.

I was befuddled how this could occur.

Keep in mind I rebuilt the motor entirely and tested basic shifting function after putting the cases back together. I never took gears off the shafts……Or so I thought.

This motor is all back together with all bolts torqued to spec and blue lock tite used. Motor inside rolling frame.

Initially I’m hopeful there is something wrong on the clutch side behind the basket. Pull the side cover while the motor is still in the frame and there is no issue seen.
Some of you may know the feeling when you realize you have to pull the motor and split the cases again.

So obviously I do just that but not this day. Way too defeated feeling to deal with it immediately.

Maybe the next day or days later I pull the motor and dis-assemble it completely. Fortunately my gaskets are all okay and do not tear. My crank pulls out easily enough thankfully.

See…

How I had that second washer on the left side of that gear. Even finding this wasn’t as obvious as pictured. At least for me it wasn’t. That thin washer was enough to allow that gear to slide over and engage. I was super confident I had maintained the integrity of the gears and washers orientation. This is why it made it so hard to accept I had done something wrong.



Where it should be…


Simple problem to resolve at the price of so much work to pull apart and put back together.

And I still haven’t even discussed the nightmare of my subframe woes……. Next installment.

So that subframe.
I simply thought it was just tweaked over. This was why the rear fender was moved to the right side of the bike and not centered over the rear tire.
I spent an hour or more just enlarging some fender mounting holes to allow for me to shift the fender over.
I even opened up the right side subframe fender mounting hole to give me a little more play. This finally worked and I was able to get it more less correct.
Then I went to put the side panels on…..




Obviously this was an issue. No way was I gonna cheat that issue. But I sure as heck gave it a great deal of thought.
I tried hose clamping on a cheater bar to tweak the end of the subframe over. I spent more then 2 hours just trying to come up with a way to pull it in line.

Now I had another subframe. I knew it was a little tweaked. But what wasn’t was the lower right side to lower mounting tab on frame. That bar had a bend to it which mine did not.
From this I finally realized why it was giving me the issues with mounting location mis-alignment.

So I transferred the bend of the other subframe right side lower arm to cardboard. Cut out the pattern and now had a guide where and how much to tweak the powder coated finished subframe arm.



Fortunately I have a mini oxy/acetylene torch set up. Faced with the need to get that sub-frame re-coated I heated it up and bent it to shape,

I knew I had resolved it.

The learning curve on all these basic tasks to restore can not be over stated. Some of you would have approached this differently at the beginning. When you have no prior experience with bending metal with heat you simply do not immediately see that as a option. My 95 bent sub-frame issue was resolved in just shifting the end of the sun-frame over.
I merely assumed this would work again.
I finally understood why it would never shift over without the bend in the lower arm. I saw nothing glaring with it when I purchased it used. Now I knew why it was cheaper then the other sub-frames. I wrongly assumed since it was missing the seat pan tab hold down bracket is why it had been discounted.
The problems I had with the subframe coupled with it slipping into gear will cause one to re-think the whole restore process. Both those issues almost defeated me.

You have to remember I was convinced neither issue was from my lack of being very careful.






Finally I am near completion with this project. One more post or two and I am done. I just have some stickers to put on that 86 and I am done with that one too.
It might be my best one yet.

The offending sub-frame. It had been tweaked where the black is. But that price should have been a huge giveaway.
I must have forgot it indeed did show more signs of potential issues.

Well it’s been done for some time. It has about maybe 20 minutes on it. This was more just to prove I did most things correctly. Well actually all things since it needs nothing.
I couldn’t do another without at least starting one of these.

Since than I have emptied the radiators and drained all fuel. Drained carb too. Now it just sits covered. Once I get all of the ones done and a group shot it will sit. Than I expect to sell off many of them.

I should list the changes starting from the front..

Front end…
UFO plastics used.

New rim laced to 95 or later hub along with caliper, disc set up from the same. Axel from that also.
Twin Chamber Showa’s from later than a 1996. Rebuilt with all new seals.
Upper outside sliders Cerakote Gold used.
Triples were a modified 96 lower with a Emig billet upper. New steering bearings used.
New bars unknown brand Cerakote white with Honda stock grips and pro-taper clutch and brake lever. Front brake master cylinder rebuilt.

Motor..
All seals/bearings replaced. Cylinder re-lined with a Wiseco piston used. Crank rebuilt with a new bearing.
New clutch both metal and fiber. Boyesen (sp?) rad valve and new carbon reeds.
Honda brand new throttle and clutch cables.
Pro Circuit pipe used and powder coated black. Had a stock 92 silencer that I had in parts I restored.

Other than motor…
Rear master cylinder rebuilt and caliper. All swingarm and linkage bearings replaced. Replaced sub frame. Rear shock rebuilt with new seals.
Gas tank was sent off to be restored and was from my first 95. Seat cover replaced. Airbox restored.
New chain, sprockets, rollers, and slider. Original rear hub laced to a new rim.
EBay purchased foot pegs Cerakote black.
Skid plate mounting points welded on along with water pump/clutch guard.

I believe everything else was restored from what I originally received on the bike.
Bolts were restored where possible or replaced.
Original cast lines removed from cylinder, calipers, hubs, master cylinders, triples, kick starter, rear brake pedal, swingarm, linkage and rear shock.

Cerakote gloss black, shimmering gold, bright nickel, aluminum color and bright white shot.
Powder coat gloss black pipe, blue on spring and white for the frame.






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Updated the 1992.

Changes…

New side panels, rear fender, radiator shrouds, graphics/warning stickers, tank.

Newer restored airbox, 92-94 hub, relaced front wheel to smaller axle style. Used year appropriate forks and triples. Changed out caliper and master cylinder. Quite a bit actually but I had to since the 96-93 came out to a newer standard for me.

Make no mistake it was quite a bit of work since I had to restore and Cerakote another set of front hangers and associated parts. Forks needed new seals and general clean up.

Before.

I know, looks no different.