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Indeed, but I wonder if anyone has some inside insight from back in the day who want to spill the beans. Maybe the frame didn't worked for the stiff-suspension style of MX and SX racing in the USA and worked better for the European style of racing. But I also think about special trick parts because he didn't seem as comfortable at his AMA race in Unadilla (5-5).
Just wanted to bring it up in the discussion. There has been other bikes who worked pretty well in Europe but didn't got the same success in America, I'm thinking about the Italian 125cc Husqvarna, Chico Chiodi raced an won two world championships on.
KTM also . They weren't really taken seriously in MX/SX here until Dungey raced them .
The '97 was horrible...I still can't feel my hands.
Knowing what we now know about chassis adjustments…… I”m sure they took 1 bolt out of the head stay or had custom engine mounts made out of Ti, that made the bikes handle like a dream
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lol oh boy I remember those bikes. I had a 99 Cr125 and it was slower than a yz85 no doubt. Fast forward two years and I remember on a downhill start mind you. Racing Columbia Mo state race and had a 3 ft jump on everyone off the line. Clicked 3rd and heard a couple 125’s just rocket right past me and a loud ass fart noise. It was always disheartening going to the line on that thing.
Yep I bought the 97 as soon as it came out as I also had the previous 89-93 CR250's that were awesome. They handled really good and had strong motors.
But not nearly the top end that the 97 had with a new power jet in the carb.
I also put rubber inserts for the handlebar mounts and sent the suspension off to Factory Connection.
The bike worked pretty good and was a Holeshot machine.👍
13 min vid on yt of the 97 race. Everts was hauling he went down in both motos. He was in 2nd in both motos from working up. I hv the 97 250 world championship duke video vhs also. Tortellini was a lot faster in 97 than any other yr.
Such great style. I hv quite a few 90,s GP tapes. Chiodi only had 1 cylinder
I had the 97. I raced that thing for 4years. Moto. Desert. Hare Scrambles. Bullet proof bike. All on stock suspension in the A class. Most that had issues with this bike had it planted in their minds by the magazines.
Everts had an hand built works frame that only resembled production frame by looks
"The frame is constructed of solid billet sections, completely different than stock. The bike runs 2 single factory radiators. The swing arm is longer than stock and has solid billet inserts at the front and rear of the swing arm. It is also braced in front of the shock mount"
See the welds under the frame spars that the production frame did not have
https://vintageworksbikes.com/1999-honda-rc250/
I had the 2002 and it was my favorite bike that I’ve owned. Yes it hade the electric power valve but it was a bike I was able to ride with confidence. One of my buddies had the 1997 and it was a handful. On a side comment, the best jumping bike I ever owned was my 2001 KTM 400SX. Total confidence jumping the 400SX.
You're a maniac, respect 👍
Bought a 99 new. Out of the box it was horrible. Motor was midrange only. Had Bill's port it and FC do the suspension and it was a different bike!
Top right of the crazy hot matrix. Look it up.
difference between a works bike, vs production in chiodi's case if I had to guess.
I think everts went down at dilla too, I watched that race the other day wen i was couch bound with a cold.
For heavier guys, that generation wasn't so bad. I had a 98', and a 2002 , the 98 was the better bike for me personally.
Indeed Everts went down twice, something he normally didn't do. That is also why I suggest he maybe was a little uncomfortable. But he was a real beast on that Honda! Tortelli in 1997 crashed a ton just trying to be as fast as Everts. In 1998 those two where on a other planet than the other WC 250 riders.
He went down twice in the same spot but different situations. Bailey talked about the water they put down & slick spots. The track was hard slick with powder on top. The 1 moto both wheels slid out when he was passing Ryno on the inside. And did a cool off the bike 180 to get going. The 2nd moto Dowd had a slight miss cue & lost speed . And Everts hit his back wheel at an angle. His rear suspension had a kick when hitting the hard edges under the powder. Other than that the bike & Everyd looked great.
Thanks for refreshing the memory. Its been a while that I've watched it, going to do that soon together with some other old footage from The Legend on that Honda! I really loved that combination! Love that time period!
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Post a reply to: Were the 97-99 Honda Cr250's really that bad????????