1992 through 1996 Honda CR 250s Done. The last 5 years of the Honda 250 steel frames.

Hahahah… Thanks brother. Seriously, thank you.

I purposely do not look at the main forum until I am caught up on races. I’m still going through the last National.

But I will risk it anyways…. Thanks.

I am actually trying to join that Facebook group. I wanted to see more images.

Humidity would be the biggest issue for that bike in storage. Australia is pretty dry as far as I know. Without knowing how it has been stored would leave a big unknown.

I doubt anyone who would buy that would do anything but keep it as it is.

I have restored a few Honda CRs older than that. They all showed signs of little ongoing service/care. So most of the items they are discussing have held up well. Heat through use makes parts difficult to take apart or degrade. Thats had none outside climate heat. Certainly time obviously affects them also. I would think there hasn’t been fluid in the radiators for some time. Maybe someone has filled up the tranny with oil and shot some 2 stroke oil through the spark plug opening. 
‘Asking questions of the current owner would tell you a great deal about what to expect.

Dan that is extremely generous my friend. Quite a compliment. I am familiar with his/their work.

I would never compare myself to anyone. 

It’s certainly not a profitable business to go into due to the time involvement. But I have a history of following my passions over the potential of making a bunch of money. Hopefully others will see value in what I am doing and consider me for their own restores.

Thanks again.

The appeal of that bike would be to a very tiny proportion of moto lovers. No one buying it at that amount would do anything but keep it as it is.

If that bike was located in the US who knows what traction it could get. But as a seller better to start off high anyways. Someone might offer him 30K Australian and if he takes it they might feel they received a deal.

1994.

This is a relatively clean power valve compared to the 93 I am doing now. Night and day difference.

Based on what I have seen with these is this contamination is common. These possibly only get cleaned when top ends are done. And rightfully so. I would not clean this with any sprayed fluid while on the bike. You can remove the power valves while the cylinder is on the bike. I am polishing the main components of the valve. Cerakote on the others.

The hope is that contamination will be less likely to adhere on a smoother surface. But these surfaces are pretty smooth to begin with. Really you would need some form of repeatable test to see if super cleaned amounts to much of a difference vs other not cleaned. I want to believe it’s making a difference what I’m doing but in all likelihood it’s the Ol’ placebo affect. Looks great so it must run great……. Funny to type that as I have upped my game on the smoothing and polishing of the exhaust port/cylinder head. 
 

Unfortunately this has had the crank replaced with a quality one. Hot Rod brand. It’s tight and everything looks fine with it. I do believe with proper maintenance and not abusing the throttle this should continue to last. But I have to be transparent with what I’m coming across here. 
 

Cylinder looks good and so I will put a new top end in this also.

How it all looks before first clean up…

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Some of the supplies I use in the first clean up. That parts washing brush is extremely useful for this task. Allows for nook and cranny cleaning… I will use gas to clean vs lacquer thinner.. That stuff is like $25 a gallon.

Next is completeing the gasket mating surface clean up. I’m surgical with doing this. Absolutely no debris left. Sure this could never see oil or even a start up. But if it does it will be righty tightly and no leakage.

These are taped off and ready for bead blast. Not the worse part of this but up there in effort and dealing with my cabinet. I should just buy a new one and rid myself of the misery of the one I use. But a new one would realistically only be slightly better. I have learned a butt load with how to keep one of these running.

BTW.. I also ran the DA over the cylinder and removed casting lines and other casted flaws. I figure a day to get the motor apart and organized. Another day to do the first clean and work over casting lines. I might be able to get to bead blast but that’s normally another day. After that it’s washing the parts yet again and drying. Next is prep for paint. Taping off and doing one last go through to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Due to the crazy heat I have to spray early morning. Not good to be spraying in 90 plus heat. It has everything to do with how the pint lays down.

I have  to let this stuff dry for about 4-5 hours or more. The next morning I will clear select items. So more running the gun.

Before smoothing.

After some clean up. I upped my game on the 93 and put more time into polishing this area.
 

The 93 head I just did. I just kept upping the game with doing this. Yes, I realize this probably means nothing.

Gawd this image below does not do the work justice…

Bead blast the metal plates… Just do it!

I must have cleaned up the impeller and cerakoted it. Looks like I made sure to get the material coated on the surfaces where the fluid flows. Will it run cooler? No. But will look new. Much more important.

Just a shot to show how I darkened the clutch cover. I went even darker on the 1993 cover. I have progressively been darkening this outside cover. Too much work to go back and re-shoot the other covers already done. Shot some ceramic clear on those also.

Ready for the lower end. I find it way easier to put the lower in first. I will readily admit it’s easier to put the jug on with it outside the frame. 

I got smart and locked out the crank to put the mag and counter shaft sprocket on. Just easier to do it that way vs with the cylinder on.

New Pro-X piston and tid bits. The power valve assembly I know will be easier to maintain. The cavity is painted along with the various parts. All un-painted parts received a vigorous polishing/smoothing.

Trying to drive home the work done here. Another example of how I really build these to be used. Performance is very important to me. So much easier to just clean them and re-install. I do more since I can.

‘These connectors are no different than the others. I use a small Dremel bit to lightly to bring back the color. I must be doing something right as all of these have shown spark. And not one of the nine I have done ran when I went to purchase.

None of this gets seen. But when the new owner takes the tank off they will have further evidence that I have passion for what I do.

Attention to detail is all relative. I see areas where I could actually do more. 
I consider myself always the student. So I’m always looking to learn. It’s helpful knowing what is out there for restored. Checking out what others are doing. This actually helps me push my own perceived limitations.

I had to plough through all the multiple of parts to get to where I can build. The actual building is satisfying since you will soon be done. But this part only uncovers more work as you deal with fitment issues. 
When you get to the build stage it readily becomes apparent no matter how nice some of these parts look you are still dealing with 30 year old ones.

The likes and the comments really helps drive you on. Thanks guys..

Thanks Farley. That has been my intent since the very first restore I did. I’m pleased if anyone finds my efforts useful with their own build.

The 93 is almost done…I got to get this 94 posted along with the shots of the three together… So close…

Rear wheel on. Chains a little tight.. I loosened it. 2 inches of free play.So says the sticker on the swingarm.

Rads on.

Those airboxes were some work. Getting that inner cage cleaned up and re-coated was totally worth it. They look like new.

Oh yeah…Smoothed.

ProCircuit silencer. Had to use since one it was original to this bike when I bought it and two, it has a period correct end cap.

So I spent probably a couple hours fitting this pipe. Most of the time was spent removing paint from the end of it. Too much build up due to powder coat. But this pipe is wrong anyways. I do not discover this until going to mount the kicker. Of course this was after fitting it. Typical issues when dealing with old used parts.

A shot of the crazy lengthened rubberized pipe mount. It was sooooo off. I just assumed due to being damaged and not brought back to proper angles.

When I saw this I actually had to laugh. All that time only to discover this pipe must be an earlier pipe. Obviously this isn’t going to work.

Thanks guys. Those VMX tanks are an hour polishing. I would go Clarke over those. They cost near or the same and the Clarke is indeed a better finish.

Maybe what I received was an anomaly. But it was five of them.

Yes, a DG pipe. I don’t even remember which one of these had this originally. I believe the first bike I bought of these mid 90 CRs had the original pipe. The other five all had aftermarket. I was able to buy two more original pipes. I would prefer to have all these bikes with the stock pipes. The DG was straighter and gave me few issues.

These are mid 90 era CR125 radiator grills. They work well with simple modifications. Best of all they are new and can be readily purchased.

I’m super pleased I had the presence of thought to get the pipes springs yellow/gold coated in anodize. Spiffy.

I believe I have mentioned this but Honda no longer coats their parts like this. I have done so much of it since this finish was very common place for Honda.

These were the second set of upper tubes I had re-done. I haven’t found any sprayable coating that will give this appearance. It’s not cheap to have even these done. I believe $300 a set. But well worth it for an overall look. Don’t skimp on items that really catch the eye. 

This one is ready for the street shots. Couldn’t help myself taking a few pics as I waited for the sun to set more.

Next up the street shots with the before and after. Followed by the prelim group shot of the three together. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll have the 93 together complete and the 92 update for images of all five. It’s taken me years to finally be done with every used bike I bought. 

Thanks Richard. When you select a carb vent hose through the OEM parts diagram for your specific bike, Rocky Mountain will only offer bag O’ hose. They do not sell pre-cut to the proper length. Of course you will buy way more than you need.

If you only need a short length for one I’ll send you some for free…. After all, it’s Christmas.

Thanks brother. Just trying to make my own mark on my brand of a restore. You have to be detailed if you are going to offer this service to others. If anything these threads should help me eventually sell them. 
You want to know the history on one of my bikes? Boom! Vital MX. Everything exposed and nothing hidden.

On the rad shrouds.

Rocky Mountain ATV sells them. Approx. $32.00 each side. Honda CR 125 say 1995 would be in the OEM section of that vendor. I believe the 1992 build thread I recently bumped has greater detail of what I bought and how I modded them.

Im sure other Honda OEM parts supplies will offer these.

https://www.vitalmx.com/forums/Bike-Builds,46/1992-Honda-CR-250-back-to…

Finding radiator louvers for a 92-96 CR 250 is a fools errand. There are just none out there. These were missing or so badly damaged I just wasn't going to waste time on them. The 95 had them intact but discolored. For this 92 I knew the CR125 for these years would work but you had to modify. They cost about $35 per side and Rocky Mountain ATV normally stocks them new from Honda. 
There is a popular way of using screws to help it fit. I found an easier way using my Dremel.
I marked them with a black sharpie where you need to grind away the plastic. 

This first image is the part number to get along with one side marked and one side already cut away. To the left side of the image you can see the Dremel bit I used. Normally at Home Depot.