what does the "CR" stand for in honda's line-up?

Crazy Racer??

I'll tell you but you have to tell me what YZ means first.

Isn't YZ named for one of the engineers(like Yazakawa) or am I making shit up. CR is close ratio on either Honda or Husky or both. I think....................

Hey I got my sig back . What up Lenny.

Close Ratio, is correct, but it was created long ago...

Crappy Racebike?

No thats the Husky CR

Closed Ratio but I was also told "California Racer"

California Racer is correct

C R on the Honda stands for competition racer.

This is what I was told...... YEARS ago.

There were two ways for a capable motocross racer to own the local 125 Class in 1974. First, buy just about any 125 motocross bike. Then have the engine suspension and most everything else redone with aftermarket bits. Or, if you were smart, you bought a CR125 Elsinore, topped off the 1.6-gallon fuel tank, checked the air in the tires and blew everybody else into the weeds.

If you were serious about winning, the 125 Elsinore was perfect right out of the box. Lightweight, major horsepower, sweet handling and all the right parts in-between. Its D.I.D. rims were light, strong and didn't collect mud in wet races. Fenders and side covers were molded from flexible plastic that was light as well as tough. The engine's side covers were cast from magnesium to shave weight. Looking like a 7/8-scale replica of the wildly successful 1973 CR250, the 125 was a perfectly integrated package in its rookie year. Traditional Honda attention to detail made the little Elsinore surpassingly light, compact and amazingly potent. Measuring 10 inches across at its widest point, the single-cylinder, two-stroke engine weighed just 46 pounds, including its 28mm Keihin carburetor. The expansion chamber and silencer weighed just six pounds. With a full tank of fuel, the CR125 weighed in at 188 pounds right off the showroom floor.

Rolling onto the track, the little CR always seemed to start easily, hot or cold. Slim as it was light, comfortable ergonomics made going fast easy. "Controls are placed precisely where they should be," Cycle World magazine said.

Spinning out about 20 horsepower at 8000 rpm, the Elsinore powerplant had more than enough muscle. Thankfully, a slick-shifting, six-speed gearbox made that part easy. Even at redline, the engine was amazingly smooth — no nasty vibration to distract the rider.

While most of its peers were relatively stubby, the Elsinore's 54-inch wheelbase kept it reassuringly calm at speed. The suspension was perfectly calibrated for motocross work, offering 7.1 inches of travel in front and 4.1 inches in the rear. Strong brakes inspired confidence as well. The biggest challenge for magazine testers at the time was finding some flaws in the bike. Basically, there weren't any.

"Honda has literally set a new level of motocross excellence in motocross machinery that will have the rest of the industry straining to match it," the editors of Cycle World said, "much less surpass it." The last paragraph of Dirt Bike magazine's CR125M test told the story best. "Honda is left with only one problem: How are they going to make enough of them?"

Competition Racer is what I had always heard as well????

I think I remember reading an old Dirt Bike magazine and they said "California Racer". Close ratio is for the Husky I believe.

I'm pretty sure Close Ratio was the Husky's - Their wood bikes were labeled WR(Wide Ratio)

I find it hard to believe Honda would designate a bike "California" anything. Of course they did call it an elsinore

close ratio! nuff said

Cool Ride

No idea on the Honda, but Husky was Close Ratio (CR) and their desert bikes were Wide Ratio (WR)....

I always thought it was Close Ratio. Though California Racer would make sense. I mean the first Honda dirt bike was a "CR" 125 Elsinore (Elsinore, CA)

I raced about 5 of them, from 73 to 79.

"CR" stood for "Bad Ass".

cool rider, bikes were named after me, at first they wanted to call the bike a dano, but I threatened to take legal actions

Chad Reed. They were way ahead of their time.

Honda works bikes used to be called "RC".
Just wanted to throw that little monkey wrench in the discussion.

I ran RC graphics on my CR 80, how about that one jerry?

Their true works versions used in Japan are still called that I believe.

Close Ratio was definitely Husky and not Honda. What about the MR Honda line? Or the XRs??

CR = Circuit Racer
XR = Xross Racer
CRF = ?????

But today we call RC the GOAT. this could go on forever.

Crash Ready