95 CR 250 Honda Rebuild back to mostly stock

More images of the disassembly. Since I took the time to take them I'm sharing them. I wanted to capture as much in detail of the before condition as I was sure to capture the after.
There wasn't a nut or bolt on this Honda that didn't receive attention. I even have the images showing what I did to restore bolts/nuts/washers.

I got ahead of myself with that above image. That comes much later after all the other parts I worked with.

My attitude going in was to use as much of the original hardware. I made exceptions on certain parts which will be noted in this build.

More tear down images.

Looks like a good base! Tank looks to be fairly white and not piss yellow like they usually are. I’m doing the same rebuild on a 96 cr125. Parts are getting harder and harder to find. And more pricy.

Looks like a good base! Tank looks to be fairly white and not piss yellow like they usually are. I’m doing the same rebuild on a 96 cr125. Parts are getting harder and harder to find. And more pricy.

Thanks for the encouragement pickle. I have already moved past trying to restore the tank. The graphics have those vapor bleed holes which allowed just those areas to yellow. My tank looks like it has small pox.
I tried a variety of known ways to restore it but those discolored dots are deep. Skinning select areas to see how it would look wasn’t doing much for them.

Here’s a well regarded outfit doing tank restores. $165.00 all inclusive with return shipping.
Plastic Tank Restore-Press me

Clark has blems available for this model year and others at $216.00 shipping not included.
Clarke Gas Tanks CR Blems-Press me

Very good base the CR of 1995. In France, they are quite rare. They are very nice with the plastics and the purple saddle.
Can not wait to to see the beginning of the restoration

Interesting Godcho. They are not plentiful here at least in Ca. I had to drive 3 hours to get the other one last week. I check craigslist just about every day. I will take more from 92-96. I have no interest in tribute series and prefer to return to stock appearance and performance if possible. All the ones I do will be done so as to be ridden. This will not mean cutting corners for me as each will be done in a fashion to not put limitations on time. I just spent 4 hours getting a few bolts and other small parts refinished and cerakoated. Fortunately I have the time to spend on this.

You need to befriend an American who can look for one for you and then ship it your way. I wonder if there is a market overseas to providing this service.

Loads and loads of images to come

To go back to the whiteness of the tank, there is a product or a homemade formula to restore the whiteness of the plastic yellowed by time: there are tutorials on YouTube where people apply a product on old game as "Nintendo" GAME BOY and then placed under a UV lamp or in direct sunlight.
I do not know if it works but if I had the opportunity to try I would do it without hesitation.

AFTER/BEFORE

Thanks Godcho. I was aware of this process. I tried it over a serious of weeks actually. My results were such that I would not recommend it as a go to but something to try. My tank has been out in the sun now on its second day with recoatings. I purchased the gel version of the Sallys Beauty Supply.

Sallys Beauty Supply Gel 40- Press Me

But I believe the liquid was better for me. I just poured both bottles into a shallow pan and let me radiator louvers set in it out in the sun. Again I saw a little change nut not dramatic. Just my experience.

Sally beauty Supply Clear Developer- Press Me

A gallon of this stuff is like $15. I will buy more and try soaking most of the tank in it.

As many of you know who have been down this road buying the supplies for the restore is its own distraction. For me I got way ahead of myself and purchased items before needing them. This was an error for me as I was able to restore many items in addition I purchased before actually taking some of it apart to see what I would eventually need.
Next time I would purchase as I need. Not having significant financial hardship can be a good thing but also allow for needless purchases.

The below items I purchased in anticipation. Dog not included.

Would like to see a bit of info on what you did to clean up/restore your original nuts/bolts/hardware at some stage. Endeavouring to do the same thing with hardware on a restore of my own. Nice work

My friend my OCD on those is already captured along with how I went about it. I made sure to take images of each process. There wasn’t any I wasn’t able to look near new. I’m unsure if I changed the head size but I never got too aggressive. I will certainly get to that process.

Here’s a quick example of an before and after. I have more images of working these parts.



I want to preface that my methods shouldn’t be considered the only way or best way. I really didn’t search to how others were doing it. Throughout much of this my focus was to use as much original hardware.

I started on the pipe of all things. I figured I could get that cleaned up and sent on its way. My plan was to send to the guys at Pacific Crest. I was very set on using the stock pipe. From reading on the web I felt that that it wouldn’t be doing a huge disservice to overall performance by keeping it. Additionally it was a major part to me in maintaining a mostly stock appearance.

2 Stroke Pipe Dent Repair-Press me





Since I had time I decided to clean it up as much as I could before sending it. I felt maybe the guys at Pacific Crest would further appreciate having a pipe already well cleaned up. At the same time I cleaned up the header entrance. I used a Dremel and after cutting through the carbon I ground down any metal occluding the opening. I was looking for a smooth transition down into the expansion chamber. I also smoothed the metal for the transfer to the silencer.




The exterior was cleaned up first with a wire wheel on a bench grinder, followed by time in my cheap bead blaster and lastly sand paper. I also hit most of the pipe seams with a rough sanding drum on my Dremel followed by a 3m Abrasive wheel on that same tool. Those abrasive wheels on a Dremel are excellent for smoothing hard and soft metals. I can use a abrasive Dremel sanding drum on removing seams off aluminum parts and get rid of the gouges those abrasive drums make in the alloy. I have also used the medium grit 3m wheels to just remove alone seams. I had some worn down one about a 1” wide which allowed me to get into the openings of the pipe and really smooth the metal.

3m Dremel Refinishing abrasive wheels- Press Me
There’s a special bit I use to attach these abrasive pads to which then fit on the Dremel. I’ll get a name for them and a link. I’m not sure what else you could use to attach these discs. The bit I use is only for those wheels.










This patch I assume was a source of black spooge runnning out. I was hopeful Pacifc Crest would address it as I marked that it was a leaking area on the pipe with black sharpie and had an arrow to it.

Next I took on the Silencer. I had never tried to restore one much less get the dent out.





Since I was pretty confident I could find another stock one I decided to try and get the dents out.

The tools I used were basically a hammer and some scrap metal I had. The round bar I started with was about an 1 1/2' round. A handle from a jack.
An error I made initially was not refinishing the head of the hammer I used. It was well after a bunch of needless damage that I addressed that.

So with the scrap metal in a vice I just slid the silencer over it and started reforming.










A couple images above you can see all the small dents I made with the damaged head of the hammer.
I purchased from Home Depot a length of 2" pvc which fit tight on the contour but really helped smooth it.

I would take it over to a wire brush wheel and go over it with that to smooth out what I had done to see the next area that needed to be addressed.

After Cerakote this is what I ended up with.

Pipe is done. I felt the finish from Pacifc would not be as durable as an Cerakote one would be. So I reshot the pipe after a good wipe down with lacquer thinner. I was already spraying some black so it wasn’t a big deal. I knew it would fit in my modded smoker.
I also finished up cleaning up the intake and exit of the pipe with my Dremel.

This is going to be an awesome build.

Thanks Spag. I really never planned to do as much as I have. I really had little idea what it would ultimately take.

I just wrote a primer on how I Cerakote. It’s a massive wall of text with links. If anyone is interested in seeing exactly how I use it I will paste it up.

Loads more to post.

TooOld4WFO wrote:

Thanks Spag. I really never planned to do as much as I have. I really had little idea what it would ultimately take.

I just wrote a primer on how I Cerakote. It’s a massive wall of text with links. If anyone is interested in seeing exactly how I use it I will paste it up.

Loads more to post.

Please do

The work on the exhaust is really amazing!
For the cerakote paint you baked it to fix it?

How I use Cerakote.

Cerakote main Site-Press Me
Cerakote is a fantastic product to use. It comes in the color so desired along with a small bottle of hardener in the oven cure series. The oven cure or heat cure tend to have the most amount of desirable attributes vs an air dry. The air dry product line do not use a separate hardener. You just pour the contents in and spray.
Although Duracoat was cheaper as I remember, it also featured a catalyzing agent. Cerakote in my opinion is quite a bit more user friendly and more durable. Many respected firearm manufactures use the Cerakote refinishing line. This is quite an endorsement of the quality of the paint. The series I normally purchase.
Cerakote Heat Cure Series- Press Me
Prep of parts has been a variety of means. The most consistent one I use is bead blasting. A small compressor would be just about useless with a cabinet this size. I have a stand up air compressor that has a huge tank on it and it will run the whole time I am media blasting. Anything smaller like a 10 gallon or so compressor you will have to wait in between spraying for pressure to build back up.
Harbor Frieght Blast It Cabinet- Press Me
But I can’t say this is a must. I haven’t noticed poor adhesion of the paint not doing much other then wiping or cleaning the part before spraying. I have used carb cleaner, lacquer thinner and soap and water. Rarely will I sand before painting. Not suggesting you shouldn’t do more then what I have.
I use simple bailing wire or such to hang parts.
Wire for hangin parts when painting- Press Me

I stretch a long piece as to attach my smaller painting parts to. The thin wire makes it easy to even attach bolts to it and it’s a cinch to then bend a short loop on the end to either hang on the strung line or in my oven.
The oven I created is (2) smokers from Home Depot I grafted together.
Home Depot Smokers Electric- Press Me

This worked great for gun stuff since I could refinish barreled actions and they would fit inside. Moto stuff is obviously more limiting. Pipes will fit but no rims, frames, subframes or even non elevating bike stands. For heat I usually am around 250 degrees for steel and lower around 150 for plastics and other thin metal parts. Yes you can safely heat plastic and rubber enough to cure. I go at least 2 hours at 250 although they say an hour at that temp. What I have found is you should wait at least 2 weeks before seating bearings or subjecting those painted parts to heavy use. I can absolutely tell a difference.
Without applying heat it can take days for parts to harden enough to touch. Without heat you do not get the same adhesion and strength. I did my rims and waited weeks to dry. They wouldn’t fit in my oven. I had air dried before and felt it would work if you waited long enough. Nope. Paint easily came off the rim.
Typically I use an 18-1 for mixing. So 18 parts paint to 1 part hardener. Since I normally spray not more then 1-2 ounces at a time I convert ounces to CCs and use a large hypodermic body to measure hardener. About 1.5 cc or so per ounce. That’s a tiny amount of hardener. Having that syringe body helps immensely in getting the ratio right.
Syringe Body to properly measure out hardener- Press Me
I used to just guesstimate the hardener to paint. But if a more gloss finish is desired you should pay attention to your ratio.
I don’t reduce it at all. It’s designed to be sprayed from the bottle. Fortunately it flows extremely well from either a touch up gun or airbrush. I used to only airbrush it when I was refinishing firearm parts. And for small parts that method is preferred. It covers unbelievably well with light coats. This is the main reason for most of the spraying I did I rarely mixed more then a couple ounces. It goes a super long way.
Most any air compressor can power a detail gun. But the small 1-2 gallon tank sized compressors will not easily keep up with even a detail gun. It will run most of the time to keep filling the tank which is not the best. Heat will build and you will have to watch out for water being fed into your air line. I use a water separator that plugs in first to the tank then the airline.
Water Seperator for Air -Press Me
You do not need an expensive detail gun. I have had great success with an EBay cheap one costing under $20.
Cheap Detail Gun Ebay- Press Me
But if you’re not well versed in how to clean one and care for it you will see an even shorter life span then what I saw. I finally had to stop using it since due to its inexpensive quality it started leaking past the needle.
I bought a $50 gravity fed detail gun at Tractor Supply. The quality of it is several times better.
Better Quality Detail Gun but still Inexpensive- Press Me
Just get a gravity feed one and not a siphon feed. It’s just easier. I use lacquer thinner to clean up and I wear latex gloves while working with the paint.
A light tack coat at around 20-30 pounds psi through most detail guns is enough to start.
I have my fan adjustment at about midway between narrow and full. I turn down my material always. I want to see just a light cloud of material coming from the nozzle.
After a few minutes wait I will apply more paint. The tack coat dries quickly and should provide a great base for heavier coat to adhere to. I don’t think I have ever ran Cerakote as it is designed to cover fast and lay thin. I would not paint any high wear item with it due to how thin it sprays. For frames and other parts that may see rider contact rubbing on those parts there are better products.
Remember Cerakote was designed primarily for the firearm industry. Due to tight tolerances you simply can not have heavy build up of paint.
I spray enough to cover the part. Normally a couple coats after a tack is enough to cover. You can certainly spray more but do not expect it to cover irregularities, deep scratches, or other issues you are hopeful the paint will fill.
It’s best use is spraying just enough to cover the part in color. Even with a light coating the hardness of the properly dried part is impressive.
I can’t remember if you should or should not put immediately into your oven. I’m hit and miss on this anyways. Just follow their guidelines if any.
I marked the dial on my heating element after I figured out what heat setting for a constant 150 and 250. The nifty gauge on the doors gives me a quick reference to check.
I never pull items out after being heated for whatever time I needed to. I unplug the machine and just let it cool down on its own. Normally overnight.

I wouldn’t even think of rattle canning painting anything on my bike. For a little more time and expense I can have a professional quality job along with durability. My concerns over any painted item not catalyzed (hardener added) is oil, gas, washing and other behaviors related to cleaning taking it off or dulling it.
I don’t get squat from them for this promotion other then satisfaction from using it. Anyone can do it. But there is upfront cost. You can see my references for some cost ideas. Start with some testers which still are like $30. Just remember it doesn’t take much to cover. I have kept hardener in a refrigerator to help it last longer. For last 3-4 years I have been spraying I have never had to buy more hardener. Cerakote is very generous with giving you extra.

wahhh thank you very much for all this information! You are really well equipped! You still have a lot of experience with Cerakote paint especially with guns: It's a plus

If I start with the cerakote it will be with a tiny compressor. It will indeed that I install a good pitolet with a filter before.
I would use the oven of the kitchen for cooking lol

Look forward to seeing the rest of your project!

Super detailed explanation, much appreciated. I will be following along!

I have been working on the bike. Not as much in weeks past. Dealing with cleaning up the air box and one of my radiators. Plus I bought a hammered 1992 CR 250. By far the worst shape of these 3 Honda’s. I’m done for now acquiring project bikes. These 3 should see me all the way into next year. Again my plan is to return them to stock if I can. I will be updating front suspension on all of them to 97 or newer Showas.

Hopefully some of you will see value in my Cerakote primer.

My seat. In anticipation of doing this I already had my EvoMX replica graphics before starting. I’m glad I ordered early enough to still get it with all the trades.
This is an excellent product line and quality vinyl. I purchased a set up for a 1990 KTM 300 and was incredibly impressed with how well and easy it laid on. I worked out in sunlight to help keep the decals warm.
EvoMX for Reproduction Graphics and Seat covers-Press me
Throttle Jockey is another well regarded graphics producer company. They are licensed to use Honda images so if doing a Jeremy McGrath replica they have the kits.
Throttle Jockey for Honda Graphics- Press me
Here’s another I found. Alex was super quick to get hold of me and was extremely helpful. They seem hungry and would love your business. I have no idea about the quality.
Riva Link another source for Honda reproduction graphics- Press Me




So I took the seat and Started cleaning it up.



First was cleaning up the plastic. This was accomplished with a Dremel using these abrasive wheels I purchased from Brownells for the plastic.
Brownells Finishing wheels Dremel up to 320 grit- Press me






I found this Upholstery shop on my way to my job site. Since I had little confidence in my own abilities to install the cover but I also needed him to recut and shorten the KTM cover. So I just had him do both. His price was very fair at $20 so I tipped him another $20 for his great work.

Tuck and Roll for seat cover work in Fresno- Press Me




Next is rims and hubs. This was a detour from stock appearance and put me on the road of removing any and all seams from molded parts.

Where did you find purple shrouds? Are graphics from EVO MX or are they OEM? I did a 95 a few years ago so I know what it’s like for some of these parts.

Nascar the purple shrouds are easy to find on Ebay. They are the UFO brand of course like all the plastic I will be replacing. Senseless to try and find stock Honda and pay those prices.
The graphics are indeed EvoMx. Currently they are in the process of obtaining licensing from Honda. As it is they cannot provide Honda trademarked product representations.

Rims. What a process this was. My plan was to disassemble the wheels completely and Cerakote my rims black. Salvage the spokes and nipples. I initially had not come up with a look for my hubs. I just needed to clean them up.

Yes, black rims is a major deviation from true stock appearance. I did not care as I knew I would deviate in other areas as I plan to ride this bike.








Super simple to do with the cut off wheel. I just started cutting in one area. Obviously the spokes are under some tension so be careful when you do this yourself. I did not know what to expect.





So I had read on other builds of members getting rid of casting marks. I wasn't going to get mine machined and decided to just attempt this myself.

I started with an aggressive abrasive Dremel wheel which takes the metal down fast.
Dremel 80 Grit grinding wheel example- Press Me



Be forewarned that this wheel will leave deep gouges in soft material like aluminum. To get rid of those I just used one of my med 3M wheels to smooth out those areas I had ground down.
MSC 3M Deburring Wheel for a Dremel-Press Me






The rims I prepped by doing some light sanding and just getting rid of the years of abuse and little care.
Since I was going to spray Gloss Black Cerakote the Heat Cure series I decided to do some other parts at the same time.
I chose to go Gloss Black on the hubs around where the axle goes through. My reasoning being that area will certainly stay or get dirty and the black may hide it. Since my Husky has polished hubs I went this route for the centers. But not a crazy super polish. Just ran the hubs on my buffing wheel with some white rouge.
As for the discs. I bead blasted and taped off the contact area for the pads and shot those also. Yes I could have just painted them entirely and had the pads take the paint off. My concern was contaminating my new pads.




I knew my rims would not fit in my oven. I shot this stuff when it was Africa Hot here in California. I had in the past allowed items that were shot with the heat cure series to air dry in place of a oven. You just seemed to need the items to be untouched for a couple weeks. The paint appeared to dry well enough in the past.
I now know to not do this again. You just do not get the same adhesion as oven curing.

Nice project man!
Good info on ceracote, i wanted to do it to my build but sadly i didnt found where to buy in spain.

At least 2 weeks had gone by. I decided that air drying my rims in the crazy Ca summer heat was enough to seal the Cerakote.
I rebuilt my hubs with all new bearings. I figured better to put those in now before re-lacing.

I watched several videos that dealt with rebuilding rims. I chose the Rocky ATV series as they seemed to be in-depth and well composed.
Rocky ATV How to Lace a wheel- Press Me



Since I had never done this before I just started inserting spokes and based on their angle went with the hole that seemed to make sense. I put anti seize grease on each threaded end. I started using the screw gun but found that the head will easily strip out the nipple base. I stopped using it early on.

Anti Sieze Grease I used- Press Me
I got both sides all hooked up and noticed I had wayyyy too much threaded part sticking through nipple and they were not even close to tightening up.
I disassembled and watched the video again. No luck there. I then moved the spokes at a greater angle and tried that. Not sure if this was my issue as I thought I had possibly ordered the wrong spoke kit and my spokes were too long. At this same time while handling my rims I noticed paint chipping ever so slightly during my spoke mounting process. I checked the inside rim area with my nail. The paint easily chipped off.
I was burned. I wanted to use as much as the original parts but it was clear that air drying the heat cure series will not set it up. Original aluminum color was never an option as I just prefer the more modern black appearance.
Once again I had to disassemble and order some Warp 9 black rims.



I now watched this video for the second part from Rocky ATV on truing.
Rocky ATV Truing a Wheel- Press Me
I had new Excell spokes and nipples along with a Excell spoke torque wrench.
Excell Spoke Wrench Set- Press Me
I thought about buying a truing stand but passed on it since I felt I would get little use from it after these rims.
So I used my axles along with extra wheel spacers all set up in one of my vices.




This set up worked surprisingly well. I had anchored a nylon drift punch on top of my work bench to serve as a guide. I had the dial indicator set up also. But the nylon punch was adequate and would use it alone. I used this since it could hit the rim and not mar it.
Nylon Drift $7.00 Second one from the Bottom- Press Me

From start to finish I would say at least 2 hours a rim for me. The second one wasn't really any easier. You have to follow the pattern and carefully tighten gently. You have to make passes and passes. I went very slow and this worked for me. I found the up and down true was not an issue for me. This could be due to going very slightly with the tightening and moving to the next. No gross tightening. The side to side took a little time. But I believe this could be even easier done if working with high quality rims. I noticed where the Warp 9s join there is a slight warp in that area.

I also had to Dremel down exposed spoke threaded ends that came too far through the nipple. Not grossly far but since I had the equipment I ground them down. This added about an 30 mins total.

I found this job to be full-filling and easier then I thought. I will not hesitate to do it again.

The rear shock was what I did next.
Again Vital and the other members build equipped me with he confidence to do this myself.

The two videos I used to help me.
Rear Shock Rebuild Honda Cr 250
This one was excellent due to his basic approach to this. He obviously has done this a bunch. KYB Rear Shock Rebuild

I had ordered some tools in advance for this.
1. KYB Shock rebuild kit with head seal. This is an item Tucker Rocky sells complete as I could not find a duplicate of what this kit offers.
2. Tusk Seal Bullet Tool. I'm not convinced you need to have this. TUSK Brand Seal Tool
3. Tusk Shock Reservoir Cap Removal Tool Part # 1419290001. I no longer see a link to this item. This also is not a critical tool.
3. I was using Honda Oil. Honda PRO SSP Fluid




Disassembly was simple. Undo the adjusters on top and take it apart. Basically just follow the second video I linked above.






As expected the oil was very dark and contaminated.



Using the abrasive wheels I cleaned up the shock body and rod. I cerakoated the spring a yellow I matched as best I could with yellow cerakote and small amounts of red mixed in. I burnt bronzed the adjuster rings for some reason.
Doing it again I would have used the silver cerakote on the body and rod.



Fortunately the shock had been rebuilt at some time and this made it easier.




I cleaned up the bottom cap that protects the seal head.




Filled up the reservoir and bled it of air.



Went to a local motorcycle shop and had them fill it up with nitrogen. Cost $35.00




This was much easier to do then I could have imagined. I would not hesitate to rebuild another shock. Keeping the shim stack in order is a cinch. Taking your time and following one of the tutorials is key for the uninitiated.
Re-valving these obviously is a science. I put in Racetech gold valves and a different orientation of shims in my forks and would have looked at options for my rear shock if doing this again.
This type of work really requires no special tools.

Forks were next.

amazing works!

Thanks again Godcho. I consider that high praise coming from a guy who understands the passion these types of builds take.