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For many years, Japan HRC ran a "Honda" sticker as the first of many stickers placed in careful order on the front fender. This did this on their RCs from the mid-90's to 2001. It is a Honda OEM sticker off an obscure model not available in the US.. I forget what it is called, but one of those goofy bikes young girls buy to look cooler than an ordinary scooter. Took me a few months to find and get this sticker.
The triple clamp and bolts in my hand is the real deal, but the clamp and bolts on the bike are HRC replica's. Looks close enough for this build, I think. The HRC clamp bolts are really short.. only about 60-65% of the length of the OEM bolts. The HRC clamp is for a 51mm works Showa, but I am running 47mm forks on my bike with full Showa works internals. The coatings on the internals are just as pretty as the outside of the forks.. shame they are hidden. Showa offered this for a few years to get around the production rule in the US for their factory team for the 125 class.
After searching for almost 2 years, I finally got a new Plasti-Werks front number plate. I was very happy with the UFO plate, but this is very close to the real deal and another incremental step to making this build as authentic as possible. The corners are shaped a little differently so I have to get new plate backgrounds;
I was able to get a genuine set of Showa fork stickers with the white outline from Japan that were only handed out to the factory teams (Showa only sold decals with the black outline to mere mortals
The clutch cover that I treated with acid to darken it continued to gas out for several weeks. This causes very small areas of the blackened coating to fall off. It wipes clean again with a damp rag and leaves more of a used/ worn finish. I liked the original, just coated finish I "accidently" created, but now I have accidently created a slightly worn coated finish that Bryan was suggesting. So it has evolved, and still looks good in a different way, but let's see if it finally stabilizes.
After many attempts, I was never able to obtain the HRC kill switch or ignition advance button. I found some kill switches in Japan that looked very similar to the HRC units, except they were natural silver rather than the black anodized housings that HRC used. Here the housings for 3 kill switches/ ignition advance buttons ready to go off to the anodizer..
The Shop
Like the spacers, I also spent hours polishing these triple clamps by hand and had the same note not to dip in acid which he did anyway, but at least the color is passable. A lot of wasted hours polishing.. the axle spacers are not passable and will have to be re-stripped, re-polished and anodized the correct green like HRC used. However, I have seen too much poor anodizing work done, that I will do it myself this time. I have had the chemicals to do it for over a year, just need to set up the anodizing tanks.
1. The HRC green rear wheel spacers - I am in the process of setting up my own anodizing line. I have been meaning to do this for 3 years and the problems with commercial anodizers lately has given me the kick in the butt to finally set up my own small home anodizing line.. the related equipment is arriving as we speak... heaters, bubblers, lead cathode plates, titanium hanging wire, DC power source, etc.
2. The HRC kill button/ ignition advance buttons - this is an essential final detail for me - the housings I sent out to be anodized black should be ready in the coming days.. this is one color I think they cant screw up. The ignition advance button will be a dummy button with the wires leading to a dead end under the tank.
3. The Plasti-Werks front number plate - it took me over 2 years to find one. It is great they are making them again! I had to order new background decals and the 2nd set was a different shade green that didn't match the side plates so they had to reprint and this whole thing is taking over a month to get squared away.
4. HRC replica titanium footpeg mount bolts.. the specs taken from actual HRC peg mount bolts are with the machinist and waiting to be machined.. this is taking many months
The cylinder is not modified or ported and that is the thing about this motor.. it doesn't need anything. I did do a lot of testing with bolt on parts.. exhaust valve covers, pipes, reed valves, gearing. First thing to do is get that Mikuni carb squared away with the "magic" jetting specs from the race team. It is a nightmare carb in stick tune but with the right parts, it is a great cab that according to Honda makes 1hp more than the Keihin PWK. A Vforce valve will give a little more lower end torque and smooth the hit. this motor really responds dramatically to exhaust changes. The taller exhaust valve cover will smooth the hit and give a little more lower end. The 2001 OEM pipe (different than the 2000 model) gives incredible top end and the HRC team ended up copying the OEM pipe! I have even seen the factory run the OEM pipe with the paint stripped off at some races over the HRC pipe. I also liked the FMF SST pipe.. it kept quite a bit of the top end, but smoothed the power and added more mid and low over the stock. A good compromise if you race a lot as the smooth strong power wont wear you out. I also just tried the FMF Narly pipe and didn't like it at all... took away more than it gave back and not a great choice for MX but fine for enduro.
I tried different pipes as well & found the SST to be a better option than the oem. Another thing I found out as well was the Mikuni tmx provided more power over the Keihin PWK. The tmx when jetted correctly will make more power especially in the mid-top in comparison. I'm in the minority & prefer the tmx over the pwk for that reason.
My local engine tuner recommended lowering the cyl. .010" & also shaving the surface of the head another .010" to replicate the 93-96 CR2's powerband. There is a misconception about the 01 engine having a strong lowend, but Honda changed the oem porting specs in the cyl. to be geared towards mid-top.
Not a big fan of the 01, but your build is exceptional on the details to an HRC bike. Good job..
mike
Why don't you like the 01? I haven't ridden a better 2T motor and I have ridden them all except the new KTMs and Huskys.
The 2001 doesn't have that weak of a bottom either although not its strong point for sure. The exhaust valve cover and SST pipe combo made the bottom good enough with better response for the doubles right after a slow tight corner. This was important to me for the tracks I rode and it was perfect. When the 2002 and 2003 CRF450's came out, they had trouble doing the doubles out of corners that the 2001 2T did with ease.. the dam things would bog and didn't have the response of the 2T.
Very true that the OEM 2001 porting and pipe specs favored mod to top and they sure did deliver on that. There used to be a long slightly right-hand curving fast straight at the Saitama track where Pit Beier crashed big on his Kawi and hit and injured the spectators at a Japan GP. In stock form, the bike would pull the front wheel up high in 4th and 5th gear on that straight like an animal. With the SST pipe and the taller exhaust valve cover, the beast was tamed a bit and you no longer had to rear wheel steer it down the straight. Not as fun, but took a lot less energy when racing.
If anyone has a airbox for a 00-01 cr 250 please message me as mine the tabs are all broken off.
Great job.
Yep. Have also owned or ridden pretty much all the 250 2t's except a TM. The 02-07 Honda, KTM. Husky & TM all come with a case reed engine. They actually make more power (aprox. 5 + hp) than the traditional induction fed cyl..
In my case the best engine I've owned or ridden has been an 03 CR2 with PC mods..
As far as me not being a fan of the 01 CR2 model is due to the rigidity of the frame & not being a good turning bike. Had an 97 model prior & felt it wasn't that much of an improvement over the 1st gen AF..
If you look at the 1st 97-99 & 2nd 00-01 gen AF's side by side they appear to be the same dimensions. The only visual noticeable difference appears to be the 2nd gen AF has narrower twin spars. If you compare them to the 3rd gen 02-07 AF there is a noticeable difference in the bend of the AF. Honda also moved the dimensions of the neck area to similiar specs of the 93 steely frame which was an excellent turning chassis. The 3rd gen AF is the best chassis I've ridden on to date with good flex & turning characteristics.
Pit Row
I will have to respectively disagree on the turning and rigidity and I can only assume you missed on the suspension set up on your bike (the stock fork valving had serious issues). For a number of year before I bought the 2001 CR250, I had switched to Suzuki's because one of my closest friends in Japan worked for Suzuki. I had 3 RM125's and 3 RM250's just before I bought the CR and we all know how well the RMs turn. After setting up my CR, it gave up nothing to my RMs in the corners and was a heck of a lot more stable on the straights. I did run the 20" wheel which did help turning on dry tracks. My opinion is that there is a huge difference between the first gen frame (which was overbuilt) and the 2nd gen. I don't like riding 1st gens and think they vibrate too much.. the 2nd gen was a major change and cured most of the first gen flaws. While the 3rd gen frame may look different, I only find it incrementally better and would not be a major driver of liking one over the other.
In fact, when Honda first developed the 3rd gen frame, they had 4 pre-production 2002's and 3 new 2001's for all the Honda factory and support riders to compare the two bikes back to back on the Honda track at the same time, before the 2002 release. They let me join in the testing. I liked the handling and front brake of the 2002, but only very slightly better than the 2001, but the engine was a deal breaker for me.. it felt like a sewing machine or a 125 on steroids.. there was no typical 250 hit, little grunt at low rpm.
mike
NP.. It sounds like we have had different experiences. RC's HRC 02 CR2 bike was making around 59 HP if I recall & went 24-0 in the outdoors. I agree in stock form the engine feels a little sluggish off the lowend, but with some minor work it's like waking up a sleeping giant. Looking forward to the finish of your project.
Chance1216 - The issue with the SST pipe was the configuration of the stinger section on the pipe as it would raise the temp of the piston crown area. The key to running the SST pipe is using 1-2 sizes bigger on the MJ. The bigger jet will keep the crown of the piston cooler. If I recall I ran a 430 mj on the 01 CR2 in my area & never had any issues.
Chance: I never had the slightest problem with detonation with the SST pipe with the same TMX jetting specs I used for the last 18 years. Worked great in Japan and worked great in New Jersey. I would guess that the carb would be to be fairly lean to run into detonation with a pipe change.
Enjoy your build...
I like asparagus though..
Even though I'm not a fan of the 01 I can appreciate your hard work & dedication you're putting into the build.
Swapped out the front number plate for the more correct Plasti Werks piece which also allowed me to get rid of the 2nd brake line guide.. only thing missing from this shot is the HRC kill switch and ignition advance buttons.. hopefully will have them on there soon and the project will be complete. yoo--hoo--!
https://www.vitalmx.com/forums/Moto-Related,20/Japan-2000-RC250M-factor…
The M12 HRC footpeg mount bolts have a much smaller and lower profile head than the huge steel OEM bolts. The bolt is a unique profile that opens up a lot of space in the footpeg mount area giving a very different look.
Here is an NOS HRC front brake lever I just got. This will go on my CRF450. I am not sure what it is made of but it sure isn't the OEM aluminum lever. It is heavier than OEM, darker color metal and a unique feel that I was wondering if it were titanium or a special type of aluminum alloy. The adjuster bolt is titanium for sure. Not sure what the 15.5 marking means.. I am guessing it is the "reach" of the lever.
Here are the freshly machined aluminum housings for 3 replica HRC killswitches/ ignition advance buttons I am making. They will be anodized black with the new anodizing line I just set up. I will post some pics of my new anodizing tank set up. Took me a few months to pull all the parts and chemicals together to set up the small anodizing line.
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