How Many CR500s left out there....

[Birken Vogt]

I went for a ride in the desert with some old time buddies last weekend and the 2-cycles made a very poor showing. There was one old KDX220 and a brand new CR250. Seemed like a dozen XR600s including mine and assorted other large KTMs and smaller 4-cycles as well. I brought my CR500 for a spare but it just sat there.

Is this becoming a trend? It appears that the 4-cycles are taking over in a big way. Even the young kids had XR600s. There was even a CRF150. (Got broke right away)

Birken

 

[Necro]

my buddy joe has a 97. its freaking fast. but hes down sizing to a 250. the 500 is to much bike for him. hes already looped it twice. 4 gear wheelies are fun tho.

 

[viking20]

Its funny, here in Denmark a lot of older riders,often former top level riders,are beginning to buy the older CR 500´s,they can often be found cheap.If a guy can really ride these big bikes,they usually beat the newer bikes quite easily......who needs a 4-stroke!

 

[Tom Ludolff]

I guess it all depends on the individual. It seems the 500's are too much bike for alot of people. I love the crazy power. My '84CR500 was wicked, but a real leg breaker too kick start. That's why I sold it. My '01KX500 is a breeze to kick with the automatic decompression. I'm sure the newer CR500's are the same. What years did the CR500's have the perimeter aluminum frame??? I'd like to have one of those!!!

Tom L.

 

[viking20]

Honda never built a 500 with an alu frame,Service Honda has built them for several years.Check it out on their web-site

 

[Dirtvet]

Tom L, how does the auto decompresson work on your 01 KX500? Did you put it on or come that way? Is there a technique to using it? Sounds great for big bore 2 strokes.

 

[2smoke]

Down here Honda Australia bought a heap of 2001 leftovers and strapped a lights kit fed off the magneto and called it the CR500E (for enduro).. They are fully road reghisterable....my good friend bought one, the guy down the road has one and I know of another a few blocks away. They sound very cool at the lights idling away tung!! tung!! tung!! So whilst they were dying out here too....they have made a little comeback!!!

 

[Tom Ludolff]

Tommygun,
They come that way. At the very low RPM's that you're kicking the bike at, it bleeds off the compression somehow. I don't know the details, but it works great!! Once it starts, the compression goes back up to normal. It just bleeds down for kicking. Don't the Honda's have that???

Viking20,
Doesn't the CR500AF have an aluminum frame?? I thought that's what the AF stands for????

 

[cr25096er]

yes the af stands for alumnium frame, www.servicehonda. , thats who makes them.

 

[viking20]

The last few years there was hardly any changes made to the 500,if I remember correctly.The last year it was on the price list here in Denmark,it was actually cheaper than the cr 250!

 

[Faded]

In the crowd I ride with there was 4 CR500s and a KX500. The rest of us ride 250s.

Originally posted by Necro
the 500 is to much bike for him. hes already looped it twice

The first time I rode one of the CRs I ran it into a chain link fence and suffered a dislocated shoulder and minor scratches/bruises. I just wasn't properly aquainted with the 500's power band.

Originally posted by Necro
4 gear wheelies are fun tho.

You can't wheelie a 250 in 4th (or 5th?)? ;)

 

[bbbom]

Originally posted by Tom Ludolff
It seems the 500's are too much bike for alot of people.

Heck, they are girly bikes! I AM a petite & dainty flower and I love my little pink bike :thumb: usually. ;)

The CR's (at least our 90 & 94) don't have the auto decompression but they aren't that hard to kick over. As far as riding, they are perfect for the area we ride. They will climb over and up anything and with some common sense & throttle control you can even keep them out of the trees.

We tried out a couple 4 strokes & a CR250 last summer and nothing compared to the 500's. Karl did decide that he needed a change from the 90 though - his 01CR500AF will be here shortly! I'm curious to see just how it compares to my 94. We will see, we will see.

 

[Birken Vogt]

Yeah, it was a post of yours, Lori, that I stumbled across which made me post this one. As far as the decompression, well, when I last did a topend on mine I saw that the reed petals were slightly open at rest. So I said, aha! when I put this together with new reeds this problem will be solved. Lo and behold with new reeds they are still slightly open! And it starts and runs exactly as it did before. That is to say, in order to start this one, you kick it to TDC, then return the starter to the top, jump way up in the air, and crash down with all your might. About 1 time out of 4 this will get it lit. The more awkward the situation or the tireder you are or the faster you want to move out the less likely it is to start. But once it gets a runnin you can make good time as I am sure you all who have ridden these will know....

Birken

 

[TShain]

Standard bore cr's have eyebrows in the cylinder above the exhaust ports that bleed off compression.

 

[KelvinKDX]

Originally posted by Tom Ludolff
Doesn't the CR500AF have an aluminum frame?? I thought that's what the AF stands for????

Honda never made them this way so Service Honda filled the void.  :aj:

 

[AJ Waggoner]

We are still filling that void , quite a few units each year ;)
So as far as i can tell the big bore 2 stroke is still fairly popular..


AF stands for aluminum frame, I wasnt too original in naming the bike.
and I couldnt just call it CR500.

on the decompression and ease of starting ..
yes back in about 93??? Honda put some small "eyebrows" above the exhaust ports to bleed compression during starting.
It works, I'm 138 pounds soaking wet and never have any trouble starting a CR500?

(for rthe record Eric Gorr had been doing those lil "eyebrows" for YEARS prior) it doesnt effect performance and eases starting.

if you want to look at one of the 2003 CR500AF's , hit any SX or MX national and go up to our SubWay MX team truck.. An AF will be on display.

 

[AJ Waggoner]

Birken
the reeds will make it harder to start for sure and effect performance also..

a trick to starting a cold cr500 is to be sure and load the cylinder
first.(fuel wise)

either lean it over so fuel flows out the carb vent hoses ..
then kick it thru SLOWELY about 5 or more times ( very slowly)
which loads the cylinder-
then kick like you mean it all the way thru.

or put it in gear and rock it back and forth does essentially the same thing.. but takes longer IMHO

its kind of a knack but once you get it it will start easily all the time.
::shrugs::::

 

[Birken Vogt]

Yeah, I am not really sure what to think about the reeds. They are that older Boyesen style that has no cage and one set of petals that is thin and one that is thick underneath it. I have not seen too many reeds so I don't know how to compare it. When I put it together I noticed they were still open just slightly. So I flipped the petals over and still a little open. I kept flipping and mixing until I had the best combination, still not perfect though. I doubt it is causing a real problem, though, because when kicking slowly I can feel the distinct compression of the case and the compression of the cylinder so I am pretty sure they are sealing fine.

As far as starting, I have found that rocking this bike back and forth doesn't seem to help much. What I do is just to kick it slowly through about 5 compressions with the choke on and then give it das boot. It starts pretty well.

Birken

 

[motometal]

I have seen reeds with a slight gap like that which sealed just fine. Will the reed cage hold water if you lightly hold the petals against the cage? Chances are the reed valve is doing it's job since the force from the intake charge trying to revert back thru the carb will push the petals hard enough to form a seal.

 

[Rcannon]

I have a friend who just bought a 2000 CR 500. That bike is awsome. I love the engine. The bike is the ultimate dune bike. I also found it quite friendly to deal with.

I would love to have one.

Then again, the only bike I ever hated was my YZ 490. 82 model. Worst bike ever made.

 

[nephron]

AJ--were you at Vegas? I didn't see you at the Subway truck. I got there by wandering toward the 500 noise--somebody had fired one up. A mechanic was out there showing one of the folks around your AF.

Gawd! Those Subway 450's look awesome. Who thought of that? Great scheme. Talk about advertisement. It's hard to see one go by and not stare at it for awhile.

 

[AJ Waggoner]

nephron - Naw wasnt there unforunantly -
I hit a few rounds this year ,
but did not hit Vegas..
we had people from Service there though.

I think Subways real happy with the truck and bike scheme..
and publicity so far..
and its also been nice to have our 500AF at the rounds to intro it to some people that only get to see it in the magz..

 

[sbunchje]

Been enjoying my 90 cr 500 for years now. Wanting to move up to a newer model, maybe an aluminum frame hybrid. Any feedback on how they handle? Any feed back on who makes the best conversion?

 

[Tom Ludolff]

Woweeman!!! That CR500AF is one beautiful bike!!! I was drooling over it just checking out the website!!! $9,000 is pretty frickin steep though!!!

 

[Tom Ludolff]

Hey!! If I buy a Subway franchise, can I get a good deal on a CR500AF???