Raggi/Iceland

Member
Sep 25, 2007
20
0
im thinking about picking up a 2001 Honda Cr500. Anybody here that owns one or has ridden one ? Looking for some peoples perspective on them

Just wondering if it has to much power or if it is to heavy to have fun with on a track.

It would be mainly used just as a bike to have fun with / use in the sand and just to have a bike with a lot of power. And maybe take it to the track to have some fun

But i will also be buying a 2008 Honda CRF250R which will be used as the main bike / all around used , track, sand, Trails, everything
 

CR_RIDER

Member
Aug 4, 2007
126
0
I no I want a cr500 too.I heard they are really fast!They kill xr600's all day and the famous 450's...I want one bad!But cant find them anywere.What would be nice is to own the $12,000 cr500af with powdercoated everything!
 

76GMC1500

Uhhh...
Oct 19, 2006
2,142
1
Well, a CRF450 makes around 50 hp, no? A CR 500 is around 55-60 hp, a hair more than the 450. The 500's power comes on sooner and more abruptly than the 450's. You say you have a CR480 in your bikes list, I'm sure you know the hit (though it's probably a little tamer on the later 500's). They are heavier than a 250/450, but they aren't tanks. They weigh around 230-235lbs vs. 215-220lbs.
 

Raggi/Iceland

Member
Sep 25, 2007
20
0
76GMC1500 said:
Well, a CRF450 makes around 50 hp, no? A CR 500 is around 55-60 hp, a hair more than the 450. The 500's power comes on sooner and more abruptly than the 450's. You say you have a CR480 in your bikes list, I'm sure you know the hit (though it's probably a little tamer on the later 500's). They are heavier than a 250/450, but they aren't tanks. They weigh around 230-235lbs vs. 215-220lbs.

i was under the impression that a 2000 / 2001 Honda Cr500 would make 70+ hp . Well at least it says on the Honda site that the 2007 Cr250r is 59 hp the cr500 must have more then 55-60hp
 

76GMC1500

Uhhh...
Oct 19, 2006
2,142
1
Maybe, I'm thinking wheel horsepower. From the numbers I have seen, a CR250 is around 45-48 hp. CR500's have always been 55-60. KX500's are on top with 60-65.

Where does Honda publish the horsepower of their bike? I've never seen any manufacturer publish their numbers except in an old Kawasaki service manual (which by the way said a 1988 KX250 made 53 hp at the flywheel).
 
Mar 16, 2007
471
0
i was under the impression that a 2stroke vs a 4stroke with and have the same engine size, the 2stroke makes more power. what if you bored a 450 to a 500? whats ganna be faster the cr500 or the crf500?
 

stumanarama

Member
Aug 29, 2007
306
0
the crf 450r stock, ive heard makes 60 from some, and "in the 50's" from others, i would expect the cr500 hundred to have more like 60's maybe even 70s with high 40's low 50's torque, check wikipedia
 

Matt Fisher

Member
Apr 17, 2002
136
0
A good running 250 pinger makes about 45hp, the CR500 makes about 55hp, with the 450's splitting the difference. The CR500 went through several years of mild massaging from 85 to 91, mostly aimed at toning down the power and making it more manageable. Honda also set up the motor to have a pretty hard hit down low which gave it weaker dyno numbers than the Kawi or KTM.

The KX was more powerful than the CR, but the KTM 500 made more power (low 60's) than the KX500. KTM's 550 made the same top-end as their 500, but had even more low and midrange power.

Whenever you start making close to 50hp, it ceases to be about how much power you can make, and becomes how manageable the power is. Exceptions to this would be for drag races, hill climbing, and riding in the sand (where too much is just right).
 

magneto

Member
Nov 14, 2001
179
0
Whenever you start making close to 50hp, it ceases to be about how much power you can make, and becomes how manageable the power is.
... and how much maintenance it takes to keep it there. A CR5 is a very low maintance 50+ hp bike (compared to the current crop of 4 strokes)
 

TheGDog

Member
Sep 17, 2007
117
0
I finally rode in Glamis on Halloween weekend 2006. Was on a KTM 450 EXC at the time. Jumping out in the dunes is ridiculously fun! The only weird thing I learned the hard way is that out in Glamis... people are riding day-and-night around the clock. You can't get any good sleep if you're camping over.. unless you've got one of those combo Trailer/Troy Haulers.

I'm hopefully picking-up a '96 KX500 tomorrow. Freakin' can't wait to throw a leg over that beast!
 

2strokerfun

Member
May 19, 2006
1,500
1
One of the recent magazines had a ride off between a like-new later model cr500 and a new crf450. The 500 won on hp (by less than I thought), but would still absolutely smoke the 450 on a straightaway, according to the report. But the 450 won the contest mainly because of handling/suspension and more tractable power curve. They magazine writers were still surprise how close the 500 was to the new bike in most areas.
Wonder how a comparison of a Service Honda new CR500 vs a new CRF450 would come out.
 

jumpingjoe628

Member
Mar 15, 2005
176
0
I have an 85 and an 86 CR500. My 85 was in "good" tune the last time I rode it and is the fastest dirtbike I've ever ridden. I'm mostly a racer at heart did alot of motocross at the local and pro level and have had many bikes over the years. My 85 was rated at 63hp stock and right now I'm in the middle of having it totally rebuilt top and bottom with major mods.....Porting, head work, intake port timing, RAD valve etc.... It should be the low 70s range when it's done. Going from my 05 CRF450 and jumping right onto the 500 was like night and day. The 500 is very abrupt and pulls right from the bottom then explodes to moon with enough power to satisfy anyones power needs. It takes a certain finesse to make this kind of power work on the track, and I've found that out the hard way. When I try and ride it anywhere close to the way I ride a 250 smoker I will end up blowing the corners. You need more precise throttle control or the tiniest bump that usually does close to nothing to your throttle hand could make you blip the gas when you aren't ready. VERY SCARY!!!
I found out that if you ride a gear taller and use the bottom end torque to push you around it is much more useable, but it's not as much fun to ride like that. It's hard to use an entire gear pull of full throttle without either running out of ground or doing an unexpected wheely. Now if you have room to play, like a long fire road or some dunes, this bike is GREAT! It will eat anything that comes at you. I've drag raced a bunch of contenders from a KTM525, to CRF450s and they don't even come close. They'll be tapped out and I pull up the front wheel and shift into 5th while I pull away from them. Now I do have some taller gearing than them but I still get outta the hole first. Oh and this was all done on sandy fire roads in the pineys.
All that being said and having the 450 to compare it to, IMHO the 500 makes like 10 more HP, I can feel it, and if you can feel a difference like that it's a big deal. The CR500s are in alot lower state of tune than any of the 450 mxers out there today. There's not much more you can do to make the 4 bangers THAT much faster and still have reliability, they are in a higher state of tune right out of the box. The reason I'm rebuilding my 85 is because it still had the original piston in it and I'm currently in a vintage racing organization that I need the bike for the Vintage 80s class. First race I did with this bike I got the holeshot.
The numbers are out there somewhere, you just have to look for them. I did. I spent so much time researching the 500 and have seen so many sites with info on them it's crazy. Here is a short video of me hitting a sandy berm. On the track I can go almost as fast on my 85 compared to my 05 450, it's the suspension that makes the difference, on these sandy, whooped out tracks it's all 500 baby!!
CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO
 

tcuda499

~SPONSOR~
Dec 2, 2007
100
0
my 85 cr500 was also insane!! I dont know about the HP numbers but it was up there. I do know that the highest hp 450 out there was the 06 kxf 450. Just under 50hp. They actually tuned it down for 07 to tame the power and make it more usable.Back to the cr's, if your using a crf250 as a main bike than you will not be dissapointed in the 500 as a play bike, great for dunes and shootin roosts. unless your a real good rider I would stick to one bike for the track.that crf250 would probaly outrun a 500 on smaller tracks and definetly out handle it. i've never heard of a stocker 250 making more than than 45 to 46 hp.
 

wileyE

Member
Jul 6, 2003
51
0
Don't be afraid of the power you can always tame it with a gear higher. It's the kickstarter you should be afraid of, LOL.

I rode open bikes for years and still have a '85 500 ktm, 62hp at 5900 rpms, 218lbs. Lightest open bike even to this day. It came with two heads for high or low compression and two pipes, and a racers tuning handbook. Engine was set up "race" when new and was TOO much. I detuned it to spec with the extra head and pipe, timing etc, and it still rips your arms off. Nothing new 450 even compares power wise.
 

ernscr500

Member
Jan 25, 2008
4
0
i ve been riding 30 yrs & have owned almost all the bikes that are fast,from zundap to hodaka the one i keep going back to is the cr 500,had a couple kx 500 & there just as fast but dont have the hit a early model 500 has(1985 cr 500) they calmed them down later, the sales tech sheet from the dealer says the 1985 cr 500 has 69 horse at the flyheel & between 1986 & 1991 the dramaticly change the power curve,i have a total rest 85 cr 500 with some mods-but have been faster than all the new four strokes on the block, in the traps & large difference on the trails strechin it out, wow leaves em long way back.........2 strokes for ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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