older cr's

[HubertGarfunkleIII]

I am looking at getting a late 80's cr250. My question is...is there much of a difference in the suspension, or overall bike for that matter compared to a modern 250?

 

[ZOMBIE666]

no not really, only newer bikes have been more refined over the years. I love late 80s CRs or any watercooled MX bike for that matter. they have a different feel to them as most have an angrier, more snappy power band.
I like :cool:

 

[Ol'89r]

I am looking at getting a late 80's cr250. My question is...is there much of a difference in the suspension, ?

Yes, there are major differences. The late 80's CR's use conventional front forks instead of up-side-down forks. For general riding and trail riding these forks work pretty good. For mx, the up-side-down forks work better.

Also, make sure the previous owner used nothing but coolant and DISTILLED water in the cooling system. The 80's models had a lot of magnesium content in the cases and when regular water is used instead of distilled water, it will eat holes in the case. A replacement side case is very hard to find for those years.

 

[ZOMBIE666]

ol' what year did honda start using the upside down forks, i had an 89 and it had upside downs.

good point on the coolant, both the 80s cr250 and 125 i had had major corrosion on the water pump housing

 

[HubertGarfunkleIII]

yeah i was basically thinking of how much better the suspension is on the modern bikes. probably not a huge difference in the engine department. i was wondering if the conventional forks were at a huge disadvantage or just a little disadvantage over the inverted forks. I mean hey, in the 80's they were flying high. I remember guy cooper as a kid.

 

[2 strokes for life]

You could get the suspension re-valved for your weight and ridding style.

 

[2strokerfun]

.If you are going to race, they won't be competitive against modern bikes. But if you are going to ride and have fun, it will be great. No matter how much work you do on the suspension, a really late model suspension will be better with the same amount of work. Not necessarily so with the engine, though. Parts will be harder to find with an older bike, especially nicely priced plastics and lower end parts. But, having said that, I still prefer an old near-classic bike and that is pretty much all I ride

 

[HubertGarfunkleIII]

.If you are going to race, they won't be competitive against modern bikes. But if you are going to ride and have fun, it will be great. No matter how much work you do on the suspension, a really late model suspension will be better with the same amount of work. Not necessarily so with the engine, though. Parts will be harder to find with an older bike, especially nicely priced plastics and lower end parts. But, having said that, I still prefer an old near-classic bike and that is pretty much all I ride

Right but if I do some suspension work to it, the suspension would probably be as good as stock suspension on the newer bikes? I think an older bike would suit me just fine. I just want to make sure it can handle all the jumps at the local track cause I can clear them all. But I need a new cheap bike.

 

[dirt bike dave]

Right but if I do some suspension work to it, the suspension would probably be as good as stock suspension on the newer bikes? I think an older bike would suit me just fine. I just want to make sure it can handle all the jumps at the local track cause I can clear them all. But I need a new cheap bike.

Well, if you totally dial in the suspension it might be as good as a stock new bike that was poorly set up for you. The new technology is superior, though.

Setting up the suspension for landing jumps is easier than setting it up to be the perfect compromise on jumps, rocks, roots, whoops, corners, etc...

FWIW, riders back in the day were clearing big jumps on those bikes.

 

[HubertGarfunkleIII]

yeah exactly so if they did it then, than I can do it now. suzuki went back to conventional forks in lik 98 i think it was too.

 

[zoommx]

Get an early '80s CR and race post-vintage mx!!

click here for missouri vintage mx

click here for AHRMA

one race movmx has every year is at Thayer, almost in Arkansas, another for 2008 is right off I-44 between Joplin and Springfield.

Arkansas vintage CC link

 

[Pete Payne]

89 Cr125 had conventional forks but the 89 CR 250 had upside down forks.

 

[Isobareng]

the conventional forks of the late 90's CR were better for the first couple of years of the inverted forks. the first few years were just rotten harsh units that just happened to point a tad bit better. The only thing I can add to the prior great responses is that a late 90's CR250 with traditional fork that has been kept in proper repair will still be a great ride and as always its 90 percent rider and 10 percent bike that makes the trophy's in the armature classes!!!!