I have an '89 YZ 125 and I have yet to have any problems out of mine. As for being harsh mine have been revalved and the feel is nice. Not as good as say a KTM that our loopy friend here owns but rideable. The forks have worked fine for me on the terrain that I ride which isn't a track but I can get som high speed runs going hitting 3- 31/2 foot berms and some knarly step up's and the suspention is fine. It may not be as plush as a works suspention or as rider friendly as that of a KDX but ridable.
Check your wipers often, keep your oil level correct and bleed any air out of the system and you should enjoy it.
Ahh yes but Phillip yours are KYB forks -the 250 honda were Showas and trust me they were unreal harsh.Almost impossible to get working well Jer once said.
Yes the 89 Showas were the worst! To this day and I hope to god I never see again, a fork that would fill the inner bushings with metal and foul the valving so quickly. The fork would just grind itself apart internally even after a fresh rebuild and in just a few rides, the stiction was so bad it would just about stop moving all together.
i had an 88 cr250 and it indeed was the last year of conventional forks.......but dont worry, they were rubbish too!
but that said, ive said that about nearly every bike ive ever been on! except the 87 cr250, that was one great bike, can i use this oportunty to share my bitterness over the scumbag that stole it.....they forgot to steal the back break since it was being fixed and off the bike....i hope they crashed it bad.
I owned a 89 CR250 about 7 years ago, it was a great bike. I loved that thing. I mostly did trail riding with it, but never really ran into any problems at all with it. The bike is certainly not underpowered for a 89. That bike ripped when I had it (or was it just cause I was 140lbs at the time?)...