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| Honda CR250R Restoration |
| Written by Mark Austin | |
| Saturday, 13 December 2008 | |
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We managed to acquire a VERY well used 1978 CR250R that has been completely worn out and then left in the back of the shed for years and years..It was the perfect start for the next bling Red Devil Racer.
The engine has been rebuilt with a new Nikasil bore and a new piston and rings. It is quickly fitted and now its starting to look like a motorcycle - not a box of bits. The frame came back from the powdercoater and its the wrong colour - bugger. Oh well, its a race bike, a different shade of red is not going to make it go any slower.
The next step is to fit the Ohlins shockies correctly and see if they fit correctly and don't bottom out on the mudguard. It appears that the rear subrame is bent buy about two inches to the right - damn! So, dismantle it again and send it down to Laurie Alderton and he fixes it in a week. Now I have a chance to get the frame colour correct and young Bruce sprays it in the exact factory colour. Put it back together again.
The next part is my favourite bit - get it together and start the bastard! Check the petrol, give it a few priming kicks and go - kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick - at least 50 kicks later - she's a no go. Hmmm, it has petrol, check the spark - no spark. Replace the coil with a new one, no difference. Replace the CDI unit with a spare lying around Red Devil Racing Central and ahah! it has spark, and what more it goes!!! But its very obvious the jetting is way out on the new 38mm Mikuni. 
So we replace the stator and CDI unit with a matched "E" set and it runs fine. Now for the jetting - going up and down the local soccer field to test the settings will eventually (like in about 5 minutes) attract the attention of the local plod, so we have to wait for a practice day at one of our VMX meetings to get it right.
But boy it looks good - I should be able to win heaps of races just by getiing it there and letting the competition be intimidated by its extreme good looks...
Jetting time at Lake Glenbawn near Muswellbrook in the Hunter Valley. I have a new Mikuni carby and dozens of jets, and the carby was bought pre-jetted for the CR250 from Vintage Iron, so we should have no problems. It starts and idles - good. Twist the throttle and it loads up so much my Vespa would be quicker. Play with the needle, no luck. So we try smaller main jets - lots of them, from a 400 to a 360 main jet, so after an hour of mucking about with main jets, it has power and it runs ok.
Now we have blubbering from idle to half throttle - must be the needle or idle jet. (but boy it looks good...) Drop the needle - lose the needle clip (as usual). Still too rich, and I have no idle jet big enough. So a quick visit to our friendly local Husky dealer Fernando (Husky Parts) who happens to be 10 meters away, and we have the correct idle jets and even a new needle clip!
I decided to see if it would start and run OK after I washed it - and it started and idle well, I revved it to go around the carpark and it stopped with this wierd popping noise going right past my ear - "what the f... was that" I think to myself as I see the spark plug and cap lying on the ground after its escape from my newly built engine.
Here's a list of parts and suppliers.
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