Vintage Dirt Bike Q & A

can the front metal chain roller on 79 cr250 be replaced with a rubber roller if so what size

You can buy a new metal roller.
Most rollers don't have a recessed mounting bolt and will hit the brake stabilizer bar.
My new metal roller works great but it is a little noisier. The attached file shows how close the bar and the roller are when the wheel is depressed.

Any leads on where to buy? All of the online sites I have checked show they are NLA. No luck on the auction sites either.

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osu_cowboy

I bought mine on ebay. I saw one today. Try Honda Elsinore, 78 cr250 etc. they are about $75

NOS Honda 1979 CR125 CR250 Chain Roller Guide
Item number: 150508289106


Ebay StoresVintage Obsolete Motorcycle Parts

Now find a source for kickstarters

Thanks for the info.

I know where the kickstarters are. I saw a big pile of NOS kickstarters at the end of a rainbow laying right next to a pot of gold. The only problem is I forgot where I saw that rainbow : )

cheers,
sj

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osu_cowboy

If your stuck you can use one of those plastic rollers but it takes a little modification.
Get one of those 30mm rollers then pop out one of the sealed bearings and the spacer and discard, you may then need to cut the roller to a width that clears the torque arm, once you've done that fit the roller with an M8 allen headed bolt thats long enough to go through the mounting hole and long enough to fit a lock nut to. Make sure you have an M8 washer fitted between the frame mounting and the sealed bearing.
This way the head of the bolt is fitted in the recess of the roller where the bearing used to sit. It will run fine with just the one bearing I ran my 125 for season without any problems and I'm doing the same with my 250 now.

spannerman thanks I was thinking of something along that line I saw the pic of your 125 very nice I can just make out the pic of the roller thanks, Craig

I was also thinking of a stove bolt the kind with the round head and grinding off the square part on the back side I do not know if I can get one in a grade 8

30 mm is that the size of the metal one??

Thanks, both my 125's sold now
Here's my new steed I've just restored,79 CR250 also fitted with a nylon front roller as I described earlier,and I would recommend sticking with a M8 Allen headed bolt as I know it works a treat.

http://www.klpracing.com/
I have not used these folks, but they are advertising some very cool stuff. IMHO, you are mad to run the stock rear chain guide and one that wraps the chain in a nylon block is the way to go. I have one made by John Astleford. If you run any after-market swing arm I will suggest you are going to run out of clearance between the stock front chain roller and the bottom of the swing arm. Hence the lowering kit. Currently I have some nylon washers mounted on a large bolt that fits the stock bracket. Someone sent me a simple lowering bracket but the one here is much better constructed. It's not clear from the picture whether this is a metal or nylon roller. Metal to metal sounds real nasty. I am fortunate to still have nylon rollers made by that are copies of the OEM ones.

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Michael Stiles
1979 Honda CR250R Elsinore | 2006 Husqvarna SM510R | 2007 Service Honda CR500R-AF

yeah I allready got the rear block style from john astelford he said he had one for the front but it won't work with the stock brake arm I think I'll go with method of rubber roller with one bearing still have some time till spring I checked out that site it looks good but it looks like metal to me too you have oem style except rubber?? where did you get those, thanks, Craig

I got my nylon OEM-style roller from Red Racer way back in the day....

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Michael Stiles
1979 Honda CR250R Elsinore | 2006 Husqvarna SM510R | 2007 Service Honda CR500R-AF