Vintage Dirt Bike Q & A

i have a 73-74 cr250 set of forks, trees, front and rear wheels to lighten things up - am i missing any details (little bits) in regards to the swap? i'm doing all the standard things like internals, fork oil, and steering stem - richard

Don't waste your time. The MT model is not worth modifying. They are cool bikes and I want to add one to my collection. The engine is low output. I believe the bike weighs 260 lbs. The MR weighs 238. The Cr weighs 215. The MT has the lowest hp output of the three as well. I would look for a cr250. If you start jumbling around parts on a fine vintage ride like an MT it will loose alot of its value. Unless you want to re engineer the entire bike from engine to chasis (not just bolting on parts), I wouldn't do it.

what is the hp for the 75 250 mt ?

2¢

The real value of a MT is that it is a vintage dual sport. While dual sport bikes try to do two things good and end up being kind of bad at both, I really have a soft spot in my heart for them. Reminds me of my youth riding out to the family ranch. An MT does something I've never seen a CR do which is legally ride to the store to pick up a quart of milk.

Mine was butchered by the previous owner trying to make it a CR wannabe.

I wouldn't worry about the weight difference. By the time you swap out rims, tank, seat, take off llights, battery, mirrors, etcetera, you are bound to lose 30-40 pounds.

I think you can also swap out stator/flywheel with a CR to save a bit more weight.

IMHO Horsepower is overrated as a yard stick. You need q.s. to turn your knuckles white and anything beyond that is pointless. Just watch the lap times for 125cc and 250cc races. Bubba Stewart on a 125cc Kawasaki runs laps ~95-98% as fast as Ricky Carmichael on a 450cc CRF Honda. I read a blurb about Carlsbad closing where two guys on kitted XR75s were dueling it out with 490 Maicos.
http://www.calvmx.com/story41.htm
It's all about the rider.

Mine just has an after market pipe and the performance is quite good. I was thinking about putting a CR top end on it and even went so far as to bid on one I found on eBay. I've changed my mind since then as the bike has more guts then me.

I believe Chris' Honda is an XR75 bored (and stroked?) to 122 c.c. Not that that is much comfort to the larger bikes he regularly beats in CalVMX and SVRG races. Seems he can use all of the power all of the time and the others are using some of the power some of the time...or something like that. Huge entertainment value

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