Vintage Dirt Bike Q & A

Hi,

I have a Mr 250 that I got new in the summer of 76 when I was 16. I never was a racer, but rode the bike a lot on country roads and trails around my home. I remember the first day I got it I put 100 miles on it- I thought that was really a lot. The bikes not running now but its pretty complete and its in fair to good condition looks wise. I think it needs an overbore and new crank seals because the last time I rode it seriously (1984) it ran pretty crappy when I would go up a hill. I may fix it up one of these days.

I don't know a lot about the CR history but it doesn't seem like to me they made a lot of major changes on the bikes from 73 to 76- I may be wrong. The factory racers were experimenting with reed valves, better suspension and such, I've always been curious why they didn't add some of these features to the 76 production bikes. Maybe they sold good enough without them. Then I see the suspension mod that Derik Martin writes about here for his 76 CR and I wonder why the factory didn't do something like that then. Its seems like to me they didn't do much to improve the early 250's like Yamaha and Suzuki did.

I don't have the knowledge to do it, but the last few years I've always dreamed of taking a CR frame, making suspension and engine mods and building the 76 MR 250 that Honda should have built then. An Enduro machine that would have been more competitive with the Huskies and Pentons. I remember seeing in a mag once Honda did have some factory MR175 riders and the bikes had been modified. Wonder if they ever modified the MR or CR to compete in Enduro?

From what I saw in the '70's, the MR was a nice little trail riding bike.

The CR's were awesome for enduros and could be adjusted quite easily for different racing environments. In 1978 everyone was making accessories for the "Red Rockets" including swingarms, shocks, forks, pipes, shifters, tanks, heavier ignition rotors for more torque, etc. I have had at least a dozen of these bikes and I still have three running now including a Desert ME-360 Mugen with a lighting system. I have ridden Enduros with these bikes since 1979 and they really made a rider out of me. After I dumped my Husky's, I found out that I really could make a turn.
American Honda had Factory Riders on these bikes and they also competed in AMA Two Day Trials in preparation for ISDT. Names that come to mind in District 37 are Rick Munyon and Mike Godfrey.
The Red Rockets are still a fine trail bike and the nice thing is that you don't have to worry about things such a coolant, mechanical valves, engine chains, cams. The thing that you do have to worry about is replacement suspension pieces that don't break the bank. That's why I now build my own shocks from valving in old Showa cadaver units. Lots of state-of-the-art front ends can still be bolted on to these bikes,