Vintage Dirt Bike Q & A

Where are some good palces to order parts for my '79 CR250R Elsinore? I went out yesterday and popped the lower cylinder gasket. Sucks. Apparently the top was weeping too on closer inspection. At least I got to ride for a couple hours and run a full tank through it last weekend though. I didn't expect it to last forever... Last owner beat the piss out of the bike and didn't seem too knowledgeable.

In any event, I need at least upper gaskets (cylinder base and head gaskets), rings (may as well, while I'm in there), possibly bearings (might tear it all down if price is right for parts), reeds, and anything else that is worth doing while it's apart. Also, what color of red were these things originally. I want to re-paint whatever parts I tear down. Want to order the parts ASAP and ride this coming weekend if possible.

Try CMSNL.COM. They are in Holland Europe.

Check a couple of the vendors listed in the resources section. Gaskets are often available, but not always. As I was making a couple of gaskets (from gasket paper) the other night, I was thinking that when I was 15 I made my own gaskets because I couldn't afford factory ones. Now, I make them because I can't always find them.

Since your bike sounds like it has a bit of a shakey history, you might want to wait until you have the jug off and mic it, before you order a new piston and rings. NOS standard rings are sometimes a bit difficult to find and you may end up needing to go over sized anyway. Wiseco piston, rings, wrist pin, and clip kits are often available in various over sizes, just keep an eye out for them.

I've had some good luck with copper painting the head gaskets and getting a few good uses out of them.

Finding parts for these bikes is often a real challenge. If the bride would let me, I'd have a couple of parts bikes sitting around and a cabinet full of consumeable parts (cables, brake pads, gaskets, etc...) so that items were always available. Alas, that isn't possible. I finally won an auction on eBay last night for a part needed to get back in the saddle on the Elsinore again. It kinda blows to have to wait weeks sometimes to get back riding again.

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Steve Amling

1976 CR 250M
1980 Yamaha DT100G
1980 XR 200
1981 CSR650

http://vintageiron.com/ has them

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Garry Mainer
#33m (retired)
Honda Cr250r 1980
Honda Cr250r 1980
Yamaha TY250C 1976
Arctic Cat 650 H1 2007