1979 250 Honda Elsinore Red Rocket Cr250r on 2040-motos

Honda CR description

Up for sale is my 1979 250 Honda Elsinore Red Rocket.  I got this years ago.  It has been a long process to restore/rebuild.  Below is what has been done to the Elsinore,  I started with the engine and gathered suspension parts along the way.  The frame was completely stripped of paint, all excess welds were filed off, the frame was cleaned with lacquer thinner, then primed and painted the CORRECT Tahitian Red from Colorite (see below).  I have seen prettier Elsinores, but none have had as much done to them.  I am setting the reserve FAR BELOW what another '79 sold for about two weeks ago.

ENGINE:

- Rebuilt crank including new rod and big end bearing

        - New main bearings and seals

      - Squish band has been reduced from 0.080” to 0,040” for greater, more complete combustion.

      -  Transfer ports have been matched to the cases while cases were apart.  They are perfect.

      -  Exhaust port has been ceramic coated to keep heat OUT of the cylinder/aluminum.

      - Main shaft and lay shaft have been shimmed to make shifting more accurate and precise (no side-to-side play in either shaft).

      - Cylinder has been nikasil plated.  This allows for use of modern piston rings.

      - New Barnett clutch plates.

      - Carburetor has been bored out to 38 mm from original 36 mm.  NOTE: I had to sacrifice a whole other carb in order to get the jet that atomizes the fuel in the venturi.  Yeah, I bought a carb off of eBay and cut it apart to get the jet out.  My machinist pressed the other jet back in after he bored out the venturi.  So while the carb looks like the stock 36 mm, it is in reality a 38 mm (my calipers say 37.8 mm).

      - New Wiseco piston and rings (again, modern rings can be used as the cylinder has been nikasil plated).

      - New Boyeson reed valves.

      - Head and cylinder have been thermal-coated, not just painted.  Thermal coating aids in heat dissipation (similar to ceramic-coating the exhaust port).  Cases are painted semi-gloss black to match thermal coating.

      -  Case screws are aluminum.  This saves about a half a pound in weight just in the screws.

      -  New seals in clutch cover.

 SUSPENSION:

     - Front: forks are from a 1981 Honda CR250.  They are 41 mm as opposed to the stock 37 mm forks.  Fork tubes were straightened to within 0.0004” or LESS.  New internal and external bushings were installed as well as new oil and dust seals.  Bushings are rarely replaced.  But they should be every time seals are replaced.  No play between the fork tubes and sliders!

     -  Gold valve emulators have been installed which makes the forks perform more like modern cartridge forks.

     -  Ohlins piggy-back shocks rebuilt by Ohlins USA.  Shocks have “CA” stamped on them.  My guess is that they came off of a Can Am.  The Ohlins technician removed the spacer and re-valved the shocks for an Elsinore.  The Ohlins tech also threw in some adjustable spring retainers.  When the Ohlins tech removed the internal spacer, he discovered that the shocks would be very long.  He put the smallest/shortest end on the shocks.  The shocks are actually 18” long rather than the stock 17.5”.  Not a big deal.  Between the 1981 forks and the primary springs, the rear end sags about a half an inch when the bike is taken off its stand.

     -  One-off spring retainers had to be fabricated to allow the springs to clear the gussets on the swingarm at the lower shock mount (see picture).  One-off spacers were also fabricated for the shock mounts as the Ohlins are too narrow compared to the Honda frame shock mounts.

     -  The top shock mounts had to be filed in order to clear the upper shock mount.

 FRAME:

     -  Kick-stand mount had been removed as well as all extraneous robot welds.  For example, the weld bead on the gusset on the down tube extends well beyond the gusset.  The excess robot weld beads have been filed off to save weight.

     -  Chain guide was modified to allow for Teflon slider rather than the old style roller (see photos).

     -  Zerk fittings (grease fittings) were installed on the swingarm pivot (see pictures).  The original bearing races were so badly rusted they had to be ground out.  New bearings, bushings and seals were installed and can EASILY be greased as the zerk fittings allow for greasing WITHOUT removing the swingarm.  This 1979 Elsinore is the ONLY one I’ve seen with this simple modification.  There are zerk fittings on both sides.  Oddly, Honda built this in with the first generation Elsinores, but eliminated this feature on subsequent models.

     -  Custom ALUMINUM thrust bushings on the rear of the rear brake stay.

 WHEELS:

     -  Original wheels were cracked.  Current wheels were rebuilt by JP Morgen of Morgen Machine.  Rear rim is an AKRONT rim originally off a Yamaha XT500.  Not perfect, but it works.  The front is a Tagasako rim.

 SEAT:

     -  New seat foam and seat cover from VMX Racing.

SILENCER:

     -  Silencer fabricated to allow complete rebuilding.  There are nuts brazed on the interior of the silencer.  Machine allen screws are used to fasten the end of the silencer to the silencer body.  An extension was also fabricated to allow clearance of the Ohlins piggyback.  The extension has about a half inch offset (see pictures).

CONTROLS:

     -  Renthal handlebars

     -  Magura clutch and front brake levers

     -  OURY grips

     - If I was going to keep the bike, I’d probably cut an inch off of either side of the handlebars.

PAINT:

     -  Frame was completely stripped of original paint.  The correct COLORITE Tahitian Red paint was used to repaint the frame and swingarm.  Original fenders were also repainted with Tahitian Red paint AFTER preparation with special plastic adhesive clear primer.  Paint does not crack when fenders are bent (see picture).  If a local bidder wins the auction he or she may have all the Tahitian Red paint I have ($18/can).  Sorry, aerosol paint can’t be shipped legally (to my knowledge).

SIDE PANELS:

     -  New replica SHINEY side panels for a 1978/79 Elsinore have been installed.  The right panel had to be notched to allow clearance of the piggyback of the Ohlins shock.  If the “Buy it Now” option is used, I’ll throw in the FIM style number plates.  Otherwise I’m selling them separately.  They are brand new.  Never mounted (no mounts)!

TANK:

     -  Clarke plastic tank.  I’m sure I would have dented an aluminum tank!  Indentations had to be formed into the Clarke tank as the 1981 triple clamps have less offset from the steering axis and the fork tubes are larger.  The tube clear the tank, but the zip ties used to hold the front number plate on run into the tank minimally before the lower triple clamp hits its turn limiter.

MISCELLANEOUS:

There are a number of ORIGINAL items on this Elsinore that are hard to come by.  There is a stock chain guard over teh counter shaft sprocket.  There is an original airbox tab that always seemed to break.  Indeed when I got teh bike, it was broken.  I now have a spare.  Use the Buy It Now and I'll throw in the spare.  I've seen them go for $25 on eBay.  Finally I was able to get the original rubber seal that seals between the silencer and the exhaust pipe.  I got it out of Australia.  Fortunately I had a friend in Australia who was able to get it for me then ship it to me.

If the Buy It Now feature is used, I'll throw in the FIM number plates (see above) an bottom end (minus the outer clutch  hub) plus miscellaneous Honda parts (unique screws, used Ohlins shock internals, etc.).  I was also modifying a 1979 CR125 tank to use on the 250.  The majority of the work has been done.  It weeps a little gas on the left rear corner through the porosity of the welds.  It just needs extra welding.  The other thing about the 125 tank is that it is shorter.  So, either the tank needs to be moved back, the seat extended or moved forward or simply leave a gap.  I'll add a picture of the 125 tank later.  It gives the bike that factory look.

Clear California title.  Green sticker good until June of 2014.

BUSINESS:

Winning bidder must submit a non-refundable deposit via PayPal within 24 hours of the end of the auction.  Remainder may be paid in personal check or USPS money order.  However, check must clear prior to shipping!  NO EXCEPTIONS.

Shipping is the responsibility of the buyer.  I will assist as much as possible, but it is up to the buyer to arrange ALL shipping.  Reasonable door-to-door transport may be arranged through CZC Trucking.  Call Corey at 530-518-9119 for a quote.  Licensed and insured.  I just shipped a bike with CZC to Minnesota.  If you choose Forward Air and want me to drive the Elsinore to Sacramento, that will cost another $100 as Sacramento is 90 miles away from where I live.