The Honda CR250M is a

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of ...

single-cylinder A single-cylinder engine, sometimes called a thumper, is a piston engine with one cylinder. This engine is often used for motorcycles, motor scooters, go-karts, all-terrain vehicles, radio-controlled vehicles, portable tools and garden machinery ( ...

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

manufactured by

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

from March 1973 until 1976, when it was replaced by the

Honda CR250R The Honda CR250R was a Honda racing dirt bike The six main types of motorcycles are generally recognized as ''standard'', ''cruiser'', ''touring'', ''sports'', ''off-road'', and ''dual-purpose''. ''Sport touring'' is sometimes recognized as a se ...

Background

Honda had developed its global motorcycle brand through track racing, with

Soichiro Honda was a Japanese engineer and industrialist. In 1948, he established Honda Motor Co., Ltd. and oversaw its expansion from a wooden shack manufacturing bicycle motors to a multinational automobile and motorcycle manufacturer. Early years Honda ...

collecting the world's best engineers together to create winning road motorcycles such as the Honda RC116. However, Honda pulled out of motorcycle racing in 1967, leaving it with a world class development team with nothing to do. Up until this point,

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competiti ...

had been dominated by four-stroke-powered machines, and had no official national championship in Japan. Further, Soichiro Honda had publicly announced that Honda would never build two-stroke-powered motorcycles. The Japan Motorcycle Association introduced a domestic motocross championship from 1967, to which the group of Honda engineers - like their development counterparts at Suzuki and Yamaha - developed lighter weight two-stroke-powered machine. Suzuki's development programme had started in 1965, which by 1970 had produced the Suzuki RH70, which ridden by Belgium's

Joel Robert Joel or Yoel is a name meaning "Yahweh Is God" and may refer to: * Joel (given name), origin of the name including a list of people with the first name. * Joel (surname), a surname * Joel (footballer, born 1904), Joel de Oliveira Monteiro, Brazili ...

won Japan its first FIM World Motorcross Championship. In August 1971, the Honda development team took a two-stroke prototype to a National Championship motocross race to Mine, Yamaguchi, where it was recognised as a Honda. As a result, Soichiro Honda gave his reluctant backing to producing not only a works competitive motocross racer, but also an out of the box version as well.

Development

The Honda CR250M had a two-stroke 29 horsepower engine, and weighed in at . Designed by Soichiro Miyakoshi, the prototype production machine began testing in Japan in 1971, and on California motocross tracks in 1972. The CR250M was Honda's first two-stroke production race bike, the first competition dirt bike that Honda built from scratch instead of adapting a street bike, and the first production

er. A chrome-moly frame, aluminum bodywork and plastic fenders contributed to its light weight, even after restyling when initial tests showed the frame to be too fragile, potentially bending after less than an hour of riding.

Production

Named the CR250M globally, it was subtitled the Elsinore in North America, after the offroad race in Lake Elsinore, California, the best-known off-road race of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The popularity of the CR250M and its derivatives soared after Gary Jones rode a stock machine to win the 1973 AMA 250 national motocross series. In 1974 the CR250M was followed by its smaller version, the Honda CR125M, and the first US Honda factory that opened in 1979 in

Marysville, Ohio Marysville is a city in and the county seat of Union County, Ohio, United States, approximately 27 miles (44 km) northwest of Columbus. The population was 22,094 at the 2010 census, a 38.59% increase from 2000. Marysville's longtime slo ...

built CR250Ms.

Model codes

The 357 was released as a Honda CR250M in the years 1973 and 1974, and the 381 was released as a CR250M1 in 1975 and as a CR250M'76 in 1976.

References

{{Honda_Offroad Motorcycles CR250M Two-stroke motorcycles