In the early nineteen seventies, the writing was on the wall for competitive motorcycles in the arena of world motocross competition. British manufacturers had tried in vain to re-capture lost glory with one-off works four stroke machinery, that proved fragile and economically un-sound, and ultimately sunk the Brit bike industry all together.
Husqvarna, Bultaco, Maico and others all produced top ranked motocross bikes, but they needed to be heavily modified before they could be raced, or suffer the consequences of exploded motors or other mechanical failures that would result in the dreaded DNF.
It had been evident by the middle nineteen sixties that the two stroke motocross motorcycle was here to stay, with reliability, power and light weight the four stroke manufacturers could only dream about. One of these manufacturers was Honda, whose founder Sochiro Honda was once quoted as saying “I will never build a noisy, dirty two stroke.” No one had taken Honda seriously in the highly competitive world of international motocross, and while Honda did rack up wins in cross country events, these victories were aboard modified scrambler type street bikes, all four strokes.
But that all changed in 1973 when Honda introduced two motorcycles that took the motocross world by storm, and things would never be the same again. The CR250M & CR125M motocross motorcycles were so far ahead of anything else previously designed, it was like every bike before it suddenly became an un-competitive stone, and every bike after it had to meet the new high mark that Honda made in the off-road motorcycle world.
To put the bike into perspective: Most every European motocross bike of that period had correct frame geometry, good motors and (sometimes) suspension, but in order to make them competitive you had to tear the things apart, and modify most every major engine & frame component to make them live in the harsh world of competition motocross. Paper air filters got dumped in favor of a Filtron, carbs had to be re-jetted, shock absorbers replaced, fork springs, wheels, spokes, clutches, etc. all had to be replaced or modified, or the bike would fall apart underneath you.
Not so with the Honda. All you did was ride it. The CR250M was the first Japanese motocrosser to be competitive “out of the crate”. Everything worked, the brakes, transmission, clutch, motor. The wheels didn’t loosen up and fall apart, the motor didn’t explode, the frame geometry was spot-on (even with a 57 inch wheelbase), and the bike tipped the scales at 214 lbs, wet. The CR could out turn the best Europe had to offer, and beat them in the straights. Stock.
Rick Sieman relayed that in 1973 he was racing a square barrel Maico, and thought it was tops, unbeatable. He took one ride on the new CR250 Honda, and promptly sold the Maico, bought a CR250 Honda and started winning races. Or sure, there were a few problems, like the swingarm bushings, and the stock rear shocks, but the CR250 was “right” out of the box, and soon dominated much of the off-road motorcycle world from 1973 to 1976, an eternity.
My CR250 was a year old when I bought it in 1974, and I can remember throwing the bike into situations that would have snapped any other dirt bike of the period in half. The Honda took it in stride, and just keep roosting along, its mid range motor grunting out of bad situations with ease. Nothing handled like it, and I doubt if another bike will ever change an industry like the ’73 CR250M Honda did.
It was the bike that made everything else after it “better”. The mono Yamahas, the RM Suzukis, and the KX Kawasakis all owe Honda a debt of gratitude for setting a new standard in off-road motorcycle technology with the CR250M. Without it, you have to wonder who would have made that quantum leap into the next generation of dirt bike technology.
It wouldn’t have been BSA, that’s for sure.
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