The Secret Honda Two-Stroke that changed the world
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 มิ.ย. 2023
- The 2 stroke Honda Elsinore changed motocross and offroad riding forever.
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I am a 64 year-old former rider now dealing with cancer. Been thinking about a compromised, shortened future, and getting back on a bike in the dirt and mud is high on my bucket list. My history: 1970 Bug Flea minibike ($169); 1972 Honda XL 100 4 stroke, street legal, but not for long; 1974 Honda CR 250 Elsinore, riding which I joined CRC and raced 250 Beginners at Indian Dunes, Osteen's, and Saddleback; 1977 Husqvarna CR250, kept it stock except for air forks, trained briefly with Russ Darnell, spent a week at Carlsbad with Rolf Tibblin, and moved up to Juniors. Then I turned 18, left for college, and walked away from one of the most enjoyable hobbies I ever had.
I used to worry about getting back up on the pegs, no longer able to walk away from the usual dumps and crashes as I did 50 years ago. Cancer and end-of-life considerations change our thinking. A broken ankle or clavicle is now an injury I would willingly risk for the experience one last tine of pitching 235 lbs. of hot metal sideways in a turn, certain that a good berm shot was a motherfucking, slam dunk certainty. When contemplating the end, actualized humans should choose joy over safety, flight over inertia, and tanned girls in optic yellow bikinis - never pass a classic ride.
Peace from So Cal.
One of my fondest teenage memories was a local kid escaping a cop on an CR125 Elsinore. He calmly put on his helmet and gloves as the cop rolled up on a Harley. Fired that bike up and raced off across a field...the cop was smart enough not to try and follow. The smell of burning gas and Castol R was sublime. Love the look and sound of that bike to this day!
Thanks
True or false for you: If you owned a dirt bike but rode the school bus to school in the 70's, and you looked out the window of the bus as it was going down the highway,---and you imagined jumping every driveway at the bus's speed,------------------------------------------------you did not get good grades in school.
Twas the ninety’s for me but yesir every friggen hill was climeable and every damn driveway was a tabletop my grades sucked but my childhood rocked pretty decent plumbah now so I’m aigghhhtt gotta get back on 2 wheels though thanks for the reminder 😂😂
YES, HOW DID YOU KNOW😮 My go to bike, 1968 Triumph 650 TT Special!!
L
Iet me tell you, I cut a pic of both Elsinores out of a mag and took it everywhere including church. ( I have worked that out since I hope).
I will never forget when my step father told me he had talked to the owner of the Honda shop , these were strictly racing bikes and I wasn't getting one. So I continued racing my CL 100 at our home made motocross track, lights , mirrors long broken and removed replaced with plastic lids as number plates. I broke the right foot peg off taking jumps replacing it with a bolt jammed into the frame. But the ultimate blow came when my friend whose dad was a Dr. , owned the property our " track " we built was on , asked me to take him in my truck to get his CR 125.
It was the original silver/ green 74 and he knew how bad Id wanted one so he let me ride several laps. I rode but didn't race lol.
I saw not long ago that same model for sale in a box. Parts of it , not sure if even all were there and the seller wanted over twice the original price for his box. They are collectors items intact. SMH.
Exactly how it was for me! I had a Yammie MX 100 for my first full size bike, when they were just enduros with the lights left off, knobbies and a chamber from the factory. Then on to the YZ and monoshockers…I was done just as the liquid cooled were coming around and kicking everyone’s asses…
A girl up the road had a first gen 125 Elsinore, when they’d bog and load up in the corners if you let the revs get down, turn off the gas and keep her wide open til it started revving again, flip the gas on and haul ass!!
I was a kid when the Elsinores came out - I remember the cover of Cycle magazine with them on it. My family didn’t have the money for me to race motocross so I watched from the sidelines and dreamed.
Up until then motocross bikes tended to be stripped down enduro bikes, maybe with a trimmed piston skirt on the intake side to raise high RPM power. The Elsinores changed all of that overnight.
A few years later I had a friend that bought a MR250 with a CR250 engine in it, complete with an expansion chamber and working lights. That bike was a riot to ride on the street!
This was a golden era of motocross.
14:30
Anyone else notice the chain tensioner nut spinning about as the engine was reved?
This video really takes me back and remindes me how much bikes have evolved. ❤
Yeah, Right around 14:30. Still a great vid...
I raced in 1974 a CR125, and for road I had a Honda MT125 Trail Bike. For the MT125 I installed a Bassani expansion chamber, cleaned the ports up to increase flow, and put a larger main jet in. The MT125 went from lame duck to a missile. Thanks for the Elsinore story.
I swapped the barrel and piston for a CR one and ran it on premix. All the Suzuki TS 185's ate my smoke.
The thing that I remember most about the Elsinore was that aluminum tank which was just beautiful.
The 125 had a steel tank so that it would meet the minimum weight limit of 176 pounds. The 250 had the aluminum tank.
@@ToneShapers Really? I bet there were other factors for that decision, (if true), because the difference in weight would probably be under 1lb. If what you said is true (steel tank), then I would have to say the 250 had the first aluminum tank, much like steel swing arms changing to aluminum. It just was not developed for the 125 yet.
@@ToneShapers correct
@@EarthSurferUSA Huskys had aluminium tanks before the CR did. Maicos, and the Spanish were fiberglass.
1974 was a year I entered Heaven when I bought the CR 125. Since that time, all my more expensive toys through the decades do not hold a candle to my time riding my Honda Elsinore.
Jawa 175 for me❤
A friend bought one in '74. I didn't have much riding experience back then, and I immediately looped it. Fortunately, my 16 year old legs were spry enough to run behind it and not crash. After that, it was sit as far front as I could and just go through the gears. The engine note wouldn't change because the gear ratios were so close. What a revolutionary bike! In short order Yamaha responded with the YZ monoshock and Suzuki with the first RM's, and Honda lost it's advantage.
I'm still riding the same mx250 that I had when was 13yo
300usd, is worth a million now .
Honda of Orlando, Edgewater drive
The good ole daze😣
Enjoyed the video. Reminded me of my youth admiring motocross and those gutsy riders. For the 125cc Elsinore, in my mind it was synonymous with Marty Smith who won so many races on it and represented, in my youthful mind, both motocross and Southern California. RIP Marty Smith (1956-2020).
Sometimes I forget how to tie my own shoes, then I remember names like Roger De Coster and Brad Lackey.
Yes. Do you remember Chuck Sun on the 2 stroke CR 500? The sweet smell of 2 strikes at the motocross track on weekends was part of my youth.
@@r.williamcomm7693 Castrol bean oil! Is there a better smell?
@@dicksonfranssen only a beautiful woman comes close. Lol 😂
Agreed
Thanks for taking me back to memory lane . When I was 16 years old I bought my 1st motorcycle , an SL125 , I loved that bike , learned so much with it from sliding into corners, jumping, doing wheelies , then 3 years later, feeling ready to race i bought the CR250M …raced it for 2 years…what a beast that bike was, loved the name Elsinore, loved the power, i always felt like my arms were going to get ripped off, i never had enough of that torque feeling, i eventually moved on to road motorcycle and bought a 1983 Kawa GPZ1100, thanks to the Elsinore for helping me migrate to that big bike.
Today at 67 years old and think of the past i wished i would have kept the Elsinore, not only for what i did with it but for the beauty of it, yes for a motocross it was a beautiful bike, shinny aluminum tank on black… and that exhaust pipe was screaming power why i named it Dark Side ; yah i should have kept it….
Thanks for your nice informative videos 😎
Great comment. 😀
I've got an SL100 & CL100, as well as assorted Honda trail bikes. 60 yrs old, old enough to know better and young enough to do it anyway,
Those bikes lived with personality.
I wish motocrossers were two stokes still, youngsters dont know that smell , and the blast they put out coming out a corner.
im 54 and this brings back so many memories growing up in southern California. 7 years old running alongside my dirt bike to jump on, because i was too short to touch the ground, struggling to pull the clutch to shift gears. going from a 4-stroke bike to a 2-stroke bike was night and day, i feel in love with the sound and the pull of the powerband. man i had so much fun in the 70s and 80s. thanks for taking the time to make this video.
The bikes are sooooo irrationally tall today, most of the pro riders look like you at the age of 7 trying to get on it. haha
That is why we almost never see a vid of a pro----getting on their bike. :)
I lowered my 2019 YZ250 to 1980's/90's standards. Now I know why there is no such thing as a real off camber corner on a MX track today too. :) They can't hardly turn the tall bikes with out a berm.
@@EarthSurferUSA ❤😊😊
Me too my friend
I will never ever forget the first time I saw a 1975 Honda CR125M displayed at a motorcycle store. I was in 6th grade and everyday I pass by that place just to stare at it through the glass window. And wow, especially when I first heard it run and reaped on its top rpm. I could still hear it in my head.
I owned the MT250 Elsinore, which was Honda's duel purpose version of the CR. That bike was indestructible. I was stationed in Alaska and went everywhere with it, great times and a great bike...
Good luck to you. I bought one in 1975 and it never ran for more than a week without needing service Centre surgery. I wonder if this was a proverbial one off lemon or perhaps a dealer service crew that didn’t understand the machinery. It sure was heavy for a 250 (cc or kilograms?).
@@simewood2040 "It sure was heavy for a 250 (cc or kilograms?)."
I think I found the problem with your bike.
I have 1973 MT 250 sitting in my project trailer
Was used pretty hard,, amazing how much of it is
Original
Paid $250 for it
I recently sold my 1974 MT 250. Had 1000 miles on it, was near mint and stock. $4200
@@EarthSurferUSA you didnt find shit . iwas employed at a honda shop who sold more hondas than any other for years on end and can say from servicing mt250's were total junk that why honda stopped all production in less than a year and a half ..they were the most under powered over weight dirt bike ever ...with 17 hp and 280 lbs. = moto fail
Great story about those Legedary Elsinore's! I remember my local motorcycle dealership back in the good old days of the early 70's. My first Dirt Bike in "72 was the SL125! I didn't care that it was not the most powerful scoot in the "Hood" in rural Ga. but it hauled my 12yr old self around just fine! My buddy up the road a ways had an SL125 too, so we just owned this little part of the world. He finally moved up to a DKW 125 in 1975 and I upgraded to the XL 250 in 1974. And at the ripe old age of 15 I joined the AMA , SETRA (Southeastern Enduro and Trail Riders Assn) and my buddy and I entered our first Enduro, the Gold City 150 in Dahlonega Ga in '74. (He broke, I timed out!) I also remember the first CR125 Elsinore at the local Cycle shop. It was for the local guy the cycle shop supported some and worked on his Hodaka Wombat 100 and then Combat Wombat 125. JEEZ! A flood of memories just popped up and I could rattle on for hours! Those were some good times, God how I truly miss them! Thanks for the memories 👍✌
I was working for Honda when the Elsinore first came out. We couldn’t keep them in stock. I believe the shock of this vastly superior off-road focused bike was responsible for motivating the other manufacturers to make most of the technical leaps that we have today as the manufactures got serious about competition. Honda did not make all of the innovations. Honda just kickstarted the race for innovation with the Elsinore.
My next door neighbor buddy had an Elsinore 125 when it came out. I had a Sachs DKW, and was pretty jealous. LOL, good times racing in Corona.
did you go to honda school on the elsinores that was honda's 1st two stroke ,,if you did your instructor was the man who designed them for honda ..was the most famous tuner in the world "pops" yoshimura himself who explained that all two strokes are internally supercharged and shown us all how he took advantage of that fact in designing the Elsinore and why there is no way a four stroke that is naturally aspirated of the same size will ever make the same or more hp than an internally supercharged two stroke , cause 4 stroke that go suck bang and blow aint supercharged ...but not according to the imbeciles of today who all believe magic and voodoo is real
@@msromike123 i started out in 67 with a Sears Super Sabre. my bud got a Honda CL 90. instant humiliation.
I remember going to a motocross race when thes bikes 1st came out the whole starting line was honda 125 Elsinore, sthey trul dominated like nothing i had seen before! 25 bike's on the line and they were all the same one!had to see it to believe it truly amazing!
I owned and raced also a 1974 Elsinore 125 in 1978 in the Netherlands, that bike was awesome. Nice souvenirs. Thanks for sharing and cheers from France(since 1982)!
Does the Elsinore 125 have good power stock?
Honda was not "Pushed out" of dirt track racing. After decimating the AMA Flat track series and the Harley Davidson XR750's of the time with total dominance of the sport, they simply stopped making and competing in the series with their NS750's. Equivelent to today's Indian's. THey came they saw and they conquered.
I totally agree. They conquered and they moved on.
And the accident with Bubba Shoburt.. Honda's #1 rider
Am I change the rules and made him put a 50 lb weight underneath That's why they quit
Also the AMA put restrictions on the Honda flat track bikes , like Nascar to keep one manufacturer unless its HD from running away from the competition. They added weight , and required a restrictor plate added to cut hp. Honda just didn't have a chance against corporate HD.
I had been racing for 2 years and turned 16 when the CR125 came out. Best coincidence of my life. Featherweight, seamless quick gearbox, razor sharp stock jetting (my standard ever since), and its handling was so communicative that, combined with the weight, made you confident of trying anything. Never has a race bike been so much better than ANYTHING else when it came out. God bike. And it was possible to keep it that way for quite a while. Over time, with the help of a shop I raced for, I had a reinforced aluminum swing-arm, laid down shocks, the GP engine kit, fork travel kit, etc. When the RM/YZs came out, they were a challenge. But at the pointy end, there were heavily modded CRs giving as good as they took. Loved that bike. Literally. Loved.
silver with red stripe on tank ?
I had same bike 75 red stripe cr125, also at 16. Loved it.
@@margarita8442 Silver w/green stripe. Soon was almost 100% red. Had to paint the frame anyway after the welding to lay the shocks down. Soon, everything everything except the pipe & the carburetor were red.
@@ElsinoreRacer I had a 36mm carby with ported barrel
My first bike in 1977 was a 1974 MT125 Elsinore. Great bike that never broke down but slow as hell. Also had to take a lot of breaks in my ride as it would heat up fairly quick. Back suspension was terrible. Anyways that's what I remember owning a 1974 MT125 at 14 & 15 yrs old.
I had been riding for 2 years when the CR125 came out. Wow what a bike! I couldn't afford one, and only got to ride one once, but compared to almost everything else it was light and fast. A the time it was very exciting, with new faster MXers coming out every 3-4 months it seemed; the CRs were followed by the RMs which combined more power with long travel "cushy" suspensions, then the YZs with even more power... it was a GREAT time to be a rider!!!
First dirtbike I ever rode. I remember thinking how knarly could 125cc's be. Holy moly are they awesome. Especially when you're not heavy set
With a power-band that was only ten mm long?
@@Deontjie Yeah, compared to today's bikes. In my youth 😂 I was used to winding out small engines, all that mattered was whether you got anything for your wrist-twist. Little 4 strokers like the CL160 Honda made very little power anywhere, there was nothing below 250cc that we could afford (ie no Huskies or Pentons etc) that made useful power by today's standards. Actually getting something while wringing out a CR125 was welcome. The CR250 was GREAT for the day! I fell in love with 2stroke power and went on to 10 years of racing RD & TZ Yamahas, which ranged from "some to none" in the midrange dept. But GREAT top-end rush!!! 🤣🤣🤣
Great memories. Those of us from that time all remember the first time the power band kicked. Better than $ex!
Honda.. Best chassis/forks (by far).. Suzuki.. smoothest power and best rear shocks.. Yamaha. best raw power. a little hard to ride.
Thanks, Bart, and certainly, Suzuki earned its reign in the early '70s with European superstars, but for American teens, it was Honda and Marty Smith who showed the way and in short order showed the Europeans they had another thing coming when it came to dominating our races. It was great theater on the track and in the magazines and on bedroom wall posters. And for me as an American teen attending an overseas military high school in Frankfurt, West Germany, I was an avid reader of all the monthly motorcycle magazines sold at the newsstand next to the PX. I worked an after-school job at the commissary, so I had that jingle in my pockets for Dirt Bike and Motocross Action and Cycle and Cycle World and Cycle Guide and Motorcyclist and yeah, I was a kook about it all and no regrets, bicycles and motorcycles were my teenage life. And get this, in '76, I bought a used '73 250 Maico from a friend for $200 bucks and became friends with the local Maico dealer in Frankfurt, Herr Mueller. And one day in his shop, he casually told me that Marty Smith would be racing the upcoming 125 German GP. I couldn't believe it, asked my Dad to take the family VW bus with a bunch of us to the race, and before the race, just relaxing outside his tent from an overnight stay at the track, was Marty in a camping chair just beyond a boundary of tape. And it was so incredible to meet him and chat with him and he was as nice as any kid would want his sports hero to be. And he placed second to Gaston Rahier on a Suzuki that day and my Dad took a bunch of great photos which I shared with a motocross website a couple of decades ago. And the site host said Marty really enjoyed them and said, "I remember that guy!" when he saw the pic of me standing next to him. It was one of my favorite days. I was a fan and may Marty rest in peace. He and his 125 were simply inspirational. And let's not forget that in '77, he won a 500cc championship on a Honda, beating the best of them all, Roger DeCoster on a Suzuki. Marty was the man.
I remember a neighbor kid had a brand new SL-70 bike, and to me a 9 year old with a mini-bike with a Tecumseh pull start engine, it was such a cool looking bike and to me looked like a 3/4 size real dirt bike.
@@A-FrameWedge So true, everything was exciting back then. And I remember thinking my Dad was a lucky duck in '71 because he had a Honda three-wheeler to ride at his construction work site. Plus he wasn't even into off-roading. That's just how I saw things when I was 11 in California, tho' I was forever thankful for my Sting-Ray, something to ride fast in the dirt like all the other speed-crazy kids. 😀
I still rue the day I let my 1974 Honda Elsinore 250 go. Got it out of the crate in 1975, leftover stock from Redlands Honda in Redlands, CA. Man, that was the most amazing bike.
I knew it! I knew it! One of my best friend's died at 21 on an Elsinore 250 (circa 1979) "dual sport". I was always in awe of Dave's abilities on that bike. None of us could keep up with him.
It’s always a great day when Bart posts 💪🏻
Hellz yeah brotheeeer
🦾
Yea, right. bot channels don't know day from night.
@@EarthSurferUSA 10-4 pig pen
They should offer those comfortable seats again. Sitting on your dirt bike like a couch is just another dimension of relaxation, especially if you enjoy cruising through the fields and trails at ease. I only use old seats from the 70's-80's or build similar ones for new projects, the modern seats are just way too hard and uncomfortable.
This is awesome - I had a 125 Elsinore - not sure of the year, then a 1986 CR250R 2 stroke, now a 2005 CRF450x - all of the bikes were and are so reliable. Thank you for the background on the Elsinore
Was racing a Yamaha RT 100 when this bike came out. Bought a new 1974 Elsinore 125 and immediately started winning races on it.
This bike changed the game in motocross without a doubt…👊
After this video, @bart is officially my most favourite motorcycle channel, ever! it's not a competition with F9, that is a different type of content, but bart is just killing it with simple, knowledge based, encyclopedia of a motorcycle channel,,,,,,
Simplistic? Or simple? There is a difference.
@@Lightw81 thanks for pointing out, it's simple
How many of you in school back in the 70's, would ride the bus to school, and as you wend down the highway, you enjoyed looking out the window and imagine yourself jumping all the driveways like table top jumps as you rode the buses speed?
No wonder why it was so hard for me to concentrate on school work. :)
Glad I did much better in college though.
Watched that film "On Any Sunday", twice through in one day, then went with a couple of buddies to a Yamaha shop to buy our first bikes. I bought a Yamaha 250 Enduro, new for $750.00 plus tax, took it home and stripped it down. Removed all the lights and Speedo stuff. Put on a plastic peanut gas tank, plastic fenders, changed the 47 tooth rear sprocket to a 54 tooth one for more torque to the ground for hill climbing, gutted the Auto-Lube and ran mixed Blenzal gas that brought tears to ones eyes if you were stuck behind me. I had a weld shop modify the rear shocks to a lower top point for 'Lay Down Shock' greater rear travel for those fat Knobby tires that barely cleared the frame. Beefed up the rear brake arm, and mounted a motocross style handlebar with impact resistant levers complete with a compression release lever to go with the compression release spark plug. Had fun with it in the dirt, cow trailing, hill climbing, etc. then sold it when I saw all of my riding partners off work for months after their crashes during our Northern California and Bay Area rides. Hollister. Carnegie. Pascadero. Mendocino. China Camp. All trucked in rides that started out in the dark of morning and ended in the dark of night. With a toddler age son, I knew I couldn't miss work to be able to keep the family fed. Yes, I dumped it more than once, and my right side knee is still weak from a wicked drop, even though I'm now 75 years old... but I wouldn't trade those fun times for all the tea in China! This video was great to bring back those memories along with the brand names of the bikes of other riders that we rode the trails and hills with. Knew all of them. Able to out climb many of them with my 54 tooth setup and better idle setting. Some of those other bikes couldn't idle at all. Too pipey!
I remember back when the Elsinore came out brand new. I rode a 250 it was a beast off road.
I owned a 1974 elsinore 250 and a 1976 elsinore 250, awesome to ride, still my favorite dirt bike.
Great video! Brought back so many memories of being a teen in the 70s &80's and riding motocross in Alabama. Rode my YZ80 everywhere and everyday until the Elsinore showed up at the Honda store. Got my hands on a brochure for the 250 Else and just drove my parent absolutely crazy day and night till they finally gave in .Riding the 250 Elsinore at the various tracks around the deep south made for the most memorable summers of my life (until I got a CR!) Thanks for bringing back all those memories!
I turned 10 in 1975 and I remember wanting an Elsinore so bad. My dad bought me a new XL70 and I learned on that. I never did get that Elsinore and if Honda made a retro bike now to honor it I would still buy one.
Hey thanks for doing this video. Brings back a lot of fond memories.
I've had the honor of owning two Elsinores. One was given to me by my cousin, who raced motocross his whole life.
I once asked him what was his favorite Honda dirt bike. He said 1979 CR250. Go look it at some pictures of it. Tons of red. Gorgeous.
Always phenomenal writing, great and interesting video and content! And (personal preference)....thanks for not needing to put a lot of "face time" in your videos. Your work more than stands on its own!
Great video. Brings back lots of great memories, too. I got a brand new CR 80 Elsinore in 1981 when I was 10 years old and weighed about 70lbs. It was the first 2-stroke in my rural neighborhood area at the time. I was untouchable on that thing. It would go exactly 73 mph, wide-opened in 6th gear. My parents never knew just how fast that thing was. They just thought it was a cute little red dirt bike. lol!
I had the 80 CR80R and could ride it about 10 minutes before the cops would be cruising my neighborhood looking for me. I don't blame my neighbors for calling them - it was a chainsaw on wheels.
Great video Fluump ❤️
7:04 if you want to learn/know more about Kawasaki's rotary valve engine models. th-cam.com/video/R1Ik29yg85s/w-d-xo.html
I have a 1973 Z50 and CT70, both still running great. Wish I still had the XR75. Durability and longevity like no other. Love my Honda's.
From zero to hero its awesome he had someone in the company that recognized the problem and addressed it or it may have set them back years in development
I actually have an Elsinore 125 sitting in my garage right now! They are incredible bikes. Love mine to death, and I have had it in my family since brand new.
It's mine now, and it still runs like a top.
I had 3 my dad took them to the tip.
@@Ricardo-jk3et more fool him
awesome!
I had a 1977 Honda MR175 Elsinore, good god I loved that bike.
Nice trip down memory lane.
Cheers.
Raced the Elsinore in the 70's. Damn it was an awesome and fun machine. The SL-125 was my first trail bike.
First time I saw a 125 Elsinore was in 1973, in Manchay circuit in Lima Perú, from then to now no other bike impessed me that way...that bike was a dream come true.
Couple of minor corrections with the CR250R. It was introduced in 1978, I owned and raced one, and it was still a twin shock, not Pro-Link, but was the first production bike with a full 12" of suspension travel. Pro-Link came along in 1981.
I had a 79...in 79 it seemed light years ahead from my Hodaka. Lol, it was.
Different bike I know but, I bought a brand new, superseded rear twin strut shocked XL 500 that was THE last with that type rear suspension. The new model WITH the long travel single shock was already out so it was stupidly cheap and that XL was the last, the silver tanked ones from 1982 so that dates pretty close to your dates for the CR50 there. Being the more serious race type bike, I'd expect them to be ahead if anything, the much less serious trail bikes so your 1981 sounds logically to be spot on.
In this same vane the cr250r didn’t get an aluminum frame until 1997 and it was not well received at the time or in hindsight really as the frame was/is way too stiff and reportedly prone to cracking. The last steel frame ones are often regarded as the best until the second generation of aluminum frames in 2001.
Yep had 81 cr125 pro link water cooled little rocket in its day
It is a bot channel, and like our education today, there is very little accuracy.
I watched in amazement as you relived my life in the 70s. I had two Honda motorcycles. I enjoyed this video.
I had an sl 125 my dad bought used . It was immaculate and I immediately removed the lights and my dad freaked out . I then got a 74 Elsie after my SL fell off a bike trailer and the guy driving , a friends dad , gave me my Elsie . I was so glad my SL came off the trailer and I ended up with the Elsie. They had a power band about an inch wide . You were basically wide open the whole time you rode it . Loved the sound of them in mass at a start and the smell of bean oil .
I bought a Can-Am when they first came out. A little heavier than my Elsinore, but a much wider power band. However, the 125 Elsinore was so much fun. It produced all its horsepower in a very narrow band… I think it was around 9000 RPM… But that was 50 years ago and I’m probably wrong. It was almost impossible to keep the front wheel on the ground… it was an absolute riot! Great memories.
Note: a previous comment recommended doing a video on Hodaka…. I would love to see that… My first bike was a super rat!
I'd love a video on Hodaka, great idea!! I never had a Hodaka. I do have a 1983 CanAm MX 250. I've had it since 1990. Back in the day some friends had new 1974 CR125s, but I've never had one. Closest I came was an MR 250 and an MR 50. Ah, the good old days.
I bought a 1974 Honda Elsinore….new…I still have it.
I had a new 79 Elsinore 250. Solid red. Fastest thing you ever rode. It ripped out the factory spokes and would occasionally break the DG spokes that I installed. Monster power. Any body I let get on it got hurt.
It was plain dangerous but fun as hell to ride at 14 years old.
I put a hole through my boot once kicking it but damn what a ride.
Really enjoyed your video... I vividly remember when the Elsnore came out. The big news was Honda made a 2-stroke dirt bike and it was bad ass!
Oh the memories! There was nothing like being young and owning & racing one those beauties. I loved it!!
Nice summary of the Elsinore story! One of our friends had a CR125, he was the envy of the group. Everyone compared their bike to the Elsinore!
In the early '70s, while in high school, I worked in the parts department for Wiggy's Honda in Pt. Pleasant NJ. I bought one of the first two CR250 Elsinores that came in, which had sand cast crankcases. The ones after that were diecast. I still have what was the original owner's manual, a poor photocopy marked "Provisional Manual". Not discussed here, was the requirement to change the piston rings "every 2 races"!!! After riding it for a few hours, I pulled it apart while still running perfect, and the rings were stuck in the piston grooves! I was relieved when the new rings went right in, and the piston wasn't damaged. The engine was HOT, once flipped the bike over backwards on pavement when I opened it up. Along another note, during that time Wiggy's sponsored from Honda of Japan, Tetsu "Mike" Hishiki, and shortly after that his mechanic, Yoshi "Pete" Sudo, to come to the states. They built a killer CB750 with parts flown in from Japan and raced it on the US circuit. Basically, the same bike that he was winning on in Japan. They arrived with zero English skills, and we taught them from scratch. Before purchasing the CR250, Mike and Pete helped me build a killer SL125 with Yoshimura parts and tricks such as welding the centrifugal spark advance to full advance. I was keeping up with two strokes in the gravel pits! Twenty years later I bumped into Pete at Disney in Florida! He said that Mike went back to Japan. Mike can be found on TH-cam and also with a Google search.
I was sitting in my high school drafting class in 1975 and one of the guys mentioned he had a motorcycle for sale. I asked what kind and he said a 1974 Honda Elsinore 125. I had never heard of it, So my dad and I went to his house that Saturday to look at it. I took it for a ride and all I remember was having to work to keep the front wheel on the ground. Until that time I had never ridden any bike with that kind of power or "power band" punch. I paid $500 for it, it was in great shape. I then raced that bike for 2 years and had a blast with it. That one bike, 48 years later, has forever changed my life. As I type this, I can still remember the sound, the smell and the punch of that Elsinore 125. The greatest bike I have ever owned. To this day I still have dreams of getting that bike back in my hands.
LEGEND! This was my Dad's favorite bike, of the maybe 30-40 motorcycles he owned through his life, he talked about the Elsinore more, by a lot!
I had one of each, a 73 250 and later a 74 125, and really enjoyed the both of them. The one that I always wanted later on was the 78 250 as it so looked like the RC 250. Thanks for sharing!
at 14;30 that sound of that Elsinore !!! DUDE it felt like I was a kid again !!! getting off the school bus and running home to go ride my 1980 CR80 Elsinore ! lmao 🤣 great times !!!
I had a 125cc Elsinore. Very light, nimble, fabulous fork travel and powerful for 125cc. Loved it.
Unforgettable Elsinore, i felt in love whe i was child, the quality of HONDA awesome,
Yes, I can remember how good it was, it blew everything away here in Australia, until the PE Suzukis came along. By then however the whole sport had changed and before long the Yamaha YZ came along. You’re right it really did change dirt bikes, it pushed everyone forward.
The PE from Suzuki stood for "Pure Enduro", that came out in 1977. The faster YZ's came out a couple years earlier, with the Yamaha "MX" being the MX race bike for a couple years before and during the new YZ release.
The aircooled, monoshock YZ came out at the same time...
Thanks for the serious effort you put into researching your videos. Even at the expense of missing a few details you open up the subjects to further investigation. Ronn
Loved my CR250 Elsinore! Previously had a XL250 thumper which would torque its way to the front of the pack of two strokes but it was heavy and cumbersome. The CR250 was lithe, limber, powerful and light--you could throw it around a motocross track with gay abandon! What a bike!
They were quite "choice" machines when they came out, reminded me of the first low pipe Bultaco "Sherpa S" models of the early '60s in their overall design. When the Elsinore machines came out, I was working as a Kawasaki/Suzuki mechanic and racing occasionally on a borrowed TM250 which was heavy by comparison and unfortunately the same transmission ratios of the TS model which dropped the engine off its best power after a shift to third gear. We sold many TM125s and they did well in our area but were limited due to being derived from the TS models. The first RM though started telling a better story.
Ive had a few bikes in my time. Without a doubt the 1975 Mr50 is my all time favorite toy. My mom and dad bought it new for me. Thanks mom and dad. The Mr50 was a beast compared to the other 50’s. Tuff as nails.
Loved my 125 Elsinore! I was working for Cycles Inc. in NOVA when it was announced and immediately put one on order. I got the 2nd to arrive. It was a blast compared to my other bikes at the time.
The first CR125M was so light originally that Honda had to change the aluminium tank to steel to get it above the minimium legal race weight! The two Elsinores also came with alloy body finned shocks that were rebuildable which gave them a very superior compliance to the track for longer ( until they heated up as well). The Honda was poorly jetted though and jets were simply unavailable to most people. If you let it come off pipe it would load up and take about 10secs to clear.
The next big step was when Yamaha introduced the YZ with the monoshock tringulated rear with a De Carbon single shock. With the reed valve and the improved traction the Yammie was pretty hard to beat as the power band was much wider and the rear stuck to the ground much better .
I was racing MX in the early 70’s thru 81. Starting on a Hodaka Super Rat up to KX250 in 1981. I raced against the 125 Elsinores and they were gnarly. Too many kids in the 125 class, so I only did it one year. Once you have a hole shot and your handlebar hits the latticed fence they had in the day…and everyone gives you a knobby thrashed body, you get out. 🤙🤙🤙
I had a CR80 back in 82, what a little flying machine, had that for a year and hit a growth spurt, got the CR125 and YEEHAAAAA!!
That bike FLEW far and high, the old abandoned sandpits of St.Davids had tracks carved into it in no time, the walls were our adventure
I never had the Elsinore 250 but I did have the 1975 Bultaco Pursang 360 , almost got the Husky the day I bought my Bultaco . After that I bought the 77 Yamaha YZ 400. I was younger than most of the guys I rode with and they were heavily in to the Macos, CZs< Montessa , Pentons, and the Susuki TM 400 , Yamaha Sc500. those were some very good days.
Wish I had many of my old bikes back. Had a 73 250. Loved that bike.
I had an MT 250 (and should have kept it) for my first bike. Delightful for urban commuting, it was easy to care for and forgiving.
Sweet, sweet memories. Great job!
Great video on some historic machines.... Back in the late 70s a friend bought a 250 Elsinore and that thing was impressive.👍
Dedicated motocross/enduro/scrambles bikes were quite common long before the introduction of the Elsinore at Daytona 1973. Bultaco, Maico, CX, Husqvarna, Penton, Montessa and on.
As I recall, during the late 1960s off road motorcycles were evolving rapidly. John Penton (especially) was convinced that extremely lightweight 2 strokes would become the most competitive bikes. Soon the Japanese jumped on this bandwagon with their superior engineering, high volume manufacturing facilities, and low cost labor. European manufacturers were simply unable to remain competitive - until more recently (see KTM).
@@5tr41ghtGuy The Penton was built by KTM for him. When Penton motorcycles went bankrupt, KTM could then import them directly. We bought a Hi-Point trailer after that time (He owned that company too) and Mr. John Penton delivered it himself! It was an honor to meet him
@@5tr41ghtGuy what did you ride on the sixties?
@@stevek8829 I was riding a Honda QA 50 in the 1960's, because I was 8 years old!
@@5tr41ghtGuy had a 68 CB-350, and a 68 Penton 125 on 68, which I started racing on. Honda was late to the party for motocross and enduro. Their first two stroke made it's first appearance in the 250 class at Daytona in 73, I was there. Even in 73, if you were an amateur racer, your best purchase value was still European.
I never heard of a Honda QA in the sixties, only the seventies.
The squid laying it down at 16:28 was worth the watch . Been riding red since 97 and still have a 2003 CRF 450r vintage piece . Indestructible would be a good description owed to the Elsinore
I had a 250 Elsinore the first year they came out. Maybe the first one in South Florida as the Honda shop was next door to my das's HVAC business. I won a lot of races on that thing, but I also killed it mechanically. I broke the down tube frame in half twice, bent the bolt that held on one of the foot pegs multiple times, broke the gears in the transmission, bent shift forks, broke the weld on the center case for the transmission, flattened the down pipe multiple times, and blew the motor including the connecting rod that punched a hole in the cases.
25 dirt bikes later at 16 years old, that dirt bike is still my favorite of all time. It was like owning a nitro dragster at the time and I was thrilled it was mine.
Read about the Elsinore and immediately ordered one. Got one of the first Elsinores sold in So. California. $1,040.00 O.T.D. have owned many bikes since that day, but the Honda will always be my favorite.
I bought my Elsinore MX 250 in 1973 and a Elsinore MT 250 Enduro in 1975. Both were decent bikes. The MX bike had a very quick throttle response, light weight and it had almost zero rear wheel suspension travel. The MT was very reliable. My only complaint about the MT was it's tendency to bog. It seemed to be a weather conditions problem. Wish I had held onto both bikes. Bought a Can Am 250 in 1975 and while testing, I broke my back which left me paralyzed from the waist down. Despite my accident I've never blamed it on the sport. It was an accident and I was riding in a dangerous environment so the accident was all on me, not the bike. Anyways, thank you for this trip down memory lane and reminding me of a few bikes I wish I had held onto.
The early 70's were the best time to be a kid involved with riding dirt bikes with you dad, and the early 70's was motocrosses shining hour.... absolutely the the best era of motocross....makes me sad those days were so long ago and went by so fast but I am damn glad I was part of that era
I got to spend quite a bit of time on a 125 Elsinore in 1972 and it was a spectacular weapon - such a blast to ride. My 250 Bultaco Persang at the time was an unrefined but loveable brute. I was I still had it.
I remember racing motorcross in Arizona, at Beeline raceway, in the mid 70's. The first time I saw a Honda Elsinore. Carlos Serrano was fast as lightning on that thing. He was amazing to watch.
Takes me back to the days of riding my dads Elsinore growing up great vid as always Bart
I climbed off a Suzuki TM 400, and jumped on to a Honda Elsinore, 250, and went straight to number one on the track, thank you Honda for a very memorable period of time.
My first bike. 1974 CR125M, with the silver/green tank. My dad bought two, one for him, one for me. I was 14. I learned to ride on that bike, using the "gas it 'til you hit something" method. I followed Super Hunky's advice as outlined in one of his "From The Saddle" columns (Dirt Bike Magazine): when in doubt, gas it.
WFO
Bought a new cr250m in 1973. Wish I still had it. Down the railroad tracks wide open was a thrill.
Excellent piece. Growing up in the 70s this sums it up perfectly
Lol, my first motorcycle was a 72 SL 125, what a POS. My next bike was a 73 TM125, good effort and not a bad bike. A local dealer was offering test rides on the brand new 1973 CR250 Elsinore at my local track, what an incredible bike with beastly horsepower. I started racing moto at this time and half the starting line was TM 125 and the rest was Yamaha, Kawi, and a mix of Sachs powered euro bikes like Pentons, Monarks, and DKWs. In 74 the 125 was released and just blew everything away, and soon over half of the starting line was Elsinores. After trying hard to compete with the TM, I bought my first of maybe half a dozen or more CR 125Ms and immediately started running at the front of the pack. They felt like you could just hold them wide open everywhere and just rail everything. They truly did revolutionize American moto X.
I like your video. Some of your details are off for example Honda pro link didn't come out until 1981 , Honda tried to advertise the 1972 Xl 250 as a serious mx bike and it almost made a competitive bike. Maico and CZ 125 were too heavy ,your right about them. Monarch ( a swedish bike using a Sachs engine) was the best 125 in 1974, but at $1200. Vs $750 for a cr125 was a no brainier. I am 65 and still vintage race my 1975 Elsinore that I bought new in 75. I had a 1974 cr125, and 1979 cr250r, I wish I kept both of them. And I wish I had kept my 1972 xl250, I race it but it was a pig. I did keep my ct70 that I threw a paper route to buy in 1970 and I have a , what I consider, Honda's best two stroke ever my 2001 cr250r. You can't beat a Honda. I keep them for decades and they keep running. My newest Honda in the fleet is my 2002 vlx 600. I kept the 75 Elsinore because I won more trophies on that bike than any other I had and in vintage racing ( in my age group) it is still getting me into the top 3 places. Keep riding keep racing just keep it on two wheels.
I also threw papers on a paper route in 1971 when I was 13 and then used that money to buy my first motorcycle which was a Yamaha 100cc Enduro. I had a lot of fun on that little bike and then I bought a 125 Enduro. I bought full fledged street bikes after that. I never did try any official motocross racing but I kept up with a lot of it from the motorcycle magazines of the day. I think the Elsie was the best looking motocross bike of them all partly because of that silver tank.
Hey Fluump, great content😉 glad to see you enjoying YT again!
Excellent documentary… not spoilt with hundreds of commercials either… thank you, have subscribed
Ah, the memories... Thanks for putting this together!
I had a first year cr250 Elsinore. Was awesome. Loved that little flap on fender leading edge. Great bike, light, fast, reliable. I put a little flywheel weight on mine and later modified the rear suspension, moving the shocks up using welded forward mount plates and a pair of marzzochi shocks. I had no idea what I was doing. ;-)
😆 Neither did anyone else, but they were all doing the same.
Me 2 !!!! One of the magazines had a story about moving the shocks and making gussets for the swing arm!!! Riding with twin brothers who worked in a machine shop helped A LOT !!!😊😊😊😊😊🏍🏍🏍🏍🏍🏁🏁🏁🍺🍺🍺
@@artmchugh5644 Dirt Bike mag had a goofball story about bike maintenance where they said to boil your chain in vegetable oil on the stove to bring it back to life. My next door buddy that I rode with actually did it. I was with him and he just took it into the kitchen and got a pan and vegetable oil and boiled it. 😆 His nom didn't care. She let him do anything.
@@tristanwwsd when I moved my shocks , I painted the swing arm orange so people would notice!!!!🤣🤣🤣🤣👍
@@artmchugh5644 Orange? Ultra trick. 😃
I remember going to Elsinore as a kid to watch the TT racing. Good times.
BTW, If you're name's Bart you got my seal of approval.............cheers Bart
My neighbor across the street had an 250 Elsinore.... Interstate 5 ran along the backside of our neighborhood with a long street parallel...I jumped on the throttle and when I hit third gear I thought I was going to fly off the bike.... scared the crap outta me! WHOA!
Eric Underwood Class of 81 Downey High school CA ✌️
As someone who is heavily into offroad bikes, I enjoy the toe dip into this side of the spectrum from this channel.
I had a 73 Elsinore 125 back 1977 in the day I did well at the track. It had a DG pipe and some custom porting it was fast. My friend had the 250 I could out Drag him every time. That bike was Impressive for the day. Great history and video
2020 CRF450L. Keep riding. My old man had an Elisnore back in Van Nuys 73/74 with Al Baker tuning that bike up then it was my turn XR75. RIP dad. 63 in October keep riding my friends.
Hey bart, you're making great content. People want this stuff, myself included. Please, keep going!