The History of the Honda CR250

Honda developed the CR250 to compete in motocross off-road motorcycle racing. Honda had dominated Moto Grand Prix throughout the 1960s and now looked to gain similar success in motocross. The most successful motocross bikes of the day were powered by two-stroke engines. Honda did not make two-stroke engines, and founder and president Soichiro Honda had stated publicly, "Honda will never build a two-stroke motorcycle." The young engineers at Honda who had encouraged the company to enter motocross competition began a secret project to develop a motocross model with a two-stroke engine.

  1. Development In Secret

    • A group of young engineers from Honda's research and development department formed an informal team dubbed "The Association to Study the Motorcycle." In their official capacity as Honda engineers they were working on a new four-stroke motocross bike. Unofficially they were beginning development of a two-stroke engine. They gave the project the code name 335, later changing it to 335B.

      Within six months the team had a working engine and began work on the chassis. They had an operational prototype ready in time to test it in an All Japan Motocross Championship (AJMC) event on August 22, 1971. They chose this race since it was far from any major city. Their hope was to race and evaluate the bike without drawing much attention to the project, so they entered as an independent team. The bike experienced suspension trouble and did not finish the race, but the team gained valuable feedback on the engine. Their hope of anonymity was not realized, however, because competing teams and the media recognized them. The reports began to come out in the media of a new two-stroke Honda motocross motorcycle.

    Honda Sanctions Development of the CR250

    • With the Japanese motorcycle press reporting that Honda had produced a new two-stroke motocross bike, the engineers had no choice but to present it to Mr. Honda himself. After Mr. Honda had heard the proposal he gave his permission for the project to continue, saying, "It had better be the best two-stroke bike in the world."

      Once the project became an official Honda endeavor, the name was changed to 335C. Honda began recruiting the team that would race the still undeveloped bike in November, 1971. In January 1972, the project had progressed far enough that the bike was given the name RC250M. The new bike was entered in its first AJMC race on March 12, 1972, finishing in sixth place due to the engine overheating and problems with the suspension.

      The Honda engineering team corrected and refined the CR250M and raced it again on June 4, 1972. The bike finished second in the first race of the day and won the second. The CR250M was ready.

    Honda Motocross Dominance

    • Honda assembled a race team of experienced riders. These included Gary Jones, who had won the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) Motocross Championship in 1971 and 1972, riding a Yamaha 250. Jones repeated as champion for the third straight year in 1973, this time racing for Honda on the CR250M. Honda race teams and the CR250 would go on to win 12 more AMA Championships between 1974 and 2004, giving them 13 in all, including four in a row, from 1989 through 1992.

    Honda Markets The CR250

    • Honda offered the CR250 for sale to the public beginning in 1973. The bike was marketed as the CR250M Elsinore. Elsinore was a well known Grand Prix race that took place in California. Honda hired actor and motorcycle and auto racer Steve McQueen to do a commercial for the new bike, reportedly paying him $1 million. Honda produced and sold the bike through the 2007 model year, changing its official designation to the CR250R in 1977.