Canadian 1988 Honda CR250 restos. Bike #1 Complete

avmechanic
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avmechanic 6/13/2018 10:59am
6/13/2018 10:59am
I plan to ride this bike mostly trail riding and the Province has stepped up the fines and enforcement on having spark arrestors. I was kind of wanting to find a more period correct muffler for this bike and I spotted an Answer SA-Pro 2 spark arrestor muffler NOS on ebay. I managed to get it for $100. It was for a 92' to 96' 250 but I was told the 92' - 96' muffler would fit the 88' to 91' bike with minor adjustments. It did indeed fit with a shim behind the mount and a little grinding out of the hole.




Greg
avmechanic
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avmechanic 6/13/2018 11:23am
6/13/2018 11:23am Edited Date/Time 6/13/2018 11:26am
I also picked up another 88' - 91' cylinder for my projects. I was wanting to find a good cylinder that had not had a steel liner installed. This one I bought was a bit of a risk as the pictures were not great. It was listed a 94' but I am very familiar with these engines and knew it was a HPP cylinder. I asked the seller questions and he never responded. I looked at the rest of his store and he was parting out a 1990 and a 1994 so I knew this was likely to be a 1990 cylinder. It had a buy it now offer, so I offered $100 and took the chance. I figured that it looked like all the power valve parts were still there so those parts are worth that much. Well I received the cylinder and it looks great. Nikasil is really good. All power valve parts were included as well as a good cylinder head. I am super happy with the deal. Sometimes you just have to take a chance. These cylinders are really hard to come by. Too many years of TRX250 guys using them up before they started making aftermarket TRX cylinders. I am going to use this cylinder for my next engine build. I am going to send it out for Vapourblasting this week.



sandman768
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sandman768 9/10/2018 6:15pm
9/10/2018 6:15pm
just picked this up a few days ago. Motor stuck, but bike is all original & very clean....As I look through the Oem parts microfishe I see several gaskets are NLA..what are you using for gaskets? I see several aftermarket kits are availible, but I have always felt Oem is best for gaskets...I may have to pick your brain when It comes to the Hpp adjustments, I have read the manual & it looks confusing.....





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avmechanic
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avmechanic 9/10/2018 7:34pm
9/10/2018 7:34pm
Nice clean looking bike there Sandman. Sounds like a full engine rebuild and you will have a great machine. I also commented on your facebook post. As for gaskets, I had a complete Honda gasket kit that came with a batch of parts I bought from a guy. I also had a couple of miscellaneous Honda gaskets by themselves and another complete gasket set that was aftermarket. I will have to go have a look what brand they were. For some reason I thought they said Athena. Regardless. The aftermarket ones were just as good as the oem and some had the exact same paper. As for the HPP it is not as bad as it seems when you actually put your hands to it. The toughest part is engaging the rack in the head to the cam lever in the clutch case. I find when the valves are adjusted for a little preload as they are supposed to have it is hard to get the rack engaged. I undo the little cap on the right side where the rack slides into the cylinder. If you just push on the rack a little bit then you can twist the engagement screw under the slotted cap below the waterpump and engage the system. Final adjustment of valve preload is in the little cam bolts under either side of the caps on the cylinder. The lever has a bolt through the two halves and that bolt has an eccentric.You turn the bolt till there is just a little preload on the springs at the top of the pinions. I will answer any questions you have when you get to it. I have been saying to myself that I need to do a good youtube video on this as many people struggle with them. Good luck on the build and please show us your progress with a build thread of your own. I love checking out the builds.
Greg

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sandman768
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sandman768 10/2/2018 6:07pm
10/2/2018 6:07pm
Hey Greg, I replaced the clutch cover with a new one & rebuild the water pump assy. I Cannot get the powervalve governer rack to engage the rod that comes down from the top of the cases. I have the manual & I"m doing it just as they state...the cylinder is off being replated. I"m 100% sure the water pump & govener are assembled correctly...any suggestions? Thanks ...
avmechanic
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avmechanic 10/2/2018 9:49pm
10/2/2018 9:49pm
sandman768 wrote:
Hey Greg, I replaced the clutch cover with a new one & rebuild the water pump assy. I Cannot get the powervalve governer rack to engage...
Hey Greg, I replaced the clutch cover with a new one & rebuild the water pump assy. I Cannot get the powervalve governer rack to engage the rod that comes down from the top of the cases. I have the manual & I"m doing it just as they state...the cylinder is off being replated. I"m 100% sure the water pump & govener are assembled correctly...any suggestions? Thanks ...
If everything is put together correctly then it must be that you do not have the cam follower and spindle in the correct orientation. The cam follower (#9 in the picture) will have to fit into the notch at the governor actuator (the one you are turning to engage behind the cap). If the cylinder is off you should be able to rotate it around to the correct position to be engaged in the notch as you rotate the engagement of the spring piece behind the slotted cap. It probably is best to leave it disconnected till the cylinder is on anyways but now is the time to practice what it takes to get it correctly engaged.

I see so many questions on this I plan to do a Youtube video explaining it all when I get to working on the next engine I have. I think a video will help a lot of people.
Good luck. I hope this helps you out.
Greg
sandman768
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sandman768 10/3/2018 4:47am
10/3/2018 4:47am
Maybe I"m over thinking it... I"m sure everything is assembled correctly and have both engagement points set as per the factory manual, just seems to bind when I try to rotate the adjustment screw, not a very solid/ definite engagement, maybe more solid when the cylinder is installed? I have the new clutch cover I bought from Honda of east toloedo, I was thinking maybe the cover machining is off somewhere but it lines up good everywhere else & engages all the other gears nicely. I must of had this cover on & off about 50 times yesterday! I was just thinking this bottom end is going together so easy....I can actually slowly put the cover on & set the shaft on top of the cam follower but it does not seem to stay engaged when I tighten the cover down.
avmechanic
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avmechanic 10/6/2018 8:06am
10/6/2018 8:06am
sandman768 wrote:
Maybe I"m over thinking it... I"m sure everything is assembled correctly and have both engagement points set as per the factory manual, just seems to bind...
Maybe I"m over thinking it... I"m sure everything is assembled correctly and have both engagement points set as per the factory manual, just seems to bind when I try to rotate the adjustment screw, not a very solid/ definite engagement, maybe more solid when the cylinder is installed? I have the new clutch cover I bought from Honda of east toloedo, I was thinking maybe the cover machining is off somewhere but it lines up good everywhere else & engages all the other gears nicely. I must of had this cover on & off about 50 times yesterday! I was just thinking this bottom end is going together so easy....I can actually slowly put the cover on & set the shaft on top of the cam follower but it does not seem to stay engaged when I tighten the cover down.
I think you will want to leave it disengaged until the cylinder is on anyway. I found the easiest way to get it all together is to get the cylinder on then the clutch/water pump case and then engage the governor last. After it is all engaged then you do the final valve adjustment under the valve side covers on the cylinder with the cam bolts #4 in the picture.
Greg
sandman768
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sandman768 10/6/2018 7:08pm
10/6/2018 7:08pm
sandman768 wrote:
Maybe I"m over thinking it... I"m sure everything is assembled correctly and have both engagement points set as per the factory manual, just seems to bind...
Maybe I"m over thinking it... I"m sure everything is assembled correctly and have both engagement points set as per the factory manual, just seems to bind when I try to rotate the adjustment screw, not a very solid/ definite engagement, maybe more solid when the cylinder is installed? I have the new clutch cover I bought from Honda of east toloedo, I was thinking maybe the cover machining is off somewhere but it lines up good everywhere else & engages all the other gears nicely. I must of had this cover on & off about 50 times yesterday! I was just thinking this bottom end is going together so easy....I can actually slowly put the cover on & set the shaft on top of the cam follower but it does not seem to stay engaged when I tighten the cover down.
avmechanic wrote:
I think you will want to leave it disengaged until the cylinder is on anyway. I found the easiest way to get it all together is...
I think you will want to leave it disengaged until the cylinder is on anyway. I found the easiest way to get it all together is to get the cylinder on then the clutch/water pump case and then engage the governor last. After it is all engaged then you do the final valve adjustment under the valve side covers on the cylinder with the cam bolts #4 in the picture.
Greg
I came to the same conclusion, I have finished the bottom end & installed it back in the frame, the clutch & water pump cover are installed for now. I will wait until I get the cylinder back & give it another go...I was thinking there needs to be preload on the assembly for it to engage properly. I know I have everything assembled correctly, sure makes you appreciate the 92-2001 setup! I"m very happy with the way the rest of the bottom end went together.
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utemachine
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utemachine 11/13/2018 9:27pm
11/13/2018 9:27pm
I am just blown away. I had this bike when I was 18 years old in 1994. I just bought an 89 amd going to restore over the winter so loving this thread! Where did you get the perforated tank stickers? I can’t find those in oem parts.
avmechanic
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avmechanic 11/14/2018 11:12am
11/14/2018 11:12am
utemachine wrote:
I am just blown away. I had this bike when I was 18 years old in 1994. I just bought an 89 amd going to restore...
I am just blown away. I had this bike when I was 18 years old in 1994. I just bought an 89 amd going to restore over the winter so loving this thread! Where did you get the perforated tank stickers? I can’t find those in oem parts.
I picked up all the Decals from Vintage Roost in AB Canada. The glue has not been holding up well on the tank decals though so I am going to look for another set from another source.
Greg

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