Getting Ahead of the Curve

[Tahitian_Red]

Thinking about getting ahead of the curve and buying a 1993-2001 250 two-stroke.  Looking for something to ride with the little ones and possibly race "Old School" MX 5-10 years down the road.

 

Here are a few I have on my list:  1993 Honda CR250, 1994 Kawasaki KX250, 1996 Suzuki RM250, 2001 Honda CR250  Any thoughts about these or other suggestions?

[firko]

Red, what about the last of the steel framed Elsinores, the '96 CR250? It's a truly classic model that was unfortunately followed by a real disaster, the alloy framed '97. It's a bit like the very flawed '82 Maico that followed the legendary '81. Thankfully Honda and the others soon came to grips with alloy frame technology.

[Tim754]

Mr Red Firko speak words of great wisdom. 96 Honda CR250 Top of the Heap around that era in my humbly lousy opinion too. Mark I have never had displeasure of riding the first alloy frame one, what traits made more than a few call them such a feral canine?

[Tahitian_Red]

From what I've read the frames started getting stiffer after 1993 and it really carried over when the aluminum frames were introduced. 

The aluminum frames have always been a marketing ploy (hey I fell for it : 2008 YZ450F).  The Big 4 have been trying to add more flex ever since they switched.  The stiffness may be an advantage in Supercross, but how many of us race SX?

[Maicojames]

I vote 93 CR 250. Mine was outstanding, turned quick,  awesome power,  brakes,  gearbox .

[evo550]

I have a bit of a soft spot for 1990 KX 250, they where the fore fathers of two of the must haves on a modern bike....perimeter frame and fat pegs. A lot of hype attached to them in 1990..

[Maicojames]

Btw Jay, TVRC has classes for both decade and a "dos equies" class for 20 yr old bikes.  Not a ton of entries,  but some.  These bikes were much more refined than the earlier era
 They should have imo been the next AHRMA class. You still find some nice ones reasonable.

[09.0]

I thought about buying one or two but the reality for me is the fact that I could buy another bike within the eras we race now and ride it instead of just letting it collect dust so to speak.

[whitey 43]

I think you cant go past the 96 CR250, although the 93 CR250 was an exceptional bike too...I have ridden a few 96  CRs & they did everything really well! I really liked the 98 RM250...I rode one at a whooped out sand track & you could smash it into square edged bumps at pace & it would just soak it up without a whimper...The motor was very Honda (ish) too...
In my humble opinion....
Or you could just get a 89RM250 & kick arse 

[Tahitian_Red]

I was looking at late 90's KX250's, but I think I'll also delve into early the 4-stroke revolution.   

[Maicojames]

This won't be popular, but on the alloy frame bikes, i prefer the 450 power delivery. Otherwise, the 93, 96 cr250, Or up to 04 yz250.

[Nathan S]

There aren't many crap bikes in that time frame: the early alloy framed CRs being the main exception - I think they will become collectible in the same way TM400s and SC500s and Bultacos are.

I've got:
a 93 CR125 because I think the pink and white looks awesome in the early-90s bad taste sort of way. Peaky bitch of a thing, even with a PWK conversion;
a 94 YZ250 because I got a ride on Peter Marmont's ex-Gall one in late 94 and it blew my mind. Great bike and I love it to bits;
a 93 Husky CR125 because I always wanted a 92~94 WR125 and it is as close as I've come to finding one;
a 94 KX125 because I want to build a ISDE/WEC style KX80 out if it;
a 94 TM125E because they were just the trickest thing around - blew my mind when I bought it as a three year old bike.

from the 93~01 era, I want to add:
a mid-late 1990s GasGas EC125 or 250;
a 97 YZ or WR250;
a 99~02 KX125 or 250;
93 Husky WR360;
94/95 KTM300EXC;
a 99ish TM125;
a Yamaha WR200 - I own a WR200-powered YZ125 which is clearly superior to the standard WR, but a clean original one holds a lot of appeal.

I'd also recommend the last of the Husky WR360s. I sold my '02 model to another forum member, because it didn't do anything better than my 2013 Beta... but as an 11 year old bike it was geneuinely impressive. The '99 model I had previously was a good bike, but not a patch on the '02.

[firko]

I'd also recommend the last of the Husky WR360s. I sold my '02 model to another forum member, because it didn't do anything better than my 2013 Beta... but as an 11 year old bike it was geneuinely impressive. The '99 model I had previously was a good bike, but not a patch on the '02.

Jeez Nathan, I hoped that we'd eventually find common ground and we have!.....Those WR360 Huskies are seriously good bikes that for some reason were never all that popular. A friend had three of them, a 98, 02 and finally the last of them,I think, 06 (you'd know better than I).  I rode all three quite regularly and agree with Nathan that an already good bike was incrementally improved with each new release. I'd be pretty confident in saying that the 360 Husky might just be the quickest 2 stroke dirt bike I ever rode. It's certainly one of the best handling.

[piney]

hi gents, gonna list my 99 kx 250 on ebay. currentkly layed up with busted shoulder and want put funds into some other current projects.
if anyone interested