1973 HONDA ELSINORE: Where were the GP starts ..?

[Berwick Boy]

Hi all,
   It's well known that when the Elsinore launched (circa March 1973), it was hailed
as being sensational.  An absolute revolution in motocross development, straight off
the shelf.
   But I can't ever remember seeing one in a motocross GP photo.  How can this have been so?
There were always plenty of fairly standard Euro bikes in the mix, alongside factory
Jap bikes.  Am I mistaken?  Why weren't at least a few Euro also-rans simply busting
to get an Elsinore onto the 250 GP start grid?

   Any info, please?

[GMC]

Is it because Honda weren't paying the big bucks for Euro riders yet?

[jimg1au]

jones won in america on one thats were most sales were at the time

[KTM47]

Really the Honda Elsinores weren't that great.  The semi works RH Suzukis were a lot better.  The bikes Gary Jones won on were modified from the stock bike too.

The 125 was pretty good however, but did load up at the drop of a hat.

[Slakewell]

Any old GP movies don't show any if even a few Honda's Not untill 78/79.
Guess the Euro's thought they were shit. Maybe they were hard to buy? Maybe Honda had enough trouble building enough for USA so why bother building any for Europe?

[motomaniac]

Any old GP movies don't show any if even a few Honda's Not untill 78/79.
Guess the Euro's thought they were shit. Maybe they were hard to buy? Maybe Honda had enough trouble building enough for USA so why bother building any for Europe?

1976 PK raced the new type 2 RC Honda in the 500s. They also sent Smith to do the 125's and also had Andre Masset in that class

[Berwick Boy]

That's a good point Jimg1au ... about Jones having a trick one in States.  But nothing
in Europe.  (By the way, my interest is focused on the original silver Elsinore.  Not red ones.  Not Smith
in 1976, etc.)
When it launched in Victoria, they put Steve Cramer on one.  He was always mixing it up front
(as usual), but didn't win a title on it.
I must say - they did have extra-lovely fittings.  Those booties on the levers. Alloy gearstick.
Alloy tank.  Gorgeous gas cap.  Maybe their best asset was just being so incredibly well turned out.
Especially for the maker's first 2-stroke effort.  So typical of Honda, in the 1970s.

Ah well; whatever.     ... I'm glad I was a young teen back then - and able to see these things when
they first turned up Downunder 

[KB171]

An early pic of Gary jones in the US , aint an off the floor model though..
 

[jimg1au]

I race one far from original reed valve on methanol dirt track bike
I think I have one of those jones modified barell in the shed
jim

[Rosco86]

Athol Patterson had Peter Pleon (NZ) on one at the 73 Grand National at Christmas Hills , unsure where he finished. its interesting how Oz became a sea of grey but perhaps not in other places. Very different to today's markets which are so linked to social media.

[JohnnyO]

The USA was a sea of silver in 73/74 but Euro bikes were far more popular in Europe. Even now the vmx scene in England is all Euro in the pre 75 classes.

[bigk]

CR250M is way down the list for '74 as far as production racers go. A stock Elsinore wouldn't get a look at the exhaust fumes of a Phantom, Husky Mag, Montesa VR, RH Suzuki or even a KX back then. Perhaps because there were zillions of them & they were readily available makes them seem better than they were.
K

[JohnnyO]

I think the 250 was popular in 73 and the 125 in 74 bigk.. by 74 they realized the Husky, Bultaco and other  Euro bikes were much better than the 250 Elsinore 

[FourstrokeForever]

We have to remember that the very early Elsinores were not Honda's and they were very limited in number.
The Elsinore's were still being developed by the Jones' at Lake Elsinore in California (hence the name) and all had the highly desirable billet crank. It wasn't until Honda were happy that the bike would stay together and win races that they put the Honda name to it.
The bike was developed for the US market and at the time, (even today actually) there weren't too many US riders taking on the GP circuit in Europe and no doubt the Europeans didn't want any cheap production run mx'ers in their box vans.
And like BigK suggests, the bike wasn't that good out of the box and it was only because there were so many of them in 1974 that they were at the pointy end of races.
The bike that GJ won the title wasn't a Honda.....It was the original Elsinore that He and His father built and developed with Honda providing the parts as per what the Jones clan wanted.

[bigk]

'74 CR125M was a giant killer & the '75 model has to be the prettiest bike ever built (IMO), but by '76 was way out dated. The original question was directed towards the '73/'74 CR250M though.
K