Best Mods For 73-74 CR250 Forks

[Tahitian_Red]

I picked up a Euro bike that was all stock except for 73-74 Honda CR250 forks and front wheel.  It's actually not a bad upgrade now that I think about it, but I'm wondering what tricks there are for setting these forks up?  Thanks!

[firko]

T Red! Back in the day the hot setup was to put a set of Cerianis or Betors in an Elsinore. Whoever committed the sacrilege of fitting Honda forks to your unidentified Euro bike must have got a tad confused. The Honda front brake may be OK but in '74 the Japs hadn't caught up with suspension technology yet. Having said that, if you insist on still using the Honda forks, I've been told that 76-'77 XL 250/350 dampeners are the hot ticket. You could try a pair of Gold Valve or similar cartridge emulators made for a 35mm forked mini. I've also been told emulators made for an early KTM60 mini work in Betors so they may just work in the Honda forks. .....What Euro bike did you get?

[Tahitian_Red]

Well Firko,

I guess I gotta come clean.  Did you see my post where I sold the AW400 to by another 74 Ossa Phantom?  The Phantom is all Ossa except for the forks and front wheel.  I was thinking new springs, air caps and cartridge emulators would get the action up to par.  I was unsure about the brake.  Thanks!

 

[firko]

Oh yeah....I'd forgotten you sold the AW. I forgive you for that faux pas because those Phantoms are nice things. I still think it'd be a better bike with the original Betors. Coincidentally I have OSSA Pioneer Betors with Phantom dampeners on my old  'DT1 from Hell' race bike that work great.

[Doc]

Red, I run the early XL250 front end on the TM125 and it works. TM Bill rode this bike at the Oz Nats and also noted the front end worked extremely well. The brakes are as good as they get and the XL wheels already have alloy rims. Best swap I ever made and even better is you can usually pick a whole front end for next to nothing. I was put onto this swap by Greg or Tony Cavell and anyone who's seen these guys punt around the ol' Beeza's has to admit if there was a weakness the Cavell brothers would have found it 

[Tahitian_Red]

Thanks Doc!

Firko,

Did they switch to Ceriani and Betor because of the fork action or weight? (or both?)