TWO-STROKE PROJECT: WHITE LIGHTNING

Managing Editor Mark Tilley at the controls of this 31-year-old CR250R as Editor Ron Lawson gets the shot.

The mid-’90s steel-framed Honda CR250s are probably some of the most popular machines to restore for a few reasons: there are lots of them out there, aftermarket parts are found fairly easily, and Jeremy McGrath just made them cool. With this 1994 CR250 build we wanted to do something a little different, so we steered clear of going down the McGrath-replica road and came up with this “White Lightning” project.

It’s awesome to see so many aftermarket manufacturers still making parts for these 30-plus-year-old machines, like IMS Products, Rekluse, ProX, TM Designs, ODI, HYGGE, Pro Circuit, Works Connection and Boyesen.

WORK IN PROGRESS

Although a lot of these machines were sold back in the ’90s, it’s very hard to find one that hasn’t been abused into submission over the last 30-plus years. This bike was found by Managing Editor Mark Tilley back in 2016 and purchased for a couple hundred bucks. Of course, immediately the engine locked up and the fork seals started leaking. The bike sat in his backyard until midway through 2019 when it was dug out and, just like thousands of other bike builds, the process began.

Two-strokes are easy to tear down. In one afternoon, the bike was disassembled into a several piles of parts and was ready for stage two. The engine was shipped off to Brad at Parapros to find out just how much damage was done when it locked up. Fortunately, only the cylinder was damaged and in need of repairs; the cases looked great.

Parapros split the cases to inspect the crank and transmission, and it’s a good thing they did, because we never would have known the crank bearing was bad. A Wiseco Garage Buddy complete engine rebuild kit, which contains a complete gasket set, complete crank assembly, main bearings, top end and all the seals needed to put the engine back together, was added. The cylinder and top-end were sent off to Millennium Technologies to get repaired.

While all that was happening, we discussed the suspension with the crew at AHM Factory Services. Handling on the 1994 CR250 was pretty good, but we wanted to step it up to the next level. We found a complete front end off a 2008 Honda CRF450R just waiting for us on Facebook Marketplace that we happily paid way too much for. The steering stem was pressed out of the 1994 stock clamp and pressed into the 2008 clamp with new ProX bearings. We had to modify the steering stops slightly to accept the newer-style lower clamp, but because the front end was purchased complete, we already had the braking system, axle, wheel spacers and front wheel.

With the front wheel off a 2008 model and the rear wheel off a 1994 model, we sent both of them over to Colin at Faster USA for some TLC and custom coatings to make everything look and feel brand new. Faster USA replaced the bearings, coated the hubs black and then laced up a set of black D.I.D Dirt Star rims. They even installed the Dunlop MX34 tires for us.

IMS footpegs are an easy item to modernize an older bike.

The main frame and swingarm received a black textured powdercoating from Chris Johnson’s crew at San Diego Powder Coating. Of course, all the bearings were replaced using kits from ProX. Clarke Manufacturing saved the day for us on this project with the stock tank that started out white, had turned yellow over the years, and was definitely not going to match our white color scheme. Lucky for us, Clarke makes a direct-replacement tank in white for the ’92–’96 CR250R steel-framed machines, and it is a quality piece that mounted up perfectly and looked completely stock.

Nick and the crew at Decal Works topped off the White Lightning build with a set of semi-custom graphics with a ’90s old-school vibe to them, and the custom gripper seat from Motoseat complemented those graphics.

Colin and the crew at Faster USA brought our wheels back to life with some much-needed TLC.

FINAL RESULT

It only took a few hours to tear the bike down, but it would take over five years to get it back in working order. Sometimes here at the magazine we take for granted exactly how many man-hours go into making a project like this successful until we are elbows-deep into it. Yes, there is the actual labor involved, but we always forget about the time looking for parts, arranging the build list, e-mailing companies asking if they want to be a part of the build, and then there are always a couple surprises that weren’t expected along the way. White Lightning checked all those boxes and a few more, but now that the bike is complete, we can show up at an event and cherish the joy it brings others. We gotta give a special thanks to Jay Clark for all his help hunting down parts for this build, and Chuck McCarty for spinning the wrenches and getting this bike ready to rip.