Bike of the Month - September 2009
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Late in 2007 I imported to New Zealand two Elsinore's from California. A 1979 CR125R and its bigger brother, a CR250R of the same year. I had purchased the bikes for riding VMX initially and then, at a later stage I would hopefully restore both bikes to "As close to original condition".
Unfortunately the 125 blew-up after only 3-4 hours of riding (Bugger!). So the outcome of that was an instant "Project Bike" and in no time my wee 125 was turned into a pile of parts.
So many bikes of this era have been well molested over the years, and this one was no exception. It was sporting aftermarket fenders, triple clamps, front forks, handlebars/ controls, as well as being fitted with a 21" front wheel, Modified exhaust, and had no airbox at all.
Obviously I had to source many parts to get this bike back to its former glory. I'd like to thank many eBay traders, numerous websites, including Bike Bandit, Vintage Factory, Re-MX and Red Devil Racing in Aussie (Cheers Bruce) just to name a few for their assistance to source the required " bits ‘n pieces".
Most of the required parts were reasonably easy to obtain, just requiring a little research and a little patience. The only part I couldn't track down at the time was an original front fender to suit the 23" front wheel. Finally I settled for a DC fender which is made specifically for 79 model with the 23" front wheel. The fender was painted in the appropriate color and came out extremely well.
This bike was my first attempt at a rebuild so everything was a bit of a learning curve but the final result in my eyes anyway is fantastic. I got a huge amount personal satisfaction restoring a piece of moto-x history and I'm looking forward to starting on the CR250R in the very near future.
My original goal was to have a very nice "Match Pair" of 1979 CR's. I’m halfway there!
Cheers,
Steve McLennan |
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