Incredible CR250 2 Stroke Dirt Bike Rebuild from Start to Finish

I started flipping dirt bikes about 5 years ago now, and when this all began, I really had no idea what I was doing. One project at a time, I learned more skills, until finally, a couple years in, I had completed a frame-up bike build. At the time, I thought I had done as good of a job on the build as there was to do. Years went on, and my skills as a mechanic progressed. My attention to detail grew, and I became more critical of imperfections and things that could be better on each build. I learned new techniques and new possibilities for going the extra mile. Every build has continually gotten better, and earlier in 2023, I finished a Yamaha YZ300 2-stroke that went to one lucky winner, Trenton from Wisconsin. And yes, that is, indeed, a YZ300 in the back of a Chevy Trailblazer. After Trenton told me that winning that bike and coming out to Montana was the coolest experience of his life, I knew I had to build another bike for someone else to win, and this one would somehow be even better. This brings us to this blown-up $700 2002 Honda CR250. I bought this bike with a clear vision to build the most badass CR250 I've ever seen, and I knew that was a tall task with the incredible caliber of builds circulating the internet these days, and the starting point I was dealing with. I wanted to build a bike that would not only look good, but truly perform like a modern bike, which meant putting a lot of time, research, and money into upgrading outdated parts to bring them to today's standards. I went into this build unconcerned about the budget, and simply wanted to build the greatest dirt bike that I was capable of building. As I pieced together an extensive parts list, I began to reach out to existing sponsors as well as some new companies I was keen to work with, and slowly but surely, empty shelves became loaded with brand new CR250 parts and rebuild kits. My thoughts were consumed by this bike and the long road ahead to give it life once again. I often get asked where to begin on a build, as when you look the big picture and all of the tasks to be completed, it can be very daunting. My answer is, start somewhere. Anywhere. Once I tear a bike apart, I assess what components will be reused and which won't. I stay very organized with my sorting of parts, build a detailed task list for each major component, and then pick one to start with. When planning a build, it is important to which tasks will take the longest, and which tasks require help from other people. I like to get everything that will be shipped elsewhere done early, as it's never fun to be at a standstill because you're waiting for major components to return. I knew for this build, the cylinder, fork stanchions and shock shaft, and frame would be sent out, so I prioritized those components. I spent many days in the garage tearing the bike and its different components apart, and many evenings at the computer brainstorming what this bike should one day look like, photoshopping color schemes, and playing with the Decalworks graphics interface to design the perfect CR250. This bike was blown up in the St. Anthony sand dunes a few years ago, and while it's certainly seen better days, the major components I planned to reuse were in good enough shape to bring back to life, including the suspension, frame, and engine components. I completely disassembled the suspension in order to prepare the fork stanchions and shock shaft for Ti-Nitride coating, which I have never done in a build before. I'll talk more about this coating later on when we rebuild the suspension, but the preparation process was interesting in itself. I've never taken suspension this far apart, and removing the fork lugs from the stanchions for the first time was a little intimidating. I was on the right track, but my biggest mistake was not using enough heat at first. These threads have a serious amount of red threadlocker on them, and once I spent about a minute and a half straight with the MAP gas torch, then the lugs threaded right out. For Ti-Nitride coating, the tubes need to be as close to perfect as possible, as any imperfections will show directly through the coating. I utilized a fine cleaning wheel from PrimeMX to clean the threadlocker off of the threads, and then I used a PrimeMX polishing wheel and compound to polish those stanchions and the shock shaft to near perfection. I'd boxed them up and mailed them off to Daniel Schmidt at DSC Motorsports. With those parts shipped off to be seen in a couple months, it was time to fully strip and degrease the frame, before sending it out to Charles over at MX Revival. Charles is a very talented bike builder himself, and he is an absolute master at vapor blasting. The vision I had for this bike involved blacking out a lot of different components, while maintaining the raw aluminum color of the frame to really make everything pop. Polishing a frame by hand is acceptable, but as I said, I wanted to go the extra mile for every part of this build, and I knew that Charles was the man for the job when it came to bringing this frame back to life. I wanted to make Charles' life as easy as possible once he received the frame, so I spent quite a few hours alternating between a degreaser bath, scrubbing by hand with an array of brushes, and blasting the nooks and crannies of the frame with the power washer to remove as much 20-year-old dirt and grime as possible. I also cleaned up a few areas of the frame with Prime MX cleaning wheels, which really smoothed out imperfections and dents from years of abuse. Once I felt I'd done an adequate job, I assembled a makeshift box from a variety of smaller boxes, shipped the frame off, and shifted my attention to the heart of the including the crankshaft, clutch pack and piston, Pro-X for gaskets and seals, Millennium Technologies for replating the cylinder, Fastmetric for all new engine fasteners, and Fathead Racing for a beautiful new cylinder head that will help ensure we get peak performance out of this engine. Not to mention, I added some V-Force 3 reeds that will also aid with engine performance, and this bike will be running a smart carb, which I'll discuss in more detail when I get to installation. With the engine finally assembled, I hadn't yet received the frame back from Charles at MX Revival, but had a lot of components that still needed to be refinished before I was ready for the engine to go back in the frame. Electrical components would be scrubbed by hand in the sink, aluminum parts would be polished using Prime MX cleaning wheels, and for the first time ever, I actually decided to Cerakote bolts, axles, and other small hardware. When cleaning up these crusty bolts with Prime wheels, it can be easy to strip the plating off of them, at which point the bolts need to be replated or coated with something in order to prevent rust. With Cerakote being so thin, I thought blacking out the hardware would add a really unique touch to this build, while also adding that benefit of rust protection and durability. I am really happy with my decision to Cerakote these parts, as they came out beautifully. The only items left to tackle that would be essential for installing the engine was the swingarm and linkage. I bent the linkage arm during disassembly since it was completely seized, so I ordered a new one on eBay for $80, along with a 2009 CRF250 swingarm for $175. The swingarm updates the look from the older CR style, as well as sheds a little bit of weight and aids in the bike's turning characteristics. The swingarm did need all new bearings, as did the linkage. Bearing removal was a little tricky, since these bearings were 20 years old and had clearly never been serviced, but with the aid of a lot of heat from the MAP gas torch, I was able to get them all removed with some persistence. For the linkage, I polished it back to perfection using PrimeMX cleaning wheels before installing new Pro-X bearings. These Pro-X bearings, as well as all of the other Pro-X parts and kits used in this build, came directly from the PrimeMX website linked in the description. For the swingarm, I opted to blast it before Cerakoting it Glacial Silver, which is close to an aluminum-looking finish, although it provides a uniform, rather than brushed look. Without the ability to vapor blast in-house, and the additional steps required to strip a swingarm, I find it most time-effective for me to Cerakote, while ultimately I'm just as happy with the final product. Since I was coating the subframe the same color as the swingarm, I prepped and coated them in the same batch to save some time in the long run. My neighbor Kadem even came over to see what I was working on, and I taught him how to spray Cerakote for the first time. And while you're staring at this gorgeous, revitalized swingarm and linkage, along with the fresh swingarm graphic from Decalworks, this is your reminder that you have until December 14th to enter for a chance to win this bike. Selection of the winner will be live-streamed on my YouTube channel on December 15th. The swingarm and linkage came out arguably better than brand new, and as soon as I had them ready to go, I heard the doorbell from the garage. I'm sorry, Leo. I'm sorry, Leo. It's okay. We're filming a video, bro. Good boy. Sorry, Mackie. I'm sorry. I scared the dogs. With the frame back from MX Revival, I couldn't wait to begin getting the chassis assembled. I was surprised to find small spots all over the frame upon unboxing, despite the photos Charles had sent me before shipping of the frame looking perfect. We think that some amount of moisture was still in the frame when it was shipped out, and it caused a chemical reaction with the aluminum. But no worries, Charles offered the solution of scrubbing the frame down with SOS pads and that took care of the markings and the frame looked gorgeous as ever. I utilized red Stuck Nuts threadlocker for the peg mounts, as you do not want those rattling loose, before installing some brand new IMS foot pegs along with titanium pivot pins from Warp 9, which adds such a nice high-caliber touch to the build. My friends over at Decalworks printed this custom 2023 frame sticker for me, which I personally think is a great addition to the bike. I know a lot of people will say, well, it's a 2002, but when you really look at this bike, the number of upgrades being made to it that didn't even exist in 2002 is unbelievable. Aside from the basic chassis and engine, this entire bike is receiving upgrades that truly make it competitive in 2023, which is why I thought it was neat to add this sticker. And speaking of upgrades, I was thrilled to get a set of anodized red Ride Engineering triple clamps for this build. Looks aside, these clamps alter the offset from 24 to 22mm, which creates a more modern and stable front-end feel over stock clamps, and they're a half pound lighter. At this point, the chassis was ready to begin taking shape once again after being fully disassembled not even a couple months excitement to continue progress only grew, especially after installing that absolutely stunning handmade Hyuga Performance cone pipe, but there was a lot left to do. With the motor back in the frame, I was able to install the hydraulic clutch from Magura. After riding this bike upon completion, I can say that this would absolutely be one of the first upgrades I'd put on a CR250. After riding my friend Monty's 2023 CRF250 with a cable clutch, I could not wait to get back on the CR with that hydraulic clutch. Alongside the clutch, I continued with bar setup by installing a Tusk throttle with a bearing along with a new Pro-X throttle cable from Prime MX. This Tusk throttle tube unfortunately was not a perfect fit, and required some modification with the Dremel to perform smoothly, but once I made those modifications, this throttle tube spun like a dream. This throttle cable obviously needed a slide to mount to, and we made a huge upgrade to this bike by swapping from the stock carb to a smart carb. Smart carbs are incredible, because they can be tuned by hand and compensate for altitude, all while increasing power output and looking gorgeous. This was my first time using a smart carb, and I was thoroughly impressed, but more on that soon. This beautiful frame needed to be protected from boot rub, and in order to do so, I chose to install some trusty grip tape from Prime MX. While I awaited word from Daniel Schmidt about the suspension parts being ready, I decided to begin working on the front end of the bike. You see, these ride engineering clamps are designed to fit 2009-2020 CRF plastics, but the Polysport Restyle kit is designed to fit stock 2002 CR triple clamps. I had to get a little creative and do some modifications to the front fender, along with cutting some new threads into those ride engineering triple clamps, but ultimately, I managed to get a modern CRF front end bolted up and looking good on this CR chassis. I took a three week hiatus from the build to go ride motorcycles in Serbia with my family and then watch a couple good friends get married in Washington. Once I arrived back home, I touched base with Daniel who said the suspension parts were ready to go, so I boxed everything else up for a trip out to DSC Motorsports to watch Daniel work his magic getting the suspension assembled. While I'm capable of building suspension, Daniel is a true expert who would revalve the suspension to improve its performance drastically, and it was a pleasure to watch and learn new things about the suspension rebuild process that will help make me more confident with suspension builds in the future. I prepped and cerakoted all of the suspension parts while I was cerakoting the engine components so that I would have them ready to go by the time this day arrived. Now take a look at how incredible the stanchions and the shock shaft look with that Ti-Nitride coating. Truthfully, I chose to coat these purely for looks because I thought this blue would provide an incredible contrast on the black as well as match perfectly with the titanium hardware from Warp 9 that you'll see when we install the wheels. That said, this coating does have performance benefits. It has much less friction than the stock coatings which in turn reduces heat. In a short ride, heat is a non-issue. But as Daniel described it to me, by the time a pro reaches the end of a moto in a pro national race, the oil in their suspension is practically boiling and suspension performance is fading drastically if they don't have coatings like this and appropriate valving and upgrades. This was all super intriguing to learn about, and by the end of a long day at DSC Motorsports, I was driving home with a stunning set of suspension for this CR250, eager to bolt it onto the bike the following day. Also, if you're new to the channel and wanted to see the shock rebuild or learn more about this whole suspension process, Daniel and I made a more in-depth suspension build video that was part of this CR250 build series, so that playlist is linked in the description if you are looking for more details on anything you've seen in this video so far. With the suspension back in my hands, I could not wait to get home and install it on the bike. The contrast of colors turned out even better than I hoped, and I loved the look of those black forks in the anodized red triple clamps. At this point, I actually still had not set up the RC valve cables as I broke one previously and was waiting for a new one to arrive. To set tension, I utilized the HRC method, which I saw in a different video, where essentially you manually move the power valve to its open position, but not past fully open, tighten the right cable, close the valve, and then set tension on the left cable. Big thanks to 2SM Performance for providing this RC valve cable holder, this is just another one of those fine details that really makes a build pop. I had pulled off the expansion chamber in order to set that cable tension, but who doesn't want to see this Hyuga pipe up close another time. Suspension installed, RC valve tension set, the thought of starting the bike for the first time began to creep into my mind, but the task list was still far from complete. The bike still needed wheels and brakes, so I finally pulled these beautiful new Warp 9 Elite wheels out of my bedroom, where I'd been storing them, to install a set of Shinko tires on my Ravaconda tire changer. For both the front and rear sprocket, I chose to run Dirt Trick sprockets, as they're incredibly durable and the rear maintains a light weight because so much material is removed from it. You get the benefit of an aluminum rear sprocket with the durability of steel, not to mention they have an incredible warranty. Warp 9 also offers these titanium rotor and sprocket bolts, and like I said before, I knew these would just look incredible in conjunction with those fork legs. Now while you enjoy looking at these fresh wheels looking all wet and sexy, let's talk about brakes. Stopping power is an incredibly important piece of the puzzle when it comes to building a quality dirt bike, and older brakes can be lacking in that department. For this reason, I bought a brand new 2023 CRF450 master cylinder, which would greatly improve the strength and responsiveness of the front brake. I left it up to my Instagram followers to decide what colors the brakes should be, and they voted black, which I ended up being very happy with. So, just like every other component, I had 20 years of dirt and grime to scrub off before blasting and Cerakoting the braking components. I made a big mistake with this brand new master cylinder, and thought I had ruined it. When baking the part for the gas out phase of the Cerakote process, I forgot to account for a small plastic plug that came in the master cylinder. When I baked the part, that plug melted into the master cylinder and all over the spring. After a little bit of brainstorming, I opted to put it back in the oven, this time making sure gravity would be on my side, and I melted that plastic back out of the master cylinder. I did also discolor the sight glass, as I thought it was real glass, but it's actually a high density plastic. After Cerakoting the braking components, I had to bake them in the Cerakote to cure, and the sight glass on the rear master cylinder actually almost exploded, and was ugly and unusable. I ordered some replacement sight glasses from Rocky Mountain, but unfortunately, they were the wrong size. Unable to actually find the correct size, I ground them down with some prime wheels, pressed them into the master cylinders, and then sealed the edges with some gasket maker. While I would have preferred for these to end up flawless without the need for gasket maker, it provided a perfect seal that should last forever, and it actually matched the color of the Cerakote perfectly. So, this is really the one imperfection on the build, but I'm glad it ended up working out and I didn't completely destroy the components. Lesson learned for next time. With the sight glasses installed and components coated, I utilized Pro-X rebuild kit and brake pads, along with some Ride Engineering master cylinder covers, to get these brakes all buttoned back up and installed on the bike. With the brakes ready to go, I was motivated to put in that final push to get the bike ready for the first start. Let's go! Oh my god! Now, I'm going to go out on a limb and say this will be the craziest first start you've ever seen. I'll save you the 30 minutes of me kicking the bike, but essentially, the first start with a smart carb is very simple, but very particular in the order of operations. I did not follow the instructions of pulling the choke before turning the fuel on, and this caused a short circuit in the system, which essentially flooded the engine. Like, really flooded the engine. After time on the phone with the awesome crew over at Smart Carb, they ran me through all of the procedures required to get the bike going, and it eventually fired and spit an insane amount of fuel out of the silencer and all over the wall in my garage. I quickly shut it down and brought it outside, and after a few minutes of revving the bike and allowing it to idle, the fuel being shot out of the silencer slowly transformed to two-stroke smoke. Not at all the way I anticipated the first start going, but the bike ran once again, and it was time to finish the build. For this build, I opted to use the latest generation polysport restyle kit from mxplastics.com. I know people have mixed feelings about restyle kits, but one of the goals in this project was to build a works edition CR250 as if Honda built one themselves in 2023. I went back and forth with the decision, but ultimately I think this kit tied the build together really well. I utilized a plastic fastener kit from Fastmetric, which makes it super easy to install new plastics. Decalworks provided these beautiful custom graphics, and I chose to run number 18 on this build in honor of Jet Lawrence's perfect rookie season in pro motocross. I installed a custom seat cover from Decalworks as well. I waited until the build was complete to install these white grips, because if you have ever ran white grips, you know how hard it is to keep them clean. I've made the mistake of installing white grips early in a build before, and you are bound to ruin them with grease covered hands. At this point, I realized I hadn't even bled the brakes. So, I made quick work of that with my vacuum bleeder, and was pleased to find that I did not, in fact, ruin the front brake. The last item to install was a case saver I ordered from a company called Pentec in Australia, and man, this might be the first bike I've built where I like looking at the left side as much as the right. Build officially complete, I did some tuning in the neighborhood, got yelled at by the neighbors, got praise from my neighbor Kadem, and it was officially time to test the bike on dirt, but not before getting some beauty shots. We brought the bike out to Raidersburg, and I had an absolute blast, enjoying the fruits of my labor and making sure that this bike is dialed and ready for whoever wins it in December. I was thoroughly impressed with everything about the bike, from the way it handled to the suspension, the power delivery from the rebuilt motor in conjunction with a perfectly tuned smart carb, the stopping power from those refreshed brakes, traction from those shinkos and easy clutching thanks to that Magura, I have to admit, this is the best build yet, and it'll be hard to beat. I brought the bike out to Anaconda, Montana to let Daniel Schmidt spin a few laps on it as well, and needless to say, he was stoked and so was I. And that brings us to now. The bike is shined up, back to perfection, patiently awaiting its new owner from the comfort of my living room. Thank you for taking the time to watch this 4 month journey packed into a 30 minute video. If you would like a chance to become the lucky winner of this bike, it is a great way to support me and my channel, and you can enter via the link in the description. If you enjoy content like this, please consider subscribing, and I'll see you all with the next project.