I
’ve raced many motorcycles over the
years,but the one that stands out as my
all-timefavouriteis the1994 Honda
CR500. That year I won the Australia
500cc Motocross Championshipand I
gottorepresent Australia at the MXdN
inSwitzerlandonaCR500.
The bike was sogood out of the box that it
only needed minimal modifications to get it
readytorace.Aquicktweakofthesuspension
valving,ashortyProCircuitmuffler,atinybit
more compression and some changes to the
jetting had thebig girl ready to go, and go fast.
Acommonmistakethatpeoplemadewas
changing the carburettor in search of more
horsepower,but that was just robbing Peter
topay Paul as it sacrificed bottom-end
torque. ThestandardKeihin PJ 34mm carb
was easyto tune and worked well off the
bottom and through the mid, the sweet spot
whereyou should ride this beast.
The CR500 was easy to get going,but they
were not easy for the averagepunter to ride;
especially for apunter who liked to rev the
nuts off the thing.RETRO TEST IHONDACR500CUSTOM
OLD DOG,
NEW
2
1
The Honda CR500 is a classic,
but how does the fire-breathing
engine stack up in a modern
package? Lee Hogan finds out.
62 |JUNE 2017 http://www.adbmag.com.auWORDS // LEE HOGAN PHOTOS // JOSH EVANS