When first released, Honda’s CR500 was its most powerful MXer ever produced, though that power was wildly difficult to tame. The CR was nonetheless a major success and Honda opted to keep the half-liter thumper in production for more than a decade prior to be being phased out in 2001 upon the rise of the four-stoke machines and the company’s success with its CRF450. The “Ping King” was a beast of a motorcycle, playing an important role in Honda’s history of off-road two-wheelers, bridging the gap between Honda’s pioneering Elsinore and today’s CRF’s.
Honda developed a reputation for insanely reliable four-stroke engines which made the company reluctant to produce its own two-stroker in the early-1960’s when they rose in popularity and began dominating in the 250 class in racing. This reluctance would ultimately lead Honda to developing a quarter-liter, six-cylinder four-stroke machine before finally breaking down and pulling the trigger on the development of a two-stroke.
Fast forward to 1973 and Honda unveils the Elsinore CR250. The CR250 was greeted by an incredibly warm reception, eventually leading to the introduction of the CR450 in 1981. This would be the first big-bore oil-burner in the CR lineup, as well as the first machine in the evolution that would lead to the infamous CR500. In 1982 Honda would pull the cover off of the CR480, a muscular two-stroke competition dirt-goer with a four-speed transmission. Then, the following year Honda would equip the 480 with a five-speed gearbox.
The next year the CR500 – an air-cooled 491cc two-stroke MXer that made a reported 52.8hp – would be introduced to the US market, available only in Flash Red with yellow number panels, silver rims, and a blue seat. This would be followed by the introduction of a liquid-cooled variant in ’85. Though every CR500 is objectively a beast, the model years between ’85 and ’88 supposedly have a particularly powerful bottom-end. In 1989 Honda would smooth-out the half-liter CR’s power-band via a redesigned head, making it markedly easier to pilot without the front wheel constantly leaving the ground.
Because of the CR500’s two-stroke design and large bore, kick-starting the dual-wheeled monster was supposedly tough. Honda’s solution to this problem was to jet the bike really rich, making it easier to fire up. The CR engine’s redesigned head in ’89 would also help solve the kickstarting problem as there was less compression for it to push down. All in all the CR500 didn’t change very much over the course of its years of production – aside from graphics packages – though it did get a few exhaust updates that were fairly ahead of their time.
The CR500 was powered by a liquid-cooled, (air-cooled only in ’84) two-stroke, 495cc, reed-valve single that made a claimed 56hp at 5,800rpm (according to Dirt Bike Magazine). From 1985 through 1988 the CR500 reportedly produced 60-64hp, though by the time it was phased-out of production in 2001 its power had been mellowed out to 56hp. The big CR came from the factory with a 38mm Mikuni flat-slide carb, a wet-plate clutch, and weighed in at just 225lbs wet.
Wrapped around the torquey power-plant was a welded steel-tube chassis mated to conventional forks up front and a Pro-Link monoshock unit in back, both offering more than a foot of travel. The stock wheel setup on the CR consisted of a 21-inch rim in front and a 19-incher in the rear. The brakes were made up of single discs bit by single hydraulic pistons – fore and aft.
In 1993 the AMA 500 motocross series would be discontinued, a move that would irreparably alter the class’s market. Without a designated series for the model, Honda pulled funding and seemingly lost some interest, focusing more attention on the 500’s little sibling; the CR250. Plus the rise of the four-stroke MX market all but sealed the big CR’s fate. Service Honda would eventually release what was called the “CR500AF”: a CR500 engine dropped into an aluminum chassis from a CR450. (which is indeed CR500 AF!).
Despite it first being released more than three-decades ago, the CR500 is still an impressive beast of a machine. The model has a notorious reputation for being dangerously powerful, however you don’t have to take it from me, an articulate gentlemen/scholar from the State of New York was kind enough to share his nuanced thoughts on the CR500:
This particular 1986 CR500 is in remarkably clean condition and looks to be mostly original, though I do see a couple aftermarket bits. Examples this clean are incredibly rare, and the CR500 has gone up in value as of late as it becomes an increasingly sought after “classic”. This particular example has a green sticker but is currently registered non-op.
You can find this 1986 Honda CR500 for sale here on Craigslist in Long Beach, California with a price of $3,200.