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TRIAL BY POWER (you must login to see the dyno and pics!)
Why not? I bought this 1992 CR500 back in 1998. At 233 pounds with no gas around 56hp on tap the CR500 will do 90 mph with stock gearing, all for $1200. f**k four strokes, you can spend $5000 on a WR426 which makes 10 less hp and weighs 15 pounds more, put titanium and carbon everything on it, do every engine modification known to man and guess what, a stock CR500 will still disappear up the dune while the ponsy four stroke pilot is still messing with his hot start, cold start and choke knobs. Look at the dyno chart, at 5000 rpm, the CR500 is making abour 42hp, the poxy YZ is making 24hp. Who's the big loser here? You have to rev the 4 stroke to the moon to make power. CR = 4.16Ib/hp, YZ = 5.72Ib/hp.
It all started back in 1985 when I saw the CR500 in Dirt Bike Magazine and it said, "1985 CR500 it's like playing with a loaded shotgun". I wanted one but I had no money coz I was only 17. It wasn't until about the late 80's that I got hold of an RM465, soon after I got hold of a 1984 CR500, but I broke my ankle kick-starting it when the ignition plate cracked and the thing kicked back on me. It was a right bastard to start. At then end of the 90's I bought a non-running KX500 from a friend of mine, I rebuilt it and got it running but the thing was so hard to start it was unrideable, then came my 1992 CR500 which has been a great bike.
For the type of riding I do, trail riding and sand dunes the CR500 is perfect, as I'm not that interested on riding around a track. The bike has been bulletproof up until recently when I went to took it out and it wouldn't start due to moisture in the motor. We dried it out and it fired right up. I did notice that the piston was cracked though but I rode it all day anyway without any dramas. I've never really laid a wrench on the bike, I replaced the pipe with an FMF that I got free through a friend of mine as he did some work with FMF and I installed a new top end. While the cylinder was off Reine at SwedeTech cleaned up my cylinder for me, this mellowed the power out a bit and made it a little more rideable. Other than that I've done except put gas in it, ride it and crash it. People who haven't ridden an open class MX bike don't realize how powerful they are, my bike will honestly wheelie in the first four gears just by rolling the throttle on and if 5th if you you gun it properly. It's a lot of fun and it's cheap to run.
Trail riding is a snip, just stick it in third and go, occasionally change down to second for something to do to brake the monotony, still you could always just hold it wide open and break your neck instead.
source:
www.youngie.com/cr500.htm
