Steve McQueen riding a Honda CR250M Elsinore

[SFMCjohn]

youtu.be/CXyVp7iw10Q

arty

 

[budman]

He was the real deal.

I imagine it was fairly expensive to shoot that with all the different camera angles and on board stuff. Throw in a helicopter as well.

Honda “A mans ride”.
Not sure that would fly so well these days. :laughing

Nice find John.

 

[SFMCjohn]

Honda “A mans ride”.
Not sure that would fly so well these days. :laughing

:laughing

"... always wear proper safety gear!" :ride

 

[berth]

I wonder where in Elsinore they used to do this. I imagine it's all houses now, but even still this stuff looks pretty desolate.

 

[OldGuy]

As revolutionary as the CR250 was, it was the 125 that was from another dimension. A buddy (with much richer parents than I) had one of the first '73s, and we used to think it was so good, you couldn't crash it! :laughing It almost was.

One of my earliest/favorite CR250 memories is of one day at Hollister, upper ranch. Parked near us was a guy who had a brand new one. Don't know how much he'd ridden before, but every time it came on the pipe, he'd crash it. Must've watched him do this half-a-dozen times, and the sixth time was as funny as the first.

 

[SFMCjohn]

As revolutionary as the CR250 was, it was the 125 that was from another dimension. A buddy (with much richer parents than I) had one of the first '73s, and we used to think it was so good, you couldn't crash it! :laughing It almost was.

:thumbup

"Honda will never build a two-stroke motorcycle.”

Soichiro Honda made that statement in the late ’60s and meant it.
He had built his company on the four-stroke design and was doing
quite well with it.

Yet, a few years later, Honda released a two-stroke that changed the world.

The 1974 CR125M was produced in greater numbers than any motocross
bike ever built. It introduced a generation of riders to racing and, more
than any other single motorcycle, was responsible for the dirt bike boom
that followed. It’s impossible to overstate the impact of that
one motorcycle on the sport we know today.

Mr. Honda’s turnaround on the subject of two-strokes was the result
of two factors. First, he was pathologically competitive. He loved
racing and couldn’t stomach the idea of losing—on the track or in sales.

Second, there was a group of young engineers at the company that
believed in the two-stroke design and had a secret development
program that was hidden from management.

When they summoned the courage to present the project to the president,
he begrudgingly approved. But he warned them,
“If you insist on building a two-stroke,
it better be the best in the world.”

That launched a 34-year run of Honda 125 and 250 two-strokes.
The CR250M was launched first, but it was the CR125 that had
the biggest impact on rank-and-file riders in America.

It was the bike that changed everything, in sheer weight of numbers.

Remember the Elsinore!
Dirtbike Magazine, 08/29/2015

:ride

 

[Lonster]

I wonder where in Elsinore they used to do this. I imagine it's all houses now, but even still this stuff looks pretty desolate.

I spent the summers all thru the '70's in Lake Elsinore. It WAS that desolate back then. I started driving when I was 14, and would take the dune buggy or dirt bike from the west side of the lake (Sutherland Ave), all the way to Riverside over land that looked just like that. There were some pretty gnarly hill climbs there too. Oh, and no speed limit down the center of the lake either.

 

[89fj]

I never got to ride a 250 but in 1980 I got to ride a 125. I wanted that bike sooo bad :afm199

 

[bergmen]

He was the real deal.
Honda “A mans ride”.
Not sure that would fly so well these days. :laughing

...Not to mention riding off leaving the back end of the van wide open...

Dan

 

[Ride_on]

I so wanted a new Elsinore 125 when they came out. The east coast dealers were marking them up from their MSRP of $799 to over $1000 because they were in such demand.

I settled for a brand new RM125 for $777 out the door and loved that bike.

 

[SFMCjohn]

The east coast dealers were
marking them up from their MSRP
of $799 to over $1000 because they
were in such demand.

:laughing:thumbup

 

[CDONA]

^^ Seen that as a sign about cocktails in Lazy Harry's on the river in Bullhead City.
Ca is across the river & downstream a bit.

 

[CDONA]

Along the line of McQ on a Honda, I just found this pix in my monthly snail mail c/o Motorcyclist.
I've had this pix framed and hanging in my garage for years. (now in storage)
Caption calls this a Dream,:wow judging by the size of the front brake this is a 305 Super Hawk. I had one back in high school, going bigger and freeway friendly over flogging 90's
Kids these days:laughing