1989 Cr500

[97Gasgas250]

I have an opportunity to pickup a 89 CR500 from my brother-in-law for cheap ($500 - family price only). It needs new radiators, but otherwise in decent shape. Is this a good deal? I currently have a 97GasGas EC250 (will be selling soon). It's a good enduro bike for the woods, but not for the desert riding I'm doing now. Any suggestions/comments on the CR500?

 

[bikepilot]

I had an 87 and a 90 at the same time my dad had a 92 and riding buddy had a 98. The 87 had the best power but was hard to start, the newer bikes were all very close in power and drasticaly easier to start (thanks to a decompresion port machined into the cylinder and a different kickstart raito of the newer modles.) $500 is a killer deal. The 90 I had (dont remember if they switch from the older style to the newer in 89 or 90...but I think it was 89...just look up pics of a 90 to see if it looks similar) was an excelent bike. The handleing for dez and dunes was better than the 92 due to less frame, fork and swingarm flex. The stock suspension action is rather poor, though the quality of the units is very good and can be valved and sprung to work very well. Do make sure the top end is in good shape before doing much riding as these bikes have a tendancy to break pistion skirts from pistion slap long before the compression is noticeably low (have had this happen, its not much fun). The good news is top ends last a long time and are very cheep. Just mic the cylinder and if needed get it bored out one overze (these bikes have a steel cylinder liner) and install a new top end kit. Other than that I would just do the normal maintaince stuff, oil filters etc. Overall it sounds like a great deal on a great bike which can be made much better with just a little $$.

good luck

 

[Dirtbikehunter7]

that bike may be cheap now but you gotta think. its a 2 stroke high performance bike thats been doing its job for 18 years already. if you want that bike to do what you think its gonna cost alot to keep it maintained. Either you pay the dealership now or you pay a tech later... i'd rather have a new bike personally or at least a later model. but yeah for an easy 500 yeah thats a cool play bike.

 

[bikepilot]

That depends on if you can work on the bike yourself. The CR500 is probably the easiest dirt bike to work on made in the last 20 years or so. It is quite rugged, doesnt have any powervalves and is very easy to access everything. A top end can easily be done in less than an hour. If its you first time maybe 3 hours. A piston kit will run about $120, boring the cylinder if needed is about $45. Cranks are amazing on these bikes, even my very well used 87 was still tight. Of course you may have to do chassie bearings, but they usually only last a couple of years anyway, so you are likly to have to do that even if you buy a 2001 model. If you have limited funds, this could be an excelent deal as long as you can afford to sink a little bit into the bike after the initial purchase. When I have bought used bikes I always strip them down to the frame, replace or repack all bearings, check out the top end, reeds, powervalve (not applicible in your case), change fork oil, seals and bushings and if the bike has a lot of hours on it I get the shock serviced. Also, in many cases if I am not happy with the stock suspension I would re-spring and re-valve at this time. I would then put the bike back together using a tourque wrench with blue locktight on everything to keep fasteners from vibrating loose (a problem on 500cc 2st). This can easily be done in a weekend and usually is not too expensive. After this you will know that the bike is in top shape and set up properly. You will almost certainly want new shock and fork springs as the stock units on that bike are quite soft and will botom out with much jumping.

good luck

 

[gwcrim]

:yeehaw: I'll give you $600 for it. :yeehaw:

 

[ETS]

I had a 89' years ago and it was a good bike. Easy starting big bore with alot of vibration from what I remember. It had plenty of power and easy to work on. The front forks on the 89's are about as bad as a dirtbike can get. That's the biggest downfall. Maybe in the desert they can work but on a track they were horrible. Horrible isn't what I'd describe them.

 

[97Gasgas250]

Thanks for all the replies! I'm still trying to track down radiators for it... :ugg: Three years ago the radiators were "cleaned up" by an automotive shop...melted them to oblivian!

I plan on stripping the bike down to the frame & replacing parts as needed. I did a 91 CR500 a few years back for my buddy (including sandblasting/painting the frame), etc. so I'm familiar the process. I plan on selling my 97 GasGas EC250 to make up the price in parts only. It's a desert only bike & already has the oversized gas tank on it. Just need to make that 1,200 mile round trip to pick it up...

Anyone interested in a Gasser for cheap?