Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1534665
Vintage Feature: The Basket Case Curse Vintage Feature: The Basket Case Curse 1991 Honda CR500 1991 Honda CR500 By Logan Pettus By Logan Pettus 34 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com Introduced in 1984 as the successor to the air- cooled CR480R, the CR500 brought liquid cooling and a whole new level of performance to the big-bore two-stroke game. With a reputa on for brutal power, explosive torque, and a no-nonsense chassis, it quickly became the king of open-class motocross—both feared and revered by those bold enough to tame it. By 1991, the CR500 had matured into one of Honda's most refined open-class offerings. That year's model featured updated suspension geom- etry, improved port ming, and a be er-balanced powerband, yet s ll monstrous, it was just slightly more manageable. Yet even at its peak, the writ- ing was on the wall. The rise of lighter, more agile 250cc two-strokes and the impending revolu on of four-stroke technology began to shi the industry's focus. By 2001, Honda quietly pulled the plug on the CR500, ending a nearly two-decade run of raw, unfiltered performance. We're going to take a closer look at a modern rebuild of a 1991 CR500, a machine restored and reimagined with respect for its history and an eye toward modern performance. Alongside the nuts and bolts of the build, we'll explore what made this bike legendary and what it means to bring one back from the dead in a world that's gone so with fuel injec on and trac on control. It always felt like a hidden gem whenever I found a story about a 500 two-stroke in a magazine or in some video online. The sensory overload these bikes demand may have been what first sparked some- thing deep inside me—a desire to build a modernized weapon of a bike to scratch the overwhelming itch for horsepower for myself. A er two years of hun ng, I finally found what I thought was the perfect candidate while scrolling Facebook Marketplace one night. The photos showed a complete bike—definitely in need of some love— but all the major parts were there, and the seller was only an hour and a half away. I spammed the seller with messages and even of- fered more than the listed price. That's when he hit me with the bad news: there were countless people ahead of me, all eager to snag the bike sight unseen, driven purely by the dream of owning a machine like this.