What Year Is My Honda CR250R? How to Identify Every Year

“What year is it?” is the first question I get about almost every Honda CR250R someone sends me. Honda built the CR250 from 1973 through 2007, and a lot of those years look alike once the bike has new plastic, a swapped motor or a seller who guessed. Here’s how I pin down the year on a CR250R: start with the frame number, then check it against the parts that changed year to year.

Step 1: Read the frame number (1981 and later)

The frame number is stamped on the steering head. On 1981 and later bikes it’s a 17-character number, and the 10th character is the model year code. Count ten characters from the left:

10th character	Model year	10th character	Model year
B	1981	T	1996
C	1982	V	1997
D	1983	W	1998
E	1984	X	1999
F	1985	Y	2000
G	1986	1	2001
H	1987	2	2002
J	1988	3	2003
K	1989	4	2004
L	1990	5	2005
M	1991	6	2006
N	1992	7	2007
P	1993
R	1994
S	1995

Honda’s own model codes follow the same letters, so a 1997 is a CR250RV, a 1998 a CR250RW and a 2001 a CR250R1. A few things to keep in mind:

• It’s the model year, not the build date. A bike can be built in one calendar year and sold as the next model year.
• The frame and engine can disagree. CR250Rs got raced hard, and engine swaps are common. The frame number tells you what the frame is. The rest of this guide tells you whether the parts hanging on it match.
• Pre-1981 bikes don’t use this system. For the Elsinores you have to go by the parts.

Step 2: Check the year-specific parts

This is where most mismatched bikes give themselves away. I cover every model in detail in my two-part Honda CR250 history. Here are the changes that help you tell one year from the next.

1973–1976: CR250M Elsinore

The first production Honda two-stroke motocrosser was the 1973 CR250M Elsinore. The ’74 and ’75 were nearly unchanged (the ’75 had a red top on the fuel tank), and the 1976 got a conservative makeover. If a bike says “CR250M,” it’s one of these.

1978–1980: Air-cooled CR250R Elsinore

The 1978 CR250R was the first real motocross bike I ever owned. It was the first CR with long-travel suspension and the first to wear the “R,” and it’s the one with the fire-engine red engine (see my 1978 CR250R Elsinore brochure). The 1979 is essentially the same bike, so tell those two apart with paperwork and parts numbers, not looks. The 1980 is easier: it got a center exhaust port, a double-downtube frame and Honda’s first plastic gas tank. All three are air-cooled with twin rear shocks.

1981–1983: Water-cooling and Pro-Link

1981 is the big jump: the first liquid-cooled CR250R and the first with Honda’s Pro-Link single shock. US bikes wore that goofy “hangnail” front number plate you can see in my 1981 Honda CR brochure post. For 1983, Honda dropped the bright red it had used since 1976 for an orange-red shade from its works bikes, with an electric-blue seat and a low-boy tank. The ’83 still had a front drum brake, and it was the last year with the countershaft on the right side.

1984–1988: Disc brakes and exhaust valves

• 1984: Redesigned motor with the countershaft back on the left, the ATAC exhaust valve and a hydraulic front disc brake. A front drum means ’83 or earlier.
• 1986: Cartridge front fork and the Honda Power Port exhaust valve. The 1986 brochure and ads show how it looked.
• 1987: Hydraulic rear disc brake, and the Keihin carb grew from 36mm to 38mm. A rear drum means ’86 or earlier.
• 1985 and 1988: These sit close to the years around them, so lean on the frame number.

1989–1996: Upside-down forks and loud graphics

• 1989: First year of inverted Showa forks. Conventional forks mean ’88 or earlier.
• 1990: All-new bodywork and the white frame. My 1990 CR250R project is a good reference for a correct one.
• 1991: The “splash” graphics.
• 1992: An all-new bike with a stronger motor. See the 1992 CR250R Motocross Action test.
• 1994: A stronger frame after complaints about flex on the ’92–’93.
• 1995: The purple graphics. I hated them at the time, but they’ve grown on me. Check the 1995 Honda CR brochures.
• 1996: A revised power valve. It’s the last steel-framed CR250R.

1997–2007: The aluminum frames

From 1997 the CR250R has a twin-spar aluminum frame. Honda used three generations of it, and the carburetor changes help too:

• 1997–1998: First-generation aluminum frame, thick and rigid. Keihin carb with the electronic “Power Jet.”
• 1999: Nearly identical, but the Power Jet system is gone.
• 2000: Second-generation frame with thinner spars, and a Keihin PWK carb.
• 2001: Same chassis as 2000, but with a Mikuni TMX carb and a new CDI. A Mikuni on a 2000 frame number tells you the carb has been swapped.
• 2002: Third-generation frame and a new motor with the reed valve in the cases and an electronically controlled power valve.
• 2003–2007: Same basic engine and chassis with smaller updates. Use the frame number here, because the bikes look a lot alike. 2007 was the last CR250R.

Step 3: Put it together

When the frame code and the big parts agree (cooling, front and rear brakes, fork type, frame color or material, carburetor), you can be pretty confident in the year. When they don’t, you’re probably looking at a bike built from more than one year. That doesn’t make it a bad bike, but it should change the price, and it matters a lot if you’re restoring or buying a collectible like the ’78. My vintage dirt bike buyer’s checklist covers the rest of what to look at, and the Bike Finder lets you browse every bike in The Vault by brand and year.

FAQ

Where is the frame number on a Honda CR250R?

It’s stamped on the steering head, right below the bars.

How do I tell the year from the frame number?

On 1981 and later bikes, the 10th character is the model year: B is 1981, L is 1990, V is 1997, Y is 2000 and 7 is 2007. The full table is above.

What was the first water-cooled CR250R?

The 1981. It was also the first with Pro-Link single-shock rear suspension.

When did the CR250R get an aluminum frame?

1997. Every CR250R from 1997 through 2007 has an aluminum frame.

What was the last year of the Honda CR250R?

2007 was the final model year.