I’d thought I would share my latest project with you, it’s a CRM 250 MK1 Supermoto.

About 11 years ago I decided to buy a CRM 250, at the time I was offered 2 different bikes, a red one & a white one, they were both similar prices but on paper the red one was the better one with less miles etc. I viewed the red one with the thought of viewing the white one afterwards should the red one be no good however on inspection I couldn’t fault the red one so bought it.

A few weeks later a work colleague saw my bike & said he would like one, so I told him about the white one & said if it’s as good as mine then it’s worth buying. He went & bought the bike, however once I saw it I instantly knew I had bought the right bike.
About a year later he had lost interest in the bike & it was just sat in his shed rotting away, knowing that he hadn’t maintained the bike or done much to it since buying it I offered him £500 for it which he accepted.

With this second bike I used it for spares but as I used parts from it I then tried to replace / repair them with the thought of at some point re building the bike.

About 5 years ago I sold the Red CRM & bought a KTM for my off road riding.

The white CRM has remained in pieces in my garage since & I have finally decided to re build the bike into Supermoto trim, as I had collected various spare plastics for the Red CRM & the white plastics were very tatty I have decided the rebuild will be done Red.

One of the first tasks was to get some of the parts zinc plated, I looked at getting this done at a zinc platers but couldn’t find anyone local, I then found a zinc plating kit on ebay for about £60, I also have a small shot blast cabinet so all the bits were shot blasted & then zinc plated, this image is the first batch of parts I have done, I have also done all the other brackets, spacers & foot pegs etc.


The rear Shock was already in bits as I’d previously took it apart with a view to re building it if the one on my original bike failed again, I had also previously had a new shaft made from stainless steel to replace the corroded original, I re built the shock with a new seal & oil, I have only charged it with Air as I do not have access to a nitrogen supply, the shock on my original bike was re built the same way about a year before I sold the bike & was fine.


The engine was re built with new seals throughout & any worn bearings replaced, the piston & rings looked ok so were not changed, the crank cases painted with heat resistant paint, the clutch cover powder coated black. I also had the frame powder coated in RAL 3020, all fixings have been replaced with stainless steel, the DEP pipe I acquired when I had my original CRM but it never got used, unfortunately its not a plated exhaust so I spent some time polishing it up.


The bike is now coming together with the Rolling Chassis being built up, I also had the Fuel tank powder coated so its an exact match for the frame. The forks were stripped, new seals & fork gaiters added, the leg bottoms were stripped of the lacquer & lightly polished

That's looking really nice. The thought of owning a mk1 is really starting to appeal to me.

Really nice! Where did you got your supermoto wheels?

The supermoto wheels were an ebay find some years ago when I had my original CRM. the wheels were sold as CR500 fitment, they are Excel rims & Talon hubs, I had to get new spacers machined up but the sprocket / disc positions are correct.

A little update, side panels cleaned & painted, new front mudguard cut down & fitted & seat fitted, the seat has previously been re covered with extra sponge, I will be looking at re covering this in the original red at some point.

So after a busy couple of weeks finishing it off, the CRM is now complete, I started the bike last weekend for the first time however this took a few minutes as the cheapo kill switch I bought was the incorrect polarity, I have since bought another switch which is better quality & works correctly, I also had to change the pilot jet from a 48 to a 52 as the bike was very flat from tick over. The Carburettor float bowl seal had also gone hard & was leaking so I managed to replace the seal using some cut to length O rings. I MOT’d it at the weekend & it passed.
The only thing I want to change is the tyres as the ones currently fitted are about 10 years old, although there is plenty of tread they have gone very hard, wheel spins in third may be fun but cornering is not! I have now ordered a pair of Maxxis M6118 & M6119 supermoto tyres.

Well done, good finished project you have there. One thing I noticed was the super high back end, has this been altered or is due to the lower profile supermoto wheels?
Mike

I think it's mostly down to the lower profile 17" wheels, all the suspension bearings are all good so there is no play, although the rear shock has a stainless steel machined shaft fitted, when the bottom connection was fitted I'm not sure if this went fully home on the shaft, it wasn't going to go any further without damaging the shaft so it's possible the shock is a little longer than it should be?

Very nice!
Let us know about the tyres. I am after supermoto tyres myself, but haven't decided what to go for.

d5aul wrote:I think it's mostly down to the lower profile 17" wheels, all the suspension bearings are all good so there is no play, although the rear shock has a stainless steel machined shaft fitted, when the bottom connection was fitted I'm not sure if this went fully home on the shaft, it wasn't going to go any further without damaging the shaft so it's possible the shock is a little longer than it should be?

Yes, the extra length from the new shaft could do it. Considering that the bike is on the side stand, there's a lot of clearance at the back end. It should be OK though.
Mike