CT250S Silk Road (248cc) 1981
CT250S Silk Road (248cc) 1981
HONDA
Genuine 17584 KM
Historic vehicle
Test and tax except
Lots of money spent on this bike
presented in super condition with a nice patina.
New tyres
New chain and sprocket
New headstock bearings
New carburettor.
Very rare usable classic
The CL and CT250S are the last of the line with this motor and are rare - there are only about 30 of them left in the UK.
It was intended as a go-anywhere, do-anything wide-ranging farm bike, that bridges the gap between trials, road and mountain farming.
Honda's tough little 4-valve, 5-speed, single engines started with the SL (cam chain on the left, no engine balancer) and was redesigned by shifting the cam-chain to the right and fitting a pair of balancer shafts, driven by a chain on the left... That cut vibration so much that they could use a much lighter frame.
This engine was widely sold, and loved, as the XL250 and CB250RS - essentially the same engine with different gears and alternators.
Then, for the early 80's, Honda did an interesting re-design. Keeping all the same engine casings and main components, they dropped the rear balancer (which ran on the gearbox input shaft, and used just a single balancer shaft at the front of the motor, driven by gears.
This gave them a gap on the gearbox shaft, which they used to fit a 6th gear! Brilliant!
Two 6-speed motors were built - the CL250S and the XL250R, between 1981 and 1983 - being the same motor with different gear ratios.
The XL-R had a competition-spaced 6-speed box, the CL & CT had a wide 5-speed box with an extra ultra-low crawler 6th speed which is so low that you can't get into it without pulling a release lever built onto the outside of the clutch lever.
