CR500 Wide Ratio Transmission

[Beer Guy]

Beating a dead horse, (or dead dinosaur)

Does anyone know where one might find a wide ratio tranny for a CR500?

Or, are there any known alternative substitutes? ie: CRF or XR

They have been discontinued by IMS and White Bros for about 7 years, so I'm told, but perhaps someone has picked up the ball.

[ballisticexchris]

You can find them on eBay from time time......

[Johnnymannen]

is it the stock wide ratio trans you're after?

[Beer Guy]

is it the stock wide ratio trans you're after?

[Beer Guy]

No, not the stock one. I was looking for the aftermarket version as offered by IMS which spaces out the gears more towards the top. As I understand, it was a slightly lower first and progressively taller through to 5th. That way you could gear the bike down low with the sprockets and still have speed in 5th. I can't find the specs for it.

[Johnnymannen]

The problem with even taller gearing is that you probably won't go faster, if that.s the goal.if you want it for woods too, maybe it's a good idea though.

Edited February 15, 2014 by Johnnymannen

[Lehiguy]

I tracked down a few sets of these gears a few years back, but I cannot remember who had them, it was in CA, that remember.  This kit consisted of a slightly taller third, fourth and fifth gear set.  In order to make the first gears lower, the idea was to lower the final drive ratio.  I had one of these in an '86 and the top speed was ridiculous.  FTR, the production gear ratios went back and forth with '85 through '87 being a "wide ratio" trans, '88 through '93 were closer in the top gears, then '94 through the unfortunate end-of-production in '01 saw the return of the original wider ratio transmission.  One more tidbit of relatively useless information, the 1990 CR500 had one unique feature; it had the most rake of any CR500 frame and lent itself very well to high speed desert use.  I once swapped all the components from a '95 into a '90 frame for that stability.  I had to cut and weld the lower link bracket in order to accept the '95 linkage, but that was about it.  The improvement was huge.

[Johnnymannen]

I tracked down a few sets of these gears a few years back, but I cannot remember who had them, it was in CA, that remember.  This kit consisted of a slightly taller third, fourth and fifth gear set.  In order to make the first gears lower, the idea was to lower the final drive ratio.  I had one of these in an '86 and the top speed was ridiculous.  FTR, the production gear ratios went back and forth with '85 through '87 being a "wide ratio" trans, '88 through '93 were closer in the top gears, then '94 through the unfortunate end-of-production in '01 saw the return of the original wider ratio transmission.  One more tidbit of relatively useless information, the 1990 CR500 had one unique feature; it had the most rake of any CR500 frame and lent itself very well to high speed desert use.  I once swapped all the components from a '95 into a '90 frame for that stability.  I had to cut and weld the lower link bracket in order to accept the '95 linkage, but that was about it.  The improvement was huge.

Hello Lehiguy. Can you confirm that the rake of the 1990 frames were different than all the others? Why i'm asking is because i never heard it before. I have a 1990 frame on my latest build. How many degrees are the different frames?

[Lehiguy]

I do not recall the exact disparity, but it is different from all the rest.  I found the information in the service manual at a local dealership. In the real world, it will oversteer with a little throttle while the steeper raked frames had a tendency to understeer. Of the five open class Hondas I owned, it was the easiest one to ride aggressively at high speed.

Edited September 16, 2014 by Lehiguy

[Kirkes]

Here is some info on cr 500 gears. Curiosity of roosty from cr500 riders.com.

https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=BD4AA2685D9BF2E9&id=BD4AA2685D9BF2E9%21547&v=3&authkey=%21AG6MWUDiWK-5fSs

Edited September 16, 2014 by Kirkes

[Piney Woods]

The racing arm of Honda, HRC produced the wider third thru fifth gear sets for the 250 and 500 for a couple years. It was by far the best combination for all round use I ever rode. Zero gaps and perfect transition thru the gears. $205 and came with the side case gasket. Incredible value! I used mine for almost six years and it was perfect when I sold the bike. Many who used the IMS had failures and that caused sales to dwindle. There was another brand sold by Baja Design but it is no longer available. I am sure there are probably a few HRC kits laying on some dusty shelf somewhere but finding one is the tough part.

Edited September 16, 2014 by YHGEORGE

[DEMI]

The racing arm of Honda, HRC produced the wider third thru fifth gear sets for the 250 and 500 for a couple years. It was by far the best combination for all round use I ever rode. Zero gaps and perfect transition thru the gears. $205 and came with the side case gasket. Incredible value! I used mine for almost six years and it was perfect when I sold the bike. Many who used the IMS had failures and that caused sales to dwindle. There was another brand sold by Baja Design but it is no longer available. I am sure there are probably a few HRC kits laying on some dusty shelf somewhere but finding one is the tough part.[/quote

So, this transmission is meant for off road right? Are the ratios different than the late models? Thanks.

Edited September 17, 2014 by DEMI

[Piney Woods]

The racing arm of Honda, HRC produced the wider third thru fifth gear sets for the 250 and 500 for a couple years. It was by far the best combination for all round use I ever rode. Zero gaps and perfect transition thru the gears. $205 and came with the side case gasket. Incredible value! I used mine for almost six years and it was perfect when I sold the bike. Many who used the IMS had failures and that caused sales to dwindle. There was another brand sold by Baja Design but it is no longer available. I am sure there are probably a few HRC kits laying on some dusty shelf somewhere but finding one is the tough part.[/quote

So, this transmission is meant for off road right? Are the ratios different than the late models? Thanks.

Very much different. Yes for offroad use, not mx.

[LovingOffroadPain]

The only difference I would want in a 500 tranny would be a lower 6th gear about like first gear when running 13:49, the other 5 remain the same when geared 15:49. As it is though the bike can't be the best if both worlds, high speed desert and tight EnduroX stuff.

You gotta choose one or the other which limits your speed in the speeds or the crawls. The problem with just picking 14:49 stock gearing as a compromise is you don't get the best of either discipline, you can't go as fast in high speeds or as quick in the slow stuff!

[jujitsu_student]

Anybody has an idea where to get one of these sets now? I am super interested to buy one as i would like to have some reproductions made.

[h4189b]

Anybody has an idea where to get one of these sets now? I am super interested to buy one as i would like to have some reproductions made.

I have a new unopened HRC set. I plan to post it on ebay soon.

[seanmx57]

PMed you on the gears.

[jujitsu_student]

I'll refresh the thread, I want to buy a set of hrc gears, pm me if you have anything.

[h4189b]

Sorry, but I've had severe life-threatening health problems for the past year but I have finally listed the HRC Wide Ratio Trans kit on Ebay.  

[jujitsu_student]

Mean while I waited so long for that set, I found another one that was sent in the UK for reproductions. It will be sold to be compatible for the cr500 of all years with the help of bushings and different specs. PM me for detail.