THE SECRET PROJECT

Honda was late to the motocross market. By 1967, Suzuki already had a production dirt bike, and Yamaha would soon follow. Honda's only official motocross attempt was a 125cc four-stroke that raced and was beaten hard in the 1969 All-Japan Motocross Championship. This project would eventually evolve in 1971 into the XL250. An unofficial 250cc two-stroke project was first raced on August 22, 1971. The bike did not finish, but it caught the attention of the Japanese press, which forced the project out of production. 'shadow. When Mr. Honda reluctantly gave the go-ahead, all of Honda's industrial might was brought to bear on the project. The prototypes were built in record time. The 250 made its public racing debut in March 1972 and the 125 first raced in July. Both bikes won a few races. The green light was given for mass production and Honda began manufacturing Elsinores by the thousands. They were named Elsinore in remembrance of the race around the Californian lake of the same name immortalized in the 1971 film "On Any Sunday", a documentary film about motorcycles partly financed by Steve McQueen. The stock 250 came out in 1973. In 1973 only a few 125s made it to dealerships, and that was the 1974 vintage.