TAT-2016 Post 32 Honda CRF250L review

My CRF is a 2015 model that I purchased new in August 2015. I won’t go into a lot of detail why I selected this bike since I covered that in my earlier posts but my primary reasons were:

1               Honda reliability

2               Price ($1600 cheaper than my other choices)

3               Weight (It is heavier than some other 250 size bikes but still lighter than a KLR650)

4               Availability

5               Abundant spare parts and repair facilities along route

6               EFI (no carburetor)

7               21” front tire

I knew that the bike had plenty of limitations but was willing to work around those based on numerous reviews I read before purchase. Limitations:

1               Low Power compared to Yamaha WR250R (Yamaha $1600 more)

2               Heavy for a 250cc compared to the KTM, etc.

3               Non-adjustable suspension (WR250R is adjustable)

4               Others I’m sure

Modifications:

The basic off the floor CRF needs a number of enhancements to make it ready for the TAT. The $1600 savings on sale price came in handy in this area. BTW, the WR250R would have needed most of these same enhancements. I must make it clear that I put a lot of stuff on my CRF and I’m sure lots of other riders would not need or want the mods I made. One note though, most of this stuff is reusable on my next bike:

1               Rear Rack (Manracks – comes ready to mount RotoPax auxiliary fuel tank. Good quality and worked well on trip)

2               RAM Mounts for GPS, GoPro, etc (several different types used and I’m very pleased with their quality and variety)

3               30mm handlebar risers (made riding standing on pegs more comfortable. Before adding them I had to bend over to ride standing up)

4               Engine Skid Plate (get good quality since I hit lots of rocks on TAT Leg-1)

5               Radiator shield (A must considering the amount of gravel on the TAT)

6               1 Gallon RotoPax and mounting (2 gal RotoPax doesn’t fit well and interfered with my bags. 2 each 1 Gallons would be better. Very pleased with their quality and I used mine several times)

7               Folding shift lever (I actually bent this one and put my original back on the bike. Carry a spare. I’m not sure anything will stop bending a shift lever. I bent the folding one and Woodrow bent the original version. Just buy a spare.)

8               13 tooth (13t) front sprocket (replaced 14t and it made a world of difference on this bike. 2^nd gear will climb almost any hill and I only go to 1^st on the real serious climbs. A must do mod and pretty cheap. Doesn’t require replacing or modifying the chain).

9               Doubletake mirrors (They are great and don’t break when dropping the bike. I had to roughen up the ball ends with sand paper so they wouldn’t move when ridding on highway)

10            Seatconcepts seat (Fantastic replacement for that original 2X4 board of an original seat)

11            Grand Loop (GL) Fandango Tank Bag (I was doubtful at first but I love this bag. It looks huge but I filled it up on the TAT ride. It also unzips for easy on/off and to fill gas. Only issue was zippers got hard to operate when in heavy dust environment. Going to get some silicon spray for next trip)

12            GL Great Basin horseshoe bag (Same great quality and worked perfectly on this trip. I wasn’t sure how well I would like the mounting but once I strapped the GL to the bike I never took it off until the end. You must use the internal waterproof bags to not only ensure your stuff stays dry but for easy packing/unpacking. Each night I would only take out the internal bags I needed. I left in the repair kit and 1^st aid kit. Be sure to make sure the internal bags (3) come with the GL bag. Some sites want another $30 for them. Order direct from GL and they come in the basic price)

13            LED Taillight from DRCHardware (Replaces that huge hunk of junk that comes on the basic bike with a streamlined and much more visible light. Also replaces the rear turn lights.)

14            Zeta Hand Guards (Whatever you do put hand guards on your CRF. I’ve dropped my bike more times than I can remember and they have worked every time. Woodrow took a pretty serious fall missing a dog and they saved his hands and serious damage to his bike)

15            Speedometer compensator from 12oclock labs (Replacing the front sprocket makes the speedo about 7% wrong. Using a GPS you don’t even need the Speedo but it irritated me so I fixed it with this mod. It works 100% but a little pricy).

16            Garmin Zumo 660LM GPS (Love this GPS. It has bright and large display, its waterproof and has a fantastic mounting system. One issue was after riding several days in dusty conditions the release lock on the mount was jammed and I couldn’t get the GPS off. I poured water on the mount and GPS and it finally came loose. A little silicon spray may work to keep it free. I used this GPS primarily to find gas, food and motels but it will also follow routes generated from the TAT tracks)

17            Garmin 64ST GPS (I’m a dedicate Garmin fan and I also love this GPS. It is loaded with Topo maps and primarily for off road use. Doesn’t follow highways worth a darn but great for following GPX tracks I received from Sam (or GPSKevin). It really came in handy identifying possible water crossings)

18            GoPro camera (What can I say, GoPro works and makes great video. I have the early Hero 2 so controls are cumbersome but when I took the time it would make great video).

19            Dunlap D606 tires (I really only selected these after reading some good reviews. They worked great and didn’t wear too much considering the highway miles we had to do. Other tire may be better but I was happy with the performance of these (front and rear were installed at Charleston, mile 0 of 1400 miles))

20            Intercom Sena SMH10 (I have mixed feelings about these units. I had two older versions and we bought 2 newer versions for a total of 4 (max number that can be connected). I uploaded the firmware for the older two so they were all using same firmware. We could never get more than 3 to connect while on the TAT. We had tested them before the trip and had all 4 on line so not sure what changed. Making 4 or 3 way connection is a pain but once connected they seem to reconnect just by turning them on. Range not more than ½ mile and probably less in any kind of terrain. Speeds above 35 made them useless due to wind noise. I used CB radios on 2 AK trips with a lot less issues. The waterproof CB is expensive but if I had to do it again I would go CB rather than Bluetooth intercom.)

21            Bike Lock by Bilt (I bought a cheap brake disk lock on sale at Cycle Gear and almost couldn’t get it off the bike due to all the dust and dirt that had gotten into the lock. Don’t buy cheap here because of the consequences if it does permanently jam).

22            Bike Cover from Wal-Mart (It worked and kept prying eyes off the bike but some of the other riders bought better fitting ones from Cycle Gear at a small increase in price).

23            Auxiliary Power Outlet from Cycle Gear (I installed a 3 amp fuse in line but changed it to 5 amp when my air pump blew the 3 amp).

Honda CRF250L Performance:

The review below is my experience since I purchased the CRF in Aug 2015. I have about 3,000 miles on this bike, 1,400 of them just completing Leg-1 of the TAT; Charleston, SC to Little Rock, AR.

I’ve owned more bikes than I can remember but in recent years I’ve owned mostly large touring bikes:

1               Honda 750 Shadow

2               Yamaha 650 Classic

3               Yamaha 1600 Road Star

4               Harley Davidson FLHTCU Ultra Classic (Rode to Yukon, Canada on AK1 - 6,000+ miles)

5               Yamaha Super Tenere XT1200Z (Rode to Alaska and Arctic Circle on AK2 – 8,000 miles, including Iron Butt)

I bought my first dirt bike after nearly 40 years for riding the TAT last August 2015. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed riding small dirt bikes and the fun they provide.

The CRF250L is easy to ride and maneuvers effortlessly on roads or trails. With the right tires it handles mud and sand pretty well. I have yet to bottom out the suspension and I’m 5’ 10” @ 195 lbs not including riding gear. This includes the bike loaded for TAT Leg-1 with I would estimate at least another 50 lbs of baggage. It has a payload capacity of 350 Lbs so I’ve never reach that yet. We have ridden on some pretty rocky and rough roads with no issues with suspension.

It’s a pretty tough bike as proven by several dropped bike incidents I’ve had and a couple of potential serious accidents that Woodrow had on TAT Leg-1 (read my blog for details). Bent gear shift levers seem to be common and the hand guards (if you have them) take a beating. Everything else seems to be pretty tough or well protected.

Bike always starts and runs smoothly. Electrical power seems to be good because I’m driving with a GPS plus electric jacket and gloves plus have an iPhone plugged in charging. Woodrow has heated grips installed with no problem.

Fuel tank is small at 2.1 gallons. I tested my mpg before Leg-1 and got 72 mpg but that was in city and highway miles at around 45-50 mph; 140 miles per tank including reserve. The reserve indicator starts flashing when you have ½ gallon remaining. You have a fuel gage on this bike so it is pretty nice. Riding TAT Leg-1 was a lot of slow speed riding plus many climbs. This brought the mpg down to around 50 mpg. At 90-100 miles my indicator would start to flash meaning I had maybe 20-25 miles of range to empty. I’m considering a larger 3 gallon fuel tank for the next two legs because we seemed to have to find fuel every 100 miles (not wanting to use the extra 1 Gal of fuel in the RotoPax). My main concern is I will lose the fuel gage capability or at least it won’t be accurate. It is also a pricy modification ($400+). Still deciding on this one.

Here is where the CRF250L suffers. It is underpowered. I had plenty of power to do Leg-1 but I could feel on the really steep climbs on rocky roads in 1^st gear that I was pretty close to the top of the power band. I never ran out of power but I’m a little concerned what riding to the top of a 12,000’ mountain pass will feel like. The vast majority of the climbs I can do in 2^nd gear and ride a constant 18 mph. It’s the very steep and rocky ones that cause the problem. I’m 90% sure I will do the engine upgrade to put a FMF exhaust and new Electronic Fuel Control Module on before I start Leg-2. I wanted to see how the stock engine handled Leg-1 and now I know a little more power would be nice to have out west.

The CRF is also slow, probably due to the power issue in the previous paragraph. We had to ride a lot on 2 lane paved roads with speed limits of 55-65. My stock CRF can do maybe 60-65 but feels a lot more comfortable at 50-55. At 60-65 it is pulling hard and has lots of engine vibration. I can just feel that it is working hard and I hate to put that kind of strain on the CRF for long durations. An increase in power may make it handle the higher speeds with a bit les strain. If not then it is something to realize if you buy the CRF.

Summary:

1               Would I buy the CRF250L again? Yes, the price is right and it is so much fun to ride.

2               Would I like a more powerful bike? Maybe. The KTM’s are lite but much more expensive and all the ones I know seem to need much more repair than the CRF250L. WR250R may be better.

3               Would I rather have the Yamaha WR250R or the CRF250L? I would probably go with the Yamaha if money wasn’t an issue because it is $1,600 more but it does have a stronger engine and adjustable suspension. If money is an issue then the CRF is a great buy and so far is doing everything I ask.

I will try to get the other riders to do reviews on their WR250R and KLR650 but I can’t promise they will do as good a job as mine, just kidding.

I will next do a gear review of the riding gear and other miscellaneous items I carried.