Bike Review: Honda CRF250L Rally

Underneath the plastic body panels, you have the heart of the bike—the liquid-cooled, 249.6cc thumper borrowed from the CBR250R. This engine comes with a number of modified components meant to enhance the bike’s use by its dual-sport targeted audience. The older version pumped out 22 hp. This latest delivers 24.4 hp in its stock configuration. The power band seems to be between 5,500 and 8,500 rpm.

•On the Road - Weight, Geometry, Power

I was able to repeatedly run the bike on a level freeway at 77 mph at wide-open throttle (WOT) churning a steady 8,000 rpm relatively comfortably without too much “buzziness.” The redline is at 10,500 rpm. The Honda guys requested I use 91 octane, which was used to obtain these results. Mind you, if you run the bike at WOT at 77 mph droning down the slab (which I did for two 54-mile stints), your mpg will drop to around the low 60s. As a freeway commuter bike, with the stock tank holding 2.66 gallons, you’re refueling at around 170 miles. On slower moving back roads, I can easily see having a range of just over 200 miles.

On the freeway, the stock IRC knobby tires are stable and didn’t wander off course due to the 57.3-inch wheel base.Traveling with the flow of traffic, the windscreen does an ample job keeping the buffeting down and it’s safe to say you won’t need to get a different windscreen if you’re my height or shorter.The bike’s seat height can be challenging to someone 5' 10" or shorter. Perhaps an aftermarket lowered seat can solve this. Once your butt IS on the bike, it settles lower to the point that, for me, meant being flat footed (I’m 220 lb. and 5' 11"). Not unexpectedly, the seat isn’t the most comfortable after an hour. It DOES give you room to slouch forward/backward to adjust your seating position to relieve some of the discomfort on longer trips.With the seat height of 35.2 inches, the suspension travel has to be good, and it is. With 11 inches in the front and 10.3 inches in the rear, it’s more than the standard (non-Rally) CRF250L. Ground clearance comes in at 10.6 inches. The suspension is plush—allowing and encouraging you to ride aggressively. On a downhill section filled with deep ruts, the shocks soaked them up nicely. I felt very stable doing this in first gear riding the compression. The only problem for me was when I was entering a level straightaway or uphill section where I wanted to accelerate out of a turn to hit the whoops. The engine didn’t really have the grunt to accomplish this.

Hampering this challenge is the weight of the bike. With the ABS version, Honda says it’s 346 lb., a bit on the heavy side compared to its 250cc rivals. You should be able to bring down that weight by swapping the exhaust system for a lighter one, also giving the engine slightly more power. Another solution to losing weight would be to change to one of those lighter lithium-ion polymer batteries and/or opt for the non-ABS version and save $300 and five pounds.As for the brakes, they’re really nice! No wonder, with a single 296mm disc with twin-piston caliper with ABS up front and a single 220mm disc with ABS in the rear. There’s no brake fading and the ABS works as advertised. It’s super easy to deselect ABS with a touch of a button and a yellow light remains illuminated on your instrument panel signifying such. Each time you restart the engine, it defaults to being back on.The dash is nicely lit with clear information displayed, including two trip meters, odometer, tach, clock, fuel gauge, and speedo. The speedo seems to be properly calibrated to show accurate velocity. There’s a small locking storage compartment for the tool pouch and such, on the left rear side. To remove the seat, you need to use an Allen wrench, which is supplied with the bike. The bike also comes with four attachment points for bungees or our preferred ROK Straps just behind the seat area.Lighting was better than expected for this little dual-sport thumper with the help of LED headlamps. I would highly recommend adding a bar riser if you plan on standing (as you should) during gnarly terrain. The foot pegs seem a little high, thus it felt a bit cramped in the cockpit. One way to alleviate this is to slide back on the seat. The exhaust is pretty quiet, allowing early morning campground departures without disrupting your neighbors.

Well, is it a dream rally bike?

Yes and no. For the detailed specs peruse the Honda website. For one thing, Honda definitely jumped in the right direction with the styling, suspension and brakes. Not so much, however, with the weight and underpowered power plant. But I can totally see owning a bike like this and perhaps doing some mods to reduce the weight and add power. Call that a compromise to hone my dirt skills for when Honda releases what we all REALLY want: the 450 Rally. MSRP: Rally—$5,899 | Rally ABS—$6,199 Powersports.Honda.com

PROS

CONS

▲ Styling

▼ Weight

▲ Suspension ▼ Underpowered ▲ Brakes with selectable ABS