The CRF250L Owners thread - Page 183

'Flagger · 01-28-2013, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed@Ford

someone here upped his rear spring rate to 600 from about 525.....

that was me. but I weigh 230 in my birfday suit.

Ed@Ford · 01-28-2013, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 'Flagger

that was me. but I weigh 230 in my birfday suit.

I'm close to that with gear...hmmmm....spring shopping in the spring????

Lost Rider · 01-28-2013, 06:15 PM

I didn't see the spring rate as being the issue, I'm not a heavy guy and the extra fuel on back weighs more than my all camping gear, most of the time the softer suspension was fine, just seemed like it could use a hell of a lot more compression damping. I'm not a suspension Guru though, I have state of the art WP closed cartridge suspension setup by someone that is a Guru on my Berg', only making small adjustments for various rides whether I'm loaded or not, or if know I'll be in either soft terrain or rock garden trails. Most of the time I leave it somewhere in the middle so it works everywhere because I like to get around.

I ride, not fiddle with things much.

The main reason I say I wouldn't buy any of the current available choices is they don't have remote preload and still charge top dollar, same I've paid for Ohlins with remote preload. If I'm going to spend $800 on a shock, it's going to be Gold.
If we got new suspension it would get sprung for Nancy, but I would have to have the ability to easily crank up the preload for when she's carrying camping gear, or I'm riding the bike, no sense in paying to make compromises IMHO. We can wait, or just buy a higher performance bike when the time comes to drop a couple grand or more into this one...
I'm sure it would greatly improve the handling, but as you can see, it's doing OK without spending big bucks and is just fine for Nancy to grow into a great dirt bike rider. Lost Rider tested.

What saved me from crashing more than anything was having proper knobby tires on, I couldn't have done what I did without incident on the OEM tires or most DS tires.

About 1:43 into the video I slowed down 4 seconds when I hit a 3' wide very deep hole with square edges, luckily I was going fast enough and in the right gear to be able to get the front wheel over it. That hit was devastating, broke my tool tube off, and I've never broke one of those on other bikes with many rough miles. I'm sure better suspension would have helped there since it blew threw the soft rear shock with not enough compression instantly sending the rear wheel up a couple of feet and me doing a handstand on the bars after the shock bottomed out from the force of the hit. Nothing else broke though, I didn't even bent a wheel on this ride.

Go LRP!

Jinksy · 01-28-2013, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harcomo

I just finished this combination awhile ago and it turned out fine. It wasn't that tough of a job if you take your time and use the correct tools.....and read the thread here and ask questions if you need to. There are members here that are willing to help. I've had the 13T JT front sprocket on for some time but today installed the 42T JT rear sprocket from The Sprocket Center. Fitment was spot on. I now need to recalibrate my Speedo DRD to get the speedometer reading correctly. Now for some warm weather to test it out. I'm betting it's going to be just right now gearing wise for me anyway!

Did you notice a difference with just changing out the 14T to the 13T? Is it a significant difference with the 42T? Does the front sprocket change alone affect the speedometer reading?

Ed@Ford · 01-28-2013, 07:24 PM

Lost Rider:

Your video, and your commentary confirm that this bike, just as it is, possibly excepting tires, is capable of performing at a seriously high level, that a huge number of riders can only start to approach. "Ride, not fiddle" sums it up. Thanks

Harcomo · 01-28-2013, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jinksy

Did you notice a difference with just changing out the 14T to the 13T? Is it a significant difference with the 42T? Does the front sprocket change alone affect the speedometer reading?

The first thing I thought when I took my first ride on this bike was that it was awfully high geared, especially in first gear. The 13T sprocket alone helped somewhat but not enough for how I'll use the bike. I felt I needed lower gearing yet and hopefully the 42T will get me there. I haven't ridden it yet after the rear sprocket change so maybe others that have done both will chime in. And yes, any change you make to front or rear sprockets is going to throw off your speedometer reading. But that is an easy fix with the Speedo DRD.....about $75 if you want your speedometer to read as it should.

http://www.crfsonly.com/catalog/prod...oducts_id/4746

Jinksy · 01-28-2013, 08:42 PM

Has anyone used Filtered Air Box Vents after drilling holes in the air box? If so, how did it improve the performance?

Lost Rider · 01-28-2013, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed@Ford

Lost Rider:

Your video, and your commentary confirm that this bike, just as it is, possibly excepting tires, is capable of performing at a seriously high level, that a huge number of riders can only start to approach. "Ride, not fiddle" sums it up. Thanks

Thanks Ed.

My purpose of posting the video and comments in general isn't to say how fast I am or on a high level, far from it, I'm an intermediate rider, never raced, no trophies, no rallies, no nothing but some miles under my belt, but motorcycling is a top priority in my/our life, along with making photos. Lots of fast guys out there, I'm not one of them... My point with many of my posts from my own experience is that this Honda is more than capable of doing what most any rider who would buy one could need. I'm not even saying better or worse than any other comparable bike, it's a very capable bike in many ways.
I understand being snowed in, I understand when I don't have the time to ride it's best to talk about it, or shop around and spend time throwing money at making a bike better. I get it, trust me.
The reality is most any DS bike most folks could buy the owner can't ride it to it's mechanical peak performance or even close. I know my Berg' is capable of much more beyond my skills, but I hope to grow into it. Sure, nice suspension or more power is great, anodized bling is seductive, planning for the what-ifs, spending time when you wish you were riding researching mods or what will be "best" way to setup your bike is a great way to pass the time in between rides, better than watching reality TV at least. Come this summer when I'm too busy working and not riding for months at a time I'll be yearning for saddle time myself. But in the end, it's up to the rider to grown and learn, to train your body to ride, to get good muscle memory for all motorbike controls or reaction time when you FEEL something, to train you butt to take long days in the saddle, etc, etc. There's only so much a person can buy to go faster or be safer, most of the issues are the nut holding onto the handlebars, at least has been for me. I didn't think one bit about what I needed to do to the LRP on this last ride when I got home to have more fun, just enjoyed what I had.

I'm all for making a bike your own, making it fit you both physically and esthetically, but in the end, especially for new or out of practice DS riders IMHO the best money you could spend on the LRP after you have it fitting you properly and protected would be for professional training like with Jimmy Lewis, or at least making having seat time a priority if possible. Commuting is seat time, even if not on trails. By all means if it's no big deal to your budget or what make you happy, spend away squeezing all you can out of the motor, or get the nice suspension, but nobody NEEDS to do anything beyond making the LRP theirs to make them go faster on it, or at the very least have FUN.

I really enjoyed my time on the LRP, looking forward to many fun miles for us on this bike.
Just my 2¢.

Rider1 · 01-28-2013, 10:23 PM

Well said LR !! And I agree, not that that matters much, totally .

Dave

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lost Rider

Thanks Ed.

My purpose of posting the video and comments in general isn't to say how fast I am or on a high level, far from it, I'm an intermediate rider, never raced, no trophies, no rallies, no nothing but some miles under my belt, but motorcycling is a top priority in my/our life, along with making photos. Lots of fast guys out there, I'm not one of them... My point with many of my posts from my own experience is that this Honda is more than capable of doing what most any rider who would buy one could need. I'm not even saying better or worse than any other comparable bike, it's a very capable bike in many ways.
I understand being snowed in, I understand when I don't have the time to ride it's best to talk about it, or shop around and spend time throwing money at making a bike better. I get it, trust me.
The reality is most any DS bike most folks could buy the owner can't ride it to it's mechanical peak performance or even close. I know my Berg' is capable of much more beyond my skills, but I hope to grow into it. Sure, nice suspension or more power is great, anodized bling is seductive, planning for the what-ifs, spending time when you wish you were riding researching mods or what will be "best" way to setup your bike is a great way to pass the time in between rides, better than watching reality TV at least. Come this summer when I'm too busy working and not riding for months at a time I'll be yearning for saddle time myself. But in the end, it's up to the rider to grown and learn, to train your body to ride, to get good muscle memory for all motorbike controls or reaction time when you FEEL something, to train you butt to take long days in the saddle, etc, etc. There's only so much a person can buy to go faster or be safer, most of the issues are the nut holding onto the handlebars, at least has been for me. I didn't think one bit about what I needed to do to the LRP on this last ride when I got home to have more fun, just enjoyed what I had.

I'm all for making a bike your own, making it fit you both physically and esthetically, but in the end, especially for new or out of practice DS riders IMHO the best money you could spend on the LRP after you have it fitting you properly and protected would be for professional training like with Jimmy Lewis, or at least making having seat time a priority if possible. Commuting is seat time, even if not on trails. By all means if it's no big deal to your budget or what make you happy, spend away squeezing all you can out of the motor, or get the nice suspension, but nobody NEEDS to do anything beyond making the LRP theirs to make them go faster on it, or at the very least have FUN.

I really enjoyed my time on the LRP, looking forward to many fun miles for us on this bike.
Just my 2¢.

positron007 · 01-29-2013, 01:55 AM

Has anyone here owned both an XR400R and the CRF250L
I like the XR400R for it's light weight, bigger fuel tank, and obviously greater horsepower and torque.
I like the CRF250L because for a new bike it is very cheap, and I suppose fuel injected motor, and easy to find.
I reckon I would like the XR more but I like the peace of mind of a new bike.
Any advice would be appreciated

mtntrails · 01-29-2013, 02:24 AM

CRF250L Owners.... Please chime in on this thread...

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=858964

Tjilpi · 01-29-2013, 02:31 AM

My two bobs worth.

Two of us recently rode 3000 mms through northern Thailand and Laos, each on CRF250Ls.
See report http://advrider.com/forums/showthrea...os+bucket+list

We rode all sorts of roads but no 'hard-core' dirt/mud tracks (at 65 years of age I can justifiably say, 'been there, done that' to that one).

Both bike performed brilliantly.
Mine was new, starting the journey at 1,600 kms.
My mate's bike had 13,000+ kms on it at the start of the journey.

Great suspension.
200 km range.
Adequate power for all we encountered.
No extra oil or coolant was added.
No punctures.

Both bikes were stock standard.

A good summary came from my riding partner; "I respect this little bike more after the journey than before."
I agreed.

Ed@Ford · 01-29-2013, 04:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by positron007

Has anyone here owned both an XR400R and the CRF250L
I like the XR400R for it's light weight, bigger fuel tank, and obviously greater horsepower and torque.
I like the CRF250L because for a new bike it is very cheap, and I suppose fuel injected motor, and easy to find.
I reckon I would like the XR more but I like the peace of mind of a new bike.
Any advice would be appreciated

I currently have both. Owned the XR since 1996 when it was new. Tried many other bikes to replace the XR. They are all gone. The faults of the XR are weak AC electrical system that won't run heated grips and electric vest for a 67 year old old fart. Plus it's not electric start...and it NEVER started well cold.

The CRF was purchased to deal with these issues, has a great price, and be lighter than my KLR650. I've put significant miles on a WR250R. Great engine...didn't like the suspension or the ergonomics. PM me if you have specific questions. I will NOT be getting rid of the XR400.

trainman · 01-29-2013, 04:50 AM

I've been on the CRF250L vs. WR250R forum, it was started by a newbie, so the forum is going through this again, sorta like the oil thing and we know how that turns out. Someone has decided that the CRF250L is being produced to compete with the Yamaha XT250, not the WR250R. I told them that Honda is producing this bike to out sell all the others in that class and make huge profits, wouldn't think that Honda would want it any other way. I'd say by it's sales, it's working.

John

yyz · 01-29-2013, 05:22 AM

I agree the CRF is not meant to compete with the WR. If I was taller, I might have bought the WR but it is just to tall for me to be confident off road. The personality of the CRF on and off road is completely different, while the engine feels a bit tame on the road, off road it comes alive and is willing to rev with ease.

I have no interest in modding the engine or messing with the EFI, I expect the bike will be very reliable stock and that is another reason I bought the bike. I do need more fuel capacity, on dirt roads with the throttle pinned, it doesn't have very good range. Not enough to be out of range of a gas stop for a whole afternoon.

Ride the bike off road before deciding it doesn't have enough power.

01-28-2013, 06:15 PM	#2733
Lost Rider Broken Roadie Joined: Oct 2006 Location: Lake Sherwood, CA Oddometer: 2,790	I didn't see the spring rate as being the issue, I'm not a heavy guy and the extra fuel on back weighs more than my all camping gear, most of the time the softer suspension was fine, just seemed like it could use a hell of a lot more compression damping. I'm not a suspension Guru though, I have state of the art WP closed cartridge suspension setup by someone that is a Guru on my Berg', only making small adjustments for various rides whether I'm loaded or not, or if know I'll be in either soft terrain or rock garden trails. Most of the time I leave it somewhere in the middle so it works everywhere because I like to get around. I ride, not fiddle with things much. The main reason I say I wouldn't buy any of the current available choices is they don't have remote preload and still charge top dollar, same I've paid for Ohlins with remote preload. If I'm going to spend $800 on a shock, it's going to be Gold. If we got new suspension it would get sprung for Nancy, but I would have to have the ability to easily crank up the preload for when she's carrying camping gear, or I'm riding the bike, no sense in paying to make compromises IMHO. We can wait, or just buy a higher performance bike when the time comes to drop a couple grand or more into this one... I'm sure it would greatly improve the handling, but as you can see, it's doing OK without spending big bucks and is just fine for Nancy to grow into a great dirt bike rider. Lost Rider tested. What saved me from crashing more than anything was having proper knobby tires on, I couldn't have done what I did without incident on the OEM tires or most DS tires. About 1:43 into the video I slowed down 4 seconds when I hit a 3' wide very deep hole with square edges, luckily I was going fast enough and in the right gear to be able to get the front wheel over it. That hit was devastating, broke my tool tube off, and I've never broke one of those on other bikes with many rough miles. I'm sure better suspension would have helped there since it blew threw the soft rear shock with not enough compression instantly sending the rear wheel up a couple of feet and me doing a handstand on the bars after the shock bottomed out from the force of the hit. Nothing else broke though, I didn't even bent a wheel on this ride. Go LRP! __________________ A Roadie in Motion LostRider.com Come to Southern California for a Lost Rider Fly and Ride Adventure! Lost Rider screwed with this post 01-28-2013 at 10:08 PM

01-28-2013, 08:42 PM	#2737
Jinksy - Jinksy Joined: Jan 2013 Location: Richmond, VA Oddometer: 56	Filtered Air Box Vents Has anyone used Filtered Air Box Vents after drilling holes in the air box? If so, how did it improve the performance? __________________ Honda CRF 250l Honda Shadow Spirit 750 Honda XR 80

01-29-2013, 01:55 AM	#2740
positron007 Adventurer Joined: Jan 2013 Oddometer: 44	XR400R vs CRF250L Has anyone here owned both an XR400R and the CRF250L I like the XR400R for it's light weight, bigger fuel tank, and obviously greater horsepower and torque. I like the CRF250L because for a new bike it is very cheap, and I suppose fuel injected motor, and easy to find. I reckon I would like the XR more but I like the peace of mind of a new bike. Any advice would be appreciated

01-29-2013, 02:31 AM	#2742
Tjilpi Adventurer Joined: Jan 2013 Location: Chiang Mai, Thailand Oddometer: 60	My two bobs worth. Two of us recently rode 3000 mms through northern Thailand and Laos, each on CRF250Ls. See report http://advrider.com/forums/showthrea...os+bucket+list We rode all sorts of roads but no 'hard-core' dirt/mud tracks (at 65 years of age I can justifiably say, 'been there, done that' to that one). Both bike performed brilliantly. Mine was new, starting the journey at 1,600 kms. My mate's bike had 13,000+ kms on it at the start of the journey. Great suspension. 200 km range. Adequate power for all we encountered. No extra oil or coolant was added. No punctures. Both bikes were stock standard. A good summary came from my riding partner; "I respect this little bike more after* the journey than before."* I agreed. __________________ " A truly happy rider is one who can enjoy an unexpected detour along the way. "

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01-28-2013, 07:24 PM	#2735
Ed@Ford Beastly Adventurer Joined: Jan 2004 Location: Dearborn MI Oddometer: 1,051	Lost Rider: Your video, and your commentary confirm that this bike, just as it is, possibly excepting tires, is capable of performing at a seriously high level, that a huge number of riders can only start to approach. "Ride, not fiddle" sums it up. Thanks

01-29-2013, 02:24 AM	#2741
mtntrails Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Jan 2006 Location: Mount Airy, MD Oddometer: 317	CRF250L Owners.... Please chime in on this thread... http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=858964

01-29-2013, 04:50 AM	#2744
trainman Gnarly Adventurer Joined: May 2007 Location: Fort Worth, Texas Oddometer: 296	I've been on the CRF250L vs. WR250R forum, it was started by a newbie, so the forum is going through this again, sorta like the oil thing and we know how that turns out. Someone has decided that the CRF250L is being produced to compete with the Yamaha XT250, not the WR250R. I told them that Honda is producing this bike to out sell all the others in that class and make huge profits, wouldn't think that Honda would want it any other way. I'd say by it's sales, it's working. John

01-29-2013, 05:22 AM	#2745
yyz Adventurer Joined: Jun 2009 Oddometer: 38	I agree the CRF is not meant to compete with the WR. If I was taller, I might have bought the WR but it is just to tall for me to be confident off road. The personality of the CRF on and off road is completely different, while the engine feels a bit tame on the road, off road it comes alive and is willing to rev with ease. I have no interest in modding the engine or messing with the EFI, I expect the bike will be very reliable stock and that is another reason I bought the bike. I do need more fuel capacity, on dirt roads with the throttle pinned, it doesn't have very good range. Not enough to be out of range of a gas stop for a whole afternoon. Ride the bike off road before deciding it doesn't have enough power.