CRF230L Owners Check In

i just found this site and would like to hear what you guys think of and have done to your CRF230l's. Thanks Guys Evan

Hey, glad to hear from another 230L person.

Great bike. I've been riding it a lot in the snow--spinning circles on the street in front of my house, and slugging my way through fields of deep powder.

My impressions: its my first motorcycle, so I can't really compare, but it sure beats my old Honda Express II--especially off road, as you can imagine ... too bad the myriad trails that were around when I had the Honda Express are now subdivisions!

Customization: XRs only billet rack, some generic atv handguards from Bass Pro (soon to be replaced real ones, I hope), some generic hippo-hands clones that I couldn't ride without , some d606s (with the intent to stud ... but now that I have them on, I am loath to mess them up with studs ...) self tapping studs from aerostich, unused, and a 12 tooth front sprocket, since the D606s were so huge, and rubbed the mudflap.

I'll post pics when I have moment to breath.

did you put the 606s on both the front and rear and what do u think of them?

Yes, I put the D606's on both the front and the rear. They seem OK to me. I didn't really have a problem with my trailwings, but I'd read that the D606s are much better ... plus I wanted as deep a knob as possible for studding (which I decided against later).

I can't really tell the difference on road ... except they are maybe a bit less smooth, and I have yet to take them off road (snow doesn't count).

My only "issue" with them has been the size, and consequently the need for the smaller front sprocket (I could have gotten a longer chain, but that cost more).

I **don't** like working on my bike, unlike most people (if i was better at it, I might like it, but as it is, I know just enough to break stuff), and ended up stripping a screw on the front sprocket when I swapped it out ... plus with the smaller front sprocket, the chain lies heavier on the chain guide, and I don't know if that is something I should worry about or not.

When the rear D606 wears enough, I'll probably put the original sprocket back in.

cant wait to see pics

this is my first bike, i know ppl told me not to get one new due to the fact that I'm new, but it was the only one that part dirt and street as well as a durable Honda.

the only thing i dont like is the fact that i cant take it on a long ride with out my butt gettin sore.

bump

Of course I have no pics. My dad is now the proud owner of a crf 230l. I will add pics as soon as I can. He is getting older, and after a cracked rib and collapsed lung on our last outing, it was time for a lighter bike. Out goes the 82 xt550, queue the 09 crf230l. It is a nice little machine. I will post some pics when I get some. He will add a cycleracks.com rack and that's about it.

we need pics sorry guys my girl dropped my camera on the side walk and it shall never work again

I've had my 230L since November. Here's a pic of it when it was new:



And here's a pic showing a few of my recent mods:

hi my friend,

nice to see you here on ADV. I would like to see a picture from the side so I can see your BBR skid plate and how the XRs Only footpegs look from the side. I guess I will order the XR's Only rear rest as the Honda one is just too small.

Ride Safe...

bike looks good dude a couple of questions for ya what kind a rear tire is that are those stock blinkers with clear instead of amber and where did u get them?

I will try to take some pics in the next couple of days. The BBR skidplate looks good. I had to do a little grinding to clear the kickstand, and the mounts were custom machined (but free!), so it does take a bit of work, but I like the look of it better than the "Utah shovel" skid that XR's Only sells.

The XR's Only pegs feel much more substantial under your feet, expecially when standing. I haven't actually seen the Honda rack in person, but I think the XR's Only rack is bigger and looks better IMO. I plan on doing some overnight camping trips this summer, and I expect the rack will be strong enough to carry my gear.

Tires are Pirelli MT21 (front and rear). It is one of the few DOT knobbies that comes in the stock size. They're more aggressive than the stock tires. I can barely tell the difference in the ride on road, but off road, they are much better than the stock trailwings.

Blinkers are K&S DOT turn signals--clear with amber bulbs. I actually got them from a guy on ebay. A lot of places sell K&S turn signals, but the DOT ones are a bit harder to find and a little more expensive than the non-DOT ones.

Here's a pic of my BBR skidplate (sorry, it's a bit muddy):







It's made for an F model, not an L, so it required some grinding and the mounting brackets had to be custom machined. I was lucky and knew someone that could make the brackets for me for free. You can also see the XR's Only footpegs in the pic.

And here's my XR's Only sprocket cover (also available in silver):




An finally, here's a side shot of the whole bike:

thanks for the pics, yes you are right the skid plate looks great, I also like it better then the one from XR, the problem, I do not have anyone who could help me to make the brackets, so I am not sure what to do. Don't they sell a skid plate which fits the CRF230L by now?

I just got my XR's Only muffler and the block off kit and it makes a real huge difference, very powerful the bike now. I can see that you still have the emission junk on your bike.

Yeh, I'm in CA, so I'll probably keep the emissions stuff even though it's ugly. Haven't decided on an exhaust yet--thinking FMF at this point. You could probably fab up some other kind of brackets for the skidplate--maybe using hose clamps, conduit clamps, or something similar. I haven't found another skidplate for the L besides the one that XR's Only sells. I think the XR230 has been out in Japan for a while though, and as far as I know it's the same bike as the L, so you might be able to find an XR230 skidplate somewhere (international).

is there any other reason to take off the emissions stuff other than looks?

Weight, but then again, it's probably not that heavy. From what I've read, there doesn't seem to be any performance gain from removing it.