Honda Crf 250L

[StGeorge]

In the Honda CRF 250 L sales brochure there's a few pages of accessories available. I ordered the rear carrier from Honda, 1100 baht I believe. The Honda aluminum sump guard is the same a the plastic one. Too small, IMHO. A fellow in CM makes a proper aluminum guard and a stainless rear rack. I'll post a link later. Next time I head up there I'll purchase the guard that he fabricates.

Honda in Sriracha doing the rack for 800bt.

Anyone have any ideas about a possible bigger heat shield for the right hand side? Due to wearing shorts, i'm feeling the heat from the exhaust near my calf.

Edited June 17, 2012 by StGeorge

[yannic]

Its true to get through the traffic with a narrower bike may have a bit of an advantage but with the KLX/CRF its almost the same. And I can often get to the top of the motorcycle cue by riding over the pavement just up and down and I am at the front. This up and down the pavement is a huge advantage of the trail bike. Even on high pavements I can get up with no problem.

[Bung]

Got mine today, it's always a good day to have a new bike arrive.

Initial findings for me is that it exceeded expectations, I'm loving it! Goes great.

Couldn't help myself, fitted the new fat bars 10 minutes after getting it home

I sold the CBR 250 and picked up the CRF 250L 2 days ago. I agree, what a great bike.

By fat bars do you mean the 1 1/8" down to 7/8" diam.? If so would you mind posting where you picked up the new wider handle bar clamps for the top triple clamp?

I picked them up in the USA when I was there recently. About $100

Yes, they are 1 1/8th at the clamp and 7/8th at the controls, same width as stock - 800mm.

They fit using adaptors into the original triple clamps but are about 20mm higher which I prefer.

Edited June 17, 2012 by Bung

[Bung]

[BirdsandBooze]

Got mine today, it's always a good day to have a new bike arrive.

Initial findings for me is that it exceeded expectations, I'm loving it! Goes great.

Couldn't help myself, fitted the new fat bars 10 minutes after getting it home

I sold the CBR 250 and picked up the CRF 250L 2 days ago. I agree, what a great bike.

By fat bars do you mean the 1 1/8" down to 7/8" diam.? If so would you mind posting where you picked up the new wider handle bar clamps for the top triple clamp?

Drift having had the cbr 250 and now crf how would you compare the difference in acceleration/engine power between the two I'm starting to think maybe the dyno reading we have seen of 18 bhp is correct and these bikes are restricted

I think they`ve altered the power characteristics to make it more friendly for off road use. That`s a good thing. Good for running around town on poor road surfaces, and good for comfortable trail riding for most riders. What I have learnt from a dealer is that the throttle body is smaller on the CRF compared to that of the CBR.

[drift]

Got mine today, it's always a good day to have a new bike arrive.

Initial findings for me is that it exceeded expectations, I'm loving it! Goes great.

Couldn't help myself, fitted the new fat bars 10 minutes after getting it home

I sold the CBR 250 and picked up the CRF 250L 2 days ago. I agree, what a great bike.

By fat bars do you mean the 1 1/8" down to 7/8" diam.? If so would you mind posting where you picked up the new wider handle bar clamps for the top triple clamp?

Drift having had the cbr 250 and now crf how would you compare the difference in acceleration/engine power between the two I'm starting to think maybe the dyno reading we have seen of 18 bhp is correct and these bikes are restricted

I think they`ve altered the power characteristics to make it more friendly for off road use. That`s a good thing. Good for running around town on poor road surfaces, and good for comfortable trail riding for most riders. What I have learnt from a dealer is that the throttle body is smaller on the CRF compared to that of the CBR.

I had one of the early CBR 250's, maybe it wasn't sorted out completely. The CRF 250 L engine seems so much smoother, shifts better and more lower end power. To me it seems that way. That's good to know about the smaller throttle body. It cruises alright on the highway at 90 kph.

I like it on the limited trails we have around here. Hooked up pretty good in clay/mud locally. I wish I had it up in CM to do some real single track. Later.

Thank's Bung for the reply and picture.

[alankonda]

ok guys, here's a bit of hot off the press news for you crf lovers!!

my friends crf had a slight "fall down" 2 days ago, onto its left hand side! from virtually stationary! the gear shift spline snapped off almost flush with the crankcase!!, now that wouldnt have happened on the klx,

i believe that is weak material plus a rigid gear shifter, also parts are not available to fix it just yet!!!!

these are the exact kind of things we need to know!!! had this happened in the middle of the jungle or on some serious single track!!! big problems!!!!!

safe riding

[taninthai]

^

ah might not have happened had he changed the shift lever to a fold in one like a few people have, must have been more than a slight fall down for that to happen ,got any pictures by any chance ,can't really understand how that would happen if he was virtually stationary the handle bars would take the main impact if he slid it down the road then maybe,

Edited June 19, 2012 by taninthai

[dave_boo]

Let me get this right...a nearly stationary bike tips over and shears the splined shift shaft?

F=M*A; the average soccer player kicks the ball with ~28 kg-f. If we're to assume the shifter is 35 cm (which I made sure was plenty high most likely over the exact distance) and somehow ALL the weight landed on the shift lever you're looking at ~51 kg-f. It looks like the shear stress for 'mild' steel is ~200 kg-f/mm². Something seems odd to me...perhaps we can get pictures?

**edit**

Slight error in my calculations; I did not take into account the length of the shift arm acting as a force multipler. Even with that the whole of the 145 kg will not land on the shifter (especially since the numbers were ran as a free drop rather than an air resistance/tyre friction/other bits hitting before or simultaneously retarted drop) and I think the numbers are not far off.

Edited June 19, 2012 by dave_boo

[alankonda]

this happened off road, it wasnt hit by a truck there was no other damage to the bike, i have seen it, believe me or not, i'm just sharing the results of a slight fall, no need for calculators, theoretic analysis or photographic or video evidence maybe i could request the head of honda thailand to come to chiang mai to verify and demand a full non destructive test plus lab report ?? or maybe not

safe riding

[RidersCorner]

The end of the gear selector isn't hinged on the Honda CRF 250 L, when the right angled part (where your boot makes contact with the gear lever) touches something with inertia, because of the angle there will be leverage on anything it is connected too, looks like the splined shaft is the weak link (mechanical fuse).

Would be interesting to do the same test with a hinged-end gear lever to see if this solves the issue.

ok guys, here's a bit of hot off the press news for you crf lovers!!

my friends crf had a slight "fall down" 2 days ago, onto its left hand side! from virtually stationary! the gear shift spline snapped off almost flush with the crankcase!!, now that wouldnt have happened on the klx,

i believe that is weak material plus a rigid gear shifter, also parts are not available to fix it just yet!!!!

these are the exact kind of things we need to know!!! had this happened in the middle of the jungle or on some serious single track!!! big problems!!!!!

safe riding

[McGregor21]

Shame about your mates bike being put off road by this small incident.

Honda dont seem to have any info out on spare parts for this bike yet.

[wantan]

I agree, pictures of the "accident" and the broken parts would have been useful.

You could blame Honda for making the gear lever shaft too weak. Or you can blame Honda for making the gear lever too strong. But who can say that the same can not happen with a KLX or any other "Dual Sport" under exactly the same circumstances? They are not made for letting them drop every day.

Maybe something on the bike could be improved, maybe it have been unfortunate circumstances. But for sure it must be annoying to take a new bike to such repair.

[drift]

Well that sucks. It made me get off my ass and change the lever. I picked up the KLX lever a few weeks ago. It's longer and has a different arc than the Honda. The spline is the same. The local welding shop cut and rewelded it. I cut out about 3 cm. I'm looking forward to getting a proper sump guard, I'm not sure if it would have helped but maybe.

[loserlazer]

It depends on the fall. I have seen bikes with lots of damage with slow falls and less damage with accidents more than 100 km.

It really depends on your luck, the angle of the fall and road surface.

[dave_boo]

this happened off road, it wasnt hit by a truck there was no other damage to the bike, i have seen it, believe me or not, i'm just sharing the results of a slight fall, no need for calculators, theoretic analysis or photographic or video evidence maybe i could request the head of honda thailand to come to chiang mai to verify and demand a full non destructive test plus lab report ?? or maybe not

safe riding

I don't think that anybody's questioning your veracity, we are just asking for more information. While all parts do have a certain percentage of below standards production, what is being suggested, especially if it happened off-road where the fall into a non-concrete surface would have cushioned it, seems a bit unlikely that the shift shaft would have snapped clean off from a 'nearly stationary' bike. Was the bike being pushed around and the 'rider' dropped it? Was the rider trying to take off or come to a stop and dropped it? Was there damage to the crankcase cover? Etc.

We are being asked to believe there is a design flaw (although I will admit that not having a hinged shifter a la the KLX was a poor decision) without giving us more than a snippet of information.

[alankonda]

IF THIS HAD BEEN MY BIKE AND WITH ME RIDING OR WITH ME FOLLOWING CLOSELY BEHIND AND WITH MY CAMERA AT HAND I WOULD DEFINITELY BE ABLE TO ANSWER ALL YOUR QUESTIONS OTHER THAN THE SPECIFIC ANGLE OF FALL OR THE SPECIFIC FORCE PUT ONTO THE SAID PART/S AT THE POINT OF IMPACT, HOWEVER IT IS A FRIENDS BIKE THAT SHOWED ME THE PARTS AND TOLD ME THE STORY THAT WENT WITH IT, JUST TO CONFIRM IT WAS A VERY SLOW OFF I BELIEVE AGAINST A ROCK AND NO THE CRANKCASE IS DEFINITELY NOT DAMAGED, THE BIKE WAS BEING RIDDEN AT THE TIME, I STILL THINK THIS IS A GREAT BIKE BECAUSE IT IS, I AM SIMPLY PASSING ON SOME INFORMATION LIKE I SAID IN MY INITIAL POSTING!

LETS HOPE THE PROBLEM GETS SORTED QUICKLY EITHER BY WAY OF PARTS BEING AVAILABLE AND IF THERE IS A DESIHN FAULT THEN THAT GETS SORTED TOO

SAFE RIDING

[Spoonman]

Thanks for screaming that down our throats. learn some forum etiquette.

[taninthai]

Would be interesting what Honda/dealer thinks of this

I suppose as long as it has only happened to one bike it will be no problem or further investigation for Honda

[wantan]

I wouldn't take my CRF 250L into the jungle anymore until Honda has sorted this serious problem out. Much too dangerous. Alternativly AP Honda could remove all stones and rocks from the jungle. I would prefer the latter because it would help me for my mountainbike riding too.

Edited June 20, 2012 by wantan

[taninthai]

I wouldn't take my CRF 250L into the jungle anymore until Honda has sorted this serious problem out. Much too dangerous. Alternativly AP Honda could remove all stones and rocks from the jungle. I would prefer the latter because it would help me for my mountainbike riding too.

Yeah fuc_k it I'm gonna sell mine and buy a lifan or sym...........lol

Shame can't use emotions with iphone

[canuckamuck]

I wouldn't take my CRF 250L into the jungle anymore until Honda has sorted this serious problem out. Much too dangerous. Alternativly AP Honda could remove all stones and rocks from the jungle. I would prefer the latter because it would help me for my mountainbike riding too.

Yeah fuc_k it I'm gonna sell mine and buy a lifan or sym...........lol

Shame can't use emotions with iphone

I know for sure you can drop a Lifan and still drive it home.

[JonnyF]

I wouldn't take my CRF 250L into the jungle anymore until Honda has sorted this serious problem out. Much too dangerous. Alternativly AP Honda could remove all stones and rocks from the jungle. I would prefer the latter because it would help me for my mountainbike riding too.

Totally agree, I mean why take a CRF into the jungle when you're lucky enough to have a Tiger, those things are bulletproof!!!

[dave_boo]

So now the story comes out...it wasn't a drop from a nearly stationary bike, but rather the owner caught the bike on a rock and snapped the lever off.

FWIW, if you catch any bike's shift lever on a rock you can snap it off especially if it's directing the force from the centerline outwards...even to KLX!

[McGregor21]

Drift,

Pretty sure you will never have the issue of the gear shift spline snapping off, as now the weld on your KLX gear lever is the weak point. As well as the folding hinge on gear selector it has to be 100% protection for the spline. im of to Kawa shop tomorrow to do the same to my CRF

[dec]

wonder if Kawasaki will question why all these people are asking for spare gear shifters.. i might pop down there myself and get a replacement ?

[justcruisin]

Picked up my bike Monday, love this little jigger. First impression was I didn't like the steering, rake too steep, now having a lot of fun!

Over at the motocross shop on the Moat today and had a rear carrier fitted. I see they had a bunch of gearlevers with foldable end ready to weld onto a standard shifter. Forgot to ask the price. The rear rack looks about 10 times stronger than the Honda fitted one and only 400 bt more, all stainless 10mm box section.They also have pretty nice looking alloy sump guards for the CRF

[JoePai]

Picked up my bike Monday, love this little jigger. First impression was I didn't like the steering, rake too steep, now having a lot of fun!

Over at the motocross shop on the Moat today and had a rear carrier fitted. I see they had a bunch of gearlevers with foldable end ready to weld onto a standard shifter. Forgot to ask the price. The rear rack looks about 10 times stronger than the Honda fitted one and only 400 bt more, all stainless 10mm box section.They also have pretty nice looking alloy sump guards for the CRF

Sorry, where is this shop ?

[kvic]

Picked up my bike Monday, love this little jigger. First impression was I didn't like the steering, rake too steep, now having a lot of fun!

Over at the motocross shop on the Moat today and had a rear carrier fitted. I see they had a bunch of gearlevers with foldable end ready to weld onto a standard shifter. Forgot to ask the price. The rear rack looks about 10 times stronger than the Honda fitted one and only 400 bt more, all stainless 10mm box section.They also have pretty nice looking alloy sump guards for the CRF

Sorry, where is this shop ?

NorthEast corner of the moat right beside Riders Corner.

[JoePai]

Picked up my bike Monday, love this little jigger. First impression was I didn't like the steering, rake too steep, now having a lot of fun!

Over at the motocross shop on the Moat today and had a rear carrier fitted. I see they had a bunch of gearlevers with foldable end ready to weld onto a standard shifter. Forgot to ask the price. The rear rack looks about 10 times stronger than the Honda fitted one and only 400 bt more, all stainless 10mm box section.They also have pretty nice looking alloy sump guards for the CRF

Sorry, where is this shop ?

NorthEast corner of the moat right beside Riders Corner.

Many thanks