Honda CRF 250L

[taninthai]

2 hours ago, Neilly said:

 

That's not pretty...but understandable where you live.

 

Our local Honda dealer did my mates forks for him and they haven't sprung a leak yet...I have the second spring in mine and hopefully this will stop me blowing the seals. Although I do have some SKF ones to go in there should/when they go.

 

Not sure if you have it or not, but here is the workshop manual for the CRF250L in PDF

 

62Kzz00_CRF253L

 

Yeah looked at changing to ohlins single spring and also saw the twin spring kit,,might pick them up next time I'm in uk decided against it for now and just go new seals and oil also got the neoprene fork sleeves coming Monday just got to get measuring jug for oil and ready to attempt job myself?

[AllanB]

That Rally looks good, what's the difference and price, never seen one.

 

I disagreed that the corrosion is "understandable", there are modern coatings that will withstand salts and such which should have been used, given the expected use of this bike.

 

This is essentially an off-road bike and this is the year 2016, not 1970, so unless the bike is 5+ years old this shouldn't be happening.

 

My Honda Shadow, built in 1983, doesn't have this level of corrosion and I wouldn't say it was a cherished bike when I bought it, or since for that matter. 

[taninthai]

Bike 4 1/2 years old I think it's expected for the way I treat and use it,a lot of my off roading is along coastline and mangroves unless you are constantly covering the bike in acf 50 or wd40 this is gonna happen,,, bike was 2nd hand from phuket and looked like it had been left out in the sun a lot,I don't mind it's to be expected even the rain corroded it here.

The rally is 160 to 170 k bht.

[papa al]

10 hours ago, AllanB said:

That Rally looks good, what's the difference and price, never seen one.

 

I disagreed that the corrosion is "understandable", there are modern coatings that will withstand salts and such which should have been used, given the expected use of this bike.

 

_papa √-ed Rally out @ dealers in CM couple weeks ago.

It is a bit taller & heavier than -L

Looks like an okay road bike, good for funky roads too.

Adventure-rider look is fad now...

...kinda 'SUV-ish' ??

Will sell pretty well.

[Honda.]

But the big-black-plastic fairing/skid plate somehow 

freaks papa out.

Looks kinda PLASTIC too mut.

 

taninthai... bike looks good considering salt &c..

[entropy]

[AllanB]

How much is the Rally?

 

Saw a Honda Baja (twin headlights) while we were on the Mae Hong Son Loop, that is one cool looking bike, lots of steel, good proportions, fork gaiters, nice tank and decals.

 

Edited December 27, 2016 by AllanB

[bramds]

1 hour ago, AllanB said:

How much is the Rally?

 

Saw a Honda Baja (twin headlights) while we were on the Mae Hong Son Loop, that is one cool looking bike, lots of steel, good proportions, fork gaiters, nice tank and decals.

 

 

Sure it was a Baja and not an AX-1 ?

Never seen a Baja in Thailand before.

[guzzi850m2]

Those 250cc off-road bikes are fine when you do some serious off-roading like taninthai does but using it as a touring bike must be torture.

 

A friend of mine that is a serious off-rode dude and do it on both motorbike and pedal bike uses a non road legal 2-stoke Honda crosser, I think it's 450 or 500cc. He ferry it around on his pick-up truck with friends and they then goes off-roading together.  That crosser demands a lot of maintenance, I think he changes oil/filter & piston rings + more every 100 km. His workshop at his house is very well stocked for that, including a HP washer.

 

He just ordered a Africa Twin with manual transmission for his touring needs. 

[AllanB]

Looked like a Baja with the twin headlights, but we were passing in the other direction and the first I have seen here, lots in Laos.

 

The 250 Baja is a 4 stroke, I sat on one in Vientiane a few months back, seem pretty comfortable, I could tour on my Lifan, but the power is a bit lacking for two up with luggage. We did 600km in 2 days in the hills a while back, no worries, but another couple of horses would have come in handy, or more specifically torques.

 

It just needs a soft flat seat mod and is about as heavy as I want, I would struggle on a 400+cc at my age and level of fitness, especially when the road surface moves. 

 

The Baja felt a bit heavier than the Crf, a more robust bike, but sweet looking. 

[canthai55]

9 hours ago, guzzi850m2 said:

Those 250cc off-road bikes are fine when you do some serious off-roading like taninthai does but using it as a touring bike must be torture.

 

Went on a 350km ride Monday to check out the new seat. Granted, most of it was very tight and twisty. About 100km on flat road to get from one set of mountains to another. This with 17 inch tires. For that application it worked fine, and a lot less tiring than with the CB650 - don' t even think about the Dyna.

Heading up to the Golden Triangle for a week or so after new year. Many tight mountain roads up there. May even try Umpang from MHS if it is dry.

But for the hiways - CB650. And when I do Singapore again - Dyna for sure. Just kick back and eat up the miles.

[taninthai]

Done 700 km twice in a day on my ,it seems comfortable enough that's on standard seat and off road tyres ,,,it's more the lack of power that becomes annoying,great on the twisty mountain roads with the wide bars....left a mate on a cbr500rr way behind,crying out for bigger engine on the longer straight sections though.....Got the journey to do again in 2 weeks still deciding whether to rent a cbr or take the crf again.

 

[papa al]

"...700km twice in a day...."

700km even once in a day would be impressive....

 

 

...sorry...

[papa al]

On 12/28/2016 at 6:21 PM, AllanB said:

I would struggle.... especially when the road surface moves. 

Yes, hate earthquake season.

Edited December 29, 2016 by papa al

[taninthai]

4 hours ago, papa al said:

"...700km twice in a day...."

700km even once in a day would be impressive....

 

 

...sorry...

555.....Yeah I could have worded it a bit better ......I have done a 700km round trip in a day  ,2 times with my crf.....:)

[papa al]

On 12/28/2016 at 6:21 PM, AllanB said:

 

The Baja felt a bit heavier than the Crf, a more robust bike, but sweet looking. 

Agree.

Love that 'agricultural' look of Baja's head-lamps.

Not surprisingly, Baja sells in South America.

Basically a XR250.

Which were discontinued in USA ~2004.

papa wants one.

Edited December 30, 2016 by papa al

[thaiguzzi]

Plenty of Bajas and/or XR250L's around in the NW. Especially Chang Mai area. They come up for sale now and again on the two NW based m/c websites, some with books, some without, most very worn and tatty, a few nice ones. Prices ranging from 65 -95k.

Me being a Luddite, and disliking water cooling, and FI even more, i'd take an air cooled. carbed XR anyday over a KLX or CRF...

 Anybody got a DR 650 for sale?...

[MAZ3]

I was offered a Baja for 30,000b in Bangkok, no book etc. Not been used for a while, tempting for offloading though. I believe there is or was someone specialising in them here in Kanchanaburi?, anyone know?.
Cheers

[taninthai]

Finally got a chance to sort the forks out ,all went well really ,the measuring jug I used didn't really match up to the markings on the side of the oil bottle so ended up going by markings on bottle of oil,,feels good to have front suspension again ,there was only around 200 ml of oil left in forks when I emptied them out.

[drift]

 

Would you mind saying where you bought the fork boots? That's a good idea using those. I'd like to do that to mine.

 

Thanks

 

 

[papa al]

 

[edwinchester]

Anyone have any news on deals offered on the CRF250L recently?

My local dealer wants 149k bht otr with nothing thrown in.

Maybe I'm out of touch but seems a little high to me. 

[William Osborne]

@ thaninthai.... did you you change the seals or just top up oil ?.... how much oil per fork ?

cheers !

Edited January 11, 2017 by William Osborne

[canthai55]

21 minutes ago, edwinchester said:

Anyone have any news on deals offered on the CRF250L recently?

My local dealer wants 149k bht otr with nothing thrown in.

Maybe I'm out of touch but seems a little high to me. 

 

My 2017 purchased December was 135k Nat Motors CNX

[William Osborne]

 

1 minute ago, canthai55 said:

 

My 2017 purchased December was 135k Nat Motors CNX

 

thats pretty good..... 135k was best deal i could find in 2012 in Pattaya.... with some shops charging up to 150k .

[canthai55]

I bought my PCX from them. Did it make a difference that I was a returning customer ?  Doubt it. But a good shop - happy with their service.

[taninthai]

1 hour ago, William Osborne said:

@ thaninthai.... did you you change the seals or just top up oil ?.... how much oil per fork ?

cheers !

fork oil level RIGHT = 122 mm

fork oil level LEFT = 38 mm

fork oil capacity RIGHT = 658 ml +-2.5

fork oil capacity LEFT = 683 ml +-2.5

fork oil capacity TOTAL = 1341 ml

 

Neoprene sleeves from tntmotor.net notlisted on his website have to message him 500 bht and he has motul oil for the forksforks

[William Osborne]

i was looking at these on Lazada.co.th .... but would like to change one of the seals if i go to the bother of taking the forks out !!.....anybody changed seals yet as i would like to do myself !..... but i know from other USD forks , you may need a couple special tools..

 

http://www.lazada.co.th/autoleader-2pcs-37mm-universal-motorcycle-rubber-front-fork-covergaiters-gators-boots-intl-5500343.html

Edited January 11, 2017 by William Osborne

[edwinchester]

2 hours ago, canthai55 said:

 

My 2017 purchased December was 135k Nat Motors CNX

That seems a very reasonable price, thanks for posting. Unfortunately I am in Kanchanaburi where I was once quoted 170k for a new CBR250R, non abs too!!!

[taninthai]

1 hour ago, William Osborne said:

i was looking at these on Lazada.co.th .... but would like to change one of the seals if i go to the bother of taking the forks out !!.....anybody changed seals yet as i would like to do myself !..... but i know from other USD forks , you may need a couple special tools..

 

http://www.lazada.co.th/autoleader-2pcs-37mm-universal-motorcycle-rubber-front-fork-covergaiters-gators-boots-intl-5500343.html

I changed the the seals no special tools needed,a big socket for the nut on top of forks or if you are a bit rough like me just use a pair off grips,some say you need a seal seating tool or you can just wrap a lot of electrical tape around the fork and ram the seal into place like that...hence you can see the tape around my fork leg in one of the pictures.

[taninthai]

I used the video below and pictures from the Honda manual as a guide ,,,its not even as complex as the video looks you don't need to undo the nut at the bottom of the fork......such is a Allen bolt anyway and is a bitch to loosen.

[William Osborne]

... so the tubes will pull apart once the top cap is open ?.....