CRF250L Rally Thread

[CRM]

Can't see that anyone has started a thread for these yet. Just picked up mine today so thought I might share my experience with the bike and anyone else that has one feel free to add your comments.

I got the bike this afternoon from Hamilton Honda - top people by the way. Then I rode across to Rotorua - first 120 odd km.

The thing that strikes me first about these bikes is how incredibly versatile they are. Sure that means compromise, but that's not a bad thing. It will happily sit on 120km cruise with little vibration. Position is comfortable on the road - seat a little hard but plenty of room to move around and change position. Maybe I will need some work on the seat for long distance riding. The screen is great. Actually better than my VFR. I'm 5'9" so just right for my height.

The handling and suspension are great (for a lower powered bike) on the twisty bits specially. The thing with a smaller engine you have to work it - and these enjoy being worked a bit. It's a very engaging ride when it's about riding rather than relying on power.

The biggest criticism of these that I've seen is why didn't Honda put a 300cc or 450cc engine in them? I think in a way that's missing the point. The bike is great fun to ride and more power would just mean more expensive to run. It's kind of getting back to the bikes of my youth - cheap transport that has a big grin factor. The bikes I remember most fondly are simple dual purpose bikes like an XL175 I had in my teens, and an XL250 Degree I got 15 years or so back when I got back into riding. The Rally captures the essence of those bikes but with a modern twist - ABS, decent suspension (compared to those older bikes), good cruising speed, decent range, while still having great fuel economy and being simple and relatively light.

The "Rally" name of course is just marketing. This is not a race bike by any means. It's more like a junior Africa Twin adventure bike. But I'd be way more confident taking this basically anywhere compared to a larger adventure bike. I'm hoping to get some more challenging riding experiences over the summer so I'll report back on how "Africa Single" goes.

[CRM]

I'm getting the Rally ready for a trip to the South Island at the beginning of November. First thing is to see what luggage would fit on it. I was pleased to see that my Ventura panniers fit on really well, with the straps under the seat and the bags hanging clear of the hot pipe. My Oxford X30 tail-pack similarly went on pretty well, bungied onto the four tiedown lugs. No need for a rack which is good as it saves weight. I had a bit of protective film for the back mudguard under the pack, and I think I'll get some more to protect the side covers from the panniers (as you do with a new bike :confused:). For my trip I'll also use my Bobblebee backpack with it's a built in back protector for my precious stuff.

With the luggage all set up and loaded with a bit of weight I did 50k or so trip out to Parua Bay, trying out the handling through the twisty corners (much fun) and on a couple of gravel roads (excellent!). So far so good. Fuel economy on second fill is something around 3.2l/100km. A theoretical range of well over 300km from the 11.5l tank if that is accurate. And I wasn't riding it for economy :no:. It needs to be wound out to perform well. That's what makes these fun I think - they respond to being ridden aggressively, as opposed to a more powerful bike that that will surely get you onto trouble one way or another by riding it like that.

The stock IRC tyres are reasonably aggressive and great on the gravel and the dry seal. I haven't tried wet seal or dirt as yet. I'll see how the weekend goes...

[GPS MAN]

Cool looking little bike! I am of the same thought "Why didn't Honda put a 450 or 500 engine in this machine????"

[That looks like fun]

The nice man in Tauranga modified my WR seat for me and it worked well :yes:

[nzspokes]

The nice man in Tauranga modified my WR seat for me and it worked well :yes:

What did that cost?

[That looks like fun]

About $400. They used my original seat base and padded it wider at the rear but left the front narrow. With the Wolfman luggage I use once you hit the tarseal it was simple to slide back, recline against the roll bag and wonder why it didn't sound like a Harley. It performed like one power wise :cool:
Speaking of which I saw two parked in the handicapped zone at BP Wanganui. Confirmed something I had always suspected. :devil2:

[MXNUT]

. With the Wolfman luggage I use once you hit the tarseal it was simple to slide back, recline against the roll bag and wonder why it didn't sound like a Harley.
Speaking of which I saw two parked in the handicapped zone at BP Wanganui. Confirmed something I had always suspected. :devil2: :Playnice: naughty naughty

[CRM]

I rode the Rally down to Hamilton (from Whangarei) yesterday then back again today. Going down just stuck to the main drags to see how the bike performed on the Expressway :wacko:. It can maintain speed okay but needs to use the gears if there is a headwind (which there was). So doable but not enjoyable (but when is expressway ever enjoyable on a bike).

Coming back I chose some alternatives north of Auckland - SH16 through Kaukapakapa :cool: and then the exquisite Twin Coast Explorer from Wellsford through to Waipu :drool:. This is the kind of road that the Rally eats - good handling, good brakes and enough power to have masses of fun where it's all about lines and challenging your riding to maintain pace. Much fun.

I'm wondering about the gearing - dropping it down a little. It seems to run out of puff in top a little easily and dropping the gearing may make it just keep the revs up that little bit to avoid having to downshift. I did have a fair load on board - myself at 85kg plus riding gear plus backpack maybe 10kg plus probably another 20kg of bags and gear. I was trying get an idea how it will be when I do my 10 day trip down South next week. I'll leave the gearing as is for now and see how it works for this trip.

First gear on these is quite low and a bit of a jump to second. I discovered that it stall easily at the lights if you leave it in second by mistake :crazy:. The fuel gauge starts flashing at about 240km, but filling shortly after uses maximum of 8.5l, - capacity is 10.2l apparently so less range that I thought. Potentially about 280-300km if riding more carefully.

The bike that this reminds me of most of all is my old XR600. Similar height and handling and weight (actually slightly lighter :wacko: - and a little more torque ;)) so I call this the Little Red Pig.

All good :cool:

[CRM]

The nice man in Tauranga modified my WR seat for me and it worked well :yes:

Yeah I had them do my VFR seat and they did a great job. Looks just what I need on the Rally.

[nzspokes]

I rode the Rally down to Hamilton (from Whangarei) yesterday then back again today. Going down just stuck to the main drags to see how the bike performed on the Expressway :wacko:. It can maintain speed okay but needs to use the gears if there is a headwind (which there was). So doable but not enjoyable (but when is expressway ever enjoyable on a bike).

Coming back I chose some alternatives north of Auckland - SH16 through Kaukapakapa :cool: and then the exquisite Twin Coast Explorer from Wellsford through to Waipu :drool:. This is the kind of road that the Rally eats - good handling, good brakes and enough power to have masses of fun where it's all about lines and challenging your riding to maintain pace. Much fun.

I'm wondering about the gearing - dropping it down a little. It seems to run out of puff in top a little easily and dropping the gearing may make it just keep the revs up that little bit to avoid having to downshift. I did have a fair load on board - myself at 85kg plus riding gear plus backpack maybe 10kg plus probably another 20kg of bags and gear. I was trying get an idea how it will be when I do my 10 day trip down South next week. I'll leave the gearing as is for now and see how it works for this trip.

First gear on these is quite low and a bit of a jump to second. I discovered that it stall easily at the lights if you leave it in second by mistake :crazy:. The fuel gauge starts flashing at about 240km, but filling shortly after uses maximum of 8.5l, - capacity is 10.2l apparently so less range that I thought. Potentially about 280-300km if riding more carefully.

The bike that this reminds me of most of all is my old XR600. Similar height and handling and weight (actually slightly lighter :wacko: - and a little more torque ;)) so I call this the Little Red Pig.

All good :cool:

Its a 250. You have 120kg on it and you want it to be fast? :killingme

[Night Falcon]

Its a 250. You have 120kg on it and you want it to be fast? :killingme

.....but its a rally bike aint it :dodge:

[CRM]

Its a 250. You have 120kg on it and you want it to be fast? :killingme

Yeah mate I want it all :Punk:.

("Fast" as in not being overtaken up hills by large trucks :baby:)

[Brainflex]

http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/2017-crf500l-rally-build.1236985

[CRM]

http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/2017-crf500l-rally-build.1236985

Wow a brave move dropping in a 500 - cool outcome though.

I was reading somewhere about a "Stage 1 kit" for the Rally that includes a Yoshi pipe, updated mapping and some suspension upgrades. I think it worked out at a couple of grand or so and gave a good boost to performance and handling. I wouldn't want to compromise the fuel economy though. Might be the ticket down the track a bit but at the moment just enjoying it stock.

[CRM]

So I've done a few km on the Rally over the last couple of days - Whangarei to Rotorua Monday, then Rotorua to Wellington yesterday, over on the ferry at the moment then off to Christchurch this afternoon.

Observations about the bike would be:
- fuel economy is pretty consistent at around 3.4l/100km. The fuel gauge starts flashing at around 230km and I fill up at say 250km and it takes a bit over 8 litres - I'm pretty happy with that
- it had it's first service at 1000km, service intervals after this are every 12,000km :woohoo:
- the tank takes more than you think if you fill it casually - you trickle in the last couple of litres
- you need to modify your usual "pass everything" attitude - it's no sports/tourer but on the other hand it doesn't embarrass itself on the open road either - vibrations are minimal and the sweet spot for power delivery is 7000-8500rpm - it redlines at 10500rpm but no real point as the power drops off after 8500rpm - it's a matter of picking the right gear and you can hum along at an indicated 115kph quite happily that is probably an actual 105kph I suspect so no need to be paranoid about getting ticketed at least :Police:
- gearing is pretty good and so it can be ridden comfortably hard and maintain a good pace - it absolutely gobbles twisty seal even with the stock tyres
- wind protection is great for distance on both knees and face - plenty of air flow but minimal buffeting - my neck is fine after two reasonably long days of riding
- the seat gets a bit tedious after a couple of days - might get McDonalds in Tauranga to repack it - the shape is fine - just a bit hard after a few hours :mellow:
- I did a bit of a deviation off the Desert Road up the Tokino Skifield track just to test the suspension :shit: - it did pretty well but as I was loaded with gear wasn't confident to go too hard out - looking forward to some trails without all the extra weight in future as I think it will be lots of fun that mode
- using a dual purpose bike for touring is always going to have its limitations but I would definitely pick it over other dual sport bikes I've owned - less viby, has wind protection and much better gear ratios than a DRZ400, and also over an XR600 - fun but no electric start or wind protection - of course the standard DR650 and KLR650 options give more power and carrying capacity but don't underestimate the Rally as viable option - I look at it as the multi-tool of motorcycling

[CRM]

I'm presently sitting in the Picton Bluebridge terminal waiting for the 2:00 ferry to board - it's now 4:00pm - a problem with "services" apparently. The staff are great though - not their fault.

The Rally has now done over 4000km, and continues to perform well. Strong headwinds do show up the limitations of touring on a 250, but just dropping it down to 5th is usually enough to maintain a reasonable pace. I went as far as Dunedin, sticking to the main road mainly to meet my deadlines, but did a few deviations up some tracks for fun. Great on gravel (except when it is deep and freshly graded but that is the fault of the rider not the bike :baby:) The bike seems to take pretty much everything in it's stride. I went over Takaka Hill to Collingwood yesterday. Takaka Hill really works for the Rally. I love how this bike handles - it inspires confidence especially on that type of road and those kinds of speeds where I find I can get into the zone without giving myself too many frights :scooter:.

For 90% of the time the power is fine but just those moments when it starts to fade up a long fast (or what should be fast) uphill - like the hills going into Dunedin from the north - or overtaking into a headwind :gob: - a bit more power would be nice. Maybe a pipe upgrade to a Yoshi? Apparently they are good on these.

The seat does get hard after a while - mind you I've been doing 6-8 hour days so that's not surprising. I've become "that guy" that stands up on the pegs when he gets into a 50km limit. Embarrassing but necessary. Pegs, mirrors, screen and fairing are all great. I do find standing that the bars are a bit low for me, so maybe some risers and swap out for some better quality bars might be the ticket.

Overall I'm pleased. She's a great little bike - hasn't missed a beat.

[CRM]

Well the little red pig and I made it home. Serious wind coming up through Wairarapa and Hawkes Bay on Wednesday morning :eek5: - 100km side winds are less than ideal - actually pretty scary :gob: but spectacular weather up through the Desert Road in the afternoon heading to Rotorua for the night made up for it (see pictures below), then yesterday back home to Whangarei was pretty good - especially taking the Waipu Cove detour - always a great ride.

My rear tyre looks about half worn after 5000km - I guess you'd expect that on basically knobbly tyres. I was very impressed with the handling of these IRC's though. I would replace with the same but I can't seem to find them in NZ. They remind me of T63 Michelins I've used on my last adventure bike so maybe I'll go for some of those.

After 5000km the first thing I think needs changing is the seat :crazy:. The cover and shape are okay - just the foam and maybe a bit more depth. That will be my first upgrade.

Anybody else out there got a Rally? I never saw another on the road the whole way round. Got quite a few people coming to have a look and ask me about it though as you do ;).

[CRM]

I haven't had much opportunity to ride the Rally over Christmas and New Year, having torn a ligament in my knee in early January, but did get in a great ride on Anniversary Day with a mate out Glinks Gully out past Dargaville then down to to Pouto Point lighthouse .

Ross was riding his DRZ400, so it was a good side by side comparison. Riding in deep sand has never been my favourite thing, and there was a bit of that at the start down a farm track to the Gully. I was riding carefully not wanting to tweak my knee again and have to get a helicopter ride back home, and managed to stay upright. The hard sand on the beach was awesome. It's a good 60km down the beach and with the tide well out it looks huge - like you are in the middle of the Sahara Desert.

I was easy able to pull over 100km/h on the hard sand if required, but normally we sat at around 80km/h. There was very little traffic and mostly the beach was very smooth, but you never know when the odd seal or water-filled gully would pop us so it pays to be alert. The DRZ was experiencing some speed wobbles over 80km/k, but The Rally was rock solid and soaked up the surprise bumps pretty well. The suspension travel is great, but the action could do with some improvement in the rough stuff. Made to a price point I guess.

Ross took a little diversion up the sand dunes by the lighthouse and encouraged me to follow. Bad idea. Not sure if it was my tentative riding style with a dodgy leg, simply not enough power with the Rally to surf on top of the loose sand, or just that I never was very good on sand, but I ended up digging in, jumping off and needing help to get up and going again. No damage to the bike, just my ego. He was gracious and said it was probably the fault of my tyres - his bike having more aggressive knobblies. I'm pretty sure that this is the kind of place where there isn't any real substitute for torque, and I just couldn't get the 250 into a high enough gear to stay of top of the sand going uphill.

The ride back on the gravel up the road to Te Kopuru was great fun on the Rally. It's the first time I've done the "Pouto Challenge" - hopefully not the last.

[Jeff Sichoe]

thanks for read, looks like a pretty solid little adventure / dual sport bike ya got there!

I have to admit I haven't seen many around, but they do look pretty tidy :)

cheers

[ollie.y]

Thanks for the taking the time to post your travels and your thoughts about the bike.

[Scubbo]

I do like it's LED indicators being DRL's when not operating as a turn signal --- have to say my heart is warming to the bike but still think its a bit $$$ when a WR250R is the same price (and the Versys300, dr650 and the DRZ during summer)

think it'd be a good all rounder though, more road orientated which is where the bike would spend most of its time anyway

[CRM]

I do like it's LED indicators being DRL's when not operating as a turn signal --- have to say my heart is warming to the bike but still think its a bit $$$ when a WR250R is the same price (and the Versys300, dr650 and the DRZ during summer)

think it'd be a good all rounder though, more road orientated which is where the bike would spend most of its time anyway

One of the things that appealed to me was the modern technology on the Rally and the great fuel economy. On the Pouto ride we did a 150km loop from Dargaville and I used 5.6l, where as the DRZ used 7.2l. The fuel injection is great for economy plus it's really clean compared to carbed engines. The WR250R is the only thing out there that compares and it did appeal to me but it was lacking the screen (which is really good when you are doing 6-7 hour days) and they were about $1500 more - looks like they have dropped the price a bit to stay competitive. The WRs have less fuel capacity so less range - so for a lightweight long distance adventure tourer it's pretty hard to beat the Rally. To add a big tank and screen to the WR would add a couple of grand. The Rally just does it all out of the box. Plus the styling is great and it's a hoot to ride.

I haven't ridden a WR, I had a DRZ and found it really "agricultural" compared to the Rally - only 5 speed, not nearly so smooth. I've ridden DR650's and like them a lot, but the technology is pretty old school now and the styling is pretty old too, plus the weight rules them out tight trails for me. The Versys 300 might have a bit more power but lacks the ground clearance and only has a 19" front wheel so to me that puts it straight out of contention for a serious adventure bike. The thing I like about the Rally is that it can be used as a proper dirt bike as well as being great on the road - not as fast as a dedicated bike in either category, but it does a pretty good job - amazing for the cost really.

[Scubbo]

I would have thought the plastics on the rally would make it much less of a proper off-road adventurer compared to all but the versys or even the crf250L (which has the same motor intake upgrades as the rally but is lighter and should be ~ a grand cheaper) at 100kph and below there is really no need for a fairing or screen, only a hindrance to vision especially offroad (they'e just an ADV ADV ADV cock extension)


anyway, sounds like you enjoy it which is all that matters, thanks for sharing your thoughts on it

[Muzz67]

God, I wish Honda would build a CRF450L!

[CRM]

I would have thought the plastics on the rally would make it much less of a proper off-road adventurer compared to all but the versys or even the crf250L (which has the same motor intake upgrades as the rally but is lighter and should be ~ a grand cheaper) at 100kph and below there is really no need for a fairing or screen, only a hindrance to vision especially offroad (they'e just an ADV ADV ADV cock extension)


anyway, sounds like you enjoy it which is all that matters, thanks for sharing your thoughts on it

The plastics do certainly give it a unique look - and I was a bit concerned about how they would work off road - but they seem to be pretty robust. I dropped her in the sand and no damage, plus fell off my lift-stand onto a wood pile the other day when I was putting her up to clean the chain but no damage. I really enjoyed the screen doing long distance riding. It is actually a great screen. No problems with hindering vision off road. I wouldn't have tried riding to Dunedin and back without it. And she is happy to cruise at over 100 (where it is legal of course :eek:). It tops out around 135km/h but is happy sitting up in the upper revs for long periods without much buzz or heat.