Honda CRF250L Rally

**matdaymon** · 28th September 2017, 15:54

You forgot that it also looks a shit-tonne better, CRM!

**CRM** · 29th September 2017, 10:09

Originally Posted by matdaymon

You forgot that it also looks a shit-tonne better, CRM!

Ah yes

- and it's not a Suzuki

**CRM** · 5th October 2017, 10:51

I had another test ride yesterday and I'm really happy with the bike. Coming straight off my VFR (I took it in to get an idea of what they would give me for a trade) was an interesting comparison. Of course the Rally is way taller than the VFR, and totally different position but the wind protection is actually better on the Rally. The seat is a bit firmer than my Rider seat on the VFR but not especially uncomfortable (mind you I only rode for about 20 minutes). There is plenty of room to move your seating position on the Rally (I tend to get cramps sometimes on the VFR after a long ride as you can't change position that much).

The Rally is really responsive up to about 120km which in most situations is all I want on the road anyway. Being higher you get a great view of the road ahead and it's really narrow for passing traffic. The Rally feels similar in scale to the XR600 that I had. Of course the XR had 46Kw vs 18Kw for the Rally and lots more torque for a bike of similar weight, but in real world riding, if you forget you are on a 250, the Rally is surprisingly quick if you use the revs. The thing with the Rally is it has all the cool stuff - the screen, the LED lights, a great range without having to change the tank, reasonable suspension and proper size wheels for off road without trying to be a competition bike, plus it has real presence about it - not just a little chook-chaser.

What I like to compare it to is the original XL250 Motosport - not incredibly powerful (they were 14.6kw and only slightly lighter than the Rally) or great at any one thing, but just awesome bikes to get out and do almost anything with, super-reliable, not high-maintenance, cheap to run and maintain, but really capturing the essence for me of what motorcycling is about.