CRF250L Rally Thread

[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 ) 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 .

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 - 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 - 100km side winds are less than ideal - actually pretty scary 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 . 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 ). It tops out around 135km/h but is happy sitting up in the upper revs for long periods without much buzz or heat.