Honda CRF250L weakness
 

I just bought a Honda crf250l and i am planing a long trip with it (France - south east Asia or Australia).
I was wondering if there were general weakness with it. I read several posts saying the clutch gets used very quickly for instance.
Any one here with a pretty long experience with this bike ?
Or any advice ?

Also i plan to take soft luguages and i don't really like the rear racks i see. Any experience on that ?

Thanks

I heard the same about the clutch.... But I think this is mostly on renthal bikes in Thailand coused by un experienced riders.
We are doing a trip on two CRFL's and have now covered more than 60.000 km. Clutch is doing fine. I carry spare clutch plates but would not bring them next time. One one of our bikes the camchaintensioner lifter became weak, I read of a few other cases.

Use a good rack wich distibutes the weight of your luggage towards the main frame (Some people break their subframe by carrying a lot of weight far at the back). We had one custom build by a welder but these days I think you can buy some online. ( I think Wolfman had a nice one but I am not sure if it is still available).

I can also advice to switch to a 13t front sprocket, with the original you have to shift back really far and often when you are going uphill.

It is a great bike and super reliable, have fun!


www.amsterdamtoanywhere.nl

Nice of you to answer
 

It is nice of you to answer as i saw your site and you are obviously well aware of the pros and cons of this Honda.
Actually seeing your site i contacted your welder for the rack but he doesn't remember the specification doh and I am leaving in the south of France so it is a bit far to go and see him just for a rack !
Also i found your rack maybe a bit bulky ! What do you think now you are using it ? A smaller one would be better or you would still recommend one as big as yours ?

To go back to the Honda i read some people had put the plates of the crf205R and the springs of the cbr 250 (or something like that :D). But if i read you correctly, for you, it seems strong enough like that ?
If so then i might leave with a pretty normal bike (I am using your blog for my modifications hehe)
Feel free to give me any other recommandation.
Also if there are other owners of the crf250l it would be pretty nice to give your opinion :clap:
Alain

Alain, we are very happy with the rack and don't find it bulky at all. But if you dont need the rotopax, you can build it a little bit slimmer. In that case defenately go with a bigger fuel tank, the 12 liter will give you a range of at least 300km, which is enough in most cases. Just take a extra 2 liter fuelcan (for emergencies and miscalculations ;-) ).
Think about upgrading the rear shock. Without luggage it is OK but loaded it is a little bit to weak. You can buy a new shock which is quite expensive, or you can just change the spring for a stronger one.
You defenately don't need to upgrade the clutch before you leave!

Cheers, Peter (on Leonies account/phone)

shocks
 

yes i saw the shock you put. Nice although very expensive. But i like the way you can adjust it on the spot when you carry les luguages !
There is also a girl traveling around the world right now ( i don't remember her name, she is English i think) with a Honda CRFL. She put a hard top at the rear and had problem with her subframe.

I think the bike you are asking about is the same one Steph Jeavons is using for her RTW trip, she seems fairly happy with it and would be a good person to ask.
One Steph Beyond...

rtw with a crfl
 

Yes that's her thanks !

Anyone else with extensive experience with this bike ?

I think you can spend some time reading (and learning) from this thread. Probably everything you would ever want to know:

The CRF250L Owners thread - ADVrider

I ran one for a few 1000 miles in SWUSA and I'd agree the clutch is not a weak point on the CRF any more than any other bikes, but the skinny subframe could be. Mine deflected sideways (pushed by panniers) after a slow speed fall.
I'd base a rack on a support from the rear indicators to the front footrests, more or less. Not that that would greatly reduce side deflection; only cure for that is a heavier subframe.
Then I'd consider improving suspension, but only if riding unsealed roads and there's money to spare.
Stick with the standard pipe, despite the weight. I found the EJK fuel Controller improved things a bit (more here). It's a common tweak to modern, lean running motors.
Oh, and of course the annoyingly small tank - 7.8L.(my fuel log here. Never quite cracked 100mpg but got close once). I made do with a 1 gallon can - the aftermarket tanks at the time were not worth the expense for the small increase in volume. That may have changed now.

I'd love to see a 450 version of this bike.

I did over 3000 miles in Northern Thailand and Laos on a rental bike CRF 250L from a Thai Rental company (C&P in Chiang Mai). The bike only had 500km on the clock when i got it. It was really good, if I had a complaint about it....it would be that it had no power when going up hill on the trails. But I would use another one anytime

Wayne

What about reinforcing the existing sub frame? Honda dual sports are known for having weak ones. If well designed and done well, should add more strength without much extra weight or expense. ?c?
As you say, crash damage is hard to build for.
I've not ridden the new CRF250L but I'd think any stock, road legal Honda may come in a bit on the soft side carrying 30 to 40 kg. of gear on board ... especially noticeable riding off road.
Suspension would be near top of my list ... if for no other reason than the bike will take less of a beating riding higher in the travel, less bottoming out.

Pipes: I generally don't like loud ones. But a well made, fairly quiet, pipe like the Yoshimura on my DR650, is a good bet. You lose 7 lbs. over stock Stainless unit. Yosh is a quality piece, no repacking required ... and actually gives a boost in midrange (surprising!) and does not get as HOT as stainless stock unit. (less likely to set panniers on fire)

Tanks: IMS and Acerbis both produce a CRF tank. Both are just 3.1 U.S. Gallons (11.7L ) so just over a gallon increase above stock 2.0 US Gallon (7.8 L) tank. Better than nothing, but would have been nice to add at least another half gallon. Still, near 300 mile range is not bad!

A modern, reliable and "Honda Tough" CRF450L could be a dream bike if done well.

Something like an upgraded and refined DRZ400S. I think It would be a big seller in EU and USA.

Honda's logic with the 250 is they can sell the Thai produced CRF world wide in emerging markets ... so huge potential sales. The 450 would cost A LOT more, so limited market limited to 1st world, fewer sales. We can only HOPE! bier

A south Korean guy had. He has a long trip from south Korea to Europe through rusia in 2015

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Honda CRF250L weakness
 

My XR 250 has 50,000k on it now - no issues at all with the engine. I'm thinking of riding it to the states now from Colombia, maybe even further - is 50'000k a lot for a 250 (nearly always ran it with synthetic)? Does a 250 engine 'run out' quicker than say a 650, etc?

Good question. You'd think it would, being smaller, but much must depend on how hard its used (short rides in town vs long) and frequency of quality oil changes. I'd guess you got the same distance left in it and by then you'll have got your money's worth. Going back to a 250 myself soon.

Short answer is YES, a 250 will "run out" sooner than a bigger bore engine. A 250 typically will run at higher revs than a 650. Also it's more stressed and put under a more severe load for more hours than a 650 would be. Load equals HEAT, heat equals wear.

Certainly synthetic oil will (IMO) help extend engine life ... by A LOT, but eventually it will need a Re-Fresh. But it should give you adequate warning before anything fatal happens.

But 50K km. with synthetic is not the end on your Honda IMO. I'd bet on you could make the USA without doing a new top end before departure.

But once up to 75K I'd definitely pull the head for service: New Piston, rings, hone cylinder, resurface head and valve seats, new valve guides, new valve springs, (maybe new valves). A good mechanic can do the job in 3 to 4 hours if nothing is broken inside. Pretty simple.

The bottom end should last well beyond 100K if never run low on oil and not abused too badly or overheated too severely. This illustrates the value of quality synthetic oil ... in the old days most 250's would be done by 50K km. or sooner.

Keep an eye on oil consumption and do a compression test. (leak down type is best) If not using much oil and running strong ... keep going, it will make it.
:D:D:D

I think 250's are great - another rider let me have a go of their DR650 and while the extra power was appreciated I felt like I was sitting on a washing machine. My XR felt a lot smoother and far less vibey. I suppose it depends if your the type of person who likes to 'feel' their bike or not. I think the modified CRF the OP wants is a near perfect choice for Asia, south and Central America and/or Africa.

Only if you try to ride a 250 like a 650. We're talking CRF-L here, not the racing ...X or ...R. I would say the smoothness of smaller capacity singles (as mentioned by rtw) and smaller piston/barrel expansion may all aid longevity. A 250L will also have substantial less mass to push than a 650.

I dont recall reving my old 250L any more than 1000 more than my recent 500X - and neither over 5-6000. Instead I just rode the250 slower and overtook less frequently on the highway.

Steph Jeavons (currently in US) has clocked up 40K miles (65,000km) on her RTW. Engine is fine afaik. She's doing talks in the US over the next few months. I bet the 250L Dutch couple Leonie and Peter are on about the same mileage.

17,000 miles later
 

Hi all, late to this post but what can I tell you? I've been the past year travelling the north Americas on a CRF250L. Utah -> Alaska -> Guatemala -> Mexico. almost completed 17 000 miles this year on this bike since leaving Utah in April last year.

What can I say? I am carrying everything I own in the world on this bike, admittedly not a lot but it looks like a lot.

Issues I've had until this date: a bent front wheel spindle, front fork bushes worn, most likely from a crash or two I had having fun on single tracks.

I have owned a CRF250L for 4 days and done 200 miles and in that time I haven't had a single problem, other than It keeps getting me home before I'm done having fun on it.

Honda CRF250L weakness
 

A heads up about our bikes:
Both over 95.000 km
One bike (Leonies) still runs like new and has had zero failures! It still doesn't use a drop of oil!

Mine (suddenly) started to use a little oil (1l/10.000km) after 45.000 km, it turned out my airfilter wasn't sealing properly.... As a result it lost some compression but still ran fine.

After 53.000 km my camchaintensioner failed, temporary fixed this by welding an extension on it. I was able to find a cbr250r tensioner in Ecuador which also failed within 3000 km ( probably due to a stretched camchain), so I changed back to the extended one.

After 57.000 km the damper in the front fork failed, the pistonband of the dampingrod was torn of. I was able to fix this by having a guy with a lathe make a wider and deeper groove in the piston and I made a new pistonband of a nylon cable-tie (its still there, better dan original!).

After 80.000 I changed the cilinder, piston and rings on my bike and also installed new camchain and a manual tensioner. The piston showed some wear, the cylinder very little, but the oil rings where seized in their groove.
I have since put on 15.000km more and the bike runs like new again and doesn't use a drop of oil.

Other things: all our rims are corroding excessive on the inside, especially near the valve and rimlock holes. This is probably cause by our adventure on the Salar de Uyuni where we got lost and found our self riding trough 30 cm deep brine....
I removed all loose corrosion with a dremel and coated it with some spraycan metalprimer. I haven't checked it again but my guts tell me I the primer is not really going go stop it.

Last but not least: In the beginning of our trip (after 10.000km) we found out that there was excessive play between the front sprocket and the countershaft. It turned out that the splines where worn... I am still not exactly sure how this happened but I suspect the aftermarkec sprocket was from a bad batch as it already had more play than the oem when I fitted it. Ever since I fixate the front spocket with loctite 680, have to repeat every 5000 km or so but the wear on the splines is not increasing anymore.

Peter




www.amsterdamtoanywhere.nl

Peter,
Thanks for the comprehensive review and update on your long term CRF250's.
Excellent! Despite the issues you've had, I'm still impressed overall with the reliability of these Hondas.

That Solar Brine is a killer ... no wonder you've got corrosion. You are not the first to get bit by this. We have similar Salt Lakes here in Nevada, my former XR250 had similar problems. Really bad on Aluminum as well.

The leaking air filter is a good lesson to everyone. In my dirt bike riding days I learned the importance of applying a small bead of grease along the sealing outer edge of your foam air filter where it makes contact with air box. ALL the dirt bike guys do this to give extra protection. IT WORKS!

(No surprise dirt got in without the grease seal)

Before doing this my 2 Stroke race bike engines would only last maybe one season at best. With proper air filter and sealed air box, 2 or even 3 season on one piston, rings, cylinder. :thumbup1: (good synthetic oil helps too)

I think you could write a good maintenance book on how to take care of the CRF250L when on a RTW ride! I'm sure all the lessons you've learned will be shared by others! Not just on the CRF, but many things apply to almost all bikes. Thinking outside the box! bier