OUR BIKES
if anything, because I felt like I was holding up
the rest of the riding group with my constant
need to stop for fuel. Realistic open road range
sitting at 110km/h is 250km before you really
start sweating.
Even with the more realistic experience under
my belt, after returning the bike I swore I would
one day own one. As I said earlier, for what I
want out of a bike it just ticks so many of the
boxes. It’s frugal, reliable and cheap to register
and insure compared to larger capacity bikes
in the class.
REUNITED
Fast forward two years and after far too long
without a bike to call my own in the shed I
started to look around for a “pre-loved”
example of the Rally.
I didn’t want a brand new bike for a couple of
reasons. The first one being I’m a cheapass, and
any money saved on buying the bike could be
spent on actually riding it. The second reason
was that, as a stay-at-home-dad, I don’t
actually have that many opportunities to get
out and ride and the idea of breaking a bike
in over half a year really didn’t appeal.
I also knew I wanted one with the switchable
ABS for the rear wheel. After a very scary
incident on Auckland’s Southern Motorway,
let’s just say I like the idea of not locking up
the front wheel amidst traffic…
So after waiting a couple of years to get hold of
CRF250L Rally, you could say I was thrilled when I
stumbled across the very same bike I had ridden
previously during a visit to Honda Hamilton.
After a quick once over and test ride it found its
way into my garage permanently in late January
2019 as an early 30th birthday present to myself.
Yes, this bike has been rolled, bowled and
possibly a-holed by every motor-noter in the
country, but the result is I’m not afraid to be
rough with it if need be.
MODIFICATIONS
Sure, the little Rally may have a few drawbacks
for someone of my size and experience out of
the box, but for the tasks I want it to be able to
do, it’s been remarkably well-suited to my needs.
During the first couple of month’s of ownership,
I mostly kept the bike as it rolled off the
dealership floor. While the bike has a history as
a press bike, featuring in all of New Zealand’s
motorcycling publications and doing duties as
a dealer demo unit before I got it, it still had life
in the factory tyres and was up to date with its
servicing so I didn’t need to go pulling it apart.
That said, after a couple of months the need
to start making “Rosie the Rally” mine began to
nag at me and I hit the net to find some parts
and accessories to improve the bike to help
tailor it to my needs.
The very first modification was removing the
pillion grab strap, and while small, it made a
huge difference in terms of rider comfort. Yes,
while it will be a bit harder to pick the bike out
of the dirt, the added comfort by not having the
strap digging into my backside every ride makes
up for this. I don’t fall off that much anyway…
With the “navigation tower” as part of the
factory CRF250L Rally experience, I figured I
needed to mount something up above the dash
to help me keep track of where I am. The easiest
thing to do was to put my mobile phone up
there to have access to map apps as well as
my other phone functions.
The Quadlock is easy to mount your phone and
is also nice and secure – I’ve never had to worry
about it dropping off onto the road. It’s a very
handy and very simple mod, and with the
availability of extras such as a waterproof
poncho and phone-specific cases, it is a nice
option if using your phone from your bike is of
any importance to you.
With the QuadLock installed I quickly found my
phone was churning through its battery with
44 KIWI RIDER