2017 HONDA CRF250L RALLY
CRF250L Rally sizing as you may have seen
previously here in Kiwi Rider.
Without spoiling the review, these tyres are
roughly a 20% off-road tyre with an 80% focus
for road duties. While they don’t have the cool
knobbly tyre look that the IRCs had, they have
made riding on the road so much more fun and
I can really lean the bike over with confidence.
Plus, with the IRC’s pretty worn out by 5000km,
I’ve been told I should expect at least three
times that distance from the Avons.
FUTURE MODS
Even with these changes made to the bike,
there are still areas I feel the bike could be
improved further. The suspension, for instance,
is a major problem area for the Rally, especially
with a heavy rider like myself. Having consulted
two of New Zealand’s best suspension gurus –
New Plymouth’s Kiwi Suspension Solutions
and Taupo’s MotoSR – I’m still yet to do anything
to remedy the incredibly soft suspension.
That said, once funds become available my
next move will likely be to go for the cheapest
fix, which is to change the rear spring to a stiffer
unit to reduce the suspension sag which will
roughly be around the $300 mark parts wise.
The forks aren’t all that bad so far, but again,
once funds become available I’ll still be looking
at also upgrading these to stiffen them up a bit.
Interestingly, while the bike only sports a 250cc
single-cylinder with a max power output of just
24hp I don’t really feel the need to go messing
about with the power at this stage.
In fact, this is one of the parts I like about the
bike as it is just a happy little commuter when it
comes to those trips up to Auckland or bombing
around gravel backroads. With a max fuel range
of roughly 250km (which I’ve seen drop as low as
170km when riding it hard), I don’t think adding
more power to the mix would be particularly
worth it without also investing in an expensive
KIWI RIDER 49