Honda brought their CRF250L to market in Canada last fall (read about it here). The word on the street is that they’re selling very well, not just in Canada, but around the world. And the aftermarket is quickly catching up.
TCI Products was one of the first aftermarket builders that we heard was looking at the CRF250L. We checked their website to see their progress, and sure ’nuff, they’ve been busy.
TCI has adapted several of their luggage racks, as well as their headlight guard, skid plate, wind screen, and rear brake cylinder guard for the CRF250L. They’ve also built a radiator guard for the bike. Check their site for prices.
Ricochet has long been known for making affordable skid plates for dual sport bikes. They’ve got an aluminum unit for the CRF250L for about $100. For $20 they can anodize it, changing it to a different colour.
Dual Sport Armoury also has CRF250L protection available; check out their rack/rad guard/skid plate combination for $200ish.
If you want to hop up your CRF250L, you can check out Yoshimura’s offerings. Besides some billet bits, they also have a slip-on and full exhaust system available (mid-90s db range, not EPA compliant), as well as a fender eliminator.
FMF also has two exhaust cans for the CRF250L (the Q4 and PowerCore 4) and two headers (PowerBomb and MegaBomb). Check them out here.
BestDualSportBikes.com has a few hop-up kits for the CRF250L that include a full FMF exhaust (modified with internal ceramic coating), a folding shift lever, 13T front sprocket, and some air box modifications.
Some of them also include an EFI programmer. They cost in the $525-$700 range. The kits supposedly add 3-6 hp to the bike – a pretty significant boost for a 250.
Race Tech has a selection of suspension parts available for the new Honda. Prices around the web seem to be about $450 for their fork springs and Gold valves, and $750 for their custom rear shock.
Bill Blue, who developed a popular Kawasaki KLX250 big bore kit, is also working on one for the CRF250L. You can see one of his early efforts here. We don’t know what final pricing will be, but this is something that also ought to be interesting to CBR250 owners.
finally, 84mm 300 cc more available at
http://www.automotivespartsshop.com/product/0/114/HONDA-CBR250-CRF250L-FI-300cc-BORE-UP-KIT
seems good, got ceramic cylinder etc
“A lot of people are very leery about European four-stroke maintenance/longevity/parts supply as well. ”
Ktm seems to have a fair number of pretty stable dealers now. Actually, I have more KTM dealers near me that I do Honda dealers. I haven’t heard anybody complaining about their KTM exc’s in terms of maintenance and longevity.
Like you say, it depends on what you want.
So after you’ve spent $500 on revalving & respringing the suspension, $500-700 on an EFI tuner, several hundred on a big bore kit you’ve got….. a more expensive 250cc dual sport. As drawn as I am to it and the Yamaha WR250R I stumble over the idea that I can get a lightly used year or 2 old KTM 450/530 for about the same price and in some cases they come with super moto wheels.
I love spending money modifying a bike. I poured money into a XR650L a few years ago. It was well set up and I could really move in the woods but it wasn’t really money well spent compared to a KTM or Husky.
You’re talking different strokes for different folks here. Lots of people will start off on the 250 as a base model, and then modify it down the road. Not everyone can afford, or wants to start, on a used high-power dirt bike. (initial price could be the same, but maintenance/repairs can quickly add up on a used vehicle; the Honda is under warranty when you buy it). Plus, the CRF is much, much more street-friendly.
I get what you’re saying, though – it’s why I bought my DR650 and got rid of my old 200. There was no way I could ever get that 200 to the DR650’s capability (humble as it is) for reasonable money.
A lot of people are very leery about European four-stroke maintenance/longevity/parts supply as well. I only have experience with a Husky, which I flogged as a tester for a month. There was no competition between it and any Japanese duallie I’ve ridden. But the nearest dealer was a day’s drive away, as far as I could figure.
It comes down to what your riding experience is, I think, and where you see it headed in the future.
The bike is $4400 new. The EFI tuner is $200, for a full pipe you can add another $400-500. Most people do this on any bike they get anyway to get them sorted/tuned and running well. The suspension is soft and some will want to work on it, for me commuting, fire roads and the occasional weekend off-roading trek it’s fine… and smooth as butter on the street. Regarding KTM/Husky/etc… they are more expensive from the start and the maintenance is a lot more. The CRF250L has very low maintenance requirements. I have a few bikes but ride this one the most, so much fun.
https://canadamotoguide.com/2013/01/17/honda-launches-crf250m-super-moto/
Any 17″ supermoto wheel kits yet ?