Patrick Trahan, of the few Canadian riders to finish the Dakar Rally, has been out proving Honda’s new CRF250 Rally machine at a couple of major international events.
Trahan was working on his own aftermarket rally kit for a CRF250L dual sport bike, and raced it at the Merzouga Rally and Asia Cross Country Rally. But with the arrival of the new Honda CRF250 Rally, Trahan has been riding the factory-equipped Honda lately. This spring, he used that bike to complete the Hellas Rally in May and Rally Albania in June.
Both rallies together added up to about 4,000 km of riding, and Trahan said the little Honda held up well, especially considering it was mostly running stock equipment. Trahan added a navigation tower (which doesn’t come on the stock CRF250 Rally), as well as Hyperpro suspension and a few other minor bits, but overall, the bike was basically “bone stock,” he says.
Trahan finished both rallies, earning a 10th spot in the 450 class in Rally Albania, almost managing a podium on the last stage. He says that normally, after an event like the Hellas Rally, a bike would require a complete rebuild, but he went on to take on Rally Albania with only a day of basic repairs; the CEF250 Rally finished the second event with no trouble, only needing wear items replaced, such as bearings, brake pads, and clutch cable. Not bad for a bike that carries a base MSRP of $6,299 CAD.
Please, more information (a test ?) as it becomes available.