Author Topic: CRF250 Rally/DS (Read 53565 times)

blauth · « **Reply #140 on:** December 13, 2017, 08:09:09 am »

Quote from: epic pornstar on December 13, 2017, 06:10:53 am

I have changed the pipe on mine to a Yoshi and I must say acceleration feels much quicker than my 660 ten but obviously doesn't have the top speed. rally feels great off road front wheel has super light feel on gravel and sand so no tank slappers or butt clenching moments. Love this bike fully kitted for 10 days away in the northern Cape will let you guys know how it goes. Only carrying 5 extra litres of fuel so hope to make it though tankwa but I'm sure it's going to be a pleasure in the cedarburg sand.

Probably feels quicker because you're changing gears so often. Ratio's are short and having a six speed box with a low top end, there's lots of gear changing involved. I think you'll be surprised how much your Tenere give the little 250 a klap on acceleration if you actually have a dice. That's not to say the little Rally isn't a great bike though.

In these last two weeks, I've found there is a definite benefit with low power in the rain on knobblies....

Zanie · « **Reply #141 on:** March 17, 2018, 10:00:14 pm »

Quote from: MaxThePanda on May 15, 2017, 07:01:38 am

This is one argument for these bikes: http://www.wilddog.za.net/forum/index.php?topic=209818.0;topicseen - there's something glorious about taking big bikes into terrain they aren't designed for, or which the bikes can only manage in the hands of very talented riders. But this isn't the first trip report I've read where there have been multiple large BMW's going home on a trailer after an offroad section on an otherwise routine trip.

I only saw now that you used my RR as reference for what can go wrong with the big bikes on rough stuff.

Tell me about it. Plenty has gone wrong. Plenty of times...

Quote from: MaxThePanda on May 15, 2017, 07:01:38 am

But to get back to my original point, more than 50% of the BMW club would be a hell of a lot better off on the 250 Rally, and probably have a lot more fun in the process. Good luck to anyone trying to get that message across though...

You have one convert right here. Miraculous, but apparently possible. I have realised the error of my ways and bought myself a Rally just over a week ago.

Full story here: http://www.wilddog.za.net/forum/index.php?topic=222108.0
I am so stoked! It's definitely a "ball of fun" bike.

Tom van Brits · « **Reply #142 on:** March 19, 2018, 06:18:10 pm »

Quote from: Zanie on March 17, 2018, 10:00:14 pm

Quote from: MaxThePanda on May 15, 2017, 07:01:38 am
This is one argument for these bikes: http://www.wilddog.za.net/forum/index.php?topic=209818.0;topicseen - there's something glorious about taking big bikes into terrain they aren't designed for, or which the bikes can only manage in the hands of very talented riders. But this isn't the first trip report I've read where there have been multiple large BMW's going home on a trailer after an offroad section on an otherwise routine trip.
I only saw now that you used my RR as reference for what can go wrong with the big bikes on rough stuff.
Tell me about it. Plenty has gone wrong. Plenty of times...

Quote from: MaxThePanda on May 15, 2017, 07:01:38 am
But to get back to my original point, more than 50% of the BMW club would be a hell of a lot better off on the 250 Rally, and probably have a lot more fun in the process. Good luck to anyone trying to get that message across though...
You have one convert right here. Miraculous, but apparently possible. I have realised the error of my ways and bought myself a Rally just over a week ago.
Full story here: http://www.wilddog.za.net/forum/index.php?topic=222108.0
I am so stoked! It's definitely a "ball of fun" bike.

Congrats Zanie, trust you will have many lekker adventures on your Rally.

I also have great memories of a DR200 that I used for a bit of trail riding. Miss that little bike a lot.
These bikes start making more sense to me as well.

sidetrack · « **Reply #143 on:** April 26, 2018, 12:36:14 pm »

Quote from: sidetrack on November 11, 2017, 02:18:42 pm

I had a look and sat on a Rally today. The seat height is ok, I'm around 176cm. While quite a bit lighter than most dual sport bikes it is quite a bit heavier than the 250's I had before. I'm also still not convinced that the lower plastics will hold up well to falls. The styling well I reckon it is a love it or hate it afair. Some angles it looks great others not so much. My wife reckons it's a dinky toy bike $:-\$ Only if it sold in the lower to mid 60's price range I might have given one a go, seems to 2nd hand ones avaliable. I would also add to the budget a proper fatbar and handguards. At 80 - 85k there are still too many other bikes that offers better value imho.

So today I actually rode a Rally, good test ride that included bit of dirt road, traffic and highway about 40km in total. So where to start, the bike fits me well at 1.76m. Sitting or standing it fits me perfectly. You feel the weight when pushing the bike around riding it is ok not too bad. Very easy bike to ride. Gearbox is nice and smooth and all the controls are light. I was going into this ride with the knowledge it was a 250 only. I found it a bit slow to get up to speed which is weird as the older RVFC style XR 250's felt more snappy when pulling away. What surprised me is the fact that it could keep it's speed on the highway, once at 110 -120km/h it had no problem sitting there in top gear. It revs around 7000rpm which is high for a single but normal for a 250 at highway speeds. It felt quite comfortable at that speed with a vibration at 6800rpm but smooth again at 7000rpm and above (any other owners notice this ?). So I would say that water cooled motor seems to do better at higher speeds than the previous gen air cooled singles. Gearing could be different too and it may mean that the Rally might suffer slightly in very slow going 1st gear crawling stuff so one might need to gear it down however I could not test this on the ride. It's a nice package in stock form and I would only add proper hand guards, and maybe a fatbar. Depending on your luggage setup a rack maybe needed. Suspension was ok rather plush, progressive springs in the front would work great. I'm actually still in two minds about this bike, somethings I really like other things are ok. It did not wow me but I expected this and it's certainly a bike I would still consider. I reckon it might just grow on you as I enjoyed all my previous 250's immensely. I reckon as a commuter and for trips of around 2-3 days it will do really well. The price is still a sticky issue and a 450 motor in that chassis would be fantastic.

blauth · « **Reply #144 on:** April 29, 2018, 10:30:05 pm »

Quote from: sidetrack on April 26, 2018, 12:36:14 pm

Quote from: sidetrack on November 11, 2017, 02:18:42 pm
I had a look and sat on a Rally today. The seat height is ok, I'm around 176cm. While quite a bit lighter than most dual sport bikes it is quite a bit heavier than the 250's I had before. I'm also still not convinced that the lower plastics will hold up well to falls. The styling well I reckon it is a love it or hate it afair. Some angles it looks great others not so much. My wife reckons it's a dinky toy bike $:-\$ Only if it sold in the lower to mid 60's price range I might have given one a go, seems to 2nd hand ones avaliable. I would also add to the budget a proper fatbar and handguards. At 80 - 85k there are still too many other bikes that offers better value imho.
So today I actually rode a Rally, good test ride that included bit of dirt road, traffic and highway about 40km in total. So where to start, the bike fits me well at 1.76m. Sitting or standing it fits me perfectly. You feel the weight when pushing the bike around riding it is ok not too bad. Very easy bike to ride. Gearbox is nice and smooth and all the controls are light. I was going into this ride with the knowledge it was a 250 only. I found it a bit slow to get up to speed which is weird as the older RVFC style XR 250's felt more snappy when pulling away. What surprised me is the fact that it could keep it's speed on the highway, once at 110 -120km/h it had no problem sitting there in top gear. It revs around 7000rpm which is high for a single but normal for a 250 at highway speeds. It felt quite comfortable at that speed with a vibration at 6800rpm but smooth again at 7000rpm and above (any other owners notice this ?). So I would say that water cooled motor seems to do better at higher speeds than the previous gen air cooled singles. Gearing could be different too and it may mean that the Rally might suffer slightly in very slow going 1st gear crawling stuff so one might need to gear it down however I could not test this on the ride. It's a nice package in stock form and I would only add proper hand guards, and maybe a fatbar. Depending on your luggage setup a rack maybe needed. Suspension was ok rather plush, progressive springs in the front would work great. I'm actually still in two minds about this bike, somethings I really like other things are ok. It did not wow me but I expected this and it's certainly a bike I would still consider. I reckon it might just grow on you as I enjoyed all my previous 250's immensely. I reckon as a commuter and for trips of around 2-3 days it will do really well. The price is still a sticky issue and a 450 motor in that chassis would be fantastic.

Thanks for the feedback.

I waltzed into Honda Sandon on Thurday and chatted to the sales guy. One of the first who wasn't trying to sell ice to an Eskimo.

Anyway, I explained that I would be interested in a higher mileage demo or second hand if they got them in. He then proceeded to say "so what sorta money are we talking about, 60k?". I had 65 in my head but he hit the nail on the head. Without realizing it, he shared what he thought the relative worth of the bike was. He did mention that he didn't think Honda had sold too many. I'd be very interested to know how many have been sold since their launch in 2017.

Using my 250 Tornado and loving it, I know I'd love the Rally more but this would stem from its utilitarian nature and not from any adrenalin highs.

Tom van Brits · « **Reply #145 on:** April 30, 2018, 03:17:35 pm »

Quote from: blauth on April 29, 2018, 10:30:05 pm

Quote from: sidetrack on April 26, 2018, 12:36:14 pm
Quote from: sidetrack on November 11, 2017, 02:18:42 pm
I had a look and sat on a Rally today. The seat height is ok, I'm around 176cm. While quite a bit lighter than most dual sport bikes it is quite a bit heavier than the 250's I had before. I'm also still not convinced that the lower plastics will hold up well to falls. The styling well I reckon it is a love it or hate it afair. Some angles it looks great others not so much. My wife reckons it's a dinky toy bike $:-\$ Only if it sold in the lower to mid 60's price range I might have given one a go, seems to 2nd hand ones avaliable. I would also add to the budget a proper fatbar and handguards. At 80 - 85k there are still too many other bikes that offers better value imho.
So today I actually rode a Rally, good test ride that included bit of dirt road, traffic and highway about 40km in total. So where to start, the bike fits me well at 1.76m. Sitting or standing it fits me perfectly. You feel the weight when pushing the bike around riding it is ok not too bad. Very easy bike to ride. Gearbox is nice and smooth and all the controls are light. I was going into this ride with the knowledge it was a 250 only. I found it a bit slow to get up to speed which is weird as the older RVFC style XR 250's felt more snappy when pulling away. What surprised me is the fact that it could keep it's speed on the highway, once at 110 -120km/h it had no problem sitting there in top gear. It revs around 7000rpm which is high for a single but normal for a 250 at highway speeds. It felt quite comfortable at that speed with a vibration at 6800rpm but smooth again at 7000rpm and above (any other owners notice this ?). So I would say that water cooled motor seems to do better at higher speeds than the previous gen air cooled singles. Gearing could be different too and it may mean that the Rally might suffer slightly in very slow going 1st gear crawling stuff so one might need to gear it down however I could not test this on the ride. It's a nice package in stock form and I would only add proper hand guards, and maybe a fatbar. Depending on your luggage setup a rack maybe needed. Suspension was ok rather plush, progressive springs in the front would work great. I'm actually still in two minds about this bike, somethings I really like other things are ok. It did not wow me but I expected this and it's certainly a bike I would still consider. I reckon it might just grow on you as I enjoyed all my previous 250's immensely. I reckon as a commuter and for trips of around 2-3 days it will do really well. The price is still a sticky issue and a 450 motor in that chassis would be fantastic.

Thanks for the feedback.

I waltzed into Honda Sandon on Thurday and chatted to the sales guy. One of the first who wasn't trying to sell ice to an Eskimo.

Anyway, I explained that I would be interested in a higher mileage demo or second hand if they got them in. He then proceeded to say "so what sorta money are we talking about, 60k?". I had 65 in my head but he hit the nail on the head. Without realizing it, he shared what he thought the relative worth of the bike was. He did mention that he didn't think Honda had sold too many. I'd be very interested to know how many have been sold since their launch in 2017.

Using my 250 Tornado and loving it, I know I'd love the Rally more but this would stem from its utilitarian nature and not from any adrenalin highs.

I can recall that some Okes here on the forum were defending Honda big time wrt the introduction price of the Rally which I (and some other) regarded as too high. If you compare what you get in terms of technology and even material used vs the Versys 300 (yes I know it is not a ds/trail bike but just to make my point) where you have 2 cylinders, 2 throttle bodies to mention a few but at R15k higher price it is no wonder that Honda is not moving them fast. I would love a light ds (or is it dp - dual purpose) bike like the Rally but Honda even recently put the NC750 (Which I ride) on special for R89K which is almost the same. Still there are many wealthy people out there buying the Rally and like you say all one can hope is to get a clean second hand one in time for around the R60K mark. They are very reliable, I have seen a lot of high millage cbx twisters around (50k km and more) without issues. What I fail to understand is that the CBX Twister which I understand virtually use the same engine is much more responsive and deliver way better overal performance. So what has changed, is it chocked up due to Euro 4 regulations or what happened because even the 'L' never had the same performance than the CBX 250 Twister....

blauth · « **Reply #146 on:** April 30, 2018, 09:39:03 pm »

The CBX twister is the old oil cooled engine and I'd guess the L has much the same power as the twister. My tornado also has the same motor as the twister. They not really faster. I dragged my Tornado against a twister and pulled him (not by much mind you) but only cos I have a pipe and have spent a lot of time getting mine to run right.

The CBR250 water cooled engine is akin to the Rally and the L. They have a cbr300 which fits straight into the Rally. Honda should have simply offered both engine derivatives just available to different markets.

sidetrack · « **Reply #147 on:** May 01, 2018, 07:46:39 pm »

Bit of a conundrum, 250 or 300 single is never going to be strong and if you go small capacity twin cc they become revvy which is pointless in a DS bike. The answer is still a 450 / 500 single or modern 650 twin at least. I think one can be very happy with a 250 but you have to accept it for what it is. Spending money on big bore, pipes etc is a bit of a waste. I think that guy in the UK (Minkyhead) gained about 3 hp with all his mods.

blauth · « **Reply #148 on:** May 02, 2018, 10:08:47 pm »

Quote from: sidetrack on May 01, 2018, 07:46:39 pm

Bit of a conundrum, 250 or 300 single is never going to be strong and if you go small capacity twin cc they become revvy which is pointless in a DS bike. The answer is still a 450 / 500 single or modern 650 twin at least. I think one can be very happy with a 250 but you have to accept it for what it is. Spending money on big bore, pipes etc is a bit of a waste. I think that guy in the UK (Minkyhead) gained about 3 hp with all his mods.

I was having that same thought process. An Athena 293cc big bore kit for my Tornado is $54. Cheap. Shipping is probably R1000.00 from Brazil. Thing is, I'm struggling to justify messing with a perfectly good engine.....for 3hp gain and a few more torques...

LoopSoosStroop · « **Reply #149 on:** May 03, 2018, 07:48:52 am »

Still so much want...

sidetrack · « **Reply #150 on:** May 03, 2018, 09:04:11 am »

Hopefully getting my Rally today

zebra - Flying Brick · « **Reply #151 on:** May 03, 2018, 09:12:14 am »

Quote from: sidetrack on Today at 09:04:11 am

Hopefully getting my Rally today

fantastic, enjoy!

teebag · « **Reply #152 on:** May 03, 2018, 11:32:04 am »

Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk

sidetrack · « **Reply #153 on:** May 03, 2018, 12:04:17 pm »

The Rally has such shiny side panels that soft luggage will not be an option me thinks ? So I have heard of Happy Trails racks. Them together with Wolfman or the like might be a very nice setup ? What do you guys run ? Dreaming for when I can afford.

LoopSoosStroop · « **Reply #154 on:** May 03, 2018, 12:25:14 pm »

Quote from: sidetrack on May 03, 2018, 09:04:11 am

Hopefully getting my Rally today

Congrats! New?

zebra - Flying Brick · « **Reply #155 on:** May 03, 2018, 01:03:45 pm »

as a starting point, we have THREE solutions for carrying luggage on the Rally:

1. CRF 250 Rally luggage rack, with built-in grab handles...

2. the Honda CRF 250 L rack/pannier rack combo that we THINK will bolt up to the Rally...

3. And we have an order in with Rockfox for 2 x sets of CRF 250 RALLY pannier racks... pics to follow...

More later, shout if you have questions.
Chris & team

sidetrack · « **Reply #156 on:** May 03, 2018, 01:51:03 pm »

Quote from: LoopSoosStroop on May 03, 2018, 12:25:14 pm

Quote from: sidetrack on May 03, 2018, 09:04:11 am
Hopefully getting my Rally today

Congrats! New?

Demo 750 km

zebra - Flying Brick · « **Reply #157 on:** May 03, 2018, 02:04:35 pm »

here then is the Rockfox pannier racks, shown with the attached fuel-mounting plate on the NON-exhaust side; the plate takes a bolt, which attaches the Pioneer Plastics 5L fuel cell (or 5L water cell) securely to the rack..

Cheers, Chris & Team

sidetrack · « **Reply #158 on:** May 03, 2018, 02:39:37 pm »

Looks great Chris, on my wish list

teebag · « **Reply #159 on:** May 03, 2018, 04:26:59 pm »

Quote from: sidetrack on May 03, 2018, 12:04:17 pm

The Rally has such shiny side panels that soft luggage will not be an option me thinks ? So I have heard of Happy Trails racks. Them together with Wolfman or the like might be a very nice setup ? What do you guys run ? Dreaming for when I can afford.

My view - screw the side panels and screw big luggage - that is not the point of this bike. I run giant loop mojave on the side panels (because it is tight and compact) and a small cheap repurposed backpack on the small rack that Chris sells. With a range of 250-300km I don't see the need for much more fuel and the added weight that comes with it.

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