Honda Crf 250L

[RED21 63]

Here's a peek at Honda's new off-road bike...

Ye olde Youtube previews from the 2011 Tokyo Motorshow..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saHT39UT_ec

[RED21 63]

A guy in the land of the rising sun seems to have taken one out for a spin.

[taninthai 1,427]

Hopefull it will be available start of march that makes it about a 7 week wait.....,

[taichiplanet 2,751]

According to a bike site in the USA, it is an upgrade of the CRF230L using the CBR250 engine. They are predicting a price of around US$4,000. They also said it was being made in thailand, so hopefully it would be cheaper here, maybe same price as a standard (non ABS) CBR250, plus dealer gouging of course.

The kerb weight for the 230L is 121 kgs, so that coupled with the CBR250 engine should make a great urban/thai-road/off-road bike.

some shots from yesterdays APe Honda Dealer Conference in Bangkok.

[JUDAS 701]

I'll be ordering 2 as soon as available and my dealer doesn't price gouge

[Richard-BKK 620]

The price of the Honda CRF250L is very close to the orignal price of the none-ABS Honda CBR250R...

[JUDAS 701]

The price of the Honda CRF250L is very close to the orignal price of the none-ABS Honda CBR250R...

That's good news to start the day with

[skybluestu 166]

The price of the Honda CRF250L is very close to the orignal price of the none-ABS Honda CBR250R...

Which price? The MSRP which was about 105,000baht or the price being charged by greedy Honda dealers 120,000-130,000baht?

[VocalNeal 2,894]

So using all our crystal balls. How much and why will this be better than KLX/D-Tracker.

[skybluestu 166]

So using all out crystal balls. How much and why will this be better than KLX/D-Tracker.

Maximum 115,000baht and that is just one reason why it would be better! Another being the number of Honda dealers throughout the country where you could buy from and have it serviced/fixed.

[VocalNeal 2,894]

A lower price and easier servicing makes the owning experience easier but I was more interested in why the bike itself is going to be better or a better riding bike, say on a trail outside Chiang Mai.

If lower price was the bench mark then we'd all be riding Lifan etc.

[nikster 708]

A lower price and easier servicing makes the owning experience easier but I was more interested in why the bike itself is going to be better or a better riding bike, say on a trail outside Chiang Mai.

If lower price was the bench mark then we'd all be riding Lifan etc.

Clearly we'd expect the Honda CRF250L to be either as good or better than a KLX250 in terms of quality. Lifan doesn't play in the same league it's nonsense to even bring it up here. Lifan is not direct competition for either the Honda or the Kawa.

As for the bike, my prediction is that the CRF will have better gas mileage. Other than that, I would not bet on it being lighter, stronger, etc. If Honda can make it 50,000 Baht - or 1/3rd - cheaper than the KLX250 then they really don't need to make it better in any way. 50k for the same bike would already be pretty incredible value IMO.

We'll know more in March.

[skybluestu 166]

A lower price and easier servicing makes the owning experience easier but I was more interested in why the bike itself is going to be better or a better riding bike, say on a trail outside Chiang Mai.

If lower price was the bench mark then we'd all be riding Lifan etc.

I think a Honda v Kawasaki comparison is more realistic than a Honda v Lifan comparison ;-)

If the new Honda and KLX250 are as similar as we are led to believe then a 30-40,000baht price difference would be a no-brainer!

***Reason for Edit***** Nikster said it all!

[taninthai 1,427]

I believe the klx has a better frame and swingarm but unless you are an exprert hardcore offroader this is not going to make the klx that appealing at 50,000 bht more.

[Familyonthemove 1,393]

I thought the CBR had more power than the KLX? So if the CRF 250 has the same engine (and same state of tune) as it's streetbike brother, it should have more power than the Kawasaki? And at these engine sizes, every BMP counts.

Not sure about the power comparison when derestricted though?