CRF250 L thread

[hornet]

Excellent Gary thanks for the picture. I read through the entire thread from the link you posted, the original poster got a lot of flack for the change he made however it appears to be a solid mod and plenty of people happy with it, so rock on.

I can imagine the kick your own bike and end up on the floor moments must be tiresome but hysterical to onlookers And if someone tries to nick your luggage they may just end up impaled by a bungee. At the price you got them for its happy days.

[hornet]

Todays first trail ride

I think on the road this bike feels pretty nice, yes its soft but playful enough for a small capacity bike. Its compliant on small twisty stuff and sits nice enough on A roads. Early thoughts are I will enjoy this bike

Now bear in mind I've come from a drz400e which has pretty shite suspension compared to any enduro bike ever made . I've ridden some pretty smart stuff and some god awful Chinese monstrosities on cats paws and my other half has a Serow that's lowered and softened off which I ride often enough and know the feeling.

I had very low expectations having heard others discuss bottoming out and ride height. The stock tyres haven't exactly had a good write up either on dirt mud and sand so I was prepared for an experience but wanted to see where I was at. And hoping perhaps I could ride round it.

I'd say it was mildly terrifying I'm a small guy and at 20 mph through a small series of bumps it felt so soft maybe bottoming out at the back. After a few lanes some sand and mud the stock tires really are shite and have to go, shame really as on the road feel really nice so perhaps that should have told me all I need to know.

Next up I'll try the castle nuts on the rear shock and put it to near max re try re evaluate, and if it doesn't do the trick it will have to be off to ebay

I still had fun riding today its exhilarating trying to stay upright

Mike

[minkyhead26]

they are to soft and the lack of rebound on the back doesnt help

a yss rear shock and a raceteck fork spring will make the bike work really well ...the actual damping is not bad at all ..it just woefully undersprung
the actual forks can be made to work very well ..they are around 50 pecent undersprung dive to quick and too slow to get back up so they pack

one supported properly they are actually quite good

[garyboy]

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[hornet]

Rear shock has been wound up. I had to take it out as no way on this earth was it going to shift with the "Whack with a big screw driver" method. Well its a bit better but think as minky said its more the rebound. So I reserve judgement for the time being.

Has anyone fitted any pannier racks ? I'd like to put on some soft luggage nothing huge enough for maybe tent,sleeping bag camping gear cook stuff etc. The idea being to keep the bags off the exhaust and out of the rear wheel. Looks like an attachment to the rear footpegs is a must as the sub frame lacks strength. I see some from here look ok https://www.dirtracks.com/products/hond ... nnier-rack

Any input please

Regards Mike

[minkyhead]

they look really good for the money even with postage and import tax they should land reasonable ...i have a sneaky feeling they dont ship to the uk ......their two point system has been prone top bending over on thumpertalk that looks like the proper job ..cant tel but opening the tool box looks a bit tight ? its dead easy to remove and intall a tube though if needed ..or do away with it its not much good anyway ?

funny coincidence i made a set for the rally and they have been good ..i like the wolfman bags so now ive got more time on me hands i decided to do the 300l the same way ..ive been doing em today

if i could get them over for 160 quid id do it ...it dont cost much to doyour own ..about ten quid in metal ..but it takes more time than you expect

the reason i prefer to do my own is the width i get rid of the o/e exhaust and in tha rallys case the big flared panels ....you get a real narrow profile which is good off road ..and indded when filtering too

look a bit rough at the moment but they turn out ok when done ..there isnt much ouyt there at all for the crf and nothing in the uk at all

i think they are pretty good ..for strap bags you dont need the rear brace for sure with athree point mount ..but i would go for them as their two point system is a bit iffy by all accounts

if you look at the botom ones from thiland its easy to see why i want to make me own ...exon valdize teritory them dirtracks look ten times better ....

DSC_0775 by minkyhead56, on Flickr

aaaaaaa by minkyhead56, on Flickr

DSC_0324 by minkyhead56, on Flickr
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20170723_134925.thumb.jpg.84f5335d7c34c3abdc52a61b01657a5a by minkyhead56, on Flickr

82_o.jpg[/img][/url]DSC_0355 by minkyhead56, on Flickr
DSC_0743 by minkyhead56, on Flickr
1503647142242 by minkyhead56, on Flickr

[hornet]

Thanks Minky the rally set up looks fantastic and the L will be too I sure. Geez that other set is outrageous I saw them while looking about for a set and thought it was odd to say the least. I'd love to be able to make my own set but talent and ability with metal work are sadly lacking. Also I'm running the stock exhaust as I didn't feel I wanted to throw money there as I've got lots of other things to do first. So I take it with the standard pipe on the L I'd still be quite wide so perhaps a re think on the pipe is required.

Regards Mike

[minkyhead]

be ok the L is quite abit narrower than the rally but the subframe is the same ... those in the picture look ok to me ..quite good ..at least the best ive seen online

i have the old irons off the l which dont look great but they do agood job of holding luggage secure .. you wecome to them if your passing ..just 10ml allthread with a washing machine hose over em ..easy to make work really well .it was a temorary thing that sayed on for two years ...worked well with me old ortoliebs ..i did them before the new exhaust was fitted so they will fit

not fancy but hold the bags away from the exhaust and rear wheel ..create good tie down points

DSC_0780 by minkyhead56, on Flickr


DSC_0016 by minkyhead56, on Flickr

DSC_0781 by minkyhead56, on Flickr

IMG_5326 by minkyhead56, on Flickr

DSC_5332 by minkyhead56, on Flickr

[hornet]

That's an fantastic offer mate, I'll gladly accept however I'm tucked away in East Anglia but could have a friend collect where are you based PM me and hopefully I can arrange. Or alternatively I'd happily pay for you to make me a set up similar to the Rally ones as they do look properly smart.

Regards
Mike

[garyboy]

something I noticed again today .. about the crf250L ..

it rides over humps and bumps really well.

I don't get it ... it is supposed to have a budget suspension .. but when I come to tight little humps and dips (imagine camel's back) .. the bike just glides over them without even hardly getting out of level .. like they were hardly there?

(the same humps on my DR or TTR were `yikes` moments, sometimes with stallings and getting stucks or even fallings oft .. )

the crf does not even get out of shape but stays level ... the front goes up and down and the back goes up and down ....... but the frame stays level (ish)

I must almost look like a normal trail rider now ?