Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eRIDING IMPRESSION e 1992HondaXR250L mo re than that and things get exciti ng. An aggressive rider will want to bump up the preload at both ends, especially in the front fork. T he 41mm airadj ustable, leading-axle Showa units are a bi t on the soft side, so it's rather easy to use up the 10.2 inches of wheel travel. The Pro-Lin k rea r suspension utilizes a single Kayaba shock, and is set up for a rider in the 150-pound range. The shock has plenty of adj ustments, including four -way compression and rebound damping settings, Rear wheel travel is th e same as up front - 10.2 inches. Both th e front and rear disc brakes get the job done ni cely. They hav e p lenty of power 'w i th o u t feel i n g grabby. For those long days in the saddle, the XRL is comfortable enough. The seat is wide and fairl y soft, but a taller rider might feel a bit cramped on th e li ttle 250. The handlebars have the sam e bend as the XR off-road model , as well as the sam e grips and brush/ hand guards. A number of n ice features grace th e ~ r- c-r ~ cu ..0 S cu :> ,0 Z The XR250L is small, handles well and has a mellow powerband, which should make it appealing to a wide range of riders. It's more dirt orientated that street. By Kit Palmer Photos by Kinney Jones sure didn't take long for Honda to see the light. , After Suzu ki successfully reintrodu ced serio us du al spor t bik es in the fall of 1989 with the 1990-model DR250 and 350S, H onda retaliated a year later with its own version of a street-legal du al spo rt bike, the XR250L. Based on the already-proven and popular off-road only XR250R, the '91 XR250L also proved profitable for , Honda. In fact, the XR250L was so successful that H onda will soon release another serious du a l sport model, the electric-start XR650L, which is closely rela ted to the off-road XR600R. The 650, thoug h , won 't hit sho wroom floors until early next spring. But th e 1992 XR250L is ready to go right now , mainly because it 's the same bikeas the 1991 model, except for new graphics. It's powered by a SOHC, 249cc, Ra dia l Four-Valve Com bustion Chamber (RFVC) , air-cooled, fourstroke single. The motor is identical to the R-model 's, excep t for mi nor modifications to ma ke i t EPA-legal for pavement use. Those mods include changes to the silencer and carburetor in an effort to q uiet the XRL. T he motor featu res a gear-dri ven co unterbalancer, du a l i ntake and exhaust ports, maintenance-free automatic cam chain tensioner and primary kickstar ting with an automatic decompression system. The air/fuel mixture is handled by a 30mm Keihin carburetor, with a push/pull choke knob located near the ha ndlebars. When it comes to performance, the motor isn 't going to win any horsepower awards, but it is going to pl ease a lot of people on the trail. For it relatively small four-stroke motor, the XRL pulls well and is fun to roos t around on a variety of terrain. It has a sm ooth pow erband , which will appeal to ent ry-level riders as well as the veterans. . T here 's just eno ugh po wer on tap to ma ke th e XRL a decent commu ting bike, even if your route puts you on th e exp ressways. The XRL can cruise along the pavement fair ly comforta bly I 16 .t between 60 and 65 mph , but it's definitely more at home cruising aro und town or out in the hills. Starting the XRL isn't exactly easy, but neither is it difficult. If you use the same procedure to kicks tart the XRL as you would a two-stroke bike, though, you 'll kick until you're red in the face. The XRL has an automatic compression release system that is operated by press ing down on the right-side kicks tarter lever until a click is heard. After letting the kick- starter lever back up, then you go for it. Even using the correct procedure, the XRL som etimes takes a number of kicks to fire. Since it's a ra the r sma ll mot or you' re tu rn in g over, it doesn't take that mu ch effort and wo n't wear you out. When ru nn ing, the XRL is very quiet, thanks to its U.S. Forest Serviceapproved spark arr estor/muffler. It 's so qu iet that the ne ighbors won't hear you pulling out of the dr iveway on those early morning weekend rides. Power is transferred to th e rear wheel via a six-speed transmission, First gear is quite low, which is nic e for the tight trai ls, while six th is tall eno ugh for th e h ighway stretches. Shifting is smooth and the clutch has a lig h t pu ll. The XRL feels very sma ll. It has a rela tively low 34.8-inch seat height and a short 56.3-inch wheelbase. Although it comes in a small package , it weighs a hefty 259 pounds (claimed) dry, The extra weight can be felt on the trails, especially while riding the bike hard. On tight and rocky trails, a sweat can easily be worked up muscling th e little XRL aro u nd. But for cruising down the dirt ro ads a nd exp lo ring, the weig ht is not apparent . , Suspension is typ ical for a du al sport, on/off-roa d bike - too pl ush. Righ t ou t of th e crate, the XRL is set up for casua l off-road riding. Anything XRL, such as a p ush-to-cancel tum signal swi tch, folding bra ke and shift lever tips, a bright high/low beam headlight, a quick-detach side number plate for easy access to the two-stag e foam air filter, #520 O -ring sealed dr ive chain, 18-inch rear wheel and flexmo unted turn signals. Unfo rtu nately, the steel-gas tank is a little on the small side. It only ho lds 2.4 gallons, including a 0.4 gallon reserve. The most we squeezed out of th e small ish tank before having to switch to reserve was 11 5 mi les, but th at was mostly highwa y riding. Figure on approximately 80 mi les or so on the dirt. We enjoyed riding the little XR250L a lot. It makes modest power, it's small and the susp ensi on is goo d. It's an excellent aro und-the-town bike and can even handle some commu ting work, as long as the com mu te isn 't too far. An yth ing more th an about 30

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