Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128232
1IIIIIRB=t;::; Even when the su sp ensio n is riding light o v er th e fast and bumpy rises, whe n it do esn ' t tak e much to ge t t he bi k e sid e w a y s , t h e CR F 2 50R rem ain ed st ubbornly straig h t , g iv in g you th e c onfiden c e to hold the throttle on a little bit longer with ea ch lap, Despite the CRF250R 's pillow-like ride , none of our t este rs complained of bottoming , but, th en aga in , Car lsbad isn 't known for its big jumps. Hauling the bik e i n at th e bottom of the downhill was a br eeze , which is a ty pical Honda tra it . Since there isn't muc h en gine -bra king to be had (but j ust enough to b e h elpfu l ), most o f the stopping power is provided by the pow er f u l , yet f u ll y co n t rolla ble , 240mm fro nt and rear d isc brakes . We n eve r stalled the bike all da y . G ett ing the H on d a thr ough th e t u rn s quick l y i s an o th er p lu s. T h e bik e goes whe re it's pointed , and th e new Dunlop 7 42 ( f ro n t) a n d 756 (rear ) tires are ve ry stick y, at lea st o n t h e hard-pa cked C arlsb ad so il. In some pla ces , th e tr ack was extra dr y a nd fir m, b u t th e H ond a h eld it s ground , eve n when accelera tin g o ut of th e turns . Of co u r s e, the CRF250R is extreme ly comfortabl e. The Renthal 971 -bend hand lebar ha s a nic e, mid dle -of-the-road layou t , and t h e b ik e feels light and narrow , b ut not as nar row as to wh er e you ca n't get a good, solid grip with y our knees. The n o slip seat cover is al so a nice touch . A g e a r- d r i v en balancer a nd rubber m ounted h an dleb a r mounts sq u elch vibration, ad d in g to the Honda' s co m fort. (T he h andlebar holders al so pro vide three different m ounting p os i tions . ) Honda c laims that th e CRF250R weighs 206 p ounds . We found the CRF250R , with its automat ic dec ompression system , to 2 0 0 4 Honda CRF250R The lightweight motor f eatures a single cam and four valves, two (i ntak e ) of which are mad e o ut o f t itanium . The f ront sus p e nsio n i s handled by a 47mm twinchamber cartridge for k , similar t o that of the CR250 R. The m otor a lone w eighs just 52.9 po u nd s, a c c ordin g t o Ho nda. The hot-start l ev e r mounts next to the clutch. be easy to start, hot o r co ld . On ly a second o r t hird kick , but usually on impressed afte r o ur fi rst ri de o n the few times did we ha ve to resort to the th e fi rst k ic k . n ew Honda wou ld be an und erstate - hot- start m ech an ism , wh ich is co nve- Un f ortun at el y , a t t h e en d o f th e m ent. W e' r e still r acking our bra ins ni en tl y l o c ated n e xt t o th e c l u tc h day, we had to g iv e th e bike back to t ry ing to co me up w it h at least some- le v er. Th e kick-sta rt le ve r is t he ri ght Hon da, but we'll hav e o ur own unit to th ing we didn 't li k e abo ut th e bike - len gth and simple t o ope ra te , an d th e rid e , t est an d t h ras h i n a cou p l e o f fo r n ow , a t l ea st , we c an 't th ink of m o t or a lways fi re d by at l e ast t he wee ks . Bu t to say w e came a way any. But, he y , give us t ime . Thanks to a smooth power del ivery, the new Honda hooks up well o ut of the turns. - - 38 S EPTEM BER 1 7 , 2003 c ue ' e n e vv s Specifications ~@@~ [){J@UD@fi] ©[X][?~ @@[X] ENGINE TYPE: Liquid-cooled, single-cylinder four-stroke DISPLACEMENT: 249cc BORE x STROKE: 78 x 52.2mm COMPRESSION RATIO : 12.9:1 CARBURETOR: Keihin 37mm flat-slide w/ trottle-position sensor IGNITION: Solid-state CD w/ electronic advance STARTING: Kick TRANSMISSION: Close-ratio five-speed FRAME TYPE: Twin-spar alumin um RAKE/TRAIL: 27.49 °/120.lmm WHEELBASE: 58.3 in. SUSPENSION Front: .47mm inverted Showa cartridge fork w/16-position rebound and 16-position compression dampi ng adjustability Rear: . . ..Pro-Link Showa single shock wlspring preload. 17-position rebound damping adju stability and compression damping adjustment separated into low-speed and high-speed WHEEL TRAVEL Front : 12.4 in. Rear: 12.4 in. TIRES Front: 80/10 0-2 1 Rear: 100/90 - 19 SEAT HEIGHT: . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . • . . . . . ... ..... . .. .. .. ..... ..... . .. .37.9 in. FUEL CAPACITY: 2 gal. CLAIMED DRY WEIGHT: 206 Ibs. MSRP: : $5799