2015 HONDA CRF250R
FIRST RIDE
P44
BY JASON ABBOTT
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KIT PALMER
E
ven though Honda might
have made few changes
to its latest CRF250R, the
changes they did make are all
very noticeable and welcomed
ones. We found this out recently
after riding the bike for the first
time at Competitive Edge Race-
way in the Southern California
high desert.
Honda made three important
changes to the 2015 CRF250R,
the first and foremost being the
new 49mm Showa Triple Air
Chamber (TAC) Separate Func-
tion Fork (SFF-Air) which re-
places the previous spring fork.
The new fork has two main ad-
vantages—it's 2.8 pounds lighter
and has far more adjustability.
The Showa TAC SFF-Air fork on
the CR is nearly identical to the
ones that factory boys use. It is a
very high tech piece of machin-
ery, just like the triple-chamber
air fork now found on Kawasaki's
new KX450F. They both share
the triple-chamber technology
but go at it a bit differently.
Compared to Kawasaki's TAC
SFF-Air fork that houses the in-
ner, outer and balance air car-
tridges in the right leg and the
damping system in the left leg,
Honda's TAC SFF-Air fork hous-
es them in the opposite legs, with
the air chambers in the left leg—
the same side as the front-brake
assembly—and the damping as-
sembly in the right leg. Honda's
theory is that, with the lighter of
the two fork legs positioned on
the heavier brake side, weight
will be more evenly distributed,
and, as a result, the bike will be
better balanced on the track. We
asked if the factory Honda rid-
ers can really notice a difference
having the lighter leg on the same
side as the brake and one of the
Showa reps said, "some no, and
some say they do."
Another difference between
the Honda's fork and the Kawa-
R I D I N G
We get our first taste of
and its new TAC
