VOL. 53 ISSUE 40 OCTOBER 11, 2016 P91
L OOKING B ACK
The '15 CRF250R was a little
down on power compared to
most of the other bikes in its
class back then, so Honda gave
it a lighter piston and connecting
rod, revised the intake and ex-
haust port shapes, and switched
to titanium exhaust valves in
2016. The exhaust system was
tweaked, as well. It got a resona-
tor in the head pipe and updated
mufflers with larger-diameter
cores.
They also made the engine's
intake system breathe a little
better and bumped up compres-
sion from 13.5:1 to 13.8:1. More
power means more heat, so the
radiator got more capacity, too.
These changes don't seem
like a whole lot, but they really
did liven up the '16 CRF250R's
engine quite a bit. The '15 en-
gine made decent, but not over-
whelming, power. Its best char-
acteristic was offering good and
Just because
it's not changed
doesn't mean
the 2017 Honda
CRF250R isn't
any good—it very
much still is!
