Rear tire traction seems
superb. When ruining perfectly
good berms with over-anxious
amateur skills, the bike's re-
luctance to fully "step-out" and
swap us into the dirt was appre-
ciated. Instead, the bike hooked
up more (it seemed) in condi-
tions where others might slide
out from lack of rear tire traction.
The 2018 Honda CRF250R
feels slim, light and maneu-
verable despite gaining a few
pounds via e-start components
and springy forks. It's a planted
ride, once you get it settled with
a suspension setting for you.
SUSPENSION SETTINGS
A point of attention for anyone
getting to ride a 2018 Honda
CRF250R soon: The suspen-
sion and chassis performance
can be very particular about
rider sag, fork compression
and fork height out of the triple
clamp. Having these three ele-
ments dialed in really made the
bike work great at our first test.
Our two test riders are within
one turn of each other for proper
rider sag. That's a 3mm swing.
And riding the others' setting, it
just didn't work. So, using some
due diligence in setting it cor-
rectly and making changes to
get the bike to feel right for you
is strongly recommended.
At stock recommended set-
VOL. 54 ISSUE 44 NOVEMBER 7, 2017 P85
