2017 Honda 250L Rally

So this has been released, Honda doing a rally version of their 250L. Seems like a great option for those that wanna venture more into the off-road side of adventure and the price seems pretty reasonable at $800 more than the base model for the additional features you get. Personally I wish they beefed up the motor to a 350 or 390, heck maybe even a 450 but it seems like a step in the right direction. Love the updated styling and color. Feel free to discuss

Revzilla's release:
Honda releases CRF250L Rally - RevZilla

Direct from the Honda site:
2017 CRF250L Overview - Honda Powersports

Seems like a heavy cosmetic upgrade, better addressed by the aftermarket on the stock CRF250L. 2.7 gallons? Big Woop. Does it even have a real skidplate?

No company seems to believe a somewhat affordable fuel-sipping 450 dualsport/adventure package with a wide-ratio 6-speed that weighs less than 350 pounds would sell hard enough to make it worthwhile since the "adventure" market has gone to larger and larger machines and the typical US customer is always convinced that's what it takes ; }

I agree the actual improvements are minimal (bigger airbox/header equals slightly more air pushed through) and you can only squeeze so much from a 250. I would've been more excited if it was more like the HRC 450L rally. Stinks that no company has really invested in an ADV bike in the 350-450 range yet and have only gone bigger. I do think they gotta drop production on the dinosaur 650L which is why I'd like to see that middleweight 350-450 open up however with that said, the price is already starting to get close to the cb500x. And with that said I was able to get my new 15 NC700X for less out the door than the MSRP on this. It'll be interesting to see how it sells compared to the base model and which one will be more sought after.

If you've read the CRF250L thread on ADVrider in the past year or two, at least one guy put a CB500X motor into a CRF250L ; }

greenboy said:

If you've read the CRF250L thread on ADVrider in the past year or two, at least one guy put a CB500X motor into a CRF250L ; }

Click to expand...

Oh nice! No, I haven't seen that yet. I've imagined slapping the 450r motor in the 250L frame but I didn't think about doing it with the 500x. I'll have to check that one out.

Most of the 450 cycles are designed to suck a lot of gas on demand and turn it into competitive power. The CB500X is a little more like the NC700X, you can actually get some fuel economy with the right mapping and gearbox ; }