2023 honda crf 250 handling

Tire inflation? Tire worn out? Suspension?

FC link really helps the rear wheel stay planted under acceleration 

I felt the same way about the rear not staying planted with the pirelli 100/90-19 that came with it. Switched to mx33 110 in the rear and she’s like Velcro now 

You say you had the suspension revalved and setup- did you have the same issues before the changes?

I switched to mx33 front and rear. I didn’t hate the pirelli front when it was on there but the bike feels a lot more planted all around with the Dunlop’s 

Suspension was stiffer standard? Assuming the sag is set and forks are standard height. Did you mention the issue to whoever did your setup?

The newest generation of CRF does that alot. My 450 is the same, and if you look at Roczen, he had a massive oversteer problem on the latest Honda to.

i tend to ride my bike really low in the rear to get it more stable. They turn great but it comes with the cost of a twitchy back end.

That bike is very sensitive to fork height and sag, but it will never have as much rear grip as the other bikes. That is the price of super steering. However, Pirellis on hard dirt is generally a problem for me. They work great on soft dirt where they can dig and throw roost. As the carcass softens up they go from bad to worse pretty quickly on hard packed dirt. The wider rear tire should also help no matter what brand.

My old race bike was bad for that if the rebound on the rear was too slow.

What tire pressure are you running?

What sag?

What fork height?

Change to a 110 rear tire if you haven't already.

I went with the Luxon 24mm offset triple clamps and it helped cure a lot of that. I run fork height at the line. 

random question, would more antisquat help with this? (change in countershaft sprocket size and/or link change) rationale being that on the power the swingarm is being forced into the ground more so? 

counter argument is the opposite approach with an effectively softer rear end, with more weight distributed just helps with grip. 

so, which is it? 

I’m old and slow but I had to swap to a larger rear tire on my 23 also.  It was a cow on roller skates in the rear.   The track I ride is not a sand track but has a lot of sand mixed.  I’ve swapped springs, played with sag still not right but not broke in either.  Bought in the fall last year and seemed like it rained every day through spring, tracks closed quite bit.  Then hurt my hand and can’t ride.  I have a love hate relationship with this Honda.  It’s starts and runs like a top, most comfortable bike I’ve ever thrown a leg over.  Easy to clean filters, well engineered to work on.  But when I hit the track it’s a different story, we don’t get along.  I only have one track my side of town.  Soon as my hand gets better, another couple of months if I had to guess.  Tore all the pulley’s in my index finger.  I will hit different tracks.  I have a new Beta 300 RX on order but still having a hard time letting loose of this Honda for some reason.

I’m not sure current generation Honda’s are a good fit for older slow guys like myself but seems like a good fit for young fast guys.  Current CRF’s seem to require precise body position and precise throttle control.  Seems like if you can keep the rear hooked up without too much wheel spin it’s stable.  To much wheel spin and rear wants to walk around.  Maybe it’s just me and need to ride single track and trails with the rest of the old guys lol.
 

As mentioned above a couple of times, new gen CRFs are VERY sensitive to setup and it's hard to bike that balance. 

“Love hate relationship” is the same way I have described this bike to my riding buddies. The more time you spend setting up the bike to your local track and your riding style the more you will like it. You also have to adjust your riding technique to what the bike likes and for me this didn’t happen quickly… I struggled getting it figured out. 
 

Problem is that most riders aren’t going to invest the amount of time it takes to get to the point of feeling comfortable. I’ve spend countless hours thinking about other bikes that I would like more than this one. But I didn’t give up on this bike because I knew how good it could be and It took me 40+ hours to get there but I’d say I have finally gotten 100% comfortable on mine. Factory Connection revalve front and rear, Ride engineering 23.5 mm offset clamps, clicker adjustments, finding the sweet spot on the fork height and sag, 110 rear tire, gearing change, torque settings, riding in map 1 vs map 3, etc. Took a lot of time, effort, and patience but I’d say it was worth it.
 

Final piece of the puzzle to make it a great bike was the 23.5mm triple clamps but even then It didn’t feel great on the first test day. My steering stem nut was a little too loose, fork height a little to low, and a click off on rebound / compression. So just a little more tension on the steering stem, fork height adjustment, and a click or 2 made it go from okay to awesome. That’s an example of how delicate the bike is. When you get it right it’s unreal how good it works. 
 

I never had the issue that the OP mentioned with the rear end stepping out exiting corners. My issues were always concentrated at the front of the motorcycle. 

I tend to ride too far forward on this Honda for some reason.  I’m not comfortable on jumps, tend to be nose down on jumps.  I’ve parked it climbed on my old YZ250F and hit like I should.  Same for my trail bike, pit bike or as I call it my Brazilian MX’r, Honda CRF 250F with Tuscany racing front and rear suspension.  To heavy to catch much air but still land like it should.  Be glad when my hand gets better, along with cooling off, 102 yesterday with a little humidity.  Want to put more hours on my Honda.

Kris Keefer has a great podcast dedicated to your bike:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rocky-mountain-atv-mc-keefer-tested/id1245516386?i=1000594502165

I really considered one last year, but since I’m just riding off-road, went that direction with a KTM 250 XCW instead.

I loved my 2015, so just happened to be listening to this podcast last night as I’d like another one someday.

I haven’t watched his pod cast but I read Kris’s write up and traded emails with him.  That’s how I figured going to a larger rear tire and heavier spring.  Kris’s a good guy.   Soon as my hand gets better I’m going to get some more time on mine. Maybe ride some single track, something easy on my hand and get my suspension broke in.  I’m guessing I’m the main problem to mine being a little slipper on the track LOL.

Oh, there’s also this thread that might give you some info:

https://www.vitalmx.com/forums/Moto-Related,20/2022-CRF250R,1384184?page=0

This, I never felt confident while on my Pirelli’s, I even swapped to a 120 Pirelli and a 2.15 wide back wheel and the Pirelli still wasn’t confidence inspecting. Switched to MX33’s and just like that felt great again!

I could never trust the 100 on a 250F. 110 cured all of the stepping-out and more.

Local tuner told me people have been going back to 100s on 250s and 110s on 450s. Any truth to this?

I think Honda went with the smaller tire on the back for weight.  

I just replaced the rear on my '21 YZ250F over the weekend with a 100 again, which is stock. I only go to the 110 if I get the wider rim, which I have done on some previous modded bikes. I know the '22+ YZF has the 110 tire but also the wider 2.15 rim. Maybe it's not a big deal but I always feel like putting the 110 on the 1.85 makes the tire not lay correctly, so I just never do it. And I have no issues with traction on the 100 tire, but it's quite a bit different setting up a CRF than a YZF. I didn't realize that many people throw the 110 on the Honda with the stock rim, so maybe my thinking is flawed.