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I did read in the manual change the piston after 15 hrs too. Guess that stuck in my head.
I just warm up my bikes, take one sight lap to test to see if I got a bad bike then just ride normally. On 250Fs its a lot of revs from me lol.
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The Competition Hand Book that comes with a new CRF250R is really informative. It’s not a full blown service manual but has service information on the things many can perform, piston, forks/suspension etc. Enough I don’t have to drop 50 bucks or more for a service manual. It has pretty much all I need to know. Covered maybe more than I can do or want too. But good info on the things I can,
I am curious why ktm seems to think theirs will last 3 times as long.
What blows my mind is all the two stroke KTMs I see at the track. KTM must sell a lot of scooters.p
Felt the same way about my 2023 CRF250R enough I sold it and picked up a 2023 YZ125, thinking about selling it for a 2024 YZ250F.
Keep the smoker.
Op, you should have just bought another Yamaha my man.
Thanks dude, I go back and forth, sometimes feel too big for a 125 and wonder if I'd be smoother on the four stroke.
I rode my buddy’s brand new 23 Honda 250 last weekend. Rode it back to back with my sons 21’ kx250 and his sons 23 yzf250. Honda was the worst out of them all. The Yamaha is night and day better than either.
Right, I'm so confused when I read reviews or peoples posts here, it was the worst handling 250F I've ridden, coming from a 2012 YZ250F, 2014, 2016, 2019 and a 2017 CRF250R. Real curious how the new YZ250F is being slimmer and new chassis / rider cockpit.
In the 14 years I spent on Hondas they were all rigid and turned great. My 17 was much more stable than my 11 and 15 (all 450s) but super stiff on rougher tracks. It seems like Honda took a huge step back in 21. If you want a bike based towards stability and comfort you need to go green, blue or orange. I thought the 250 frame (22-24) was better from what I heard. Sorry to hear you guys are struggling with it.
I know they are different but I rode a CRF250RX 2023 model recently and was quite impressed -the suspension handled my 200 pounds (95kgs) weight and power was good (in full power mode) on a 20 kilometre trail loop with lots of whoops etc.
Get a 250 or 300 smoker then lol.
I’d die on one of those. I’m only 165lbs
Pit Row
150 smoker then
The bike really needs a 2.15 rear with a 110, and the Factory Connection linkage and revalve. Motor is great stock, just use a twin air powerflow kit because I trust the seal more.
I came off the Yamaha 250F. Sure, there are just some square edge bumps that will make you see god, but just go around them; I have more fun on the red bike, my lap times are faster, and it looks better in the garage.
I started this thread almost a year ago. Bought the Honda about this time last year when I couldn’t find a 2023 Yamaha.
Never did get to ride the Honda much. Seemed like everyday I had a chance to go to the track it rained and tracks were closed. It can rain a lot in Houston in winter and spring. Then hurt my hand non riding accident in early June and couldn’t ride, went to the track for the first time a few weeks back.
I did ride it enough to come to some conclusion. It’s not a bad dreadful ride. For a person with good form, body position to distribute weight and understands how to ride a fast turning bike, It’s a good ride. It’s a good ride for a fast guy, maybe one of the better rides for a fast guy. It’s well engineered, great power and will turn on a freakin dime. I feel it’s not the best ride for an old guy like me that got out of the sport for 30 years and then one day a few years back decided to start back. The Honda does not have one bit of forgive in a corner, least seemed that way to me. The 2014 YZ250F I just sold a week or so back was way easier to ride.
With all that said and the fact I bought 2024 Beta 300RX a few weeks. I still haven’t made my mind up if I’m getting rid of this dang Honda lol. There is so much to like about it. I have a love hate relationship with this dang Honda. It’s easy to shift, brake and feel comfortable at 6’2 with long legs and long arms. It starts and runs like a dream. It’s easy to clean a filter, easy to work on. The competition hand book that came with it makes it stupid easy for anything you need to do or know about it. There’s a lot to like about a Honda period.
Now to my new Beta is kinda like an older Yamaha. When you first get on it, pegs kinda feel to high, tank feels to wide. Then you hit the track all that’s forgotten. It turns like a dream, soaks up bumps like a Cadillac. Even though it hits like a freight train it’s easy to get around the track on. This Beta hits hard from the factory but you can adjust that out easy. Beta’s a good ride and if there was a do it all bike it may be a Beta 300 RX. I’ll post on it once I ride it more. At 67 I’m still ate up with a love for the sport. Can’t do what I used too, but still try best I can.
It sounds like the Beta is the way to go for you; something you could go out and spin laps on and get in riding shape. You could probably setup the Honda to your liking with some trial and error, but it might take time.
The Honda is very set up sensitive. Get it right and it turns without thinking. Get it wrong and it doesn't feel like it wants to turn but doesn't feel all that stable either. Even when you get it right if you ride it too hard into a corner the rear end wants to step out.
Oh I’m sure if it was my bike and I spent any amount of time on it I’d learn to love it. It wasn’t bad by any means. Just not as good as the Kawi or Yamaha for my liking that day. I will say it is by far the best looking bike out of them all. Just looking at it you want to hop on it and rip. A brand new honda is a thing of beauty.
I could not get the stock suspension to work well in sand. It was always more of an adventure than other bikes. That was true for the 2019 and 2022. The ktm/husky once you have it set up it rides the same everywhere. I have heard the Yamaha and kawi (after revalve) are even better than the Austrian bikes with track toughness.
I’ve said this early on when I started this thread. One of the problems with my Honda is me. Being an older rider I can’t make the laps like I used to so getting things sorted out becomes more difficult. Along with older riders tend to keep their butt on the seat more and stand less. Call Race Tech, they will tell you the same.
The rider triangle on a Honda fits a taller rider, I’m 6’2” ish. But may not be a good fit for a heavier rider unless he keeps his weigh in the right place at the right time. This time last year I was 220,225 pounds, since then I’ve grown lol. Couple of hard gets offs taught me that real quick. Ride like your supposed to, if not front will wash and back will step out.
Some complained about the front being stiff. Me being a big guy front seems to be about right for me. I swapped the rear for a heavier spring, helped some.
I tried going up one tooth in the back per Kris Keefer. That’s probably a good fit for a faster rider but wasn’t a good fit for me. I went down one tooth from stock in the rear which I seemed to like at the track I ride. Reason I say that. This Honda on a loose track can get tricky with to much wheel spin. I about wore the adjusters playing with sag lol, also the reason I bought a MoTool Slacker to set sag.
I plan to take my Honda back to the track along with my Beta soon as my knee gets better. Even though I’ve put a fair amount of effort into this Honda I’m not through playing with it. It’s paid for, not costing me much to keep it, doesn’t eat much.
Yeah was on a fairly rough whooped out sand y track (three palms GP). So couldve had even more to do with how uncomfortable I was on it compared to the Yamaha and Kawi. You could just charge through all the rough stuff on the Yamaha. That Honda had less than an hour on it also. So suspension wasn’t broken in. The engine felt almost identical to my sons Kawi. But neither were competitive engine wise with the Yamaha. One of my buddy’s was there also who is a very fast A rider. He rode the Honda and Yamaha also back to back. He was super impressed with the Yamaha, especially the suspension. (We both ride Husky 450’s) Makes me want to sell my Husky and go blue. Probably will next year.
Would there be anyway to get some of your money back on the Honda?
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