So why didn't the CRF150R take off......as expected.

We had 4 of them during 2008 and 2009. Our two race bikes were PC spec and were bullet proof. We got the Championship in 2009.

Huh?

An e-start would have helped with trail rider sales a ton. 

I don’t know of a single 85 or supermini with electric start. These aren’t trail bikes…

part of it was rules for racing following the debacle of 125 vs 250f and 250 vs 450 and the negative economic impact it had on grassroots racing.

the AMA were reluctant to let it loose on the 85 class and limited it to the supermini class. Upfront vs an 85, its faster and easy to ride, but against a supermini, the 112 is faster lighter and most importantly to a young upcoming family, they are cheaper to maintain which is a big factor for those racing without support. 

Because nobody else made one. 

Had a new '07 as my first bike. It felt too heavy for it's frame size and I never gained confidence jumping it. It was great on the trails though.

when they showed up to meetings the first time they tried to market them to much younger riders. back in those days a 7 year old could ride a 85 cc machine. coupled with the destruction of the 2 strokes with the rules putting them against bikes twice the cc (big bikes), there was a group that stopped the bike from going into the 85cc class at that time. Knowing that the machine was capable of much more then they said. The rules after a few years of bickering over why it should or should not be in the 85 class, were as they are today changed the name to accommodate it at the national champ level but it isn't allowed to this day in the normal local amateur classes (AMA) in the 85 class.  there was a lot of "push" to make it happen and in the end the only way it happened was in the championship process. i was a part of that group.

Great bike but yeah, it woulda/shoulda been in the 85cc class.

i rode it 07/08 and it completely dominated the 85cc class from 07-10, out of the top 30 in sweden at that point it was 20 150s.

we could rebuild ours also so i had a taller frame, longer swingarm and longer fork boots

Exactly this. I remember the first time I heard these things at a race, it was like they all had their mufflers removed. There were 3 of them in amongst a full field of 85's and you could only hear those three 150's above everything else. No idea why they were so bad, they seemed even worse than 250f's.

They also looked a bit cobbled together to me. A too-big engine in a chassis that looked like it was made out of bits pulled out of old CR85 part bins. Kids had trouble starting them when they were hot too.

Honda made them thinking the rules would get changed to suit them, but for once common sense prevailed. If the 150 had taken off it would've killed minibike racing eventually.

Nobody wants to mention how they are time bombs?

It’s a 4 stroke that is based off the first attempts at a 4 stroke MX bike. You stall one mid moto and your moto could be over. They come off the showroom floor needing valve adjustments 

If they had added 200cc and put it in a full size frame it may have done better. 

I would’ve liked to see the Yamaha prototype that has been talked about that was supposed to be a rival to the CRF150R. Would love to have one as a play bike or to stuff in a full size frame. 

I beg to differ bud, as I said above, those engines were bullet proof. I ran stock motors to highly modified and never ever had any issues. 

The carburetor sucked. EFI and e-start would have helped.

Maybe I missed it but wasn't Barcia the one that Honda had introduce this bike into the races? Friends had one super loud but fast and as stated once hot the dad got a sore knee kicking it for the kids.

In my opinion, because your going from a 65cc to a 85/150cc then on to a 125cc, it makes more sense for most moto dads mechanically to choose an 85cc and keep with what they know rather than learn a different bike. Easier transition. Not everyone knows a lot or wants to know a lot about bike maintenance

Used a lot for woods racers around here. Motors also get harvested these days for the hybrid raptor 125 quads. 

Nonsense. The CRF150R is one of the most reliable bikes/engines aimed at racing ever made.

Loved my the last year i rode small bikes in -08. Super reliable and it had the head done and a Yoshimura exhaust.

I don't have any info on actual sales numbers (so don't quote me), but this conversation came up in another thread, and from what I remember reading, Honda sells a ton of them. I think it was even stated that they outsell all the other offerings, including Kawi's. But like I said - I don't have any actual numbers.

Also, the earlier models were nearly impossible to start. I had one and I'll vouch for that. They've fixed that, from what I've heard.

I wonder what the acceptable limit as far as cc’s would have been for it to be allowed in the 85 class. If they made it a 140 would it have been ok? I remember looking for one for my ex and we couldn’t find one for sale anywhere. There’s definitely a market for them.

Honda was banking on the AMA letting it race with the 2 stroke 85’s. But they did not and it was never really competitive in the Supermini class. As KTM kept updating their 85 it became even less so. Rumor is that KTM was working on one also but when the AMA ruled against Honda they dropped it and went all in on 2 stroke 85’s. Honda still sells a lot of them as trail bikes 

You’re right, but with e-start they could have had better crossover appeal to trail riders, the “vertically challenged” guys and smaller women. The secondary markets drive a lot of sales. 

I think Honda anticipated a 4-stroke 150cc class being the next "thing" in the marketplace as well as racing.  However the industry did not go in that direction, and the CRF150R was outclassed by the 2-strokes that it was matched against. 

Gotta have an option for those drinking red koolaide.

One good thing that came out of CRF150R.  They have a long shift lever for whatever reason, that also fits  2019 through current CRF250F trail bikes.  

You know how kids can see right through bullshit sometimes? That's why that bike hasn't dominated. 2-strokes are lighter, faster, easier to start, and handle better than that 150F, despite its HP advantage. No amount of marketing spin is going to change that.