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Dec 6th 2016 Honda CRF250L Bike Build For Less

2016 Honda CRF250L 

Awesome Bike Build for Less

 

I picked up the CRF250L back in October and immediately started researching and reaching out to companies who I wanted to be a part of the build list. I attended the AIMExpo in hopes of landing some contacts with companies who wanted to make this happen. Everything seemed to be going well… I had parts ranging from oil all the way up to exhaust lined up. I went home from the show feeling confident this was going to happen. I called and emailed my newfound contacts, but to my surprise, all I got were crickets. I mean nothing, not even a call back or a reply to my emails.

Seeing that I wanted to get the CRF250L build done sooner rather than later, I used the power of Google and eBay to shop around for parts. In the long run, it probably turned out better doing it this way, as the bike was more personalized.

My parts build list & cost:

Race Tech complete suspension upgrade – Retail: $1215, discount: $940 (http://www.racetech.com)

Seat Concepts comfort seat – Retail: $279, discount: $250 (http://www.seatconcepts.com/store/)

Precision rear rack – Retail: $94 (http://www.pmracks.com)

Cyclops LED headlight – Retail: $65, discount: $59 (https://www.rockymountainatvmc.com)

Hammer Head folding shifter – Retail: $46, discount: $29 (http://soloracer.com/dualsportparts.html)

FMF Q4 exhaust – Retail: $390, discount: $292 (http://www.eBay.com)

FMF Megabomb header – Retail: $275, discount: $218 (http://www.eBay.com)

Barkbuster “Jet” hand guards – Retail: $85 (http://www.pmracks.com)

Digital voltage meter – $5 (http://www.eBay.com)

Battery tender – Retail: $12, discount: $8 (http://www.eurocyclesoftampabay.com)

Glyde by Gerbing heated auxiliary plug – Free (I had a spare)

Flatlands Racing bash guard – Retail: $110, discount: $100 (http://www.CRFonly.com)

Flatlands Racing radiator guard – Retail: $60, discount: $50 (http://www.CRFonly.com)

Labor on Rach Tech install – $200

FMF Carbon Heat Shield – Retail: $90, discount: 70 (http://www.Rockymountainatv.com)

Total retail: $2,926, total w/discounts: $2,400

Honda vs. Yamaha vs. KTM:

You might ask why I didn’t buy the Yamaha WR250R or a KTM? Well, it’s very simple actually… Cost vs. reward. I knew going into this that I wanted a specific set of options. The Honda CRF250L was OTD at $5,500, w/options $7,900, whereas the Yamaha WR250R was $8,200 OTD, w/options approximately $10,600, and the KTM from a 250-350 was going to be around $9,000 OTD.

KTM makes a great product, but I’m not into servicing the bike every other weekend and wanted to focus on keeping the cost down. The Yamaha was also a nice bike, but by adding the options that would have been required to make it acceptable to me performance wise, it would have put the build at $10,600! I might as well buy a KTM 690 at this point. The CRF250L vs. WR250R torque and HP is comparable at stock.

Some stats:

The CRF250L base has a claimed 23hp and 16lbs of torque. After my install of the FMF, it added approximately 4hp without the programer or airbox mod. The FMF also removed approximately 8lbs of added weight over the stock which helps balance out the radiator guard and bash plate addition.

So, taking the performance data and cost as well as knowing the superior round the world reliability, can you see why I went with the Honda CRF250L? Multi-purpose dual sport for $8,000 or spend $2,000 more to ride blue and be butt hurt wishing I had a just bought the 690 KTM.

The build did not take any real technical skill except installing the front suspension. I wasn’t about to count and measure all the washers needed for the gold valve kit. After speaking with FMF, I decided not to buy the EJK. Their rep was pretty confident that unless my intention was to race this bike, the slight gains would not be worth it. Which I was glad to hear, as I’ve spent all my lunch money by now. The Q4 and Megabomb kit are designed to run effectively with stock programming.

In the end, the bike looks and sounds amazing. Would I buy it again? Absolutely! I have an upcoming trip planned in the mountains of North Georgia to put this bike through its paces.

Until next time,

Ride safe!

Posted in Gear Review & Thoughts and tagged #bmwmoa, #bmwmotorrad, #explore, #madeforadventure, #makelifearide, #spiritofgs, #xladv, CRF250L, Honda by admin with
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