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Old April 5th, 2017, 12:27 PM   #1
broken neck
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Name: Thomas
Location: Montréal
Join Date: May 2012

Motorcycle(s): 2011 Ninja 250R Special Edition (sold), 2017 CRF250 Rally

Posts: 384
2017 CRF250 Rally

Well,

The heart won this time...

I finally went for a 2017 CRF250 Rally over the Versys-X 300... It should be ready by Monday...

Can't wait to throw my leg over the seat and discover all the differences from an ex Ninja 250 owner...

And I'll have to wait for the aftermarket parts to come by...

I'll keep you posted and try to post some pictures...

I'll still be lurking though...
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Old April 5th, 2017, 01:48 PM   #2
Triple Jim
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Name: Jim
Location: North Carolina
Join Date: Jul 2016

Motorcycle(s): Ninja 250

Posts: A lot.
MOTM - Oct '18, Aug '17, Aug '16
I'll be interested in reading your ride reports.
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Old April 5th, 2017, 04:36 PM   #3
"A"
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Location: IT
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Motorcycle(s): 2 many 2 list

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Saw it in person at the NYC Moto show a while back, Sat on it, stood on the pegs, bobbed up and down.. felt like a light enough bike to take off-road:



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Old April 5th, 2017, 06:20 PM   #4
Mohawk
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Name: Chris
Location: Bristol, UK
Join Date: Feb 2016

Motorcycle(s): ZZR250, VFR800

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It's a perfect soft-roader, but having ridden a DRZ400 for a while a few years back I guess you will find the following issues. It will be slower on the road than Ninjette, it will be more uncomfortable due to the narrow off road seat, it will have a shorter tank range, due to the small tank, but that fits with giving your butt a rest !

If all you do are short trips with the odd off-road jaunt thrown in, it's perfect, but then the stock CRF250 would do that just as well. If they had given it a comfy seat & a bigger tank, yes it's bigger than the stock 7.8L at 10.1L but 320km (198miles) is fine if you are pottering along at minimum fuel consumption, but you won't be so having owned & run a CBF250 a road going bike with the same engine but carb fed which got 60mpg (imperial) you will be lucky to get 130-150miles out of a tank ! So it better be a short adventure or one with plenty of gas stations around ��

I can get 200 miles out of my ZZR250 at average 70-80mph on the motorway, I'd expect similar from the Versys-X 300, or just a little less, plus it would cope with dirt tracks & fire breaks rather than proper off road stuff. It will be interesting to compare them, but the 300 is not available in the U.K. yet.

The CRF gets my vote in the looks department though, it would be better if they put. The 300 engine in it, maybe next year !

Have fun with the new toy & let us know your comparison for the on road part at least.
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Old April 5th, 2017, 11:15 PM   #5
Alex
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Location: SF Bay Area
Join Date: Jun 2008

Motorcycle(s): '13 Ninja 300 (white, the fastest color!), '13 R1200RT, '14 CRF250L, '12 TT-R125LE, '15 CRF110F, '13 TT-R50E

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Our CRF250L has been completely reliable and easy to live with. I like the way the Rally looks as well.
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Old April 17th, 2017, 08:29 PM   #6
broken neck
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Name: Thomas
Location: Montréal
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Motorcycle(s): 2011 Ninja 250R Special Edition (sold), 2017 CRF250 Rally

Posts: 384
Well, like Bare Naked Ladies wrote: It's been one week since I got my CRF250 Rally.

As of right now, I've only used it for commute to work and some in town errands.

First off, I wasn't sure if I had made the right choice going for a "tall" motorcycle, everything was weird, from the seating position, the suspension, the power band of the single, the road handling and the braking power. I have to say that my Ninja was quite modified, leaving me with a bigger difference between both bikes.

But after one week, I'm starting to like more and more, everything feels more natural for me.

I really like the new riding position, it's very upright and with the height of the CRF, I have a better view of the surroundings.

As for the road handling, with more confidence in those skinny knobby IRC tires, I find the bike very agile and quite fast in direction changes even with a 21 inches up front.

As for the engine, the power band seems much lower than the Ninja, so I have to keep in mind not to let it fly in the top end, but trying to keep low to mid end. I don't know if it's much slower than the Ninja, but I surprise myself flirting with the speed limit thinking I was going slower. In city riding, it pulls hard from a "stoped start".

Suspension, on the other end, I'll have to fiddle with it, right now the preload setting is way to low for me, I'm waiting from my spanner wrench to adjust it to my weight. I don't how long I'll leave it in its stock form... Maybe with the preload set up properly the front and rear suspension will more in unison, now, they work too differently, which affect my comfort.

Breaking power, with the brake pads now bedded in, is very good, it was a bit scary the first couple of days. The modulation is great, but the softness of the fork induces lots of nose dive, which was freaking me out at first, I was used with my stiffer race tech modified front suspension of my Ninja.

As for the over all comfort, right now, I don't mind too much the OEM seat, I thought it was going to be worst than that. I know the rear suspension doesn't help. I'll have a better idea when I adjust the preload and go for longer ride.

For the fuel millage, I can't tell, I still breaking in the engine, and going for the break in method posted by Captain Obvious in another tread, it certainly impair the fuel millage.

One thing, I thought the wind protection would have been better though... But, this first week have been extremely windy and chilly, but I think I was better covered behind my Ninja and its aftermarket double bubble windshield.

Overall, I'm now very happy with my CRF250 Rally, I absolutely love its look, I always have a big grin under my helmet when I'm riding it and I can't wait to ride it on unpaved roads with my friend... I made the right choice going for the CRF instead of the Versys-X, I wanted to ride something different from the Ninja 250R. it's the case with my Rally, I think the Versys-X would have been more closer to the Ninja.
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Old April 18th, 2017, 04:43 AM   #7
"A"
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Name: A
Location: IT
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Cool

Near 15 years ago, I bought a KTM 660 Rallye bike off of a defunct dealer for significant discount. Here's a pic of the day I picked it up:



38" seat height, meant that once your weight is on the bike, suspension sag would lower the bike nearly 4" lower; for ideal off-road suspension performance that compensate for variance in terrain. Not so ideal for on-road performance.

Within a few rides I realized that I should not bother trying to tip-toe on both feet when I come to a stop on the bike, I should just rest one thigh on the seat and have one solid foot on the ground to keep the bike steady at stops.



Road/street application of the Rallye bike was not much to be desired, I broke front spokes on the 21" front wheel frequently for some reason. Off-road performance was formidable, tight woods not so much, but once the trails opens up, it shows its true colors.
With near 13 gal. fuel capacity combined among the 3 fuel tanks, fully loaded bike would compress the suspensions nearly 6 inches; but not a whole lot of luggage carrying capacity for commuting.



Needles to say, it was fun while I had it, very specific purposed bike for very specific riding experience.
I'm glad to have gone through it in one piece.
I'll keep my KLX300 for dual sport rides.
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