Oh yes, the age-old choice. Do I go for the cheaper option or the one that’s a little more expensive but basically the same thing? Of course I’m referring to motorbikes here but this conundrum goes much deeper throughout your daily lifestyle, right?
Do I choose the TV with less features but the same size screen? Let’s not even get into the choice of a new phone. Even down to food stuff, or maybe sex toys, but we’d better not go there in case children are reading this before bedtime. Either way you know exactly where I’m coming from, maybe?
So these two hyper-cute Honda’s are the reasons here for scratching your, and my, head or bodily parts if you’re in the market for either. They’re virtually identical machines with predictably more bits found on the more expensive option. So which one is the better buy and why? I bet you just can’t wait to find out.
Now the CRF250 has been flying around the town/bush since 2013 and for 2017 it’s had a few changes, but not too many. It’s now called the CRF250L and the strikingly attractive CRF250L Rally now joins it on the showroom floors. They cost R74,999 and R84,999, not particularly cheap for a mere ‘250’ and my first impression were that I wished they were cheaper but that’s what they cost so suck it or leave it?
Many call these bikes ‘light-adventures’ which, if you’re of my age, is a good ol’ trail bike, right? Since the early 1970s Honda has had many legendary trail bikes with the XL prefix; 80, 125, 185, 250, 360, 500,650 and the list goes on. They still produce XL bikes in smaller sizes but these two have the ‘oh-so-fancy’ CRF heritage badge and the fetching and matching colour schemes to enforce you’re on a ‘proper’, er, CRF I suppose.
They’re not close to the CRF competition bikes regarding horsepower but this little motor will last forever, much longer than a MX CRF that’s for sure. The engine is basically the same liquid-cooled unit from 2013 but now has a revised exhaust and air-box together with shorter rocker-arms (CRF bits I presume) inside the head and, other bits like fuel injection. However the Rally version has a 2mm bigger throttle body (38mm from 36 on the L). Honda claim 25hp and 23Nm for the Rally and nothing for the ‘L’, so a trip to the Dynojet dyno was in order to see what’s cutting inside those gunmetal casings.
Indeed the Rally does make more power and torque everywhere, check out the graph. Not by much though; we found 19hp for the ’L’ and 21hp for the Rally. Now before you think that’ll be as exciting as a three-piece Lego kit you’d be very wrong. They rev strongly after 7,000rpm relayed on the new digital clocks, now with rev-counter, and scream all the way to a confirmed 10,500rpm. Obviously strangled by emission garbage so a pipe and a mapping session (fuel injected remember) will surely liberate more, if you want to go that way. I quite enjoyed the stock quiet set up though, being old and all that (so the office says). 20hp never felt so fit and so much fun and after a childish race with a friend on the road so much laughter reverberated as well, which sums up the little DOHC, 4-valve engine. Oh! Not to mention superb fuel consumption figures for the daily commuter folk.
Right then. The Rally version is more for off-road so it has 30mm more travel front and rear, same suspension internals but extended linkages at the rear. Both bikes are very plush but a bit too soft, especially at the rear (a bit like myself, so the office says). So perhaps a suspension specialist might be needed if you want to get more serious, but nice for our rough road riding that’s for sure. The Rally also has a bigger Dakar like front end with spongy carbon look-alike headlight surrounds and LED lights (very bright those) and LED indicators. The petrol tank is bigger as well; 7.9 litres to 10.1 litres for more range and it has a big bash-plate to repel those rocky enemies. All of this adds more weight to the Rally coming in at 157kg to the ‘L’s 144kg. Still very light motorcycles and extremely ideal for the new rider that wants to venture into the bush and chase things, or be chased, which is way more entertaining.
So don’t think of these as just 250s they’re much more than that and look tremendous from any angle. They’re also riddled with the expected Honda build quality and exemplary finishes throughout, very nice machines to the eye.
My eye tended to wander towards the smaller L version to ride. I just preferred the smaller dimensions when the Rally is a big tall bike especially up front and, has a 895mm seat height compared to the L’s 874mm. Don’t worry about that though. If you can manage to get your leg- over (ha ha, especially at my age so the office says), they sag a lot due to the soft suspension. Once on the move they both feel tiny and thin and super nimble; an absolute pleasure actually after enduring massive and intimidating adventure bikes recently. If I were an off-road weekend rider I know which bike I’d choose and have more fun with.
Yes the bigger bikes are much faster while the CRFs are most happy cruising around 110km/h, if pushed hard they will get to 140km/h or a bit more but that’s irrelevant I think. What is relevant is they’re both real world trail bikes that are affordable, accessible, reliable and very pretty. So would I pay the extra 10k for the Rally you ask? Of course I would! I mean, what do you get for 10k nowadays – half a new Smart phone if you’re lucky!
Go to www.honda.co.za to locate your closest dealer for a test ride.
pics by Gareth Davidson 
