Honda CRF250 Rally

The article states it is a ‘re-bodied version of the existing CRF250L road-going enduro’, it which case these are the original stats of the bike, not including the extra fuel capacity and weight of the new kit.

Model name CRF250L (European model)
Dimensions (L x W x H) 2,195mm x 815mm x 1,195mm
Wheelbase 1,445mm
Ground clearance 255mm
Seat height (mm) 875mm
Curb weightRiding capacity 144 kg
Engine liquid-cooled 4-stroke DOHC single cylinder
Displacement 250
Bore x Stroke 76.0 x 55.0
Compression ratio 10.7
Power (HP) 23

The CRF250 Rally has made it to ‘Prototype’ stage which means it looking fairly likely it will become a production model.

It’s been a year since Honda first showed us the CRF250 Rally as a concept bike at the Osaka Motorcycle Show in 2015 and now it’s progressed to ‘prototype’ stage as it makes the slow transition to production.

In fact, it hasn’t changed much at all. That’s a good thing, as all too often concept bikes are watered down and emasculated by the time they reach production. Not that the Rally was ever a concept in the wild, flight-of-fancy sense of the term; it’s a CRF250L with a bunch of rally raid-style extras bolted on to make it resemble the firm’s works CRF450 Rally machines.

The new ‘prototype’ version retains the CRF250L basis, although it’s worth bearing in mind that the engine could just as easily be the 286cc version used in the CBR250R, which would provide a useful boost in power and torque. No specs have been revealed yet, so it’s impossible to tell which variation of the engine is being used.

The frame, brakes and suspension are unaltered, by the look of it, and the bodywork looks much the same as last year’s concept. There are minor changes – various seams and shut-lines have been altered, presumably making production and maintenance easier – and some of the race parts of the original concept have been replaced with tamer components. The original race-only Mugen exhaust has been swapped for a Termignoni-branded system that looks big enough to be road-legal, and parts like the hard-guards have been tweaked. The screen, instruments and headlights are also toned-down from last year’s concept – keeping the Dakar-esque style but replacing the concept’s real rally dash with a smartphone/GPS bracket.

We’re expecting the final production version, looking much like this prototype, to be revealed at one of the major bike shows towards the end of this year and to go on sale in 2017.