Well, horses for courses and all that. I LOVE motorcycles and I currently have 4 bikes, I recently realised that my stunning R1 was er just a bit faster than me so I decided to trade her back to Martin before I got too carried away!. I have owned and loved several R1s including one fantastic track-only race bike so I thought that another one would be fun which it was BUT this latest version makes about 205 horses and weighed about 200kg so was a bit too fast for the road and for me!!! She would reach 150kph in first gear, gulp.
So I thought long and hard about life and stuff and I then asked Martin to find me a gentle on/off roader for some gentle fun. I have had several XT660s in the past as well as a Yamaha Raptor 700 Quad (which was amazing entertainment but awful on the road) and Martin suggested the Honda CRF as the best buy. The CRF in Europe was a 250 until 2018 and is now 300 but currently there is a 6 to 9 month wait if you want a new CRF300, goodness. Well Martin found me this stunning red and white bike, 2017 with only 3700 miles on the clock and in great condition, she looks almost new!!
This CRF250 was manufactured in Thailand which has become one of Honda’s major manufacturing plants. The only “defect” I can mention is that the bike has some rust on the underside of the bike which after only 5 years is crazy so I will be cleaning and or replacing some bits, this does NOT seem like Honda quality to be honest. Moan aside, the bike is truly stunning!! The suspension, brakes (with ABS that can be easily disactivated for offroad), gearchange and engine are all superb and the bike feels GREAT and needs almost nothing EXCEPT some hand and lever protection for the handlebars so I will gently upgrade her before I make any off road forays!.
Despite this bike being built “down” to a price point it feels amazingly well put together and great to ride. The brakes are strong (discs front and rear), the suspension is VERY strong with huge 48mm front forks, 6 speed gearbox with super light clutch and so on, a truly well put together package.
A few photos follow and I will add more when I start to fit some protection to the bike!! Time for some slow and gentle FUN!!
Service no limits! 
Nice looking bike. Decades ago, one of the first bikes to catch my imagination when visiting a dealership was a Kawasaki 250 dual sport and I still think supermotos are among the most fun-looking machines anyone needs to ponder.
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Thanks Eric love yer comment. I agree. Even if you never actually venture offroad to get the wheels dirty they are still lovely little bikes, very light and great fun!! Mine has about 24 horses I think but is really SUPER fun to ride and at very sane speeds of course!!! Thanks ciao Simon
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