Transworld CRF 250 review
Be sure to turn it up for the video. At least on my computer, it almost sounds like a 4 stroke. This 250 four stroke battle is going to be great....

Mark

"On the track, the CRF250R has a powerful punch right off of the bottom and carries it strong through the mid-range. The majority of our test riders agreed that the Honda tended to rev out quicker than the Yamaha and Kawasaki, but a quick shift and it doesn't miss a beat. The overall power output didn't feel as linear and smooth as the KX250F, but the power's definitely there, and in the hands of an aggressive rider can be put to great use!"

i wonder how the motor is goinna be. are they saying the motor has more hit than the yz250f? does it not have the top end rev out? what's with the "not as linear" comment?

oh no, the sleepless nights begin...

In the video, the tester says that the motor is better suited for aggressive riders. Hard hit in the mid-range and rev's out quickly. Not what I was hoping to hear, really. I want to stay red, and I want a 250 four stroke, but harder hitting than the yzf isn't what I want.

It says it has bottom and midrange power that hits hard. That's for a 250 4 stroke. That like a 10 year old hitting hard. It is relative. I have ridden the YZ250F. It is a bike I just pin everywhere. It makes you feel like a hero. I am an average B rider with moments of greatness and patheticness( if that's a word). I ride the CRF450 with the throttle and clutch and it still gives me a little suprise in the power department when I least expect it. I cannot believe the ground speed that thing can attain with such little effort. This is the best example. There is a small 40 ft double at my pit that has a very bumpy rough approach. On the 450 I keep it in 3rd at a steady throttle and just before the face punch it and clear it easy. Whit the 250 I pin it in 2nd power shift to 3rd keeping it pinned all the way to clear it. If I pinned the 450 in the rough area things get very ugly very fast. the 250 stays smooth due to lack of torque relative to the 450.
The CRF250 will be a great bike. From what I have read you cannot buy a bad 4 stroke only great ones!

No doubt the CRF250 will be a great bike, and I love Honda quality. Guess I'm a bit nervous potentially coming off the 450 which has power everywhere and then some. Why am I considering the switch? The 450 feels a bit cumbersome to me (I'm only 5'6"), and I feel that a lighter thinner bike will do more for my "skills" than more power and a bike that I don't feel comfortable flicking around. My previous ride was an RM250, which had a really hard powerband to work with, but it was light and lean which I sometimes miss. How about a crf250 chassis with a 450 motor?

Guess I'll just need to swing a leg over one and try it. But like everyone else here, this waiting game is painful. Something tells me that if the green and yellow bikes show up in a couple of weeks, the wait til November may be too long But in the meantime, I've got one fantastic ride with the 450.

mg

I agree with you RMark, I didn't really want to hear a hard hitting motor. I wanted to hear smooth and more low end, and loss of top end would be fine by me. The agressive rider comment leads me to believe it has a narrow range where the power is, thats usually what they mean when they say that. So not too much down low and not much over rev. You have to clutch and shift a lot to keep it in the meat of the power. It could be fun that way depending on how high you had to rev to get much out of it, and how sharp the power band really is. I also spent some time on a 400 and it was too big for me, I am also 5'6". I am looking at these new 250's. I really thought the CRF would be lighter than the KXF, the crf engine looks so small. I guess within a few pounds is about the same anyway. I figured the crf would have a lower center of gravity but they said the kxf felt like it held its weight real low. I guess I will have to wait like everyone else to get more detailed info and a head to head comparison. I will wait as impatiently as I can. Wait, did I say that right?

Sweet,
Can't wait to swing a leg over one.

(ABOUT TIME!) hehehe

It sounds fricken bad ass!!! The only thing is that it does rev out pretty quick and you can hear it. I still think I might buy one though. I think its a great bike.

Quote

yeah, it seems to hit the rev limiter too quickly.... it sounds like it needs to rev another 2,000 rpm.

someone claimed these things were blowing up at high revs. i wonder if honda brought the rev limiter down. irrc, the yzf rev limiter is a little higher than the crf's 13,000 rpm.

this short video is goinna sell more crf's!!! i know i'm sold!

The YZ250F is rev limited to 13,500RPM. So, if the CRF revs to 13,000RPM then they are not far apart at all.

I heard from one degree of setperation that the CRF250 is going to be unfair! After finally riding a YZF250 I'm hooked on stepping down to a 250, but it seems like I will be looking at a Honda!!!!

I've owned my 03 250F for a few months and I"m gonna keep on racing it for the rest of this season and all of next season, but I'm getting a new ride for 05. I was hoping that all the 04's would be truely badass so that all the companies can kind of compete w/ each other and then the 05 models will most likely see the most improvements and be REALLY insanely awesome. But I wonder what I'll end up getting. They all sound so dang good. The choice was so much easier when I only had one to choose from

That thing looks like pure fun. I can't wait to twist it's little throttle.

Guys..i gotta say. I'm kind of dissapoinred myself with the review on the engine by transworld. I love how the CRF looks but so far, i will be more swayed towards the yz250F if anything, simply because it has a lot more testing under its belt and it is a proven machine. AND NO, im not a honda hater, i actually own 2 hondas, one being a 125 and the other a 03CRF450. Honestly, i want back a tiddler bike but if i dont get a 125 2 stroke, i think the yz250F or the kxf sounds like a plan, honda will have to step up the engine department for me to be satisfied this year.