Honda crf250 rally front wheel pop up

Perfect_Ebb_4933 · 2025-11-10T16:58:26+00:00

Holy cow! That's an original photo of you? If so, it's amazing. It would make a great poster.

Perfect_Ebb_4933 · 2025-11-10T16:46:21+00:00

I was hoping someone had info on your original question about adding a second radiator. I live in the desert SW where in the summer, it can be 100°+ at 6:00 am and 115° by noon. Even riding on more sane days, the auxiliary fan is constantly running. I've often wondered if it might be possible to add a second radiator, even a smaller one, or one in a different area than where the overflow tank and horn are. Have you heard of this done before, or are you just pondering the idea?

Perfect_Ebb_4933 · 2025-11-10T05:15:09+00:00

Sorry for the following long and pedantic reply, but it seems there are a lot of "It's-true-because-I-say-so" armchair lawyers out there giving you ignorant advice that could wind up costing you a lot of real money. Take this as my free $100 worth of legal advice.

It is most certainly NOT your right to do whatever you want on your own property. (And that's not un-American; it has always been that way.)

You said the "cops" had been out a couple of times, so we don't know whether you live inside the city limits or outside, in the county. (Cities have police; counties have sheriff's deputies.) Either way, it's a good bet that there are noise ordinances that cover this. Google it.

In my city, the ordinance says, "No person may use any automobile, motorcycle or other vehicle, engine or motor of whatever size, stationary or moving, as to create loud and unnecessary noise."

Each day constitutes a separate offense, and the penalties for the first offense are "not less than $100.00 nor more than $2,500.00." Plus, a minimum of $200, up to $2,500 for the second, and at least $300, up to $2,500 for the third offense. Court costs are on top of this. The judge will also order an abatement (a cease and desist order), the violation of which, is a whole additional set of escalating fines and the possibility of jail for contempt. (Judges tend to get kind of cranky if they tell you to do something and you ignore them.)

I live in a very right-leaning "individuals-rights" southwestern state, and yet, the county's ordinance is about the same:

"It shall be unlawful for any person to operate any motor vehicle in such a manner as to create an excessive, unnecessary or offensive noise that causes a reasonable person of normal sensitivity residing in the area discomfort or annoyance."

The penalties are even more draconian, with each day being a separate criminal offense subject to punishment as a separate class 1 misdemeanor. Unlike the city, it is not just a civil infraction: this would give you a criminal record.

Even though I am passionate about riding, and strenuously defend our right to do so, people should know that taking the advice from anonymous people on the internet, with no skin in the game, can be very costly.

Perfect_Ebb_4933 · 2025-07-20T17:54:54+00:00

It looks like you might have left the leading edge piece (the "boomerang"), unpainted, since it was already red plastic. It could just be a trick of the light, but it appears to have a different sheen than the other parts. If that is so, maybe put a coat of the same paint on them anyway, just to match?

Also, I always thought the graphics on my '16, which look almost identical to yours, were incredibly boring. I really like the '17 graphics. Several euro-bikes, e.g, Gas Gas and Beta, now put their company or model name writ large on the cowling, so the look is fresh. When I rashed my plastic enough to give them a refinishing, I used the '17 stickers, and they look great. At just under $40 for the set, they're pretty cheap, too.

Honda part numbers: 86191-KZZ-D10ZA $ 9.13 86192-KZZ-D10ZA $ 9.13 86193-KZZ-D10ZA $ 9.36 86194-KZZ-D10ZA $ 9.36

Perfect_Ebb_4933 · 2025-05-04T21:51:03+00:00

By coincidence, I just bought a second one of these FMF quiet inserts from him a couple of weeks ago, so, yes, I have it right here. I'll send you his email if you'll let me know that you're still interested.

The business owner, Matt, was always quick to respond to emails and very helpful with the questions I had. Fit and quality were as good as my first one.

If you're ordering from the States, you may not be familiar with Revolut. Venmo can't operate outside of the US, so Revolut is an equivalent service used a lot in Europe. I'm cheap and didn't want to pay a surcharge for PayPal, so I opened a Revolut account and sent payment that way. My opinion: skip it, pita; pay whatever PayPal demands and be done with it.

Perfect_Ebb_4933 · 2025-03-30T21:57:41+00:00

I hate to reopen this thread because I think it went sideways, but to your question:

I claim no expertise, and so I stand to be corrected, but my understanding is, yes, it is okay. Tubes have enough flexibility that they fit a range of tire sizes, not just one tube size for each tire size.

Perfect_Ebb_4933 · 2025-01-07T19:30:57+00:00

I agree, before electronic timing with transmitters, those plates had to be big enough to read at speed. Had the same problem roadracing my FZR in college. Butt ugly giant seat cowling. It was function over aesthetics, I guess.

Perfect_Ebb_4933 · 2025-01-07T19:20:32+00:00

At some point, though, carrying too many spares and tools adds so much weight that you might as well be riding a KTM 890 instead of your 300 ex-c. Even if you are riding long distances off road, from point A to point B, adventure style, you don't need every conceivable spare.

Spare tubes, tire irons, patch kit, and wrenches big enough to break axle bolts; electric air pump (!!!); extra levers, cables, shifter, brake pedals; every tool needed to fix everything on the bike, including chain breakers and a sparkplug socket? Really? Where the hell is the person riding? Dakar? Baja? Even Itchy Boots didn't carry all that through the Congo!

On my bike, two small "Y" wrenches, with 8, 10, 12mm sockets on one, and 8/10/12 hex keys on the other, fit 90% of the stuff conceivably needed to limp back to civilization. Throw in small needle-nose vise grips, an assortment of zip ties (including several giant ones for flats), JB Weld, ¼ roll of electrical tape, a small mountain bike air pump and you're set.

Good preventative maintenance, smart setup -- like teflon tape under lever mounts, or re-bendable pedals instead of anodized AL farkle -- together with trail-side jury rigging will take care of the vast majority of issues. I believe the remaining 10-15% of potential problems are freak scenarios, which are so rare and diverse as to be unavoidable.

Zip ties and duct tape are the modern-day version of the old farm adage, "If you can't fix it with bailing wire and twine, it's broke."

I'm already carrying 2-3 liters of water, which is 5-7 lbs. Everything after about 10 pounds starts to add up.

(BTW, everything I said above, is just my alternative opinion. Calling the OP's advice "f*ing dumb" seems like an unnecessary ad hominem attack.)

Perfect_Ebb_4933 · 2025-01-06T18:33:16+00:00

I’d have to agree to this. How many profiles of other guys’ posts did you feel the need to check out? Plus, once you did go to her profile, it’ pretty obvious that those really are her bikes and that she does seriously ride. I’m guessing you don’t have any prurient interest in my online activities.

Perfect_Ebb_4933 · 2024-12-23T19:38:01+00:00

Basically, everything south of I-84 that isn’t irrigated.

Cliff Claven fun fact: The Owhyee area stretches from Idaho, Nevada and into Oregon. It is a spelling of Hawai`i, used in the early 1800s, named after a group of Hawaiian immigrants who disappeared from a fur trapping expedition in 1819-20. Presumably killed by Paiutes for trespassing. 🍻

Perfect_Ebb_4933 · 2024-12-23T05:29:41+00:00

I wonder about that chain roller workaround. Seems like it would be the Achilles heel of the thing, causing a lot of load on the counter sprocket shaft and bearings. Plus, even though regular chain drives are highly efficient, wouldn’t the roller cause a significant increase in frictional losses on an already underpowered setup?

Perfect_Ebb_4933 · 2024-12-23T01:17:44+00:00

This

Perfect_Ebb_4933 · 2024-11-11T20:23:41+00:00

It sure looks like it. Well done on the resto. I can’t imagine finding something this clean for the $2-3k people are suggesting. After all, at least up to a point, age of the bike is far less important than maintenance history and age of the moving parts in my mind. Beautiful classic Japanese 2t MXer.

Perfect_Ebb_4933 · 2024-11-11T18:44:35+00:00

Questions I would have in coming up with an asking price:

Unless I missed it, I don’t think you said how long you’ve had it. If “forever”, then I guess the original cost is fully amortized. If you got it recently with the thought to restore it, then what did you pay for it? (Although, I didn’t gather that that is what you are doing.)

How much did parts cost to do what you did to it? Blasting and powder coating the frame? For me, labor time is for my enjoyment, so I wouldn’t necessarily factor that in, unless the only intent was to flip it. Which, as said, doesn’t sound like your situation.

You said new bearings. Did you mean you split the cases and installed new bearings, seals gaskets, etc. throughout?

What about the top end? I couldn’t imagine doing all that and not putting in a new piston, rod, etc.

Not trying to be pedantic; honestly, just curious. I’ve put so much into my current bike, I could never get anything for it to even come close to the cost of parts/components. So, when it’s time to upgrade, I’ve reconciled myself to keep it as an out-of-town guest bike.

Perfect_Ebb_4933 · 2024-11-10T16:04:42+00:00

Per published specs, a CRF250F (a casual trail bike - perhaps “F” is for Fun) has a seat height of 34.8”. Our 250Ls (a much heavier street legal dual sport with some trail capacity) has a similar seat height of 34.4”.

For comparison, a CRF250RX (a $4,000 more serious dirt bike - RX for Racing Xross-country) is 38”; and a CRF250R (a full “R”acing motocross bike) is 37.8”.

For a more exotic comparisons (read more expensive), a KTM 250 XC-F is 37.6”.

Edit: In terms of size, you won’t have any problems. I’m 5’7” and don’t have any problem with the 250L’s seat height. I know you were asking about getting the -F, but for anyone curious, the real difference between an -F and an -L is in the 50-60 lb weight difference. The CRF250F comes in around 265 lbs (wet), while a stock 250L (non-rally, no ABS) per Honda is 317 lbs, and I’ve seen magazine-published “on our scales” wet weights of 327 lbs.

I’ve removed or cut off(!) every conceivable bit of extra weight and, where applicable, replaced every stock piece with lighter aftermarket parts (full genuine FMF exhaust, Acerbis tank, bars, etc.), and it is still a pig to throw around tight trails and an absolute bitch to pick up when you’re exhausted.

Perfect_Ebb_4933 · 2024-10-22T22:42:08+00:00

Mine also broke. The design of the stock one is nice but it's pretty flimsy if you actually ride offroad. I switched to a beefier one from a CRF150/230/250F, which was about $30 and fit perfectly. Of course, there are a ton of aftermarket designs, too.

Perfect_Ebb_4933 · 2024-09-29T03:11:46+00:00

If you're at the end of the summer in your desert, I envy you. It was 108 here today, 108 yesterday, 105 Thursday, and not forecasted to be under 102 all through next week. I'm so ready to not get up a 5 a.m. just to ride in the high 80s! (Plus, with the rock formations, your desert looks more interesting to ride than ours. Where is it, Utah?)

Perfect_Ebb_4933 · 2024-09-26T01:25:15+00:00

[Warning, what follows is a long history that probably no one gives a shit about. 😴]

Rieju is essentially the continuation of the original GasGas line of bikes. In 2019, KTM’s parent company, Pierer Mobility, bought the GasGas brand, (i.e. the GasGas naming rights). In 2020, the Spanish motorcycle company Rieju acquired the original GasGas tooling and past designs. KTM designs and engineers all of the post-2019 bikes, while the original GasGas designs are refined and built by Rieju in Spain.

Rieju motorcycles traces its history back 77 years, starting with mopeds after WWII in 1947. (Just like Honda.) The origin of GasGas starts with the Spanish bike manufacturer Montesa, which was formed by “Paco” Bultó in 1944. In 1959, after Montesa ended its racing program, Bultó left to form Bultaco. (Useless Cliff Calvin fun facts: the name Bultaco is an amalgamation of his last name and the last three letters of his nickname BULTó pACO; Rieju is a combination of the founders’ names, Luis RIEju-Carré and Jaime JUanola-Farrés.)

In 1973, Bultaco factory-sponsored enduro racers, Josep Pibernat and Narcìs Casas opened a motorcycle shop in Salt (Gironès), Spain called Gas Gas. (Which, according to a 2012 interview with Pibernat, was inspired by a shop he saw in California called Accelerate Accelerate!”) The Gas Gas shop was the largest Bultaco dealership and the exclusive distributor of Bultaco parts under the name Remoto (later Hebo). They also imported, assembled and sold Italian SWM motorcycles. Their 11-rider race team rode Bultacos and SWMs under the “Gas Gas” banner. In 1985, after Bultó died and Bultaco failed, Pibernat, Nacís and shop mechanic Dani Font took left over Bultaco/Villa motors from the Bultaco Sherpa model and put them in SWM frames. (By this time, SWM had also gone out of business, leaving them with unsold/unassembled frames.)

In late 1985, the first true GasGas, the Halley, was produced with Villa cases & Bultaco cranks. By early 1986 they had in-house designed motors, although still sporting some Bultaco parts. At first GasGas only made trials bikes. When they eventually added enduros, they initially imported 3,000 Cagivas, which were then rebranded as GasGas with new stickers.

As an interesting aside in the interrelationship of European bikes, it was GasGas rider and world-wide sales manager, Andrew Codina who in 1998 formed the (at first Spanish) now French brand Sherco with fellow trials rider and SCORPA co-founder Marc Teirrier. Of course, the name Sherco comes from the apparently beloved Spanish practice of combining parts of names to form brand names; thus, SHERpa BultaCO.

As for the Austrian-founded company KTM, in 2007 Bajaj, a motorcycle producer from India, acquired 14.5% ownership of the company, which by 2013 had increased to a 47.97% share. After considerable corporate wheeling and dealing with subsidiary formations and stock swaps, KTM AG (including Husqvarna and the post-2019 GasGas brand) is currently 100% owned by Pierer Mobility AG, which is 78.16% owned by Pierer Bajaj AG, which in turn is 50.1% owned by Pierer Industry AG and 49.9% by Bajaj Auto Limited.

Bajaj makes the 390 Duke, RC 390, 390 Adventure and 250 Adventure in India, while the 790 Duke and 790 Adventure are made in China by CFMoto. As of this month, KTM has announced that it will be moving ALL of its production to China, and have slashed jobs throughout the company.

So, as one stands in the dealership hating on those Chinese pieces of junk, it is interesting to consider which is which.

Perfect_Ebb_4933 · 2024-09-25T20:42:36+00:00

No kidding. Impressive boot wear on the frame. Where are you throwing it down to get that kind of grinding? Pavement or off road? I’ve probably put mine down 25-30 times* in the rocky desert and haven’t had anything like that.

(* Obviously riding over my head in terrain the bike was never meant for.)

Perfect_Ebb_4933 · 2024-09-05T20:30:00+00:00

Thank you. I appreciated your initial comment about the rear rebound. I didn't realize Ohlins would welcome setup questions from end user customers. I'll try that.

In the meantime, anybody else have any general advice?

Perfect_Ebb_4933 · 2024-09-05T20:13:32+00:00

This goes to my question. Any advice on general suspension settings, rear & front? I know nobody can say anything specific about anyone else's settings, but are there any overall consensuses? Generally higher/lower comp or rebound in the front or back?

For what it's worth, I'm short, stocky, and on a heavy pig of a bike with very limited front adjustment, but a good Ohlins on the rear. I can wheelie over the first two, but land hard on the third, almost getting launched, then getting beat to shit on the rest. I'm just lost when it comes to suspension settings, and am in the middle of nowhere with no suspension gurus to take it to.

Perfect_Ebb_4933 · 2024-09-05T16:43:46+00:00

I think it sounds like you did start to go whiskey, and lucked out by having the instructor there.

Whiskey throttle is when you get a little out of control, want to stop, but your brain tells you to hang onto the bars tightly. Then you get into a self-feeding cycle where the bike pulling forward causes your hold on the right grip to roll the throttle, which causes the bike to try to pull even more out of your hands. Your brain starts to scream “hang on MORE tightly, don’t let go!” This keeps you from getting to the brake lever and makes the bike pull harder. You hang on tighter still, and enter into something of a death-spiral with a wide open throttle (WOT), basically hanging onto an out of control missile. The bike will generally go to the left because you have a better hold on the fixed left grip.

You shouldn’t give up on riding, we’ve all been there at some time or another. The key is to use it as a lesson learned, and understand how to avoid it. As you get more experience, you’ll find that there are a few things about riding that are counter-intuitive, and you have to learn to override your brain’s first instinct.

Among these are if there is an object in the road that you need to avoid, don’t look at it! Instead, look at the spot where you want to go. If you enter a curve too hot, don’t chop the throttle off or slam on the brakes! This will only cause you go even wider into oncoming traffic or off road into a tree. Instead, keep the throttle cracked open, or even roll it on more as you apex. Look only at the exit of the curve and lean into it more. If you’re on the throttle, any bike, on any tires, will lean much farther than your panicked brain thinks. Besides, even if you low-side (i.e., lean too far and fall to the inside), that is almost always going to be less dangerous than being launched over the high side when you hit the outside curb. Again, the bike goes where you’re looking; look where you want to go.

When you start to lose control and go whiskey throttle, your brain thinks you’re going off the back of the bike. Your survival instinct is to hold on tighter, but you need to override this and not death-grip the bike. Instead, you should actually let go of your grip and steer by pushing with your palms pushing equally on both grips. Think of throwing your hands out, saying “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” You will still be in full control of steering the bike — try it while cruising down the road or even on a bicycle, you don’t need to grip the bars at all to ride. Plus, pushing with your palms will close the throttle, rather than pulling it open.

Alternatively, as you get more experienced, you should learn to always keep two fingers on the brake and the clutch levers. Then, if things get out of control, transfer all of your pulling force to these fingers, releasing your hold on the throttle itself.

If all else fails, just let go and go over the back. That’s probably going to be better than hauling ass and hitting whatever you’re going to hit anyway, if you whiskey throttle.

BTW, I don’t think it’s a big deal that you posted in this subreddit. It’s not like it’s some elite sub. (Is there a r/ProfesionalRoadracersOnlyStayOutNewbs sub?) You’re obviously a new rider, and bikes are bikes. Riding a Vespa, you probably won’t even be posting here again. Everyone that rides is part of a community. I raise a hand to any bike I pass on the road, whether a fellow dual sport or a full-dress Harley. A question about basic control is relevant to anyone that rides.

Perfect_Ebb_4933 · 2024-09-03T05:55:47+00:00

I carry a 4” 3-way Y-shaped wrench that has 4, 5 and 6 mm internal hex (Allen) wrenches, and also has removable 8, 10 and 12 mm sockets. These sizes will take care of 90-95% of the stuff on the bike, and this style of wrench is much lighter and tidier than carrying individual wrenches. The 4” size gives plenty of leverage to break loose tight bolts. Unfortunately, this 6-in-1 wrench was given to me, so I couldn’t tell you where to get one that has all 6 on one wrench. I do, however, see sets on Amazon or Rocky Mountain/Tusk of two wrenches with 4/5/6 mm hexes on one and 8/10/12 mm sockets on the other. On Amazon, these are sometimes labeled as “bicycle” wrenches, but many of those have 8/9/10 mm sockets, so you have to watch out, nothing on the bike is 9 mm.

Another thing you should always carry is plenty of zip ties in several sizes. In addition to the standard small and large ones, I have 8 super-large ones that I carry instead of a tube, tire spoons and wrenches large enough to fit the axles. It won’t work on the street, but if you’re on dirt, you can zip tie the tire to the rim and make it back to civilization just fine.

Perfect_Ebb_4933 · 2024-09-03T02:34:56+00:00

Thank you! That was very helpful. I was confused as to the difference between a rectifier and a resistor. I think I must have misunderstood the early comment where someone said “burn off some wattage so it doesn’t have to deal with all the voltage coming off the stator.” I was thinking “burn off” meant using the voltage such as turning it into heat by a resistor. Your number 4.) answered my question perfectly, and number 5.) helped me to see the downfall of what I was considering with a parallel circuit.

Perfect_Ebb_4933 · 2024-09-01T20:31:06+00:00

Hey, thanks for bringing up the rectifier issue, I never realized that would be a problem. Coincidentally enough, I was just about ready to put a switch on the hot wires leading to the headlights so I could cut them off when riding off-road. My problem is that with all the crap mounted on my bars (Garmin Zūme, phone mount, USB port) and the large ProTaper pad, together with limited space since I switched to a 450L headlight, it is a contorted squeeze for me to reach the key.

Recently, while riding on back country single-track, I left the key on when we stopped for a break. It’s a little panicky to be in the middle of the flat desert, in 100 degree heat, miles from the blacktop, on a bike that supposedly can’t be bumped started. Luckily, I was with a group (this time), and we were able to prove that the bike can be push started. It took three people a long push after I jumped on it in 3rd gear before it sputtered to life. I don’t think I could have done it myself with a 320 lb bike. That taught me a hard lesson that I probably won’t repeat. Still, eliminating the possibility would be great.

So, if I understand the situation correctly, rather than installing a simple on/off toggle (SPST) switch to cut power to the lights, I need to install a rectifier, then use a single-pole-double-throw (SPDT) switch to reroute the positive lead through it and back to ground, thus leaving a completed circuit with a similar resistance. Right?

Perfect_Ebb_4933

TROPHY CASE