Whats your opinion on the bike Klaus?
I was a bit reluctant buying a bike I hadn't ridden before but I trusted Honda and wasn't disappointed. It's exactly what I expected it to be and more!
I rented a CRF250L for a day before and I liked it; I had a XR650L and a DR650SE in the US so I was used to the seating position and the suspension.
Also had a KLR250 enduro.
But since I hardly do any off-road the suspension felt too soft, too much dive under hard breaking - if that was possible because the front disc is small on the L.
I liked the L but the big wheels and the knobbies had to go! Well Honda addressed that with the M. The suspension is stiffer but nowhere near the street-oriented CBR250.
Front brakes are great, almost 300mm.
Didn't take it to top speed yet but there's way to go at 110 km/h; I guess an indicated 130km/h should be possible, meaning cruising at 100km/h is very relaxed.
I'm very happy with the flexible engine; made a U-turn (very easy with the wide handle bars) and pulled away in third! Surprise.
You can cruise at 60km/h in 6th and still accelerate away without any hickups.
I usually have a favorite gear on a bike, on the DR650SE it was 3rd which was just perfect in almost any situation.
Here it's the 6th - snick it in at 75 km/h and you feel a bigger and longer pull than expected; it's not an overdrive! Even if you go below 75 it feels right.
The tranny is so smooth a ten-year-old girl could shift with a bare foot!
I ride mainly small, curvy backroads, enjoy the view, and 50 to 80 km/h is where I spend most of my time. A few km on a highway going 100/120 is all the speed I need.
I'm 5'10" and can put both feet flat on the ground. The M is supposed to be 2cm lower than the L but they feel the same, maybe the L sinks in a bit more. Getting on and off was a bit more tricky on the L.
It takes around 3,2L for 100km; that's quite a bit less than the carbed VTR250 I had which didn't feel more powerful.
Don't know what to install to "personalize" it. The muffler is very quiet and the rental I had was louder and pulled a bit better. But frankly I'm not willing to spend $300 US on some fancy slip-on.
So I'm very happy with the bike! Not a thing that needs changing.
Maybe the seat can be too hard to some candy-asses but when I go on a trip I usually wear two pairs of underwear, shorts (leave fly open!) and thick long pants over everything.
That softens things up a bit and saves space in my day pack.
If you think about it: One could ride this bike trouble-free for 100k km in ten years, which would cost 14,500 THB a year (without gas, oil, tires a.s.o.) - that's 1,200 THB a month.
Not a bad deal at all.
