Having doubts about the CRF250L...

[RobertLindert]

Hey guys, I love my bike, don't quite a bit of mods to it (too much?), and what I'm noticing is, the bike is just... Cumbersome.

I was riding with some supermoto guys the other day, I still have stock tires and rims, and they are all in WR250X's for the most part, and they're all popping wheelies in 3rd gear, and, I'm new to wheelies, but the guy tried my bike and was struggling to get it up in second.

Mods I have are:

EJK kit

Yoshimura exhaust

Handgaurds with built in directionals

Skid plate

Radiator guard

Rear rack

Fender delete with built in directional brake light

I ordered a 13 front sprocket and 42 read, so I'm hoping this helps the bike pop up. My top speed currently was 80 going full throttle for a good 30 seconds. Why the hell is this bike so slow? With a full tank of gas I have trouble hitting 65. I weigh 175lbs, and maybe a few pounds of gear. Blegh.

I still owe over 5,000 on the bike and I've dumped over a grand into it, so if I sold it or traded it I'd be losing a lot of money. I really want to make the bike work. What are other peoples thoughts on this?

[Ducky Dog]

Im sorry to say that this bike is a little over weight, that acounts for a lot of lost power.

the 13/40 or 42 will help get you some more torque. but not as much as you may like.

next step is a 305 kit then you will be pulling wheelies with the best of them

 

what has been done to your friends bikes as far as mods?

and how much did they pay for their bikes?

[MentalGuru]

Hey guys, I love my bike, don't quite a bit of mods to it (too much?), and what I'm noticing is, the bike is just... Cumbersome.

I was riding with some supermoto guys the other day, I still have stock tires and rims, and they are all in WR250X's for the most part, and they're all popping wheelies in 3rd gear, and, I'm new to wheelies, but the guy tried my bike and was struggling to get it up in second.

Mods I have are:

EJK kit

Yoshimura exhaust

Handgaurds with built in directionals

Skid plate

Radiator guard

Rear rack

Fender delete with built in directional brake light

I ordered a 13 front sprocket and 42 read, so I'm hoping this helps the bike pop up. My top speed currently was 80 going full throttle for a good 30 seconds. Why the hell is this bike so slow? With a full tank of gas I have trouble hitting 65. I weigh 175lbs, and maybe a few pounds of gear. Blegh.

I still owe over 5,000 on the bike and I've dumped over a grand into it, so if I sold it or traded it I'd be losing a lot of money. I really want to make the bike work. What are other peoples thoughts on this?

 

The gearing change should make the difference you are looking for.  Have you tuned your EJK at all?  Any air box mods?

[RobertLindert]

I don't think I did any air box mods besides removing that tube and screen. Haven't tuned the EJK besides the stock settings. What would you recommend for more power lower end?

Thing is I don't think I'm looking to get a big bore kit and dump another $900 into a bike I feel I've already lost thousands on.

[USMCVietVet]

How many miles on the bike??--is it broken in?/ If you sell you can put back most of the stock stuff and sell us the mods???

[RobertLindert]

Bike has 2800 miles. Yeah I still owe like $5800 on the loan. First dealer experience, went at it alone so I got shit on.

[USMCVietVet]

I'll bet we all have been shafted by a dealer sometime in our lives- -I know i have- -Live and learn ! ! Just enjoy the CRF for what it is!I bet you paid a lot less than your buddies WRX's and you still get from point A to B in style!! ?

[gnath9]

I ordered a 13 front sprocket and 42 read, so I'm hoping this helps the bike pop up. My top speed currently was 80 going full throttle for a good 30 seconds. Why the hell is this bike so slow? With a full tank of gas I have trouble hitting 65. I weigh 175lbs, and maybe a few pounds of gear. Blegh.

 

1st off ..... this bike is way over geared from Honda .....

2nd thing is this bike has a judder spring in the clutch that is suppose to absorb jolts and just make it much smoother and easier for beginners to operate. 

 

My bike has about every mod you can think of including the 305 big bore full FMF system and running 13/44 sprockets .... 

 

2nd gear wheelies are not a problem at all and most often I do not even need to use the clutch ... 3rd gear is a different story. Sometimes it pops right up while other times it will barely lift the wheel. 

 

I have a firm belief that it is the clutch that is holding it back as I feel it has a lot of power and torque. My next mod will be a high performance racing clutch with stiffer springs made for the CBR250R ....  ?

 

I also have read a lot about the WRR's and all those guys also gear their bikes down as well. 

[maleko]

try 1.5, 2, 3.5 on the first 3 settings on the EJK. then tweek it from there if you need to.

[WOODZMAN]

I think people expect to much out of the CRF250L .

I love mine and I knew when I bought it that it was a 250, but I wasn't looking for power .

I was looking for fuel milage and Honda dependability and that's exactly what I got .

Before I bought the CRF250L I had a 2005 Suzuki DR650SE and it had all kinds of power .

I was driving through town and a seen a CRF250L and I thought it was the sweetest looking bike I had ever seen .

I sold my DR and went and bought the CRF250L and I have been verry happy with it . It's a great bike for me to ride to work and back roads .

Edited July 25, 2014 by p-tree

[USMCVietVet]

I'm with you P-tree--i sold my Harley (02 Deuce) cause i was tired of going by dirt roads and trails and wondering where they went--Or had to take my truck on them to get somewhere--CRF gets great mileage fair power and never brakes down--"Works for ME"

Edited July 24, 2014 by USMCVietVet

[Positron007]

I don't think I did any air box mods besides removing that tube and screen. Haven't tuned the EJK besides the stock settings. What would you recommend for more power lower end?

Thing is I don't think I'm looking to get a big bore kit and dump another $900 into a bike I feel I've already lost thousands on.

You should have done the big bore first and we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. In fact your buddies would not want to give your bike back. Hahaha Edited July 24, 2014 by Positron007

[Old Goat Ninja]

13/42 gearing helps a lot, I don't care what anybody says. 14/40 is just terrible on this bike. I can get it up no problem with same mods as you and 13/42 gearing. Change your gearing and have your buddy try again, guarantee the outcome will be completely different. I wheelie on accident with 13/42 pretty often. My suspension might help though. I had Race Tech do mine, and my wheelies improved a lot after that. Before suspension it squished in the rear, and now rear stays firm and front comes up and over.

[USMCVietVet]

How hard are those bolts on the rear sproket to get off?? Did you break any Goat??

[Old Goat Ninja]

How hard are those bolts on the rear sproket to get off?? Did you break any Goat??

I had a hard time, but didn't break any. I had to put the wheel in my truck bed and then put a box wrench on a bolt and then have that wrench sit flush on top of my wheel well while I cranked on the nut with a ratchet. I was impatient. I think soaking the nuts over night with WD-40 would of helped immensely. I couldn't hold the bolt with one hand and get enough force on the nut with the other. I had the wheel well basically hold one side in place while my knee held wheel against wheel well and then I used 2 hands to get enough torque to get it off. It was probably quite the site to see haha. But once I figured out that technique, they came off quickly. Edited July 25, 2014 by Old Goat Ninja

[USMCVietVet]

Thanks Goat --sounds like a lot of fun- ? -I'll try soaking mine when i do it--again Thanks-- ?

[Ducky Dog]

you poor basturds,,, I feel for you,,,, ? ?

 

heres how you do it,,,,

 

first put your rim assembly on a trash can for stability

then

allen wrench in the hex head bolt (outside of sprocket)

box end wrench on nut (inside of sprocket) box end on the nut

you want to have both wrenches pointing away from center of hub

the wrench will stick out further than the allen

hold tension on the wrenches with one hand (thunb and forefinger)

wack the wrench end with a dead blow hammer (or whatever you got) in the proper direction to loosen

once the nut is shocked loose they will undo easily ?  ?

 

I had no problems removing mine this way

do not try to turn the allen head bolt as it will strip

allways bust the nut loose first then you can turn the allen hex bolt

Edited July 25, 2014 by Ducky Dog

[USMCVietVet]

I'm out of luck on point #1 as all my trash cans are Plastic?? but thanks for the tutorial tho!! will give it a try when my shiny red 42 comes in!!

[Ducky Dog]

plastic will work as long as it will support the rim

the rim will be horizontal

 

a 5 gallon bucket would sufice

 

IMPROVISE Marine!!!!

[Old Goat Ninja]

plastic will work as long as it will support the rim

the rim will be horizontal

a 5 gallon bucket would sufice

IMPROVISE Marine!!!!

EDIT: oops, quoted wrong post. Oh well, you get the idea lol. I'm on my phone, not as easy to navigate.

That's basically what I did, but with my wheel well. I was able to bust loose without a hammer though, just needed two hands to do it haha. Forgot it was an allen head though. That's why I used my wheel well, because it was too small to get a good hold on.

Edited July 25, 2014 by Old Goat Ninja