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It’s taken a while, but the CRF250 Rally is finally here

Honda’s 2017 CRF250 Rally

Written by Ben Purvis , Date 9:57 PM

Honda first hinted at the 2017 CRF250 Rally with a concept bike shown in early 2015 and followed that with a pre-production model back in March this year (click here to see it). Now it’s finally got the showroom version ready.

17YM CRF250 Rally

17YM CRF250 Rally

Aimed at being an entry-level adventure machine, the 2017 CRF250 Rally is derived from the CRF250L, which is also updated for 2017 with a new Euro4 spec engine. The Rally gets styling i

nspired by Honda’s CRF450 Rally race machine, and gains a 10 litre fuel tank, larger front brake, long travel suspension and increased ground clearance.

Eiji Sugiyama, Large Project Leader for the bike said: “The rally racer replica segment is an exciting one for us, with the global, human appeal of everything that Team HRC is fighting to achieve in the Dakar Rally. We really wanted to build on the capabilities of the CRF250L and open up new opportunities for riders young and old. So, with the CRF250 Rally we set out to make a motorcycle that looks like HRC’s CRF450 Rally factory machine, is fun to ride both on and off-road for weekend adventures, comfortable to tour with and useful and practical for daily life. It brings the spirit of Rally-raid racing to every ride.”

17YM CRF250 Rally

17YM CRF250 Rally

The Dakar-inspired styling includes a ‘floating’ screen and twin lights with an asymmetric shape. The chassis is the stock CRF250L frame but with 15mm more ground clearance thanks to the longer Showa upside-down fork. There’s also 25mm more rear suspension travel than the L model. Wet, the bike weighs only 157kg.

Performance comes from a Euro4 version of the old CRF250 engine. The DOHC motor makes a claimed 24.4hp at 8500rpm. To slow it down there’s a larger, 296mm front brake with ABS as standard.

The CRF250L updates for 2017 include revised styling to mirror the CRF450R, ABS brakes, more power than before from the Euro4 spec engine’s revised intake and exhaust, and a new digital dash.

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