Test drive Honda CRF300L Rally (2021) – Right off the bat; and no trash!

Enduro model Honda CRF300L

was introduced at the end of 2022 (2021 model year) as a successor to the Honda CRF250L in the European and American markets.
Like the previous version, the new CRF300L was offered in two versions: enduro ( Honda CRF300L
) and adventure (
Honda CRF300L Rally
).

Unlike its predecessor, the CRF300L received a number of improvements:

• Engine
  . New engine of increased volume from the sports Honda CBR300R.
• Pendants
  . New settings, travel front and rear - 260 mm.
• Weight
  . Overall reduction in curb weight by 4 kg.
• Assist & Slipper clutch
  . The new model received a slipper clutch and a release assistant.
• LED head light
  . The Rally version received a new version of the asymmetrical headlight with LED.
• Windshield
  . The Rally version received a new windshield from the CRF450 Rally racing model.

Features of the Honda CRF300L include a steel frame, long-travel off-road suspension, disc brakes with ABS, a 6-speed gearbox and 142 kg of curb weight (Rally version - 153 kg).

The main competitors of the Honda CRF300L in the class:

• Kawasaki KLX300 (2021+)

Specifications

Specifications of Honda CRF300L/Rally:

Test drive Honda CRF300L Rally (2021) – Right off the bat; and no trash!

This isn't really a test drive, because we just took the Honda CRF300L Rally through its paces until it found its real power. So the meaning of the motorcycle was revealed on the last day, when it was time to say goodbye to it. But if you're looking for a lightweight, multi-purpose off-road vehicle to travel where hard surfaces aren't on the cards, you'll want to know a thing or two about the updated CRF Rally.

MOTOGONKI.RU, July 28, 2022 - So, the very first thing that I have never heard or read in reviews of this motorcycle since its appearance in 2022, back in the version with a 250 cc engine, but what is decisive in all stories... what is it?

2022 Honda Off-Road Motorcycle Lineup: Africa Twin, CRF300 Rally and CRF450R

The main knowledge

In 2022, we reviewed a new product on the market of light Adventure class motorcycles: Honda CRF250 Rally - a first approximation

. In this review you can learn a lot of interesting things about this motorcycle in technical terms, characteristics, and so on. Of course, according to tradition, we called it “enduro”. But that year it was not possible to take it for a test, and in 2022 a significantly improved version was released with a 286 cc engine and a couple of additions. In general, the statement that this is an “enduro” is not far from the truth. But... This is the conclusion that this not too long test drive led me to:

this is not enduro in its pure form and not “little Africa”

, as some have tried to imagine a motorcycle, but a completely different motorcycle for a specific, specific purpose.

Test drive Honda CRF300L Rally

The Honda CRF300L Rally is a full-fledged rally motorcycle; not a “moped” for everyday trips to the country with a backpack full of beer. This is a lightweight version of the racing Honda CRF450 Rally, a replica for cross-country and trophy raids, which has proven itself at the Dakar rally, where Honda Racing took the lead from KTM two years ago and confidently holds it. Here is the prototype itself, a Honda CRF450 Rally from the factory team Team HRC:

Honda CRF450 Rally Dakar/Team HRC

And this motorcycle with a 286 cc engine has all the virtues of a rally bike. Only it is available to anyone who does not have special sports and physical training to cope with the unbridled nature of the desert conqueror. The CRF300L Rally is ready to do everything its big brother, the 450R Rally, can do, but the only difference between them is the average speed at which they cover the same route.

Test drive Honda CRF300L Rally

A Rally motorcycle is all about riding fast on any surface and where there is none at all. The motorcycle is not very suitable for tight riding on narrow forest paths because it has short gears. It is higher than the enduro in terms of landing and ground clearance, because the fork and rear shock absorber here have a longer stroke than the “pure” enduro Honda CRF300L. Additionally, the Rally is taller and heavier than the plain 300L overall. Finally, it has a 5-liter larger tank, which almost doubles the range. And this large tank is surrounded by developed plastic linings, which provide good protection from wind and rain.

Test drive Honda CRF300L Rally

The Honda CRF300L Rally can travel quite a long time and still be fast, despite its small engine. It can do it on the freeway or get off it and drive side by side, parallel, on the ground, at the same speed, thanks to the suspension, gearbox and high seating position. And another question is which will be more comfortable.

Other endurism

However, buying a Rally in order to take the boys through the nearest forest is not quite the right idea. If you are accompanied by Rally with light 250 cc endurics or pit bikes, you will be bored with them, and they will be bored with you. You will get away from them on straight sections, but as soon as it comes to narrow paths, you will immediately change places... Because they can afford to throw their motorcycles right and left, throw them into trees, bushes and other shit, and you In this case, you will immediately lose half of the weight.

The trim on the CRF300L Rally is for traveling long distances, that is, going on a trip or going out into large open spaces, and not for hardcore and trash.

Test drive Honda CRF300L Rally

The CRF300L Rally is needed to go 5000 km – to places where there are no roads, where there is no hard surface, and a grader is the best you can hope for. And, perhaps, alone, because this motorcycle allows itself to be twisted and turned as desired. He weighs 150 kg. It can be lifted from the ground with one hand. It can be rearranged in place without any effort or thrown over a 40-centimeter log. Try the same with Africa Twin!..

Necessary evil

So, I got the motorcycle with “1 km” on the odometer immediately after registration. I warn the owner of the new CRF300L Rally that the first 500 km of life with this motorcycle is some kind of necessary evil, purposefully wasted time. Usually, when we get a bike to break in, the first 500-700 km are a matter of one or two days.

Honda CRF300L Rally - engine 1 cylinder, 286 cc, 27 hp.

But when you have a 1-cylinder 286 cc engine in your hands. with a power of 27 hp, you need to break it in gently. This means that you shouldn’t spin it above 6500-7000 rpm, even if the rpm scale is marked at 12000. And with the new CRF300L Rally engine and its gearbox, this means that the speed will be 100 km/h, and how No matter how you puff yourself up, he won’t go again until a certain point.

Running in the CRF300L took 4 days. This took a little more than a tank: during the entire test I only refueled twice; It took 16 liters to break in. The average consumption was 3 l/100 km. The economizer “stuck” at this figure for a long time and only at the very last moment, when the motorcycle had already learned to “bullet,” did it see an instantaneous consumption of “3.8 l,” which raised the average to 3.2 l/100 km.

Test drive Honda CRF300L Rally: the dashboard is simple but clear

On one tank, the Honda CRF300L Rally should be guaranteed to travel 400 km. Even with prolonged driving at full throttle, the power reserve is reduced by only 5%.

The engine is designed to operate at 4500-7500 rpm, in which case optimal performance and consumption will be ensured

The engine began to breathe more or less fully when the number “300” appeared on the odometer: the motorcycle began to accelerate to 120 km/h at the same 7000 rpm. When reaching “500” the next revolution took place, the bike reached the estimated 130-140. There is little difference in the sensations of riding 125 or 140: this is a pace at which you can easily ride, you can even get used to it, but you don’t get pleasure from it - you’ll get bored. At this level, the CRF300L no longer has a significant increase in dynamics, and even slipstreams do not help. This motorcycle is not a competitor to modern passenger cars on paved roads.

Test drive Honda CRF300L Rally (photo from Honda press kit)

Get off the asphalt!

I would not call the behavior of the Honda CRF300L Rally calm on the freeway. The motorcycle, thanks to the traditionally well-developed Honda chassis, stays on the trajectory like a glove, but is too high and light to ride in dense fast traffic. A motorcycle on narrow wheels with off-road tires chatters noticeably as peppy minivans rush past. And if you drive behind an SUV or crossover, it gets even worse. Therefore, I immediately made it a rule to drive only on 90 km/h class roads, where it is easier to escape from the traffic.

If you ride the CRF300L Rally alone, with no one pushing you and you not pushing anyone, then you start to feel really good

The fact that the CRF300L Rally is not intended for road touring is also evidenced by the fact that the rider's position in the saddle quickly leads to discomfort. The saddle is rigid and designed for active fore-aft movement while riding in a standing position, not for hours of riding on asphalt or in the city. The throttle travel is large enough to better control traction. But it is precisely this feature that leads to the fact that the forearm and shoulder muscles quickly become numb: you have to hold the handle in the “almost 100%” position, and this position is not entirely natural.

Honda CRF300L Rally doesn't need roads at all

The motorcycle feels completely different once you move off the asphalt - onto a dirt road, into a field - anywhere. Gas control immediately becomes clear, traction is confident. And you yourself - you get ready, you start to move, and also use your brains: where you should rush in, and where you can roll slowly.

At the same time, the CRF300L Rally handles excellently. At speed there is not a hint of wobbling. At near-zero speeds, the bike easily cuts through traffic jams. It turns on the spot and rolls into corners at any speed. Like other Honda motorcycles, the Rally has slight oversteer, where you don't have to lean the bike much to get into line. In all other cases, barely noticeable counter-steering operates.

Whether there are ruts, speed bumps or potholes along the way, the CRF300L Rally is essentially a “smooth road.” An obstacle can be called a drainage ditch half a wheel deep. But thanks to the fork travel of 260 mm and the ground clearance of almost 280 mm, this “soil fold” is overcome in no time! I repeated the experiment twice to make sure that the Rally completed the task as easily as it could fly over the next speed bump.

Test drive Honda CRF300L Rally

The CRF450 Rally Dakar style cladding works very well as wind and rain protection. I happened to get caught in a downpour, and I was not prepared for it in terms of clothing. But after 20 minutes of this shower, the motorcycle jacket did not get wet at all; and no water flowed onto the seat, that is, the crotch of the motorcycle jeans remained completely dry. Only the bottom of my jeans got wet, and so did my motorcycle boots, which have long since exhausted their water resistance and are asking to be retired.

Moment of truth

A planned tour of the Tver lakes and pampas was canceled due to a whole day of continuous downpours, so instead I chose a different route - to the “beach”. But it’s a difficult beach, but in Sychevo!

Many people know this place from photographs of a giant walking excavator (the only one of its kind in the Moscow region):

The same walking excavator in Sychevo (photo not mine)

I know this grandiose quarry for the high-quality sand that we purchase for the modest needs of our ranch. And the sand from Sychevo is distinguished by its cleanliness and flowability, and the beaches in already mined-out quarries are a paradise for vacationers (there are a full house there on Mondays, too). But if you enter the quarries from the rear, you can end up in real dunes, because there is a sea of ​​sand there.

The most curious thing is that there are no vacationers in sight.

Dunes in Sychevo: this is where we had to go at the very last moment...

The reason is simple:

getting there by car, bicycle or on foot is very difficult, almost impossible; unless on an all-terrain jeep or a motorcycle like the Honda CRF300L.

The place resembles an oasis in the desert, only surrounded not by endless sands, but by impenetrable forest and endless fences of gardening associations. And there's a square kilometer of deep, shifting sand.

And so, I climbed into the very heart of the quarry on a Honda CRF300L Rally to take... just a couple of shots on my phone. Why?

Test drive Honda CRF300L Rally

The sand turned out to be so loose and deep that it was impossible to find a place to place the motorcycle level for shooting. He constantly fell, the footrest could not find support.

Despite the sand being so flowing, the CRF300L drove through there without even swerving

This is where its essence is revealed: the design of the motorcycle is adapted for riding on this kind of off-road - deep sand, mud and fords, and with a good ride at speed. I immediately remembered the moments of the test drive of the 2013 KTM 1190 Adventure in the outback of the Tver region, on a 10-kilometer grader, where one of the special stages of the Peno rally takes place - complete delight in the ability of the motorcycle to ride on sand, as if on solid ground!

Test drive Honda CRF300L Rally

I’ll repeat the words that I wrote in 2013: “I’m never an endurist, and in general I’m afraid to climb into the pampas on someone else’s equipment...”, but driving a Honda CRF300L Rally I drove there easily. In two hours of driving around the dunes in search of a place for a photo shoot, the Honda CRF300L Rally didn’t lie down even once!

I don't know if I'd be as confident driving the Africa Twin with its road tires and 226kg dry weight. Usually, “adventures” of this kind on large motorcycles end with the bike sinking into the sand along the axle and pulling it out with the help of a couple of strong assistants... I had a similar experience on the beach of Cadiz with a BMW R1200GS... the memories make me smile every time. But nothing in common with these rides on the CRF300L Rally.

Test drive Honda CRF300L Rally

Impressed by the dunes near Moscow, we arrived at the Honda base, bringing our kilometers count to an even 750. Along the way, I saw “145 km/h” on the speedometer a couple of times. Mission accomplished!

A separate word about the engine. Increase in volume to 286 cc. turned out to be justified: the bike received what it so lacked in 2019 - those few Newton meters of torque, the lack of which was so cursed by everyone who tested the 250L Rally.

But these are not all changes in the design... During the entire test I never stalled.

Now a slipper clutch with a support function is installed here, so that the left hand does not get tired at all: the effort is minimal, and you need to operate the clutch and gearbox often on such a motorcycle. You can effectively brake with the engine, change gears and do everything we love about modern motorcycles - the CRF300L won’t even think about bucking.

Honda CRF300L Rally is produced at the Thai Honda plant

Another technology that Honda implemented in the 250L and then migrated to the 300L is protection of the fuel pump from overheating due to a clogged fine filter. The model was originally developed for the markets of Southeast Asia and India, where gasoline is sometimes available in only one quality - “in stock”, and octane number, composition and purity are secondary. If the filter in the CRF300L tank becomes so clogged that it stops passing gasoline to the pump, a valve in the tank opens, which is normally responsible for ventilation, and through it directly, fuel begins to flow into the gasoline pump. Engine performance is reduced, but in the event of such a misfortune, the traveler will at least somehow get to civilization.

Test drive Honda CRF300L Rally

TOTAL

Yes, this is an unusual motorcycle, not for everyone and not for every day. But he can become a traveler's friend for years. If you're looking to take your first steps into rally racing, the CRF300L will provide real-life experience and perhaps be your ticket into the world of motorsports and allow you to take the next step. And this is the 450R, a super sports equipment that not everyone can handle. But in general, its purpose is adventure without a time limit.

The CRF300L Rally has a mission, and it's to go where not everyone can survive. If you're planning a trip to the Karakum Desert or Mongolia, or maybe you even have similar experience - you've done something similar once on some Baja 250 - then with the CRF300L Rally you will get an absolutely unforgettable experience of driving confidence, incredible ease and ease of use.

Minuses:

— Specificity of the model — Not quite comfortable (for me personally) fit for long stretches

Pros:

+ Super cross-country ability + Super-elastic engine + Huge range on one tank + Capable of 145 km/h - will not be wasted on the highway + Horse-mounted design - nothing to break + Honda magic in the battle with low-quality fuel

A STUDY OF DIRTY BITES READERS

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My friend finally received a call from the dealership and was told that his bike, after 6 months of waiting, had arrived from Thailand (Honda produces small-capacity bikes in Thailand). We boarded his Africa and went to pick it up. The motorboat was already unpacked and ready for departure. The dealer even filled the tank (L 7.8 l, Rally increased to 12.8).

Well, we immediately compared the “old” 250 cc version and the new one. There are quite a lot of differences. Let's not touch on the Rally body kit and the L version, let's move straight to the technical part. The Japanese changed the design of the engine, adding 2 horses (27.3 PS at 8,500 rpm) and 4 Nm of torque (26.6 Nm at 6,500 rpm), increasing the volume to 286 cm3. The new motor has a longer piston stroke with the same diameter. The injection timing and phases, intake channels and exhaust tract were also changed. All this brought a small addition to the power bank, while reducing exhaust emissions to Euro5 standards.

The gearbox has also undergone changes - the first 5 speeds have been made shorter, and the sixth, on the contrary, has been lengthened to make it more comfortable to drive on highways (more on that a little later). The clutch has a new Anti-Hopping system, which prevents the wheel from locking when changing gears. In my opinion, an absolutely unnecessary thing on this type of motorcycle. Having increased the power, the engineers thought about reducing the weight (142 kg fully fueled) and they succeeded. The frame was lightened by 4 kilograms by changing the cross-section of the pipes. We removed another couple of kilograms ourselves by throwing out the original battery (2.8 kg) and installing a lithium one (500 g). The suspension has received an additional 2 cm in the front and 1 cm in the rear and the small endurik now has 260mm. The shock absorbers remain unregulated as before, only at the rear you can change the preload a little) The rider now sits a little higher (885mm in the saddle), the steering wheel is located closer to the driver, and the footpegs are a little lower. The tank of the thin version remained unchanged (7.8 l), and the Rally received a new 12 liter tank (previously 10.2 l), which, with a nominal consumption of 3 l/100 km in the “leisurely” mode, should be enough for 400 km for the Rally and 250 km for the CRF300L . Finally, they added a speed indicator to the display and slightly changed its geometry, which theoretically should improve its readability. The wheels and body kit remained unchanged, as did the brakes. Prices for the new 300 L version start at 5,337 euros and the Rally costs 6,312 euros. Well now about personal feelings. Those who expect a Wow effect from the new three hundred will be disappointed. And even more, they will feel that they have been deceived.

Because according to subjective sensations, the motorcycles ride the same. The maximum speed is still limited to 120 kilometers per hour, and even at this speed the consumption increases to 5.5 liters per 100 km. At the same time, the engine buzzes at high speeds and does not bring pleasure. The maximum speed that can still be said comfortably is 100 km/h. Mot involves leisurely movement in space. You also need to be aware of the target orientation of the motorcycle. This is not hardenduro or cross. The motorcycle can do a little bit of everything. That is, he can move around the special roads and feels confident on the dirt road.

The very soft suspension easily absorbs all the bumps, but on asphalt it gives a floating effect. For tall people (like my friend)

this motorcycle may turn out to be too small and you will have to trick it out with lowered footpegs, larger saddles and spacers for the handlebars. Despite the fairly large suspension travel, they are eaten up by half as soon as a person weighing more than 80 kg sits on the motorcycle. According to rumors, the suspension was designed for a weight of 55kg, so it is necessary to change the springs in the suspension to stiffer ones. On dirt roads the motorcycle feels quite confident and easily overcomes moderately difficult sections. There are absolutely no problems with spare parts; in Thailand they are absurdly cheap. The bike is very cheap to maintain. Here I paid motor tax of 18 euros per year and insurance of 40 euros. For comparison, Africa costs 70 euros tax and 130 euros insurance. The original IRC tires lasted 5000 km, after which I replaced them with Anakee Wild for 60 euros.

There is also a 450 version of Honda on the market, but it costs twice as much (10,500 euros) and has very short service intervals (1000 km). But the bike is very interesting and many would take it, but the price is scary, yes.

To summarize, we can say that the Japanese managed to optimize the motorcycle, taking a few more small steps to meet the wishes of consumers.

Beaver and good roads to everyone!

HUSKY HISTORY: HANS HANSSON

I enjoy reading Kenneth Olausson's regular blog about the history of Husqvarna. This month he wrote about Hans Hansson, who was the designer of Husqvarna in the 60s. Along the way, Hansson won Novemberkasan five times. If you know what it is, you're already in awe of Hansson. Novemberkassen was the original extreme enduro. Today, the most challenging enduro rides take place over rocks and mud. Noyabrkasan did all this in the freezing Swedish winter conditions - and worked all night. It was impossible to put into words. You can read about Hans Hansson's career here.