Test 2021 Honda CRF300 Rally - a thorough review

okay chloe's got his camera got to do some work now come on little honda do you know what clubbing i'm calling [Applause] [Music] [Applause] welcome to my review of the honda crf 300 rally this review comes in two parts part one is my first impressions of the bike while riding it when i was helping andrew club the editor of australian adventure bike magazine to get some photos of the bike the second part is a more formal and structured review of the bike and is based on a 400 kilometer loop consisting of freeway blacktop twin trail and some technical single trail it's a great adventure loot with a wide variety of conditions and a great test for adventure bikes so let's get started [Music] and chloe's decided the first 50 meters i do on this shiny red and white and blue bike absolutely immaculate is a trials track all right well come on ricky here's your dakar machine let's climb aboard son size it up mate come on don't turn left that's the no don't go over the left side of the track mate keep right wait till you feel that suspension plush plush is the word ricky see that famous look i'm shaking as i get on it's brand new look you can even switch the abs off to the rear what more do you want to do oh god oh it's little in there oh it's a trampoline look at that holy slap duck i can't adjust any clickers because there aren't any clickers i felt like i was on a trampoline hey mind the rear wheel there you're nearly using all the travel in fact you are using all the travel it's like a pogo stick and i'm sorry ricky i haven't got any adjustments for you fork or shock other than spring preload at the back mate that's it but you know the little bike that uh the small capacity bike that really shook the adventure world the yamaha wr250r you know still needed once you bought it it still needed suspension work to get the best out of it and at the end of the day what i'm hunting for now is just the frame dynamics are right the steering geometry is right and the suspension to me at the at the price of this what's eight eight thousand five hundred eight and a half ish on the road i think under nine grand it's amazing value for a 300 cc again my old saying you spend a thousand on suspension and bob's your uncle you know you might get something really really special here all right let's cross our fingers turn it on straight into some technical trial and the clutch action is incredibly light but gives good feedback and control and allows me to accurately and consistently put power to the ground this was very apparent when i took the bike on a series of tricky rock ledges that are awkwardly spaced with no room for error if you get it wrong you stall or fall in this technical stuff seat height was low and the bike felt light and it was easy to maneuver if i got stuck there is many an adventure bike that has been hooked up on these series of rock ledges but not the honda it's got excellent ground clearance you know that sixth gear on this bike is it's really good it's um really tall and uh yeah it's got no pull in it but certainly can get you up the highway speeds holy snap and duck menu oh well the electrics work on the bike you couldn't get that much harder yeah so the fifth gear is the doing gear gets you up to speed keeps you humming along i think it's really clever of honda to you know make that six gear a lot taller the bike very useful for australian and american conditions you know all of us i think have to either go on freeway or blacktop for at least probably you know 50 to 100ks to get into the dirt so it's a very useful addition to this bike over the 250 model yeah the dashboard is simple but it conveys all the information you need to know very succinctly easy to read in this dappled light easy to read in sunlight does the job the bearing is doing what it's supposed to do i mean i'm feeling it it's punching the wind oh up it's almost going over my head the wind there certainly there's no helmet buffeting and it's got some little winglets if you like that are just pushing the wind around me yeah that's a great little addition to this and you know particularly in australian conditions where we have long transport miles in the dirt and the engine i guess the engine dynamic is it's very doughy down the bottom you know but uh you get it to six six thousand revs and you start revving it up and um yeah the engine comes alive you've really got to work the gears to get the best out of the bike but having said that at 100 100 k's you know it's sitting on six which is just coming into the sweet spot of the power band so um you know just playing with your gear sticking between fourth and fifth getting your momentum up i'm going to be really interested to see how it sits on highway use tomorrow because it's going to do a heap of kilometers at you know 100k to 110 i find myself tending to sit down wow considering how undersprung the bike was for my weight the bike responded to this next section in a surprisingly good way cubby and i were clipping along at a fair trail pace yes i did have to ease the bike into the erosion mounts and obstacles but surprisingly not once did the suspension bottom out with a thud i was also impressed with the handling and steering of the bike it was generous and predictable for the rider and responsive to rider input my first day of impressions was complete and i've walked away with a mixed bag of views about this bike i'm looking forward to tomorrow when i take it on a 400 kilometer adventure loop and look more closely and systematically at what this bike brings to the small bore adventure market [Music] [Applause] [Music] the first step in getting this 400k underway go and get some fuel and see how much the little girl eats during the day i was just looking at the kilometer average the fuel economy according to the last 250 k's we did or 242 k's and it was uh 31.3 kilometers per liter which gives this bike a very good range with the standard tank [Applause] with bike filled i head straight into a traffic jam welcome to my gateway to adventure a half an hour of suburban traffic followed by 40 minutes to an hour of freeway and ultimately onto blacktop country roads before i get anywhere near the dirt and for many throughout the world that's exactly the same start to their adventure day a good dual sporter needs to handle these conditions well because for many their bike will be used for the commute during the weekday and only adventure on the weekends the 300 easily copes with suburban traffic the engine is willing and the power is very usable and if needed you can easily accelerate faster than general traffic with strong power developed between six thousand and eight thousand revs i'm in the doing gear at the moment fifth gear at five thousand revs i'm gonna slip it up the overdrive now we're doing four and a half thousand revs maybe four eight at 80 k's the bike feels light with a low seat height and comfortable seating position it feels agile when you need to weave through that traffic congestion at faster speed the fairing is much appreciated this is an overdrive and the sixth gear is keeping up with traffic it'll be interesting how it goes up this hill john's gonna keep it at six yeah i've got to feed it a bit more fuel to to maintain the speed let's do it all right the indicators break and headlight are bright in the daylight an added safety feature is that both the front indicators remain on at all times okay so we're taking up to 110 it's just sitting under 7 000 revs [Music] and it feels like it's doing it quite comfortably there's other 250s i've written and at this speed the piston feels like it's gonna belt you in the groin you know the little engine is working you know a lot harder with higher revs okay let's see how it goes to climb out of the hawkesbury river we're in sixth i think the bike's in its sweet spot i think it's gonna comfortably eat this up it's just at six eight yeah look at that it's actually maintaining speed in the overdrive certainly keeping up with traffic not even a hint of having to return the fifth year to give it a punch along ah that's a great overdrive congratulations honda you've done it well there high-speed transport being on freeway country roads or endless dirt roads is a key feature of australian adventure riding it's irrelevant if the bike is of small or large capacity at the end of the day it needs to do these types of miles comfortably the 300s useful overdrive great protective fairing and comfortable seated position is a real strength of this bike and one that will be appreciated by australian riders so it's worth having a chat about what entry-level adventure bikes are all about [Music] at the end of the day most of the riding in australia is on roads like this [Music] just simple country roads and there's so much enjoyment to be had going down one of my favorites which is this one murray's run road [Music] i just chill out i'm in a happy place when i'm going along here you know what the crf 300 rally just eat up these sorts of miles in standard fare you don't need any modifications to enjoy this stuff just chill out and that's what entry level's about you don't have to do come into this corner hot you don't have to blast out of it just toodle around it and the bike does that safely and efficiently [Music] but there are a lot of you out there who see this bike very differently you want to challenge yourself and the bike be it big adventure miles in the outback carrying a decent amount of luggage or taking on more challenging trails and keeping up with your mates at a decent trail speed or possibly all three this next section of the test that i've taken many bikes on gives me a reasonable insight into whether this bike has the credentials for adventure where it sits in the hierarchy of adventure bikes and what needs to be done to get it over the line for hardcore adventure riding i think it's time to take the abs off the back oh it just doesn't give me enough braking so that's a good little feature with the honda you just stop the bike and press this button one two three four five and bang abs is off to the rear wheel only all right well normally i would have been standing there for about a kilometer so i'll give it a run it's just a little bit small for me that's all like i just need a little bit more height in the bars through bar rises and probably a higher handlebar it's hardly ideal for my height at 178 centimeters tall and or 5 foot 10 inches in the old money yeah i've got to say this honda suspension is a bit of an enigma i'm expecting it to do things and it's just not doing it it's actually performing much better than i anticipated here we go [Music] maybe i'm as clubby says two ghosting it a bit just so it doesn't take the full impact of my weight now there there okay that time i bottomed the suspension but you know the good thing it didn't end with a thud i knew i did it but it didn't end with a thud the 21 inch wheel is excellent in sand um i like my pirellis on the front and rear that'd certainly make a difference but hey standard tyres straight out of the showroom are good for this work we're going from third to fourth and um yeah you can really get humming the gear ratio is a very well linked to the output of the engine particularly when it comes alive between about six and eight this track taken at a reasonably fast trail pace highlighted the shortcomings of the suspension for my weight the bike is undersprung for me and my riding style with springs designed to suit lighter riders from about 50 to 70 kilograms it's tolerable riding it under sprung just ride the bike more slowly use techniques such as ghosting to assist the suspension in coping with the bigger hits the disappointment is that the bikes handling and engine deserve a higher grade suspension package that said i pushed the bike at reasonable speed over a small erosion mound to see how the bike would respond and i was pleasantly surprised yes the suspension did bottom out but it didn't end with a thud and the bike remained in control and didn't excessively bounce this next section is uh a little hill climb not too technical but i guess it for me it tests out the relevance of the gears to the engine and the relationship of both because uh if you you want to be able to maintain momentum to get up this you know at a reasonable pace okay let's see how we go that second [Applause] yeah it did well there's more torque there than you think that was uh in third gear there yeah we're only a short distance from the bike you can barely hear it which is a good thing mind you that muffalo probably weighs 8 kilos i'd say i noticed there's a couple of good after-market ones around but again you get noise and i've got to tell you if there's one thing that kills our sport is noise well it's a little bit more aware now of the abs on the front it's far more noticeable than other brands i've been writing lately it's it's not as sophisticated but it does the job [Applause] oh god now that was a thought with the dirt sections complete i head back out onto the blacktop for some twisting roads and the kilometers are piling up and the fuel gauge is telling me i don't have much fuel left before i leave my lunch stop that just happens to have fuel i do some calculations my tummy is full showing empty almost empty k's i still think i've got lots so i'm going to see if i can wing it to kolnura seems a little bit stupid considering there's petrol here but hey after all it is an adventure i made kalnura and used 9.94 liters for 294 kilometers the total fuel tank capacity for the honda is 12.5 litres which has been expanded over the previous model so it's fair to say that fuel range is about 360 kilometers probably more when you consider it was carrying me at 115 kilograms with gear and i was heavy-handed with the throttle for long periods of the ride this is a great fuel range for an entry-level adventure bike for australian conditions and a key feature and benefit of this bike so i've just got back from the 400ks on the bike and had a little bit of a rest and now while everything is fresh in my mind i thought we'd go over some of my observations so the first one i'd like to talk about is ergos yes the bike is a smaller bike than what i've been used to riding lately you know i've been writing basically 700 twins and 700 singles but that doesn't mean it's not comfortable so when i get on this bike um the seated position uh i felt initially that my my knee was a little bit high but actually as i got into the riding today i found that very comfortable so the foot peg to seat height i'm happy with that the same thing with the handlebar to seat i'm comfortable with that i guess what was apparent for me is the standing position the standing position for me was just a little bit uh too cramped you know i could i could bend the legs to take on you know obstacles and that but it's just not sustainable what i need is uh three centimeter bar risers and maybe the handlebars themselves to be higher but apart from that i mean i sat on the bike or stood on the bike all day today solid days riding of the the black top and the twin trail and you know the bike went well another thing in terms of the comfort of the bike is the fairing the fairing punches the wind right over the top of my helmet great at highway speed um but didn't get in the way when i'm going over erosion mounds i never ever thought that the top of the fairing would hit me in the face or in the chest or in the neck so it's a an ample distance if you like from the handle bars forward the other great feature of the the fairing is that it's that's mount i mean it says it's built like a bridge and a great place for mounting gps or or a phone or whatever you like the lcd display can be read in all lighting conditions even when covered with a liberal coating of dust as well as all the old favorites it also displays gear position stopwatch current fuel mileage average fuel mileage and instant fuel consumption the abs on off switch to the rear wheel is located to the upper right of the display the bike must be stopped to deactivate the abs compared to recent abs systems that i've tested the honda's abs feels primitive and not confidence inspiring abs systems have developed substantially in recent years and this feels like old technology oh that's interesting now that was interesting the abs front really wasn't giving me as much as what i wanted the low and high beam headlights on the bike were pretty good and could certainly get me safely out of the bush on a dark night blinkers and brake tail light were bright and a great visibility feature was the constant illumination of both front blinkers a neat little toolbox under the left hand side of the seat was also a useful feature this is a very sensible thing for australian conditions look at this very sturdy metal bracket over the side stand switch there's been a few bikes i know very recently where the side stand switches have been broken just by hitting a rock that's a good bit by honda well thought out the side stand itself i've got to say is about i don't know an inch too short and the bike leans too much i noticed in the slow motion with this spring on the side stand then under those big whoops that the side stand flops down and pops back up uh it's not too much of a drama but i just make you aware of it that's all like this excellent folding tip on the gear lever that's a nice nice addition the nissan rear brake lacked feel and required a considerable pressure to activate when compared to the front brake the rear brake lever is made from mild steel and can easily be bent back into shape the front brake has excellent feel and is powerful but as previously stated the abs wasn't happy braking heavily in sandy surfaces now there's something that's caught me out a few times on most bikes i've ridden the blinker is above the horn i found myself tooting clubby all the time during our first ride dirty great big horn button which is great it's just something i have to get used to but it's quite funny yeah those are swapped around on on other bikes that i ride i call these spaghetti bars because uh they're very easily bent but the good point is if they're easily bent you can easily bend them back yeah i don't see that as too much of an issue i mean if you want to put better bars on it then you put better bars on it i think for me standing on the bike i felt a little bit cramped i would like to see a three centimeter bar riser on there and i still think i'll need higher bars that would just kick that up a little bit for me to make the standing position more comfortable but again these are things of personalizing the bike no i didn't drop the bike in the garage i just wanted to have a look at this protection for the engine sump and it's a couple of mil thick uh plastic and clearly for australian conditions when you start getting in the in the rocks and that that's just not not sufficient but hey the great thing is because of the way the frame is there's a great place number of mounting points there for a decent bash plate my fear is that if you use this in tough rocky conditions in some of the places i ride this your oil bolt here just sits proud and that would possibly be hit by a rock as you slide over a rock even the sump itself if you just get one of those gnarly rocks it could potentially punch up and punch through the the crank case but you know again this is a modification depending on your use of the bike is it necessary for most riders no it's not but if you're going to take it in rough conditions in rocky conditions then i'd strongly recommend a bash plate and there's tons of mounting points there for it [Music] the engine is a willing performer with significant increases in power being developed between 6 000 and 8 000 revs the power delivery is well matched to the gearing allowing for the rider to confidently take on a range of terrains and traffic conditions be it moving slowly around obstacles or effortlessly moving through and along with suburban traffic out in the bush and the gearing perfectly matched the power delivery of the engine there was a willingness for the bike to get going and it could easily maintain fast trail speeds a highlight and strength of the bike for australian adventure riding conditions is the overdrive sixth the bike can sit on highway speeds of 110 kilometers per hour all day at about 6800 revs the engine doesn't feel like it's under strain or over revving and there is no unpleasant vibration transmitted to the rider the slipper clutch is another great strength of the bike it is very light to feel but the take-up point is clear and power can be confidently and consistently put on the ground a highlight for me was the use of the clutch through some technical trails where power delivery had to be meted out in subtle bursts the crf's clutch performance reminded me very much of another motorcycle worth three times the crs value servicing intervals for the engine are 12 000 kilometers which is ideal if you want to go on a big adventure trip there is little doubt more performance could be gained from this engine through some modifications and aftermarket accessories at the end of the day honda manufactured this bike to comply with various laws and they've delivered a very usable engine for adventure suspension is too soft for heavier riders and better suited for riders of around 70 kilograms or less when you include all my riding gear it takes my total weight to over 115 kilograms but despite my weight i could push the bike at reasonable speed through the trails using riding techniques that take the load off the bike's suspension and this reduced the frequency of bottoming out when the bike did bottom out on most occasions the stroke didn't end with a thud there's no point talking about compression and rebound settings as with the exception of rear spring preload there is no adjustment in either the forks or the rear shock however for novice riders and or lighter riders or riders that don't ride fast trail speeds or just want to use this bike to put down country roads and commute to work i'm not sure the softness of the suspension will be an issue however for those that want to enjoy the full potential of this bike's handling there are stacks of aftermarket suspension solutions out there the steering geometry of the bike is great providing high speed stability and low speed agility it has a predictable feel both on the dirt at speed and on the road the 21 inch front and 18 inch rear wheel is a solid and proven combination for a dirt oriented motorcycle and the standard dual sport tyres did their job you'll recall my first impression of this bike was bouncing up and down on the soft suspension but i immediately qualified that by recognising this bike's potential to be a hardcore adventure mount the crf 300 has solid foundations for tough australian adventure solid engine performance dirt orientation long fuel range rider comfort for those long high speed miles due to the high speed overdrive sixth and great fairing it's got high ground clearance low seat height and of course honda reliability so it's very tempting to attempt to turn the little honda into the ultimate small adventure mount so let's count the cost of what it takes to get this bike over the line for me frankly i was surprised by how little i had to spend to get the bike over that threshold suspension needs work and most of my money would go there and i would assume that spending around a thousand dollars would give me good improvements for my weight and proposed use specialist suspension components could take this up to a couple of grand but i don't think it needs it the frame is an older design which is great because it allows for easy fitting of a bash plate and soft pannier racks and they're readily available on the market bar risers and handlebars with a higher bar bend and bark busters and a foam oil filter would just about satisfy me i'm happy with engine performance but there's a lot of tinkerers out there who would have a lightweight performance exhaust on their shopping list so i'd walk out of the honda shop having spent around nine grand and i'd finish my build of this bike having spent an additional two knowing what i know now about this bike this is great value for my personalised adventure slayer [Music] there's not too many offerings in the dirt oriented small capacity adventure market and honda have seized this opportunity to refine their pre-existing 250 model and they've come out swinging they've extended the stroke of the engine to give it close to 300 cc's capacity they've reduced weight of the bike by 4 kilograms they've given it longer travel suspension and higher ground clearance and they've revised the steering geometry to improve all terrain handling and agility they've given it an lcd display and a superb slipper clutch as a result they are only millimeters away from creating something special in the entry-level adventure market where generally novice riders who are price sensitive make their first purchase and there's value to be had with this bike being able to roll it out of the showroom floor for around nine thousand dollars on road but what stops this great little bike from being stellar brilliant is beam counters not engineers honda engineers could give this bike a cracking suspension package that matched the power delivery and handling of the bike to allow it to reach its full adventure potential but that costs money and drags the price point away from the mini but don't get me wrong this is a cracking bike it is a true dual sporter in every sense of the word a capable commuter with high speed comfort and a trailblazer on the weekends straight off the showroom floor it is an ideal adventure mount for riders wanting a taste of adventure but not wanting to go hardcore [Music] it will appeal to a surprisingly broad range of riders from the novice through to the experienced adventurer who sees its true potential that with slight modification would be a solid round-the-worlder and capable of taking you anywhere [Music] very incestuous here taking a picture of clubby taking a picture of my favorite shot it is you isn't it it's a trademark it's a trademark now there's an interesting bit of history here the last time i did that on this road was with my 2017 ktm 640 2017 i don't think so it's older than that wasn't it sorry dominique i came out of the ark that biked i think you mean 19 and 17 don't you was it 2007. seven i think you'll find oh my goodness there's a bit of dementia creeping in there it is a while ago it looks their colors look brilliant oh this thing has done it but it's like i was saying before earlier dave you just wish it was a 450cc version yeah like i had that 450l yeah with adb magazine a couple of years ago for 12 months put a big tank on it put luggage racks on it mate did everything you know but never got a screen on it and and never got real big fuel capacity on it you know it's like that bike there that tank's nearly just under 13 liters now which is better than the old 250 by two point something liters yeah but all that acres the acres of plastic and body work it's just all hot air underneath behind there the tank could be bigger again but mate it just it looks the part it's priced perfectly isn't it like it's under nine grand on the road right away yeah for an adventure bike that people will not be intimidated by and work the suspension that's the only area where it really lacks to go hard off road doesn't it is in this fork and the shock spend some money on that maybe a muffler just to uncork it a fraction away you go and it won't scare you can pick it up when you drop it you can turn it around in the middle of the sticks anywhere yeah there's a lot to be said for this bike yeah no i mean i'm absolutely 100 i i think this is a a killer this is a great bike it's got pole position right now for this corner of the market the yamaha's gone yeah you know and what what else is close to it the the three the ktm 390 is you know a little bit more road oriented this kind of fills that niche of the people that want to hit the dirt more well you know the wanna trail like a traditional 250 trail bike like it's it's it's fine to ride in the traffic commuting you know that you're up high you've got good vision you've got great fuel range now um look it ticks so many boxes doesn't it and it's so close to being that small ball sort of 250 300 adventure bike we all want except for those of us that want the 450 or 500 single cylinder adventure bike with all the dakar styling the tower a bit of protection and a big fuel tank yeah it's like beating a dead horse why does no no one builds a 450 rally replica do they i don't understand the ktm the rr kdm but what is it 55 60 000 man it's like this thing's so close just shoehorn that l motor into it but now the l is gone where's the 450 l it's gone it's in hyperspace i don't know how many times we have to slam our foot in the ground and carry on like a kid just all we want manufacturers is a 500 single 450 500 single exactly like that bike with those details on it just a bigger motor and boost the suspension that's all it needs to be 10 and a 10 000 kilometer service interval yeah well i mean yeah that might that might be a big ask for the current generations of 450 500 singles that are coming from crf's wrf exes those base motors but i mean what's yeah look yeah but i might still come back to saying dave why does no manufacturer build that bike and plonk it on the showroom floor and just see what happens like if it works in aussie it'll work in america may not work in europe but hey we're we're prime markets for adventure blocks australia and america yeah i don't know why don't they do it it'll be the great unknown that we'll all carry to our graves well there's the end of controversy corner for the for the week and there's our beautiful little honda and now i think i've got to go and do some work it's a tough job

Channel: Motorcycle Adventure Dirtbike TV

Views: 243,665

Rating: 4.9108863 out of 5

Keywords: Review Honda CRF300 Rally, Test Honda CRF300 Rally, Honda CRF300 Rally

Id: lpWrdIekcGg

Length: 39min 53sec (2393 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 26 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/obeyjam]

Man I really want a crf300l converted to a supermoto as a daily commuter bike, sucks that no dealers in my country (Honda official dealer included) wants to bring any of the 300s in, except the cb300r.