I modify most motorcycles that I buy. As a must-do mod, I replace the stock handlebars with aftermarket bars that I have used for many years. I like the rise and set-back, and they are aluminum, of course. I find that there are other small tweaks that I prefer, and apply those as appropriate. And I usually remove plastic that I consider useless. In particular, side number plates.
ramz note: the BAS (bank angle sensor) function check shows:
Start the engine.
Incline the bank angle sensor approximately 60 to the left or right.
The bank angle sensor is normal if the engine stops after a few seconds.
Page 4-32 of the 2019 CRF250F Honda Service Manual 61K9900, September 2018
60 !?? I'm gonna have to disconnect the BAS when I ride the 'fun' trails.
I live in Salida, a small town in central Colorado. The nearest motorcycle shop is 60 miles away (Gunnison) with more shops in the front range 100 or more miles away. So I do most of my shopping online. I buy Honda parts from one or more of the online vendors shown in this list on the Introduction page. I buy non-Honda parts from Amazon , Rocky Mountain ATV/MC , MotoSPORT.com , and other online vendors as I encounter them in Google searches for specific products. I do not endorse nor disparage any vendor or parts they sell. I buy parts, install them, and report any features and/or problems I find. There are certainly many other vendors who sell perfectly useable products - Google is your friend.
The first thing I did when I got my 250F home was empty the gas tank and weigh the bike. It weighed 248 pounds. The bike was stone stock, no mods. All fluids checked and topped up, and the gas tank was empty.
About that number. I weigh bikes using a WalMart scale I bought 20 years ago. I don't use the scale in the house; it's strictly used to weigh things in the garage, so it gets very little use. I check its accuracy now and then by weighing myself at Dr appointments, and then coming home and see how close my scale is to the Dr's scale. It's usually within a pound or two.
So why don't my numbers match Honda or Yamaha or other moto maker's numbers? Can't really say. But I don't really care. I only care how heavy my bikes are comparing one to another. So how does 248 pounds compare?
This is great! These numbers are for brand new bikes, fully set up to ride, with no fuel. No matter what mods I do (adding and removing weight), these numbers represent a base weight that is probably 95% of the finished modified bike weight.
I found these several years ago, and have been installing them on all of my bikes since. They are SO convenient to use, and make securing the bikes a breeze. Two different brands are shown here: I was trying one of each out on my 250L to see which one I liked best. They're pretty much the same, and I never swapped one or the other back so they would match up. Meh.
After removing the cable, the pull cable needs minor readjustment. Plug the empty hole in the throttle cable cover with Shoe Goo or something similar. Plug the empty hole in the throttle drum cover on the carb with an M6 flange-head bolt with a locking nut on the inside.
With no speedometer on the 250F, nor even a simple odometer, I took the easy way out, and mounted up a Garmin Montana 610. The mount is not wired to the battery yet; I will add power when I install the dual-sport wiring harness.
The large black plastic wrap-around piece is the Garmin AMPS rugged mount with the power cable removed for now. You can buy it from Garmin or from any one of several aftermarket GPS parts vendors. The black mounting plate is Kydex, my favorite plastic for making custom parts for my motos.
The brake hose is nowhere near the unit; it's a perspective effect. I can slide the unit left or right along the crossbar as desired. I think I'll go for far left to keep it out of my forward-looking field of view.
I like the ProTaper SE in CR High, and installed them on the last 5 bikes I've owned. This time I went for the platinum grey look - and I like it. The SE (at 812 g) weighs 111 grams less than the stock Honda bars (at 923 g). I feel less vibration with aluminum bars over steel bars.
First I trimmed the bars to width, which is about 30 inches or line #2 mark on the bars. Then I installed Handguard Bar End Mounts. I tapped the aluminum bars with an 11-xx tap. The bar end mounts are coated with locktite and then screwed into the handlebar ends. The handguard mounting bolts screw into the mounts with more locktite that yields a very firm, locked-in result.
I looked through my old parts bin, and lo and behold, I found an AXP skidplate. Could it work? I clamped it to the frame rails in front and under the engine, and by golly, it fit. I'll drill the mounting holes later this afternoon.
I remove the sprocket cover so mud doesn't jam up in there and ruin my chain. I was surprised to see how little room there is between the chain and the case protector. I don't think a 14 tooth sprocket will fit in there...
If you look in the lower left corner of the picture, just above the shifter arm, you can see a circular black something - that is a seal covering the hole where the neutral switch wire comes out of the tranny. You can see the black insulated wire snaking it's way up the engine to a wire bundle near the top of the picture.
The area where the wire comes out of the tranny is covered by the lower part of the sprocket cover. If I remove the sprocket cover, I expose the wimpy wire and seal to all sorts of debris from the chain. So I decided to keep the sprocket cover on the bike, but to cut some of it away so mud and other debris can still find a way out. Picture coming.
After riding the 250F for about 3 months, I discovered a problem with the chain - it was kinking and making noise when rolling on and off. Steady throttle was ok. I tried different chain lubes, and the kinking persisted. Even Tri-Flow didn't help.
I replaced the chain with a DID VT2, the best chain I've ever used. I used a rivet master link in lieu of the supplied clip master link.
While I had the rear wheel off, I also replaced the rear sprocket with a Supersprox Stealth gold 50T sprocket, another favorite of mine. The initial ride after the install showed that I had solved the problem. There was no chain noise, and no detectable kinking. SUCCESS!
Note - see One more thing... for adjusting chain slack procedure.
Those who know me, know that I don't like number plates on bikes that I register for street use. They make the bike stand out too much, they don't do anything for performance, and they just cost money to replace after you fall on them. So I always take the number plates off and make replacement Kydex covers, as appropriate.
I removed the shrouds, and that left the ignition coil exposed.
In the left picture, it's bolted to the frame bracket in the stock position.
In the right picture, I moved it to the inboard side of the bracket, for protection.
Be careful; the metal backing piece is not a solid piece. It's made of laminated plates that will separate easily. Just keep them together with your fingers as you move the part to it's new position.
I removed the exhaust pipe heat shield, and the metal tab on the side of the muffler. I ground the rough spot on the muffler smooth, and painted it with some heat resistant paint. BTW, the complete stock muffler and s-bend weighs 5 lbs 11.4 oz (excluding the 3 bolts and 1 nut). A stock CRF230F muffler and s-bend weighs 5 lbs 10.4 oz (excluding mounting bolts).
I used my DeWalt proctoscope to look into both ends of the muffler/s-bend. No catalytic anythings were seen, just open all the way through without any obstructions. Silencing appears to take two forms: some kind of metal mesh lining against the inner surface of the outer walls and perforated pipe in many places. But no chambers or doubling back exhaust gases paths.
Initial rides at the dealers parking lot and in my 2 acre yard (3 laps) were surprisingly noisy. Even though the CRF230F and the CRF250F are both rated 82 dBA, the 250F is considerably louder. Not as bad as the 230F with the exhaust diffuser removed, and altogether not that bad to listen to. We'll see what all-day exposure to the melody will do to my sensitive ears.
Every time I mounted a taillight assembly on an XR or CRF, I was confronted with the same problem. There isn't enough frame extending out the back to solidly mount the taillight assembly so it doesn't flop up and down while riding. On recent CRFs, I've resorted to using hose clamps to fix the problem; finally a solution. I tried zip ties, but they always break when the plastic dries out enough and weakens the zip tie - POP goes the weasel. So although they don't look that great, they do solve the problem.
I use stainless steel metric fasteners (bolts, washers, nuts) and hose clamps to mount the taillight assembly to the rear fender (size M5) and to mount the license plate (size M4). Plus two small-head flanged M6 bolts for the front end of the taillight assembly. All nuts are locking type, so LocTite is not necessary. The M4 and M5 fasteners are chosen to keep the weight to a minium - less flopping.
Step 1 - fix the LED mounting bolts. These bolts hold the LED in place on the taillight sub-fender. They are M3 bolts and I think they are too long. So I shortened them. I wanted to avoid the situation where a rock hits one of the long skinny bolts, and leverages it sideways, causing it to break out the back of the LED.
Step 2 - trim the fender; here's a final look that I like. I took off about xx inches. You can use whatever you like. Some riders like the light up under the fender.... One consideration - where does the front of the assembly end up under the fender? Trimming needed?
Step 3 - Mount the taillight assembly to the rear fender. The taillight assembly is not a good fit to the frame rails and rear fender; you must persuade it to fit by some use of force. I anchored the front end to the frame cross member using the M6 bolts (E) and loosely tightened the nuts to allow some side-to-side wiggling of the rear of the taillight.
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