hondas new dual sport vs the wrr

so honda just recently released its new edition to the the 250 dual sport class. the crf250l which is also fuel injected and $2,000 dollars cheaper and according to advertising gets 104mpg. do yall think the honda will give the wrr a run for its money? Id like to see these bikes go toe to toe

Here is my toe-to-toe based on the specs:
WR250R vs CRF250L <-- linky

I'll let you know more after I farkle the CRFL and get some miles on it. Due in the US in August for $4499.

Honda Announces More New-Model Releases for 2013 <-- linky
Scroll down to the CRF250L paragraph:
"To find out more about the CRF250L, go to http://powersports.honda.com/2013/crf250l.aspx SRP: $4,499; Availability: August 2012"

104 mpg ??????


Please....that's either total bullshit or the Honda is a complete dog. As in restricted, tuned way down, and boring as shit to ride.


My guess -

the bike has caught my interest and i would like to see a video review of what this bike is capable of off road. though i dont think it will be better then the wrr but it is nice to know theres more bikes coming to the 250 dual sport class in the US

I don't think it will be any compeition at all

Looking at the specs its more than likely the same motor as the CB250R but with a smaller throttle body I am guessing to move the power down a bit lower. Every line in the motor specs is a direct copy / paste other than the throttle body size. They probably also changed farted around with the motor in other ways to match that and bring the power down in the RPM range. Perhaps a dif cam profile. On such a budget bike though I doubt they bothered to change the head. The CB250R only has 22hp, with the smaller throttle body and tweaks they more than likely made to shift the power down a bit the 250L probably has about 19 - 20rwhp. I also wouldn't expect it to be a bit more budgety than our relatively nice WRs. More of a competitor for the KLX250S than our WRs.


Also 8000 mile oil changes, but a valve check schedule roughly twice as often as ours with the first at 8k.

As for the mileage claims, I could see that being possible with around 18hp and a good amount of torque that allows for pulling tall gears. Just imagine your WR with a smaller throttle body, more torquey cam, and more conservative head design. The only thing bothering me is the compression. The Honda could do everything it does only better if it just had more compression. Perhaps they cheaped out too much on the design for it to reliably handle more pop?

It's a bit heavier than our bikes at 320 pounds. I'm not to keen on the styling anyways.

I plan to look art one for my wife because off the lower seat.

I think it is a way cool bike....I dont think I'ld trade my R2 for one. But this is great news for dualsport...this may be where the manufacturing/ competition dollars go, someday.
Yamaha's R2 definitely set the bar...seems like honda answered.

And sadly i don't see it on honda.ca

i think no dual sport is better then our bikes for offroading, i seen videos, of people riding our wr250r's with yz250 motocross bikes and keeping up with them just fine.

linky =D

Since I haven't been able to find a WR250R that I can afford at the moment, I'll be keeping an eye on this new Honda. The price difference is pretty substantial, without much difference between the specs of the two bikes.

Straight off the showroom floor, I much prefer the looks of the WR-R. But I've seen some pics of some modded CRF250L's that bring them up to par with the WR in the looks department.

Or maybe even Yamaha will lower it's MSRP, since the Honda seems to be directly aimed at the WR in sale competition.


Here's a modded CRF250L:

D28NY wrote:

The price difference is pretty substantial, without much difference between the specs of the two bikes.

Which is why I think it's bullshit.

I'd be willing to bet a 5 to 10 horsepower difference - with the already sort-a-weak Yamaha having the advantage.

If the Honda is really close to the Yamaha in all areas of performance then Yamaha has completely ripped us all off in a major way.

I doubt that's the case, but in time I'm sure we'll see a direct comparison test between the two bikes done by some magazine.

I agree. on paper also the klx looks like a good competitor to the wr. but there's no denying it is an inferior machine.

My guess is it'll have about 25 hp at the crank (also possibly less refined/sophisticated electronics and ecu)

IMO just skip ahead just read a KLX250S review. ;) The Kawi in the review is even red
Really though, the kawi and the honda should be very similar in the power department and because of the similar price they should be similar in parts quality and fit / finish. IMO, I would hold the kawi in higher regard than the honda since it is lighter and you can get a cheap factory bump in displacement with the cylinder and piston from the off road version, bringing it up to stock WR levels while adding a lot of woods friendly torque.

"On the street, the WR’s more potent power is very apparent, so the bike will practically wheelie from corner to corner while the KLX struggles to keep up." - http://www.cycleworld.com/2009/02/18/2009-kawasaki-klx250s-vs-2008-yamaha-wr250r-comparison-test/

AIR COOLED!

It's liquid-cooled.

It's probably a lot cheaper in price because it's not built in Japan.

Heh, the wrr answered the drz 400. In it's own way.
The cbrl is goin straight at the wrr...which, in the process, just trumped the klx...and I havent heard a review yet.
It competes with the klx in price...and the wrr in purpose...with that honda compramise, I guess.
Can't wait to see where this goes...

mucker wrote:

Heh, the wrr answered the drz 400. In it's own way.
The cbrl is goin straight at the wrr...which, in the process, just trumped the klx...and I havent heard a review yet.
It competes with the klx in price...and the wrr in purpose...with that honda compramise, I guess.
Can't wait to see where this goes...

What does it have over the KLX other than fuel injection which wont affect performance?

YZEtc wrote:

It's liquid-cooled.

It's probably a lot cheaper in price because it's not built in Japan.

I agree with you on this YZEtc. The KLX price was cheaper than the WR because it's made in Taiwan so are the KLRs. My friend bought one in 2006 & I was depressed when I saw the "made in Taiwan" label on the tag. I think the super low price of the Honda may indicate they went the same route. Might even have a "made in China" label on it! The WR may be a bit high on price but it's because of the higher labor cost & strict quality control in Japan. I'd still pay for a WR before buying a lesser quality machine.

Of course its made in Taiwan. So is the CBR250R and many many other motorcycles, including Triumphs and other Euro brands looking to keep bikes affordable for the US and their respective home markets. I sincerely doubt quality will be an issue.

I also don't doubt that stock vs stock the WRR would run circles around the new Honda... but I would question whether those circles were worth an extra $2000+. For me the biggest thing that made me choose the WR over the KLX was fuel injection, followed by power, followed by the stator, followed by the suspension, etc. It was an altogether technically superior bike. Now Honda's releasing a bike that isn't so far behind and a LOT cheaper. Hope Yamaha's gotten its money's worth out of the best 250 dual sport because the 'good-enough' bike is coming soon for a lot less.

skierd wrote:

Of course its made in Taiwan. So is the CBR250R and many many other motorcycles, including Triumphs and other Euro brands looking to keep bikes affordable for the US and their respective home markets. I sincerely doubt quality will be an issue.

I also don't doubt that stock vs stock the WRR would run circles around the new Honda... but I would question whether those circles were worth an extra $2000+. For me the biggest thing that made me choose the WR over the KLX was fuel injection, followed by power, followed by the stator, followed by the suspension, etc. It was an altogether technically superior bike. Now Honda's releasing a bike that isn't so far behind and a LOT cheaper. Hope Yamaha's gotten its money's worth out of the best 250 dual sport because the 'good-enough' bike is coming soon for a lot less.

If that "good enough" Honda is only producing about 19-20 hp at the rear wheel.....well I won't really care.

I got my X, and Honda ain't bringing a supermoto out now are they?

Competition is a good thing for the world market place....Go Honda.

motokid wrote:

If that "good enough" Honda is only producing about 19-20 hp at the rear wheel.....well I won't really care.

I got my X, and Honda ain't bringing a supermoto out now are they?

+1 with Motokid. If we as WR owners have to drop a few hundred bucks in mods just to squeez out what maybe 3-5 more hp.....its going to be even harder with the Honda! Might be 2k less but if were assuming right at say 20hp at the wheel, what are you going to have to put into that bike to get in on par with a stock or modded WRR/X? And less not forget the farkle factor. Yes the pic on page one is nice but looks nothing like the stock one does. Just in farkles alone your dropping some serious cash.

Quote :

Might even have a "made in China" label on it!

Quote :

Of course its made in Taiwan.

The CRF250L is made in Thailand.

Swagger wrote:

motokid wrote:

If that "good enough" Honda is only producing about 19-20 hp at the rear wheel.....well I won't really care.

I got my X, and Honda ain't bringing a supermoto out now are they?

+1 with Motokid. If we as WR owners have to drop a few hundred bucks in mods just to squeez out what maybe 3-5 more hp.....its going to be even harder with the Honda! Might be 2k less but if were assuming right at say 20hp at the wheel, what are you going to have to put into that bike to get in on par with a stock or modded WRR/X? And less not forget the farkle factor. Yes the pic on page one is nice but looks nothing like the stock one does. Just in farkles alone your dropping some serious cash.

Agreed, and if you are looking for a platform to drop some serious cash on to get it up to par, I would say the KLX since you can take it out to 350ccs and higher compression for about 1k. Add another 900 for a cam, exhaust, and bigger carb. You're up to uncorked WR250R power levels for the price of a WR + Uncorking. You've got a crappier suspension BUT a lot more torque. A fair trade off to many. Once you get in to head porting and big cams, the KLX and WR are probably close to equal, only on the KLX you start off 1.6k cheaper and with the WR you have fuel injection (you can run a bigger throttle body for top end and keep a little more low end than you would with a big carb). Once you've blown several grand on either though youll just start kicking your self wondering why you didn't just buy a KTM 690 and have a LOT more power while retaining rock solid reliability.

Jeez, it's not even out yet and people are already dogging it. I realize this is a WR-R/X site, but come on, lol.


I'll wait until it's widely available and people start doing in-depth comparisons and testing. If they start to sell quickly, maybe Yamaha will notice, and readjust their pricing. Competition is always good for price drops. A $2K difference is enough for me to wait it out, since I'm broke.