£5400 2023 Honda CRF300L review: The realistic view of buying this motorcycle
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- Опубликовано: 22 авг 2024
- The CRF is an interesting bike. So good but does have some down sides however, this really does depend on the reasons as to why you would want to buy this bike and what use case it needs to satisfy. If you are off the road, I suspect 10 MPH is as fast as it would go. On the road, it is a bit shaky above 50 MPH and can wallow across the road. This may be a combination of spoked wheels and standard tyres. It can be economical but at speed, I suspect the high MPG will drop.
One advantage this bike has is that it is very comfortable on the disastrous UK roads, which pretty much essentially ARE off roads = the numerous pot holes and imperfections on the roads, it takes them easy and you don't feel them as you would on any road bike
Hi Scott, many thanks for the comment. Actually, when one looks at it from that point of view, this bike does make sense :)
That's why I bought the CRF250M supermoto when it came out in 2014 it was, I think. Stiffer suspension, bigger front disc, longer gearing for better top speed. Speed bumps, canal lids, potholes are fun, not a pain. I'd love to get the 300M but Honda decided not to offer one.
I live on an island, 260 km from west to east, lots of beautiful countryside. Don't need to go faster than 100 km/h but need the suspension to iron out poor roads. So it'll be a 300L with 70 percent street tires.
I see you on all videos about this bike
CRF300L is true dual sport bike. It means that it is really capable off road and still good on road for general use. That is at the cost of not being perfect on anything. I've bought one, also grey 2023 model, because all more comfortable twin cylinder dual sports are too heavy and low clearance for offroad use. It's a budget bike made in Thailand, not premium quality made in Japan. If you mean to use it off road, you need better aftermarket rear suspension. If you want to travel long distances, you need better aftermarket seat. Power is good enough. Speed is not an issue because you can't go above 90kph/60mph on offroad-worthy knobby tires anyway. Even on oem street tires, engine can keep up with 110kph easily and you won't like going faster without wind shield.
The only competitor for this use case is KLX300. But it is not available in Europe.
Hi Ural, thanks for the comment. This is a great summary of the CRF. You are absolutely right in everything you say. Great bike for the budget 👍
Got the same bike from the same dealer and love it. Done 2700 miles in 3 months.
Hi PMW, that's great. They are a great bike and safe riding.
Bro your on the wrong side of the road!!! Thanks for the video
Hey Bro, I am on the correct side. It was Napoleon that made his army left handed (when his right arm was injured) hence the shift to the right side of the road (or path in the context of knights and shinning armour etc). Hope this helps 😆
I feel sorry for the new owner. 70 + running in .
I put a deposit down for one today. I was surprised to hear from the Honda dealer that there isn’t any running in period as such any more on their standard bikes, only their competition machines.
I love this color scheme as well as approachable seat height. ❤
Hi Liz, many thanks for the comment. It does look great in this schema :)
@@bankruptpensioner and honestly the pictures in the brochures do not do it justice. Really a gorgeous bike.
@@lizdg3892 completely agree :)
Seems logical that a 300 cc onoffroad machine isn’t meant to ride at 100km per hour. Honda has better suited machines for that. Thanks for the informative vid.
Hi Jo, many thanks for the comment. I agree with your thinking, maybe its not the bike, but false aspirations of the buyer????
Honda offers the CRF300L Rallye with a fairing and a bigger tank.
Great little adventure machines - cheers for the upload 👍
Hi MCA, many thanks for the comment. It's a great bike but one needs to be clear of the expectation for the CRF as a buyer. The problem here is many are available second hand having only a few hundred miles on them. In context, the bike is great as long as it fits your real world needs.
Ms Honda, bring CRF300L to Brazil, please !
What are your thoughts? If I buy this bike and would like to do a good amount of off-road as well, should I not get this bike? There are better bikes for strictly off-road but I want to be able to ride on road/city as well. And personally I really like the instrument cluster a whole lot better than the klx 300 otherwise I would just go with that bike. Would like to hear your thoughts since you own one of these bikes
Hi Alex, this is a great bike however!!!! There are reasons why people buy this bike and quickly move it on. I suspect the lack of power is a major issue and that it looks like it is off road, but is not necessarily the case. Food for thought before spending your hard earned cash 👍
It will get more stable at 60mph i suppose, if you install an aftermarket rear shock , it will transform.
I think you are probably right. And a stiffer front end might be useful as well
5:54 “you’ll touch sixth gear in town” sounds like a challenge! Jokes aside great review 👍 do love the grey and I completely agree that it looks less nick-able in this new livery😂
Hi TekkyTwo, many thanks for the comment. Sixth is just to a higher gear for town work. That said, first gear to is low for town work 😆. I suspect this colour would be cheaper on the insurance quote 😄
@@bankruptpensioner tell me about it! Insurance quotes in London are crazy due to thieves thinking they’re invincible. I had my brand new Honda PCX nicked at 2K miles in bow. No worries keep up the great content 👍
I'm a bit over 5' 9' 176cm and my inside leg is 33.2 inches or 84.3 cm. I am looking at the CRF300L as my first bike looks like I should be able to flat foot this just fine.
Hey Brent, many thanks for the comment. You will be fine. I am as tall but a 31 inch inside leg and I had no problems. Go sit on one at your local Honda dealer to get a feel. The seat height when on the side stand looks a little intimidating but once your bum is on the bike, the suspension will come right down 👍
If im not mistaken i recognise the Uttoxeter bypass and its accompanying infernal hum!
Hi FortyFour, This was on the road between the A50 and Ashbourne Derbyshire - we are not too far off each other :)
I’m taking one out next week. I’ll let you know what I think.
hi Knakered, many thanks for the comment. Yes!!!! You must return and tell us your thoughts. You must spend a good two hours playing on the bike. Mounting, dismounting, setting off in 2nd as 1st is for off road use only (my opinion to be fair), understanding what the bike brings for you and where it falls short. Can't wait for your reponse on the test ride :)
@@bankruptpensioner Hi there. Well, I didn't manage two hours on the bike I'm afraid; I just didn't like it enough to want to keep riding it. I'm 5'9" tall, with a 32" inside leg, and I just found getting on and off it too much of an acrobatic palaver. Don't get me wrong, I have been riding bikes for 40 years, and have ridden my share of stuff across the whole spectrum, so I have the techniques down pat to deal with a tall bike, but I want something that feels smaller and more manageable than my current CBR500R, not taller and more awkward. Granted, with my weight in the saddle I could pretty much flat-foot it, but the amount the suspension rose as I dismounted made it more awkward getting off than getting on. I also found the naturally comfortable seating position for me to be more than half-way back along the seat, so that I was effectively sitting on the pillion part of the saddle. This left no room for my regular passenger (my son) unless I sat so far forward that I was uncomfortable. He also found the footrests too high to be able to easily mount and dismount behind me unless he used the rider peg. I appreciate most people will never carry a passenger, but that alone would have been a deal-breaker for me. The engine surprised me with how much urge it had for such a small engine, 88mph on the clock flat out, and the bike was quite stable at that speed. 70 felt like a speed it could hold all day, but I doubt that I could have put up with the vibration through the bars for more than 1/2 hour or so. Personally, I thought the vibes were unacceptable, and again, they alone would have been a deal breaker. I agree that 1st is too low for the road, but I felt that 2nd was too high to be pulling away in, particularly uphill where i thought that it needed too much feathering of the clutch. The shift light flashing away in my eye-line would have driven me potty long term, particularly as it does it at anything over 70 ish in top. Another issue with the display, that my CBR does too, is that the speed indicator hunted between one number and the next. I can ride at a steady speed, definitely, but the speedo would sit there flashing 29-30-29-30... A minute increase in speed would set it to going 30-31-30-31... If there was one single thing I could change on the CBR it would be that... Don't get me wrong, I can see the attraction, but it's definitely not the bike for me. It felt too frantic and vibey for me to want to live with on the occasional longer ride I do, it wasn't suitable for any more than a very short/emergency pillion ride, it felt too tall and ungainly mounting and dismounting it and the notion that it would be a lighter and pleasanter country lanes hack than my CBR was totally overshadowed by those shortcomings. The front brake hose routed directly in my eyeline over the top of the instruments was another niggle that shouldn't need addressing. In short, sorry, but I didn't really like it at all, and I couldn't even see a way of easily making changes to suit my preferences, so it's a firm no from me. I am going to have a look at the Triumph 400s when they arrive, and I will maybe consider a go on the Honda CL500 (although I don't necessarily think that the CL will offer enough of a difference in riding dynamics to merit the change from my CBR). All the best, and sorry to be so negative about the bike.
@@knackeredrovers what a great review. There are so many points in your response that I also felt. I am a similar height and inside leg and I too found mounting and dismounting a task and a half. Maybe it was made for lanky 25 year olds :). It is amazing how soft the rear suspension is and the amount the bike drops when you are settled in the seat. 88MPH - I didn't dare take this one over 70 due to it requiring and over demanding concertration to keep the bike straight and true however, well done in getting it this fast :). Strange position for the front brake hose. I too found the hose bouncing up and down distracting and covering sight of the instrument panels. I have seen others where the hose is cable tied down which does seem to work somewhat. I can understand why this is the number 1 bike for people buying, then selling within a few hundred miles of ownership. It's very sad that many think this way however, it does prove that a good test ride is required for this bike. Making sure the potential owner clearly understands the shortcomings of such a machine. I can't wait for the T 400 to come available. Hopefully, the local T centre will let me have a go. That should be January 2024 however, if I get chance, I might just go over to India and have a play on a rental for a day or two. Many thanks for the feedback, brilliant :)
T 400?? Whats that
At 6ft 1" I'm fine with the seat height but since spending last winter in the garage static balance practice and mounting/dismounting on the footpegs from both sides I now always get on/off that way.
hi GirlInAGale, many thanks for the comment. That's a cool way of getting on and off. I do this with my Tiger but I tried this on the CRF and the rear suspension made the mount feel quite unstable. Are you using the standard suspension on your CRF?
@@bankruptpensioner Standard suspension. It's all about moving your head and chest beyond the centre of balance so when you put weight on the footrest it doesn't topple.
@@girlinagale I shall have a play with this technique. Maybe a video is needed to show everyone how best this can be done 😆
fully comp garaged. Quoted half the price of the bike for a year!
Wow, if I understand you right, that is legal theft???
@@bankruptpensioner Its certainly made me think twice about getting back in to biking.
Man, what ! you don't use first or sixth gear !
Only in town, and this assumes town is flat and no steep hills etc
Great review, I wonder if this is made in Mexico like the XR150L?
It's assembled in Thailand. I bought two Hondas new in Thailand, absolutely no problems with quality. Millions of small bikes on those roads lasting for a very long time.
Is this the LS version?
Hi there, lime wire. It’s just the basic version. It’s not the rally version or anything like that.
@@bankruptpensioner Understood, thank you. The color was throwing me off, the grey.
90mpg ? I get about 66mpg 😂 I'm about 16 stone in full gear, though. I'm using 93 octane. Could that be the reason for poor MPGs?
Uk gallons are imperial (4.546 litres) whereas US gallons are 3.785L so when we say we get 90mpg that would equate to 74mpg on a US gallon...
@@davidbrooks1971 You guys should try liters per 100 km, no confusion there! ;)
Put a full dominator exhaust on it, thank me later
Hi Flynn, many thanks for the comment. I will suggest it to the new owner. Did you find a changed the performance?
Yes, absolutely
@@bankruptpensionerwon’t change the performance at all. You will be miles ahead of the game spending your money on upgrading the suspension.
300l ในประเทศไทย ราคา 4300 usd และด้านหน้า จะไม่เหมือนกัน ด้านหน้าในไทยจะเหมือนกับ 450l
Hi Evo, many thanks for the comment. This is really interesting that the front is different over there. 👍👍