Just added the Level 1 front and back kit to my CRF250L. Agree with your assessment completely. The 60CC syringe to fill the fork tube is a win - I just used it as a funnel without a tube or plunger. The bike handles totally different on washboard road - no pogo stick issues now. Moving forward in single track it is much easier to approach a root in the trail or small log and ride right over it. The bike feels more planted and stable; hence' I feel more confident. My seat height increased 1" to 36.5" and my ground clearance under skid plate increased to 11.5" - so overall my bike sits higher, has more ground clearance which makes me feel more nervous in tight technical terrain due to extreme tippy toe sensation due to increased height. The level 1 package significantly increased my bikes overall dimensions. I appreciate now the better suspension package from Rally Raid and the bike has a better ability to manage difficult terrain. No regrets on the upgrade, money well invested... can't explain why such a significant increase in height post install. Great Video - thanks.
Great insights on the upgrade. It is weird that it increased your seat height so much. I wonder if your preload was set too low on your stock rear shock. Or maybe it had lost some compression. From what I've seen from others online, my stock seat height is a bit lower than most. Not sure why that is either. Part of it may be that my stock tires are getting quite worn down, and a lot people put more aggressive tires on that are a bit taller. Glad you're enjoying the upgrade so far. I'm looking forward to getting more rides in on mine.
Your candid, non-exaggerated observations are valuable and worthwhile; thank you VERY much. fyi: the role of a shock absorber is to dampen spring oscillation (which, should stop within ONE oscillation after compressing from a bump). So, if you're experiencing continuing pogo oscillation after a bump, the shock is not damping the spring oscillation (fast) enough ... in which case the rebound damping needs to increase for that particular spring rate. Hope that helps with perspective.
I just got a 300L a few weeks ago. Loving the bike so far. Been watching your videos for a while. Keep up the good work. I live in Central Utah, so I’ll probably see you out on the trails sooner or later.
Thank you for being realistic about the install and providing value added insight that will save the rest of us some pain. I ordered the Race Tech kit from CRFs Only since Rally Raid had stopped taking orders at that point-it only dawned on me after clicking “buy” that I actually have no clue how to install it. Regardless, I’m hoping the better suspension will one day help me make it to the Great Cocaine Desert via the Pony Express.
Haha, yes - you definitely need to see the Cocaine mine in person to appreciate its majesty. I'm sure the Race Tech kit will be great. I was stuck on Rally Raid just because of the shorter option that they offered, but I've heard only good things about Race Tech. And I'm sure you'll be fine with the install. Watch a lot of videos, and take it slow. Good luck!
You nailed the part about all multiple bumps tossing you about like a pogo stick. That same thing happened to my 300 rally on the Idaho BDR last year. 4 big whoops and the bike got planted windshield first into a granite boulder on the shoulder of the road. luckily the only thing broke was a stock hand guard but the windshield does have 2 deep heavy gouges 2 inches long in the plastic. That section was pretty bumpy and i had to slow down long before that torn up part. I dont mind the spring being soft as i just slow down to where it is not bottoming so bad, but the seat coming up and hitting ya in the ass all the time is just sad. Its inexcusable that Honda can sell this bike with a worn out shock as new.
Wow - glad you came away from that all right, and were able to continue the trip. I’ve been looking at the Idaho BDR for a couple years now. Looks like a gorgeous route.
I ran across the same issue as you with the crash bars and remote adjuster. I can squeeze my hand in there just enough to hold the adjuster knob but I don't have vice grip fingers so I can't adjust it. To get to the adjuster the crash bar and large front left side panel had to come off. What a PITA!! The remote is a good idea but access sucks About a year ago I installed a lithium battery. Since its so small the battery came with foam to properly fit it in the battery box. I put foam under the battery. This lifted it about 2 inches. Back to present day... I'm going on a trip and needed to make a shock adjustment. It didn't take long before I realized there had to be a better way. I cut two slots in the battery box under the lithium battery and a channel in the foam big enough to accept the adjuster cable. Repositioned the adjuster cable at the shaock to point it toward the battery box. Ran the cable through the battery box and placed the adjuster in the pocket above the tool box. If that adjuster cable was a half inch shorter it wouldn't have fit. Now to make an adjustment I just take off the rear left panel with one screw, take off the panel and there it is. I can hold the adjuster body with one hand and turn the knob with the other. Couldn't be easier. I have pictures but can't upload.
Yours sounds like a more elegant solution than mine. I ended up just cutting away a chunk of the left fairing. Much easier to get to now: ruclips.net/video/lboUD9ZnE1o/видео.html
Ive been following you for ages, I think i missed this vid, I upgraded the stock to Ktech soon after buying the rally, Im a bit heavier than yourself, the ktech works well, but now thinking about tinkering some more 😂 and either bars or rally raid suspension might be next, thank you again for this information, and the answers you've provided in the comments have been helpful. Thanks again.
Thanks for the honest, straight-up review. It's really helpful insight as I keep nearly buying the RRP kit. When you replaced your front wheel you routed the front brake line on the outside of the fork. It should be on the inside, this is to protect the hose if the bike was to hit something hard.
Nice! I have the Rally Raid Level 1 kit in the garage ready to be installed. I appreciate you sharing the tips on the syringe and the special pliers. Those were two parts of the install I was a little nervous about. Good to know about the instructions for the preload adjuster because I ordered that as well. I like how you described riding the stock suspension on the whoops, can definitely relate. Glad to hear that was sorted with the suspension upgrade. Thanks for making this video!
Thx for a good vid on the new suspension and for nice series on the Rally in general. The non hype, just a guy enjoying his bike style is greatly appreciated. I myself am waiting for my Rally here in Indonesia with an estimated 9 months delivery date, so here it could show up next week or when I am very old, part of the Asian deal. I have rented a 250 Rally few years ago on Bali for a week. That bike had about 25k miles on it and the suspension by then was comically soft. so no matter what, a suspension upgrade at some point is a "must". I have few Asian market only Hondas, all 150cc and have to rely on simple methods to improve the suspension (not too much aftermarket support). One thing I do is play with the fork oil level. What you want to achieve is for the fork air gap to act as a anti bottom out cushion. To achieve that, you first open all adjusters, if you have them, then with a zip tie on the fork tube compress the fork till it bottoms out on the spring. The zip tie marks the max travel, mark the bottom of the zip tie on the fork leg. Next you keep adding oil until you no longer can bottom the fork out against the spring. With correct oil level, you will have a "soft" bottoming stop, the fork top tube should stop bit above the spring bottom out zip tie mark you made earlier., you want about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch. This is just a little tech bit for your next oil change. Once again thx for the vid.
Thanks for the comment! I hope you get your rally sooner than later. And thanks for the tip on the fork oil. I’ve also heard that getting a thicket oil can help with soft forks, but your method seems a lot more thorough. I’m honestly pretty lost when it comes to the guts of shocks, so it’s nice to hear from people who know their stuff.
@@HighDesertHills Thicker oil will provide more dampening but poor internal oil flow can make the fork too stiff. The oil flow within the fork or shock is a dynamic thing, the internal resistance varies with oil weight but more importantly with the velocity of internal oil flow. Cheap forks suffer from the inability to deal with the large velocity induced resistance changes, so at low fork velocity they feel soft, but at high velocity they feel too hard. The whole reason you purchased the Raid kit is because the internals of both the shock and fork are of high quality and they respond or can control the oil velocity induced resistance changes. My solution here will be a Race Tech Gold Valve, this replaces the factory "unsophisticated" valves with good quality ones and in addition stiffer spring. The spring really just supports the weight, the magic is in the oil flow control. Your suspension is fully adjustable, these adjustments for compression and rebound have around 10% adjustment range from the base internal valving (the principal fork/shock dampening characteristic). You should play around with these settings to dial in your set up to your liking. Lots of vids. The best overall suspension vids in my opinion are Two Clicks Out series, take a look. Ok hope this helps a bit.
@@pawelwolski1316 That’s extremely helpful. I just set the dampening of both front and rear to the default settings, but I’ll start fiddling with them to see if I can really dial it in, and I’ll definitely check out that channel.
@@HighDesertHills I also found this guy, cool hands on cfr 300 issues/mods and general info. You might enjoy this as well, no bs just good info. Aaron G-muppet style
I got this video saved - valuable info and the handle is more important than anything else concerning a bike..... fast is great but w/ a crap suspension you might not live long enough to go fast twice....? You've ridden this bike but is it as bouncy as I perceive it to be, before the suspension upgrade? I do like the Rally Model & I'm looking at several dual sport bikes but somehow missed this Rally Model? I see another video of you testing the new suspension so I'm going there now.... see ya there!
Just doing the rear shock would help a ton on the "whoops", controlling that erratic double bounce thing that I talked about. Doing the front I think is more about controlling the dive when you slam on the brake. That's never been a huge issue for me, but I think it will also help with control on steep downhill sections like that bit we did up AF canyon.
Thanks! A couple other people actually pointed this out as well, and I've since fixed it. I appreciate people looking out for me - that could have cause a nasty problem if it had caught on something while riding.
Great demeanor and very down-to-earth perspective. I have the same bike and will likely upgrade to the same rear shock but do something less ambitious (and less costly) on the front (likely just replacing the spring on the right side with a stiffer K-tech spring). When you were talking about the snap ring pliers, was that in reference to that ring that sits on top of the spring in the right fork leg? I'm worried that I won't be able to get that out. Any additional insights on how to pry it loose? Unrelated question: when you put your bar risers on, did you have to run new cables, or was there enough slack in the stock setup to accommodate the riser? Thanks for the video!
The snap ring pliers are for the replacement snap ring that (in my case) came with the fork kit from Rally Raid. Those pliers won't work with the stock clip. Pretty annoying - it's like Honda built it to not come out. Again, with the Rally Raid fork kit, they sent a little jig that allows you to drill a hole in the fork tube at exactly the right spot, so you can poke the ring out from the outside. Made it super simple. Without the jig, I think it'll just be a matter of finagling that clip out with a metal pick or something. If you're worried about it, I may still have that jig kicking around somewhere in my garage. I'll never need it again. Happy to send it to you if you cover the few dollars it would take to ship.
the problem with the stock suspension is for someone 180lbs+ it becomes actually dangerous to ride trails. It's totally fine if you're at max 170lbs but it really is a safety hazard and can easily cause a crash due to the pogo effect going over multiple woop sections.
Perfect trail to test on Tyler. I am curious about the slow end of the riding, hitting the rocks........did it feel as compliant as stock?? Better?? Stiffer?? I realize the better suspension with want you to get a bit faster, and it should allow that obviously. Many times, you might have to give one end to get a better other end. (If that makes sense). Or with RR Stage one, did you keep the nice soft suspension and gain on the bumps too. I can certainly tell the latter. And even on the slower rocks, you weren't bouncing around like the suspension was too stiff. I do think you might like the MT21 tyre. It will make your bike steer better...regardless of where. (First thing I changed). I did talk to RR and I think we have some good answers from them. I just need to make sure my ride height is still ok after the shock change. What the height of the seat is with me sitting on it. Hope your are healing well. Looking forward to watching more videos from you. Thanks DW
So yeah, it’s all quite a bit more solid. For me, in the dirt, the cushiness of the front end was never a comfortable feeling, it always felt a little too out of control suspension wise - especially going down hill. I don’t feel like I gave up anything on the comfort side - the only negative thing about it all was the price tag 🙂
@@HighDesertHills Good to know about downhills and hard braking. I am a front brake rider most of the time. Rarely do I use or care about the rear brake. If the back end gets bouncing, a tap on the rear brake settles it down a bit. The price tag, if this is the answer, is well worth it to me. I just don't want to this twice. I'll in touch with RR Monday.
@@HighDesertHills Ok thanks. I’ve ordered a CRF300 Rally and was a little concerned that my 30” inseam would not be enough so it’s good to hear that yours is 29” and you can reach the ground. Thanks again
Yes, I drilled it using the jig that Rally Raid included. I have heard some people get it out with a pick without drilling, but drilling it was pretty simple.
Quote - Once fitted with a correctly sprung shock, the CRF300L/R and CRF250Rally models will result in a 40mm lower static seat height, when compared to our full 250mm travel Level 2 suspension, making the bike far easier to mount and dismount, and retaining a near OEM ride height. I was expecting the seat height to decrease as per the above, is this due to the spring rate?
Yes. The stock spring is so soft that the weight of the bike brings the seat height down to where the shorter level 1 Rally Raid shock puts it. With the level 2 Rally Raid shock, which has a travel similar to stock, the seat height is raised quite a bit.
@@HighDesertHills Thanks! I’m 180 and thinking about what rate I should pick. Maybe the 3.9N/mm front 90N/mm rear. Maybe could be ok to take notch lower on both too. But I might put some luggage on the bike taking some trips in the summertime. I also have a Tenere 700 so I don’t really travel with the Honda that much.
Yeah, that's what I went with, and it's been great. I haven't loaded it up too heavily with luggage yet, so we'll see how that goes. My weight does fluctuate pretty wildly though. A year ago I weighed 30lbs less, and I'm working on getting back to that now. If I planned on staying 190 forever, I might have gone with 95N/mm and 4.2N/mm.
Great video. I have a couple of questions. Are you in the US, if so what was the import tariff and taxes? I can't figure out what they would be. The crash bars..... do they actually protect the plastics? The plastics below the crash bars look susceptible to damage.
I was worried about the import/tax thing too, but they didn’t charge anything. All I paid for beyond the cost of suspension was shipping. As for the crash bars, in my case they protected the plastics a lot. All the scrapes on my front plastics came prior to these. That said, nothing is going to be perfect. If you catch a pointy rock at the wrong angle, it could definitely get in there and do some damage.
@@HighDesertHills thanks for the response! I think this is the way I want to go with my suspension. I’m already on my tippy toes and I imagine the Level 2 would be too tall for me.
Thank you for the vid!. What do you have mounted to the crossbar behind the windshield? Im looking to mount my Zumo there but am not sure of the best mount for that bar. Thanks for any help.
It’s just an old iPhone 8 Plus that I was using for nav, mounted with an Amazon phone mount. If you haven’t already seen it, check out this video - it’s a pretty thorough walk-through from Peak Motorcycles that might be helpful to you: ruclips.net/video/DP5BtfX7re8/видео.htmlsi=sqj7vQSsREsiiF09
It’s more about the length of your legs than your overall height. I have a 29” inseam which is shorter than average for someone 5’ 9”. And more than that, it’s about what you’re comfortable with and how much riding you’ve done. There are plenty of people much shorter than us that ride bikes much taller than this one. I started in an XT250 because I wanted to be able to flat foot, and it was great. I think if I would have started in this bike, the height would have been too intimidating.
Thanks for this video. I'm about to order the level 1 from them and they are so busy I guess that they have not answered my question. we I weigh about the same as you, Can you tell me what spring rate you got for the rear and also the front if you have it. I plan on doing a lot of the BDR routes and will also be carrying a fully loaded bag sometimes, guessing about 30-40 lbs. Thanks!
I went with what they classified as “standard” on both. 90N/mm on the rear and 3.9N/mm on the front. With my weight it’s right on the edge of being too light, but I wanted to err on the side of too light because I’d rather crank the preload up a bit than have it too hard with no way to soften it. Good luck!
How much?! I swear I saw somewhere where someone mounted the remote in a much more convenient spot, like right behind their leg somewhere, more towards the center of the bike? I don’t know what brand it was or if they even had to modify the mount or something to that effect, but yeah, I have seen it located where it was accessible from the side.
It was about $1500 delivered for the whole kit. Is it possible the one you saw wasn’t the Rally model? I can’t think of a different spot on the Rally that isn’t covered by the plastics. If you happen to find that again, let me know. It’d be great to have it in a more accessible spot.
@@HighDesertHills my bad, I saw it installed on the 300L, so of course it was easy to get to... For some reason I thought it was closer to the front sprocket, thus making it easy to get to on the Rally, but that’s not the case. It looks like we’re stuck with it being where you have it for now.
They do make a remote pre adjuster, but it's not standard. I got one, and I believe it cost around $200 more. That said, when I first started looking at the shock, I noticed that the remote preload option wasn't available in the dropdown on the order page. When I asked them about it, they said they were back ordered. By the time I was ready to order, the option was available in the dropdown. If you're going to their order page, and the only option for the remote preload is, "HPA not fitted", then my guess is that they are currently out of stock. If you want that option, I'd check it every day or two and order when it is available.
My thinking was that It’d be nice to have for big trips, going between just my weight and the weight of me + all my luggage. But I don’t know - I went on camping trips on my little XT250 loaded up and never messed with the preload. Also, I was doing the full front and back upgrade, and figured a couple hundred extra bucks at that point wasn’t that big of a deal.
@@HighDesertHills that’s what I’m wondering but I still can’t get an answer from Raleigh read whether they offer it or not so I guess I’ll have to wait and see. But you’re probably right I had a KTM before and I never really played with the suspension so I might be getting caught up in the hype. Lol
I’m surprised they haven’t answered your emails. I went back and forth with them a bit before I purchased mine, and they always got back to me within about a day. Maybe they’re getting more inundated with emails these days
Hey why did you choose this brand of suspension? I’m looking at the Ohlins. The main reason it looks like it easier to have shipped north of the boarder here.
The main reason was because they offered the "Level 1" option that kept the seat height pretty close to stock. The other options I was looking at all raised the seat height a fair bit. That, and Rally Raid has a great reputation for quality. That said, I've heard nothing but good about Ohlins shocks, so I'm sure you'll be happy with them if you go that way.
The kit they provide for the front forks replaces the guts of both of them. The damping and rebound is still just in one fork, but there’s now springs in both forks.
Too bad the stock suspension is such a pogo stick. I can't understand why Honda doesn't address this. I'd pay a little more for a bike with a better suspension.
Yeah, I don't know either. Best guess is so they can maintain the price point worldwide, but I'm with you. The one good thing for me, in doing it myself, is that I could choose an option that better suits my shorter legs. Most bikes that come stock with nice suspension have a seat height of 37"+. That's a bit high for me.
@@HighDesertHills true. I predict there will be plenty on the used market after folks realize you need more than 20rwhp. A 400cc (vice 283cc) with no weight gain would be worth the cost of suspension upgrades IMO and a great bike. My DR650 only gives up 25lbs and is far more durable/drop friendly. Maybe there will be a big bore kit available for the rally?
@@DigiMannen I'm just going off their recommendation, since I'm new to suspension. They recommend 10% static, 30% with the rider. That puts it at 21mm static, 63mm rider (210mm total travel). I think it just looks low because this is the level 1 shock, which is designed for shorter riders. It has 50mm less travel than stock, and 40mm less travel than their level 2 option.
Just added the Level 1 front and back kit to my CRF250L. Agree with your assessment completely. The 60CC syringe to fill the fork tube is a win - I just used it as a funnel without a tube or plunger. The bike handles totally different on washboard road - no pogo stick issues now. Moving forward in single track it is much easier to approach a root in the trail or small log and ride right over it. The bike feels more planted and stable; hence' I feel more confident. My seat height increased 1" to 36.5" and my ground clearance under skid plate increased to 11.5" - so overall my bike sits higher, has more ground clearance which makes me feel more nervous in tight technical terrain due to extreme tippy toe sensation due to increased height. The level 1 package significantly increased my bikes overall dimensions. I appreciate now the better suspension package from Rally Raid and the bike has a better ability to manage difficult terrain. No regrets on the upgrade, money well invested... can't explain why such a significant increase in height post install. Great Video - thanks.
Great insights on the upgrade. It is weird that it increased your seat height so much. I wonder if your preload was set too low on your stock rear shock. Or maybe it had lost some compression. From what I've seen from others online, my stock seat height is a bit lower than most. Not sure why that is either. Part of it may be that my stock tires are getting quite worn down, and a lot people put more aggressive tires on that are a bit taller. Glad you're enjoying the upgrade so far. I'm looking forward to getting more rides in on mine.
Your candid, non-exaggerated observations are valuable and worthwhile; thank you VERY much.
fyi: the role of a shock absorber is to dampen spring oscillation (which, should stop within ONE oscillation after compressing from a bump). So, if you're experiencing continuing pogo oscillation after a bump, the shock is not damping the spring oscillation (fast) enough ... in which case the rebound damping needs to increase for that particular spring rate. Hope that helps with perspective.
Thanks for the feedback! I’m really liking this suspension upgrade, but I think I can do more to dial it in exactly for me, and your advice helps.
when adjusting settings, target "the ideal" i.e. the bike 'floating' over the ground, while the tires stay in contact with the ground.
I just got a 300L a few weeks ago. Loving the bike so far. Been watching your videos for a while. Keep up the good work. I live in Central Utah, so I’ll probably see you out on the trails sooner or later.
Congrats on the new bike, and thanks for the feedback! Hope to see you out there.
Thank you for being realistic about the install and providing value added insight that will save the rest of us some pain. I ordered the Race Tech kit from CRFs Only since Rally Raid had stopped taking orders at that point-it only dawned on me after clicking “buy” that I actually have no clue how to install it. Regardless, I’m hoping the better suspension will one day help me make it to the Great Cocaine Desert via the Pony Express.
Haha, yes - you definitely need to see the Cocaine mine in person to appreciate its majesty.
I'm sure the Race Tech kit will be great. I was stuck on Rally Raid just because of the shorter option that they offered, but I've heard only good things about Race Tech. And I'm sure you'll be fine with the install. Watch a lot of videos, and take it slow. Good luck!
You nailed the part about all multiple bumps tossing you about like a pogo stick. That same thing happened to my 300 rally on the Idaho BDR last year. 4 big whoops and the bike got planted windshield first into a granite boulder on the shoulder of the road. luckily the only thing broke was a stock hand guard but the windshield does have 2 deep heavy gouges 2 inches long in the plastic. That section was pretty bumpy and i had to slow down long before that torn up part. I dont mind the spring being soft as i just slow down to where it is not bottoming so bad, but the seat coming up and hitting ya in the ass all the time is just sad. Its inexcusable that Honda can sell this bike with a worn out shock as new.
Wow - glad you came away from that all right, and were able to continue the trip. I’ve been looking at the Idaho BDR for a couple years now. Looks like a gorgeous route.
I ran across the same issue as you with the crash bars and remote adjuster. I can squeeze my hand in there just enough to hold the adjuster knob but I don't have vice grip fingers so I can't adjust it. To get to the adjuster the crash bar and large front left side panel had to come off. What a PITA!! The remote is a good idea but access sucks
About a year ago I installed a lithium battery. Since its so small the battery came with foam to properly fit it in the battery box. I put foam under the battery. This lifted it about 2 inches.
Back to present day... I'm going on a trip and needed to make a shock adjustment. It didn't take long before I realized there had to be a better way. I cut two slots in the battery box under the lithium battery and a channel in the foam big enough to accept the adjuster cable. Repositioned the adjuster cable at the shaock to point it toward the battery box. Ran the cable through the battery box and placed the adjuster in the pocket above the tool box. If that adjuster cable was a half inch shorter it wouldn't have fit.
Now to make an adjustment I just take off the rear left panel with one screw, take off the panel and there it is. I can hold the adjuster body with one hand and turn the knob with the other. Couldn't be easier.
I have pictures but can't upload.
Yours sounds like a more elegant solution than mine. I ended up just cutting away a chunk of the left fairing. Much easier to get to now: ruclips.net/video/lboUD9ZnE1o/видео.html
Ive been following you for ages, I think i missed this vid, I upgraded the stock to Ktech soon after buying the rally, Im a bit heavier than yourself, the ktech works well, but now thinking about tinkering some more 😂 and either bars or rally raid suspension might be next, thank you again for this information, and the answers you've provided in the comments have been helpful. Thanks again.
Thanks for the honest, straight-up review. It's really helpful insight as I keep nearly buying the RRP kit.
When you replaced your front wheel you routed the front brake line on the outside of the fork. It should be on the inside, this is to protect the hose if the bike was to hit something hard.
Thanks! Someone else caught the brake line issue as well, so it’s since been fixed 👍
Ive been looking for a vid about the Level 1, thanks mate 👍 great video and awesome channel - subscribed
No link to buy it .
Nice! I have the Rally Raid Level 1 kit in the garage ready to be installed. I appreciate you sharing the tips on the syringe and the special pliers. Those were two parts of the install I was a little nervous about. Good to know about the instructions for the preload adjuster because I ordered that as well. I like how you described riding the stock suspension on the whoops, can definitely relate. Glad to hear that was sorted with the suspension upgrade. Thanks for making this video!
Awesome! Good luck with the install - It was a bit daunting for me, but very doable.
Thx for a good vid on the new suspension and for nice series on the Rally in general. The non hype, just a guy enjoying his bike style is greatly appreciated. I myself am waiting for my Rally here in Indonesia with an estimated 9 months delivery date, so here it could show up next week or when I am very old, part of the Asian deal. I have rented a 250 Rally few years ago on Bali for a week. That bike had about 25k miles on it and the suspension by then was comically soft. so no matter what, a suspension upgrade at some point is a "must". I have few Asian market only Hondas, all 150cc and have to rely on simple methods to improve the suspension (not too much aftermarket support). One thing I do is play with the fork oil level. What you want to achieve is for the fork air gap to act as a anti bottom out cushion. To achieve that, you first open all adjusters, if you have them, then with a zip tie on the fork tube compress the fork till it bottoms out on the spring. The zip tie marks the max travel, mark the bottom of the zip tie on the fork leg. Next you keep adding oil until you no longer can bottom the fork out against the spring. With correct oil level, you will have a "soft" bottoming stop, the fork top tube should stop bit above the spring bottom out zip tie mark you made earlier., you want about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch. This is just a little tech bit for your next oil change. Once again thx for the vid.
Thanks for the comment! I hope you get your rally sooner than later. And thanks for the tip on the fork oil. I’ve also heard that getting a thicket oil can help with soft forks, but your method seems a lot more thorough. I’m honestly pretty lost when it comes to the guts of shocks, so it’s nice to hear from people who know their stuff.
@@HighDesertHills Thicker oil will provide more dampening but poor internal oil flow can make the fork too stiff. The oil flow within the fork or shock is a dynamic thing, the internal resistance varies with oil weight but more importantly with the velocity of internal oil flow. Cheap forks suffer from the inability to deal with the large velocity induced resistance changes, so at low fork velocity they feel soft, but at high velocity they feel too hard. The whole reason you purchased the Raid kit is because the internals of both the shock and fork are of high quality and they respond or can control the oil velocity induced resistance changes. My solution here will be a Race Tech Gold Valve, this replaces the factory "unsophisticated" valves with good quality ones and in addition stiffer spring. The spring really just supports the weight, the magic is in the oil flow control. Your suspension is fully adjustable, these adjustments for compression and rebound have around 10% adjustment range from the base internal valving (the principal fork/shock dampening characteristic). You should play around with these settings to dial in your set up to your liking. Lots of vids. The best overall suspension vids in my opinion are Two Clicks Out series, take a look. Ok hope this helps a bit.
@@pawelwolski1316 That’s extremely helpful. I just set the dampening of both front and rear to the default settings, but I’ll start fiddling with them to see if I can really dial it in, and I’ll definitely check out that channel.
@@HighDesertHills I also found this guy, cool hands on cfr 300 issues/mods and general info. You might enjoy this as well, no bs just good info. Aaron G-muppet style
@@pawelwolski1316 thanks again!
Cool to see some suspension upgrades
Enjoy the bike life
Thanks!
I got this video saved - valuable info and the handle is more important than anything else concerning a bike..... fast is great but w/
a crap suspension you might not live long enough to go fast twice....? You've ridden this bike but is it as bouncy as I perceive it to
be, before the suspension upgrade? I do like the Rally Model & I'm looking at several dual sport bikes but somehow missed this
Rally Model? I see another video of you testing the new suspension so I'm going there now.... see ya there!
Many thanks.
Nice dude! Do you notice a lot of difference on the front end as well or could a guy get away with just doing the rear shock?
Just doing the rear shock would help a ton on the "whoops", controlling that erratic double bounce thing that I talked about. Doing the front I think is more about controlling the dive when you slam on the brake. That's never been a huge issue for me, but I think it will also help with control on steep downhill sections like that bit we did up AF canyon.
You have the front brake hoses on the wrong side of the fork. They should be on the inside of the fork.
Thanks! A couple other people actually pointed this out as well, and I've since fixed it. I appreciate people looking out for me - that could have cause a nasty problem if it had caught on something while riding.
Great demeanor and very down-to-earth perspective. I have the same bike and will likely upgrade to the same rear shock but do something less ambitious (and less costly) on the front (likely just replacing the spring on the right side with a stiffer K-tech spring). When you were talking about the snap ring pliers, was that in reference to that ring that sits on top of the spring in the right fork leg? I'm worried that I won't be able to get that out. Any additional insights on how to pry it loose?
Unrelated question: when you put your bar risers on, did you have to run new cables, or was there enough slack in the stock setup to accommodate the riser?
Thanks for the video!
The snap ring pliers are for the replacement snap ring that (in my case) came with the fork kit from Rally Raid. Those pliers won't work with the stock clip. Pretty annoying - it's like Honda built it to not come out. Again, with the Rally Raid fork kit, they sent a little jig that allows you to drill a hole in the fork tube at exactly the right spot, so you can poke the ring out from the outside. Made it super simple.
Without the jig, I think it'll just be a matter of finagling that clip out with a metal pick or something. If you're worried about it, I may still have that jig kicking around somewhere in my garage. I'll never need it again. Happy to send it to you if you cover the few dollars it would take to ship.
the problem with the stock suspension is for someone 180lbs+ it becomes actually dangerous to ride trails. It's totally fine if you're at max 170lbs but it really is a safety hazard and can easily cause a crash due to the pogo effect going over multiple woop sections.
Perfect trail to test on Tyler.
I am curious about the slow end of the riding, hitting the rocks........did it feel as compliant as stock?? Better?? Stiffer?? I realize the better suspension with want you to get a bit faster, and it should allow that obviously. Many times, you might have to give one end to get a better other end. (If that makes sense). Or with RR Stage one, did you keep the nice soft suspension and gain on the bumps too. I can certainly tell the latter. And even on the slower rocks, you weren't bouncing around like the suspension was too stiff.
I do think you might like the MT21 tyre. It will make your bike steer better...regardless of where. (First thing I changed).
I did talk to RR and I think we have some good answers from them. I just need to make sure my ride height is still ok after the shock change. What the height of the seat is with me sitting on it.
Hope your are healing well. Looking forward to watching more videos from you.
Thanks
DW
So yeah, it’s all quite a bit more solid. For me, in the dirt, the cushiness of the front end was never a comfortable feeling, it always felt a little too out of control suspension wise - especially going down hill. I don’t feel like I gave up anything on the comfort side - the only negative thing about it all was the price tag 🙂
@@HighDesertHills Good to know about downhills and hard braking. I am a front brake rider most of the time. Rarely do I use or care about the rear brake. If the back end gets bouncing, a tap on the rear brake settles it down a bit. The price tag, if this is the answer, is well worth it to me. I just don't want to this twice. I'll in touch with RR Monday.
Did you route your break line around the outside for a purpose?
No, but I’ve since fixed it. Thanks for looking out 👍
@@HighDesertHills no problem! Just installed the kit last weekend
How tall are you and what is your inseam?
5’9” with a 29” inseam.
Great video with lots of real information.. Curious, what's your inseam in inches? Thanks!
About 29”. Thanks for the comment!
@@HighDesertHills Ok thanks. I’ve ordered a CRF300 Rally and was a little concerned that my 30” inseam would not be enough so it’s good to hear that yours is 29” and you can reach the ground. Thanks again
Congrats on the new bike! I think you’re going to love it 👍
@@HighDesertHills Thanks, it’s hard to find one in a showroom to sit on so I really appreciate the info
You might have better luck finding a shop with a used CRF250L Rally. Not to buy, but just to sit on. They’re very similar in size.
very informative. Did you have to drill the fork or could you remove the clip without drilling?
Yes, I drilled it using the jig that Rally Raid included. I have heard some people get it out with a pick without drilling, but drilling it was pretty simple.
@@HighDesertHills cool. thats the bit that concerns me the most
Question I tried to go to the Rally Raid website for the suspension do you have a link or number you ordered from by chance?
The link I used before now goes to a page that says their new site will be live on April 10, so hopefully you can get there in a few days.
Quote - Once fitted with a correctly sprung shock, the CRF300L/R and CRF250Rally models will result in a 40mm lower static seat height, when compared to our full 250mm travel Level 2 suspension, making the bike far easier to mount and dismount, and retaining a near OEM ride height.
I was expecting the seat height to decrease as per the above, is this due to the spring rate?
Yes. The stock spring is so soft that the weight of the bike brings the seat height down to where the shorter level 1 Rally Raid shock puts it. With the level 2 Rally Raid shock, which has a travel similar to stock, the seat height is raised quite a bit.
You didn’t mention your weight? Pretty important :)
190 lbs, and trying to make that less 😂
@@HighDesertHills Thanks! I’m 180 and thinking about what rate I should pick. Maybe the 3.9N/mm front 90N/mm rear. Maybe could be ok to take notch lower on both too. But I might put some luggage on the bike taking some trips in the summertime.
I also have a Tenere 700 so I don’t really travel with the Honda that much.
Yeah, that's what I went with, and it's been great. I haven't loaded it up too heavily with luggage yet, so we'll see how that goes. My weight does fluctuate pretty wildly though. A year ago I weighed 30lbs less, and I'm working on getting back to that now. If I planned on staying 190 forever, I might have gone with 95N/mm and 4.2N/mm.
Great video. I have a couple of questions. Are you in the US, if so what was the import tariff and taxes? I can't figure out what they would be. The crash bars..... do they actually protect the plastics? The plastics below the crash bars look susceptible to damage.
I was worried about the import/tax thing too, but they didn’t charge anything. All I paid for beyond the cost of suspension was shipping.
As for the crash bars, in my case they protected the plastics a lot. All the scrapes on my front plastics came prior to these. That said, nothing is going to be perfect. If you catch a pointy rock at the wrong angle, it could definitely get in there and do some damage.
@@HighDesertHills thanks for the response! I think this is the way I want to go with my suspension. I’m already on my tippy toes and I imagine the Level 2 would be too tall for me.
Thank you for the vid!. What do you have mounted to the crossbar behind the windshield? Im looking to mount my Zumo there but am not sure of the best mount for that bar. Thanks for any help.
It’s just an old iPhone 8 Plus that I was using for nav, mounted with an Amazon phone mount. If you haven’t already seen it, check out this video - it’s a pretty thorough walk-through from Peak Motorcycles that might be helpful to you: ruclips.net/video/DP5BtfX7re8/видео.htmlsi=sqj7vQSsREsiiF09
@@HighDesertHills Thank you. I will check that out.
Whats up HDH! Was wondering what you've been up to.
Hey there Barry! Yeah, mostly just procrastinating this suspension install that I finally manned up and did 😂
What is your height? I am 5”8’ and I weight around 160. I am wondering if my stats above will work with this bike. Thx
It’s more about the length of your legs than your overall height. I have a 29” inseam which is shorter than average for someone 5’ 9”. And more than that, it’s about what you’re comfortable with and how much riding you’ve done. There are plenty of people much shorter than us that ride bikes much taller than this one. I started in an XT250 because I wanted to be able to flat foot, and it was great. I think if I would have started in this bike, the height would have been too intimidating.
Thanks for this video. I'm about to order the level 1 from them and they are so busy I guess that they have not answered my question. we I weigh about the same as you, Can you tell me what spring rate you got for the rear and also the front if you have it. I plan on doing a lot of the BDR routes and will also be carrying a fully loaded bag sometimes, guessing about 30-40 lbs. Thanks!
I went with what they classified as “standard” on both. 90N/mm on the rear and 3.9N/mm on the front. With my weight it’s right on the edge of being too light, but I wanted to err on the side of too light because I’d rather crank the preload up a bit than have it too hard with no way to soften it.
Good luck!
How much?!
I swear I saw somewhere where someone mounted the remote in a much more convenient spot, like right behind their leg somewhere, more towards the center of the bike? I don’t know what brand it was or if they even had to modify the mount or something to that effect, but yeah, I have seen it located where it was accessible from the side.
It was about $1500 delivered for the whole kit. Is it possible the one you saw wasn’t the Rally model? I can’t think of a different spot on the Rally that isn’t covered by the plastics. If you happen to find that again, let me know. It’d be great to have it in a more accessible spot.
@@HighDesertHills ok thanks. I will try to find that.
@@HighDesertHills my bad, I saw it installed on the 300L, so of course it was easy to get to... For some reason I thought it was closer to the front sprocket, thus making it easy to get to on the Rally, but that’s not the case. It looks like we’re stuck with it being where you have it for now.
@@airadaimagery692 Ahh, too bad. Thanks for checking!
What video did you use for the install. Or giving instructions?
I used this one. It’s the one that Rally Raid had a link to on their site: ruclips.net/video/yaY_qhcrt2Q/видео.html
@@HighDesertHills thanks. Rear seems easy. It’s the front that concerns me. So they provide decent instructions?
Yeah - if I can do it, I think anyone can. And you’re right, the rear was very easy 👍
In Canada. I can’t get an answer from rally raid. Does rear shock come with a remote pre adjuster? HPA…
They do make a remote pre adjuster, but it's not standard. I got one, and I believe it cost around $200 more. That said, when I first started looking at the shock, I noticed that the remote preload option wasn't available in the dropdown on the order page. When I asked them about it, they said they were back ordered. By the time I was ready to order, the option was available in the dropdown. If you're going to their order page, and the only option for the remote preload is, "HPA not fitted", then my guess is that they are currently out of stock. If you want that option, I'd check it every day or two and order when it is available.
@@HighDesertHills thank you. Not sure do you think it’s really worth it to get it
My thinking was that It’d be nice to have for big trips, going between just my weight and the weight of me + all my luggage. But I don’t know - I went on camping trips on my little XT250 loaded up and never messed with the preload.
Also, I was doing the full front and back upgrade, and figured a couple hundred extra bucks at that point wasn’t that big of a deal.
@@HighDesertHills that’s what I’m wondering but I still can’t get an answer from Raleigh read whether they offer it or not so I guess I’ll have to wait and see. But you’re probably right I had a KTM before and I never really played with the suspension so I might be getting caught up in the hype. Lol
I’m surprised they haven’t answered your emails. I went back and forth with them a bit before I purchased mine, and they always got back to me within about a day. Maybe they’re getting more inundated with emails these days
Hey why did you choose this brand of suspension? I’m looking at the Ohlins. The main reason it looks like it easier to have shipped north of the boarder here.
The main reason was because they offered the "Level 1" option that kept the seat height pretty close to stock. The other options I was looking at all raised the seat height a fair bit. That, and Rally Raid has a great reputation for quality. That said, I've heard nothing but good about Ohlins shocks, so I'm sure you'll be happy with them if you go that way.
@@HighDesertHills Good to know. Thanks for responding.
The ohlins rear shock is overpriced.
So did you only do one shock since there’s only one spring on one fork
The kit they provide for the front forks replaces the guts of both of them. The damping and rebound is still just in one fork, but there’s now springs in both forks.
Are those tires the stock ones?
Sorry for the slow response - RUclips flagged this comment for review for some odd reason. Yes - these are the stock tires.
How tall are you?
5’ 9”. But more importantly, my inseam is only around 29 (maybe 30).
Too bad the stock suspension is such a pogo stick. I can't understand why Honda doesn't address this. I'd pay a little more for a bike with a better suspension.
Yeah, I don't know either. Best guess is so they can maintain the price point worldwide, but I'm with you. The one good thing for me, in doing it myself, is that I could choose an option that better suits my shorter legs. Most bikes that come stock with nice suspension have a seat height of 37"+. That's a bit high for me.
How much do you weigh?
I’m down to about 165 currently, but more like 195 when this was filmed.
@@HighDesertHills I'm 160lbs, i ordered the 85n/m spring. Followed the rr chart.
@@HighDesertHills how's it working out now??
Reggy Dunlop I went with the 90nm, based on what I weighed at the time, but it still feels great.
Just don’t understand the rally…
Different strokes for different folks. It’s the perfect bike for me.
@@HighDesertHills true. I predict there will be plenty on the used market after folks realize you need more than 20rwhp. A 400cc (vice 283cc) with no weight gain would be worth the cost of suspension upgrades IMO and a great bike. My DR650 only gives up 25lbs and is far more durable/drop friendly. Maybe there will be a big bore kit available for the rally?
It looks way to soft in the back.
It’s right at 30% sag with me on it.
@@HighDesertHills 20mm static sag and 82-85 mm loaded.
@@DigiMannen I'm just going off their recommendation, since I'm new to suspension. They recommend 10% static, 30% with the rider. That puts it at 21mm static, 63mm rider (210mm total travel). I think it just looks low because this is the level 1 shock, which is designed for shorter riders. It has 50mm less travel than stock, and 40mm less travel than their level 2 option.
@@HighDesertHills Yes, you have the shorter one, my misstake.
Your cables and tubes are on the wrong side.
Thank you!! Didn’t even notice. Looks like I have an after-work project 🙂
@@HighDesertHills :)
How tall are you?
I’m 5’9” but my legs are shorter than most people my height. 29” inseam.