I did the speed thing in my younger years. Now I want a reliable light trail ready bike. But still be road capable with the occasional highway run to a friend's house about an hour away.
Totally agree with your description of this bike. I own 2022 CRF 300Rally and it is a joy to ride. It's the do everything go everywhere bike with loads of fun at a great price. I've ridden over 17 000 km (About 11 000 miles) this summer, even did the MABDR with all my camping gear from Montreal and back. Had a blast! I'm planning to go further next summer and do the WYBDR + COBDR. It's not perfect, no bike is but so much fun to ride. I would say it's the most fun light weight adventure bike there is out there and it's a Honda so it will last forever.
I've got a 17 250 Rally...among the dozen bikes I've owned this is my favourite. It took me a while to adjust my mindset, but it does it all adequately. I have a bigger adventure bike for 2 up, but will probably keep my Rally forever...love the little "Africa Single".
Nice video. I pick mine up next Thursday and looking forward to the first ride and mods. I have owned several dual sport/Adventure bikes from a little Xt225 to a 1200GS. I have a AT as my main bike now. So this will be my local, truck and exploring bike. Looking forward to your mod videos.
I’ve always been of the view that with defensive riding and looking far enough ahead, consistent scanning of the environment, then situations shouldn’t arise where you ‘need’ extra power to get out of a situation. In short, back off early and don’t get into difficulty in the first place. Never ride a bike to its, or your limitations. Thanks for the review, as I still can not decide between this and the Voge 300 Rally, which is getting some great reviews. Cheers me dears.
... Just sub'ed with a bell and a 👍. Thank you for the video. Bought a 2021 rally last May to get back to the dirty side after being away for 38 years. In the 70's and 80's I raced Motocross, Hare Scrambles, Enduros, etc for 13 years. This bike does everything I need. Jeff
Rally coming pretty soon and excited. It will join my Moto Guzzi V85TT and '98 Ural sidecar rig. Love both of my other bikes but this will fit a nice niche being lighter and even more capable off road.
I'm used to open two strokes and Dakar rally bikes going trough deserts at near 200 km/h but i find this rally or the 250 the most fun bike to ride, not 130 km/h drifts, but who cares, this is adv with no worries.
i have to agree with you i bought both the L and rally sold the L and having a blast on the bone stock Rally also have the Transalp but no ride time on it yet up here in New England cold and rainny
6 months ago I had my mind set up to get a 300l rally. Then I started watching more and more TH-cam videos, hitting dealers and being exposed to so many other options. Here it is 6 months later and I’m still bikeless and can’t make up my mind. I’m waiting to get my hands on a Triumph scrambler 400x in Jan/Feb before I make a decision. At least that’s what I tell myself.
I have both bikes; rally cons terrible stock suspension, cheaply modified though(racetech); corked up with a terrible stock tune Pros- 6spd, wind coverage and fuel injection. DRZ400 Pros- suspension way better out the gate, faster(barely compared to modded rally) Cons- 5spd carbed lol analog controls, terribly small footpegs trash headlight SMH, no wind protection@@dcryder9736
Buy it put a better shock on the back and go. I had a DRZ by the way. I’ve owned 3 Africa twins 2 Tenere 700 s an 890 and 2 690 KTMs a gs1250 bmw a wr250 r Yamaha KTM exc f 500 Husqvarna 500 so I know what I am talking about. I’ve been riding for years and am now 64 started back adventure riding at 59 after kids got out of school. Here’s the deal don’t wait. Life is short and you never Know when your ability to ride will diminish. Watch jr depew on youtube riding his DR650 all over. The rally is perfect. Good wind protection decent power handles great looks incredible. Plenty of luggage options etc. it was a little soft so I put a ktech shock on back. I’m no light weight at 210 pounds myself plus gear. You will have a ball on this bike get it , ride the crap out of it camp on it learn about it. It’s easy to service won’t break will do everything fine except interstate and who wants to do that ?? You will have more fun than you can imagine. If you really start getting serious you can always upgrade sell it and buy a KTM or something. If you are very street biased but do a little dirt roads get a KLR they are dirt cheap too. Only problem With Honda they are hard to get. Watch itchy boots season 6. She took one all the way from South America to Alaska !! I rode mine from Alabama to North Carolina all over north Ga. You are missing it !!! Have fun
I like the IRC tires alot, lasted me 8.5k , and could went another 1k frankly, also they perform great on road and are not loud, more than I can say for Dunlop garbage I replaced them with .
The Kawasaki KL X300 beats at hands-down suspension is so awesome right out of the box Put a windshield on it and there you have it the best lightweight adventure bike you can get ! Period!!.
Hey I always enjoy your videos and content. Very informative. You are coving the bikes my husband and I are interested in. We aren’t tall people so it’s nice to see the 300 rally with the lower kit. It really does compress more as you sit on it. We love the look of the rally and can’t beet the larger gas tank. I have the xt 150L and will eventually have to upgrade to the 300 SL as I’m 5’1”. It’s the same seat height as the 150. All good. Thanks for doing what you do.
9:30 ... wow look how straight your back is ;) that must be really healthy ;) wonder why I still pick my bikes up facing the bike ....however, after all you made me wana try a CFR300 :D
What a good bike you have!! Actually, I have the same one, after owning a 250 rally for 4 years! I´ve been looking for a proper engine protector for a while, as I don´t really trust the plastic one, and I´ve just seen that you have a metallic one! (I mean the skid plate, not the red one on both sides) That´s just what I´ve been looking for! Does the L model fit in the Rally frame? Did you have to modificate something, either on the metal skid plate or the plastic one that comes with the bike? Thank you really much in advance, you just showed me the solution of a problem I´ve been looking really everywhere!
Enjoyed the video. Just bought a Rally and looking to fit a skid plate. I noted the one in your video had drain holes in the bottom. Where I ride it’s often wet/muddy so drain holes are a useful feature. What brand skid plate did you fit? Be interested to hear comments from other Rally owners on whose skid plate they fitted. Thanks!
Everything is a compromise you have to decide what you’re going to be using the bike for these bikes have plenty of power for off-road but barely enough for road use. There is little to no throttle therapy and hooligan fun on the road is a zero But it will easily wing down the road at 70 miles an hour all day and not complain. Just riding it, it’s fantastic if you try to push it the Budget parts immediately become apparent.
Depends what you want it to do, whilst it may be better off road (DR650), the Rally has a really decent service interval and I think better as a world tourer, plenty of people have already shown this. Mind you, with the right attidude you can get pretty much any bike around the world.
@@ferkuzuel I should add that I’m sixty and just starting out on off road trail riding so I think bikes like the DR650 would be way beyond my skill level.
@@MattTofield I wasn't knocking the 300, and the DR650 has been globetrotting for 27 years and anyone with a butter knife can fix it IF something went wrong. Even Ichyboots has had some issues with the 300, all be it, she's put about a million miles on it lol.
Honda has not delivered what they could/should have with the 300s. The suspension, here I have to disagree with you, the stock suspension is ridiculously soft but it's also under damped. It violates the most basic sag values, stock values of free sag 30%, rider sag close to 60% with my 175 lbs. The "correct" values are 10 and 30%.........This suspension is junk and actually unsafe at even reasonable speeds, hit some woops and this bike becomes a bronco. The power is fun up to around 50 mph and then it really tapers off. This engine is choked up, Honda tuned it to max torque down low, but in my opinion they over did it. By opening the air box (including the inner snorkel), installing CBR 300 cams, exh and most importantly 550 Performance Products tune, you can really wake this motor up. In my view, it is the Rally that you should start with for "adv" riding vs the L. Like you said, the fearing, wind screen, bigger tank, it all makes more sense. You really should consider changing the IRCs. I just came back from 2000 miles, "real" adv ride here in Indonesia. Zero high ways, from awesome winding roads, dirt, beach runs........The IRCs on the pavement "fall into turns", they really suck on pavement. Changing my IRCs to cheap, local made 70/30 tires made my Rally so much fun on these awesome roads. If you ever do deep water crossings, go slow. The cowl acts like a big scoop, cowling prevents that water from exiting on the sides, it goes over the motor and right into the air box....... Have fun.
Excellent evaluation. I’ve always adopted the 10/30% sag and it works. I could see my self on a Honda one day but in my late 60’s I’m still enjoying my modified KTM500 too much.
The problem with the 300L rally is that it is not a very exciting or fun bike. I literally threw every upgrade in the book at it, including a full Rally Raid suspension rebuild, full Yoshi RS4 system, 91 ECU, and still do not get anywhere close to the amount of excitement that I get riding my new KTM 500 EXC-F.
Das mag sein aber eine KTM ist bei weitem keine Honda....hier in Deutschland gibt es genügend Biker die von KTM die Schnauze voll haben...zuviele Defekte, unzuverlässig und nun ist KTM auch noch in finanzielle Schwierigkeiten. Neeee, darauf hab ich keine Lust und komme zwar etwas langsamer ans Ziel, jedoch Nerven schonender. Die Leistung reicht, wenn man das mindset dazu hat....sonst gibt's genügend andere Bikes, auch v Honda 😊
Question: You have a set of "crash bars" around the radiator and fairing and never discuss them. I have a Rally and have never seen that particular arrangement. I agree with you, so many badmouth the soft suspension...it is OK...if you don't like it, spend $ and fix it. You can't expect Honda to do all the work. There are sooooo many "fixes" for the Rally...study the product, understand Honda can't make the whole planet happy...then develope your personal plans B4 you buy.
Unless it's considerably modded, a CRF300L Rally is not an ADV bike - it's a dual sport. Doing long road trips on a CRF300L sounds like an awful proposition to me. It's not an ADV if you can't tour with it.
Not an adventure bike as normally defined. It is an (IMO) an overweight, overplasticed, and underpowered around town or gravel road dual sport. 300L or KLX much better choice.
I did the speed thing in my younger years. Now I want a reliable light trail ready bike. But still be road capable with the occasional highway run to a friend's house about an hour away.
Love mine! Do what you have to for your style and have fun! 53 years young and she's staying in the stalls til I can't ride anymore.
Totally agree with your description of this bike. I own 2022 CRF 300Rally and it is a joy to ride. It's the do everything go everywhere bike with loads of fun at a great price. I've ridden over 17 000 km (About 11 000 miles) this summer, even did the MABDR with all my camping gear from Montreal and back. Had a blast! I'm planning to go further next summer and do the WYBDR + COBDR. It's not perfect, no bike is but so much fun to ride. I would say it's the most fun light weight adventure bike there is out there and it's a Honda so it will last forever.
I hope to do that much on mine. I absolutely love this bike
I've got a 17 250 Rally...among the dozen bikes I've owned this is my favourite. It took me a while to adjust my mindset, but it does it all adequately. I have a bigger adventure bike for 2 up, but will probably keep my Rally forever...love the little "Africa Single".
Me too, 2018' .
I really like mine. Lots of different upgrades you can do to make it custom to you and how you ride. Keep the videos coming.
Nice video. I pick mine up next Thursday and looking forward to the first ride and mods. I have owned several dual sport/Adventure bikes from a little Xt225 to a 1200GS. I have a AT as my main bike now. So this will be my local, truck and exploring bike. Looking forward to your mod videos.
I’ve always been of the view that with defensive riding and looking far enough ahead, consistent scanning of the environment, then situations shouldn’t arise where you ‘need’ extra power to get out of a situation. In short, back off early and don’t get into difficulty in the first place. Never ride a bike to its, or your limitations. Thanks for the review, as I still can not decide between this and the Voge 300 Rally, which is getting some great reviews. Cheers me dears.
... Just sub'ed with a bell and a 👍. Thank you for the video.
Bought a 2021 rally last May to get back to the dirty side after being away for 38 years.
In the 70's and 80's I raced Motocross, Hare Scrambles, Enduros, etc for 13 years.
This bike does everything I need.
Jeff
Rally coming pretty soon and excited. It will join my Moto Guzzi V85TT and '98 Ural sidecar rig. Love both of my other bikes but this will fit a nice niche being lighter and even more capable off road.
solid review. awesome job considering what the bike is for and who it's for. 10/10 journalism.
I'm used to open two strokes and Dakar rally bikes going trough deserts at near 200 km/h but i find this rally or the 250 the most fun bike to ride, not 130 km/h drifts, but who cares, this is adv with no worries.
I love mine, it does anything I want to do!
With this Motorcycle you can goo where you wanted. Simply the best Motorcycle.
i have to agree with you i bought both the L and rally sold the L and having a blast on the bone stock Rally also have the Transalp but no ride time on it yet up here in New England cold and rainny
I always want to ride my rally over the Transalp 🤷♂️
6 months ago I had my mind set up to get a 300l rally. Then I started watching more and more TH-cam videos, hitting dealers and being exposed to so many other options. Here it is 6 months later and I’m still bikeless and can’t make up my mind. I’m waiting to get my hands on a Triumph scrambler 400x in Jan/Feb before I make a decision. At least that’s what I tell myself.
I feel this
Get a DRZ400 and don't look back. Smokes the CRF in almost every measure. 👍
I have both bikes; rally cons terrible stock suspension, cheaply modified though(racetech); corked up with a terrible stock tune Pros- 6spd, wind coverage and fuel injection. DRZ400 Pros- suspension way better out the gate, faster(barely compared to modded rally) Cons- 5spd carbed lol analog controls, terribly small footpegs trash headlight SMH, no wind protection@@dcryder9736
Buy it put a better shock on the back and go. I had a DRZ by the way. I’ve owned 3 Africa twins 2 Tenere 700 s an 890 and 2 690 KTMs a gs1250 bmw a wr250 r Yamaha KTM exc f 500 Husqvarna 500 so I know what I am talking about. I’ve been riding for years and am now 64 started back adventure riding at 59 after kids got out of school.
Here’s the deal don’t wait. Life is short and you never
Know when your ability to ride will diminish. Watch jr depew on youtube riding his DR650 all over.
The rally is perfect. Good wind protection decent power handles great looks incredible. Plenty of luggage options etc. it was a little soft so I put a ktech shock on back. I’m no light weight at 210 pounds myself plus gear.
You will have a ball on this bike get it , ride the crap out of it camp on it learn about it. It’s easy to service won’t break will do everything fine except interstate and who wants to do that ?? You will have more fun than you can imagine. If you really start getting serious you can always upgrade sell it and buy a KTM or something.
If you are very street biased but do a little dirt roads get a KLR they are dirt cheap too. Only problem
With Honda they are hard to get.
Watch itchy boots season 6. She took one all the way from
South America to Alaska !! I rode mine from
Alabama to North Carolina all over north Ga. You are missing it !!! Have fun
@@rodneyjohnston2467thank you! Excellent assessment!
Great mini adventure bikes! Not ideal on the freeways, but great once in the bush exploring. Cheers for the up-load 😎👍
I like the IRC tires alot, lasted me 8.5k , and could went another 1k frankly, also they perform great on road and are not loud, more than I can say for Dunlop garbage I replaced them with .
Thanks for your honest opinion!
The Kawasaki KL X300 beats at hands-down suspension is so awesome right out of the box
Put a windshield on it and there you have it the best lightweight adventure bike you can get ! Period!!.
Love the honesty.Cheers
Nicely done! I have a Rally on order, and the height does concern me, since I'm coming from an XT250. I look forward to the mods video.
Just put a lowering link on and slide the fork tubes up about 1/2" to 3/4" , and you good to go. Luv my Rally
It compresses good, give it 1K , I have it .
really good review, i like the style.
thank you
The Rally feels taller because of it's thicker and wider seat. The other difference is it's bigger front disc brake.
Hey I always enjoy your videos and content. Very informative. You are coving the bikes my husband and I are interested in. We aren’t tall people so it’s nice to see the 300 rally with the lower kit. It really does compress more as you sit on it. We love the look of the rally and can’t beet the larger gas tank. I have the xt 150L and will eventually have to upgrade to the 300 SL as I’m 5’1”. It’s the same seat height as the 150. All good.
Thanks for doing what you do.
thank you
Nice review. The Rally is top of my list if i decide to go smaller, than my CB500X.
Love those honda rally crocks
😂😂
9:30 ... wow look how straight your back is ;) that must be really healthy ;) wonder why I still pick my bikes up facing the bike ....however, after all you made me wana try a CFR300 :D
Greetings,
As always another fantastic detailed video 🇺🇸🍾🎉🇺🇸
Keep producing more videos
thank you
What a good bike you have!! Actually, I have the same one, after owning a 250 rally for 4 years! I´ve been looking for a proper engine protector for a while, as I don´t really trust the plastic one, and I´ve just seen that you have a metallic one! (I mean the skid plate, not the red one on both sides) That´s just what I´ve been looking for! Does the L model fit in the Rally frame? Did you have to modificate something, either on the metal skid plate or the plastic one that comes with the bike? Thank you really much in advance, you just showed me the solution of a problem I´ve been looking really everywhere!
Thank you… i am considering getting it
Get it! It's worth it!
Nice review of the Rally. I'm thinking of picking one up in 2024. I look forward to hearing about all the Mods you have done to it as well.
Enjoyed the video. Just bought a Rally and looking to fit a skid plate. I noted the one in your video had drain holes in the bottom. Where I ride it’s often wet/muddy so drain holes are a useful feature. What brand skid plate did you fit? Be interested to hear comments from other Rally owners on whose skid plate they fitted. Thanks!
Everything is a compromise you have to decide what you’re going to be using the bike for these bikes have plenty of power for off-road but barely enough for road use. There is little to no throttle therapy and hooligan fun on the road is a zero But it will easily wing down the road at 70 miles an hour all day and not complain. Just riding it, it’s fantastic if you try to push it the Budget parts immediately become apparent.
Hy, Nice description. How did you lowered the bike? In the seat or with lowering links, such as kouba link?
Thanks
Great video. The one thing that I can't get over is the headlight assembly. It looks like a pair of goggles. Great content. Thanks
I think the headlight looks cool.
I still think the DR650 is a wiser choice. It's slightly heavier but has almost twice the power and torque.
Oh yeah the power difference is big time
Depends what you want it to do, whilst it may be better off road (DR650), the Rally has a really decent service interval and I think better as a world tourer, plenty of people have already shown this. Mind you, with the right attidude you can get pretty much any bike around the world.
I had the dr650 and I owned currently on a 300l , one advantage of the 300l is that it handles better the slow technical stuff,
@@ferkuzuel I should add that I’m sixty and just starting out on off road trail riding so I think bikes like the DR650 would be way beyond my skill level.
@@MattTofield I wasn't knocking the 300, and the DR650 has been globetrotting for 27 years and anyone with a butter knife can fix it IF something went wrong. Even Ichyboots has had some issues with the 300, all be it, she's put about a million miles on it lol.
Much Enjoyment 👍😎
I would like someone to install the 301 kit and run it for normal riding.
Like the Crocs
Thanks for the detailed review. How tall are you and what is your inseam measurement? Thanks sir.
@@X-7-JAMES right at 6ft and 33”
@@adventureundone ok thanks. I’m 5-11, and about the same inseam. I should be fine on this bike. Appreciate it.
Honda has not delivered what they could/should have with the 300s. The suspension, here I have to disagree with you, the stock suspension is ridiculously soft but it's also under damped. It violates the most basic sag values, stock values of free sag 30%, rider sag close to 60% with my 175 lbs. The "correct" values are 10 and 30%.........This suspension is junk and actually unsafe at even reasonable speeds, hit some woops and this bike becomes a bronco.
The power is fun up to around 50 mph and then it really tapers off. This engine is choked up, Honda tuned it to max torque down low, but in my opinion they over did it. By opening the air box (including the inner snorkel), installing CBR 300 cams, exh and most importantly 550 Performance Products tune, you can really wake this motor up.
In my view, it is the Rally that you should start with for "adv" riding vs the L. Like you said, the fearing, wind screen, bigger tank, it all makes more sense.
You really should consider changing the IRCs. I just came back from 2000 miles, "real" adv ride here in Indonesia. Zero high ways, from awesome winding roads, dirt, beach runs........The IRCs on the pavement "fall into turns", they really suck on pavement. Changing my IRCs to cheap, local made 70/30 tires made my Rally so much fun on these awesome roads.
If you ever do deep water crossings, go slow. The cowl acts like a big scoop, cowling prevents that water from exiting on the sides, it goes over the motor and right into the air box.......
Have fun.
Excellent evaluation. I’ve always adopted the 10/30% sag and it works. I could see my self on a Honda one day but in my late 60’s I’m still enjoying my modified KTM500 too much.
Great info! With all the 300ls you’ve had, ABS or NON ABS?
I’m 6’1” and 240 lbs. I wonder if this is the right bike for me? 🏍️💨🏁
@@mechcavandy986 at 240 you would want the rear suspension swap
The problem with the 300L rally is that it is not a very exciting or fun bike. I literally threw every upgrade in the book at it, including a full Rally Raid suspension rebuild, full Yoshi RS4 system, 91 ECU, and still do not get anywhere close to the amount of excitement that I get riding my new KTM 500 EXC-F.
Yeah, it’s never really sparky. But for someone like me, an easy going explorer it’s fits great.
Das mag sein aber eine KTM ist bei weitem keine Honda....hier in Deutschland gibt es genügend Biker die von KTM die Schnauze voll haben...zuviele Defekte, unzuverlässig und nun ist KTM auch noch in finanzielle Schwierigkeiten. Neeee, darauf hab ich keine Lust und komme zwar etwas langsamer ans Ziel, jedoch Nerven schonender. Die Leistung reicht, wenn man das mindset dazu hat....sonst gibt's genügend andere Bikes, auch v Honda 😊
How is it with a 100pb passenger? I weigh 180 lbs thanks
Question: You have a set of "crash bars" around the radiator and fairing and never discuss them. I have a Rally and have never seen that particular arrangement. I agree with you, so many badmouth the soft suspension...it is OK...if you don't like it, spend $ and fix it. You can't expect Honda to do all the work. There are sooooo many "fixes" for the Rally...study the product, understand Honda can't make the whole planet happy...then develope your personal plans B4 you buy.
How tall are you?
5 10, why do you ask ?
Sweet Crocs 👍
Looks great.
How can you buy 4 of the same bike that came out in 2021 wtf lol
A perfect ADV doesn't need an investment fixing absolutely terrible OEM suspension from the showroom
true
Unless it's considerably modded, a CRF300L Rally is not an ADV bike - it's a dual sport. Doing long road trips on a CRF300L sounds like an awful proposition to me. It's not an ADV if you can't tour with it.
I agree, but the Rally version is a much different bike.
SMDSR-
Not an adventure bike as normally defined. It is an (IMO) an overweight, overplasticed, and underpowered around town or gravel road dual sport. 300L or KLX much better choice.
What?
Lol you crazy
junk
Just get the KTM Adventure 390 their clearly better
God damn they have to get rid of those stupid headlights 🤢🤮