Hot Laps: We Ride The 2010 Honda CRF250R

Last week Yamaha gave the media a chance to ride the 2010 YZ250, and yesterday, it was Honda's turn to give us a taste of its all-new 250 - the 2010 CRF250R - at Perris Raceway in California. So far, it looks like it's going to be another good year of 250Fs.

The new Honda is significantly updated from the '09. Some of the more notable changes include a longer-stroke motor, fuel-injection, a single-muffler exhaust system, a new frame, a new head, CRF450R body work, and larger Showa forks, which are now 49mm instead of 48mm. The rear shock now has a KYB-like "shorty" reservoir, similar to the 450, which is fitted with KYB suspension components front and back. (The 250 is all Showa.)

The new Honda passed its first test with flying colors: starting. Honda went to great lengths to make the CRF250F as easy to start as possible, and we're glad to see all its hard work paid off. The bike almost always started on the first kick for us, hot or cold. It now no longer needs a hot-start lever. Just kick and go.

One of the first things that caught our attention after spinning few laps on the bike was how nimble and light it felt. Honda made some tweaks to the frame to better centralize weight, which is the main reason why Honda was able to go back to the singe-muffler exhaust system with the 2010 CRF. The bike steers well, the back end tracks well, and it simply gets in and out of the turns quickly and effortlessly. The HPSD (Honda Progressive Steering Damper) is still on board, and aides with stability and really helps the front end stick into tight turns.

In general, the Honda feels very compact (though not cramped for our 6'1" tester), it's easy to move around on and jumps well - very predictable and well behaved, as always.

Suspension is good, too. Very plush. Our three test riders, ranging from 140 pounds to 190 pounds, made very little changes from one rider to the next. Our 190-pound expert rider stiffened up the forks a couple of clicks, our 180-pound tester was happy with the stock settings, and our 140-pound tester only made minor adjustments to the shock. Pretty impressive when you consider the wide range of weight we had. Not to mention skill level - we pretty much had all of the bases covered.

The Perris track, however, wasn't all that rough, so we're anxious to get the Honda on a more choppy surface, such as Glen Helen.

We doubt anyone will be disappointed with the Honda's motor. Power is strong and spread out quite wide and evenly. It has great over-rev and is just plain impressive. Compared to the 2010 YZ250F that we just rode for the first time, the Yamaha and Honda seem to be polar opposites, the Yamaha's motor being more bottom-to-mid, and the Honda more mid-to-top. The YZ feels more torquey, too, but the CR feels more revvy. One of our testers said that the CRF reminded him of a 125 or 250cc two-stroke in character. Despite being a revver, however, the Honda is quite proficient off the bottom; the bike still pulls well down low if you let the rpm's drop more than planned. Overall, experts should love the Honda's new motor, but novices will still like it, as well.

We couldn't find any faults with the Honda's new fuel-injection system. Bogging of any sort seems to be a thing of the past. Throttle response was instant and clean, and, as mentioned, starting was a breeze.

Honda announced that HRC will, for the first time ever, sell select parts and accessories for the CR, including very trick-looking white magnesium and aluminum engine side covers. HRC will also offer different triple clamps and a full system exhaust featuring a titanium header and a carbon-fiber silencer.