Cycle News Staff | August 6, 2021
2022 Honda CRF250R First Ride. Honda unveiled its all-new CRF250R last week and just a few days later, we were heading to Sandy, Oregon, to ride it. The Red Crew invited us and few other members of the media to Mountain View MX Park to ride the bike for the first time.
You can feel less of the ’22 Honda CRF250R, that’s because there are eight pounds less of it! We’re liking the lighter Honda. Photos: Drew Ruiz
The latest CRF250R got a boatload of changes, more than any other bike in its class for ’22. Highlights include an eight-pound reduction in weight, a new single-muffler exhaust system, an updated clutch and transmission, and several engine mods to give the Honda more power. It also got a new frame (the same frame as the CRF450R), and, kind of surprising, it comes fitted with Pirelli tires. Interestingly, the 250 did not get a hydraulic clutch like the 450 did last year, it is still cable-operated. Click on the link if you want to learn everything there is know about the technical changes to the 2022 Honda CRF250R.
Today, we’re here to ride it.
But first, keep in mind that this was just our first time swinging a leg over the bike, we will have a full-blown test when we get back to California and visit several of our more familiar tracks, but I can tell you right now that my first impression of the new Honda is a favorable one.
This isn’t Southern California, obviously. Honda introduced the ’22 CRF250R to the media in Oregon at Mountain View MX Park.
I’ll get right to the point: The Honda is a vast improvement over the previous model. It’s good, really good. The main issues I had with the previous-generation CRF250R are gone. The ’21 version had finicky power and a harsh chassis/suspension combo, but these are no longer a concern of mine after riding the ’22 for the first time.
The ’22 has a slimmer chassis that allows you to easily cut through lines, and the overall weight reduction is noticeable right away. It just feels easier and more predictable to ride now.
Power feels much improved, too. Open the throttle and the power just keeps coming and coming. It has noticeably improved bottom end and more “go” on top. There were places on the track where I could simply let the engine scream, from bottom to top, just to see where it would sign off, but, funny, it never really did! This is the new power curve that we’ve been waiting for out of the Honda CRF250R for quite some time—something strong enough to pull you out of the corners with authority and lengthy enough to easily build big momentum down the straights.
More bottom-end means quicker exits out of the corners.
Second and third gears have been reworked and, as a result, shifting is noticeably cleaner and, combined with the engine’s stronger output, there is less of it. You just don’t seem to have to battle the shift lever as much as you did before per lap.
So far, I have no real complaints about the new Honda. Throttling is clean; there are no issues (hiccups) like the new CRF450R had with its ECU last year, and, when it comes to the suspension, Honda seems to have found a good base setting to work with. We’ll know more about the suspension when we get it home and on rougher and more hard-packed tracks, the kind of tracks that bring out the worst in suspensions.
We noticed no ECU/throttling issues like the new 450 had last year. Instead, the 250’s throttle response is clean.
Overall, though, our first impression of the all-new 2022 Honda CRF250R is a good one. It feels lighter, there is more power on tap, and the suspension seems to be right in the ballpark from the factory. All good stuff, and, as I said earlier, I had no real complaints. It’s just a better motorcycle.
Again, we’ll have a more in-depth test on the new Honda in an upcoming issue of Cycle News magazine and on the Cycle News website.
By Ryan Nitzen
