Trail Rider Magazine

8 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com The Little Engine That Could By Kurt Flachbart As an older rider, I'm naturally drawn to retro. Simplicity and back-to-basics designs appeal to me. Having grown up riding bikes of the 70's and watching the evolu on of off-road motorcycles literally explode year a er year, it certainly was an amazing me in motorcycling history. Unfortu- nately, I feel a bit of charm — and yes, simplicity — were lost during these years. My first real dedicated woods bike was a '78 Yamaha IT175 that I purchased new with paper route money. It was quite an upgrade compared to my Honda MT125, only a couple seasons old. That IT175 had a lot going for it at the me. Single shock (Monoshock) rear suspension, coupled with plush forks that did a decent job of soaking up the junk, it was quite an improvement from what I'd been used to. The fact that it had only seven inches or so of travel front and rear made li le difference as we just didn't know any be er. Seat heights were low and si ng flat-footed was appreciated when trails got boney. We learned quickly to ride on the balls of our feet as most broke quite a few toes in the learning process. I also remember well when liquid cooling entered the scene. Motocrossers embraced it; woods guys were suspect. "What's gonna happen when a branch blows through that radiator?" was the mantra. Woods guys liked the simplicity of air cooling and felt there was no need to complicate a design that worked so well. Late last fall, an all-new model from Honda caught our a en on, the CRF250F. What ini ally grabbed our a en on was the fact that it's air cooled. Fuel injected and electric start are added bonuses. The engine is an en rely new package from Honda with engineers star ng from a clean slate. Yes, a brand new air-cooled, single overhead cam, four valve, fuel injected trail bike! The chassis is a li le smaller than a modern ride with a seat height of 34.8". With full size, 21" front, 18" rear wheels, it so reminded me of the bikes of my youth. It ap- peared to be more than a play bike but nowhere near a full-on race bike. Could the CRF250F be just a trail bike? A back-to-basics trail bike? No ques- on that the market couldn't use a bike of this nature as it fills a large void. With a retail price of $4599, it's sure to draw the interest of many. Ride Report 2019 Honda CRF250F

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