Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1088954
12 12 Trail Rider Honda CRF250F Impressions By Beau Viens First thoughts as Kurt rolled the bike out of the van was, "Wow, Honda really did a nice job making the new era XR look bad ass like its big brothers." I was curious to see how it started on this cold day in February. To my surprise, the bike fired right up cold as an ice cube with one quick hit of the electric start bu on. I couldn't believe it — the fuel injec on sure does help in the cold weather starts. Our friend Owen jumped aboard the Honda just before I took it for a quick spin around the yard prior to taking off on our ride. Watching him rip around doing wheelies and banging snow berms, I was eager to strap a leg over the li le mighty mite! It had snowed a couple days before the test, so we headed south to Cape Cod for a ride out of a friend's house on the search for no snow, fresh dirt and some great pics. A er ge ng dressed, checking out the bike, and a few good laughs, we headed out on the search for dirt! I rode the KTM 300TPI to scout out a spot for pics while Kurt rode the Honda. We headed down the powerlines, which were snow-free for about a half-mile ll we found a trail entrance— a perfect spot for a few pics. This was my first me strapping a leg on the li le red wonder! We wanted a pic coming out of the trail with no snow, but to get that I had to head off into the trail covered with three inches of snow. Being a gear high, I chugged through the trail with good trac on and flow. I was having a blast, chuckling to myself as I railed corner a er corner. Had to remind myself Kurt was wai ng for a pic. Well, it handled snow-covered trails at speed with aggression. A++ on that test! We then moved to a different spot heading back down the powerlines. Kurt and I switched bikes again; I was thinking he was liking the li le red wonder at this point. I proceeded to follow behind the Honda down the power lines and found myself dodging golf ball- sized rocks coming from the rear re as Kurt put the thro le down and hammered away!! Once again, I was impressed! We found a li le spot with no snow on the side of the powerlines with a slight uphill and some so loamy dirt. It was a nice line to hit at speed to see how the bike handled rough stuff with some G outs. We were loving it, wheeling up the hill and hi ng it at speed! The bike took it without harsh bo oming and barely any kick from the rear shock…WOW! We also made a nice so one-line rut berm to hit aggressively to see if the front forks would support this type of abuse without dumping me on the ground with a front end wash-out due to lack of suspension; however, that was far from the case as I took the corner as hard as I would on any other bike about five mes!