RUST Magazine: RUST #50

TRAIL TEST
w
DATUM
Our datum for this test is the CRF250L.
Incredibly it was as long ago as back
in 2012 we first saw that model and
it’s gone almost unchanged in the
nine years since. It was a great trail
machine, not because it was a topspec
weapon, but because it did that
thing Jap trail bikes often pull off – in
being underpowered and overweight
and yet still so incredibly able. And of
course was also cheapish to buy and
easy to own while maintaining a strong
residual. Honda has sold boatloads
of them, owners have largely adored
them and second-hand buyers have
been surprised just what values used
examples still fetch.
With Euro5 now upon us, of course
the wee CRF couldn’t continue on
the way it did. So Honda remade their
CRF-L to meet the new regulations.
Given modern licencing (A2 and all
that) there was no harm in swapping
18
www.rustsports.com