Got a Raleigh record sprint, no engine apart from yourself, may be get some sort of fun, oh, there are no green lanes, just roads
Wanted Green lane bike wanted.
- Thread starter Davros
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Although down at Dorothy’s Speed Shop where Nathan runs all of the small bikes , the Crf300 is his most favoured bike by all who ride it and I think he’s got rid of his GS310 has nobody rated it .
Loads of people has the 250/300l I our local group however every single one of them has had to have money spent on them to make them capable away from the tarmac.
Zero compression or rebound control, terrible springs, steel tank, frame and swingarm make them have their own gravitational pull plus gearing that is designed to pod along on tarmac at 50mph not climb anything beyond forestry tracks.
They’ll run forever but you’ll have got very bored and sick of picking up the eight before it dies,
Very owner here who has one also has something else for actual laning. The CRF is for lazy days plodding. If you live in Norfolk then fine but if you’ve any gradient lines on local maps then choose something lighter with more power and better suspension.
I have a mate with a 68 plate CR250L with 1400 miles on, he purchased and has never ridden due to a back injury so is moving it on.
He is looking for £3250 but am sure you could make it fit your budget if interested? Based in Berkshire.
He is looking for £3250 but am sure you could make it fit your budget if interested? Based in Berkshire.
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The absolute Golden triangle of picking an off-road bike as a beginner is.
Lightweight
Excellent suspension
Smooth throttle
At your height and size you have more options than most.
But you need a tall bike with good suspension.
ANY bike you buy is going to need to be resprung as you're likely 120kg in your riding gear.
You're also going to need a bit more power than the asthmatic CRF250/300 series.
And definitely more seat height and ground clearance than a Serrow, Himalayan.
A think a DRZ400 with heavier springs would tick your boxes.
Lightweight
Excellent suspension
Smooth throttle
At your height and size you have more options than most.
But you need a tall bike with good suspension.
ANY bike you buy is going to need to be resprung as you're likely 120kg in your riding gear.
You're also going to need a bit more power than the asthmatic CRF250/300 series.
And definitely more seat height and ground clearance than a Serrow, Himalayan.
A think a DRZ400 with heavier springs would tick your boxes.
If it helps any decision, I had 10 great green laning years in a crf250 (secondhand) and then a crf300l (new).
I’m 6foot 1 and no lightweight 15-16 stone. No issues with suspension just added bar risers from china which moved to the 300.
Did everything I wanted as a runaround, green laning in wales twice a year, occassional Salisbury plain trips plus all ABR weekends from 2019 to 2025 and many times on the limited Sussex green lanes. Absolutely brilliant fun.
At 69 I realised I don’t bounce so well and ANR outgrown itself and turned into a motocross with total twats dominating the trails so sold last year.
Loved the crf’s but if you want to hurtle about like a mad thing on hard terrain there are better bikes out there to try and kill yourself on. I stick to regular tours on my 2012 rallye GS now.
2 of my mates had crfs and same experience as me. Another bought a rally crf version, spent a fortune on it for suspension etc, ragged it over anll terrain and wrecked it. He’s 6 foot 6, 70 years old and heavy.
Ended up with a Himalayan which he claims to love. Away every month on it on hard trails Scotland,Spain and Portugal.
My advice for what you want to do get a crf 300L and put bar risers on it and new bars with decent rise in them. The standard bars bend like lead.
Good luck and gentle trails.
I’m 6foot 1 and no lightweight 15-16 stone. No issues with suspension just added bar risers from china which moved to the 300.
Did everything I wanted as a runaround, green laning in wales twice a year, occassional Salisbury plain trips plus all ABR weekends from 2019 to 2025 and many times on the limited Sussex green lanes. Absolutely brilliant fun.
At 69 I realised I don’t bounce so well and ANR outgrown itself and turned into a motocross with total twats dominating the trails so sold last year.
Loved the crf’s but if you want to hurtle about like a mad thing on hard terrain there are better bikes out there to try and kill yourself on. I stick to regular tours on my 2012 rallye GS now.
2 of my mates had crfs and same experience as me. Another bought a rally crf version, spent a fortune on it for suspension etc, ragged it over anll terrain and wrecked it. He’s 6 foot 6, 70 years old and heavy.
Ended up with a Himalayan which he claims to love. Away every month on it on hard trails Scotland,Spain and Portugal.
My advice for what you want to do get a crf 300L and put bar risers on it and new bars with decent rise in them. The standard bars bend like lead.
Good luck and gentle trails.
Why does he need more power ?
My XPulse makes a mere 19bhp but is plenty capable on and off-road .
Brits seem to be obsessed with power .
Yes, suspension is a bit soft on CRF300 but it’s got enough power unless it’s just for pub bragging vanity bollox.
Mate road his around Picos then back to uk through France . It was just fine at 70 mph on auto route.
16 stone on a CRF with standard suspension.. That's a bit nuts !!
You must have preloaded your suspension by over 50% just by sitting on it.
I've been on many tours and rides with people on rented stock crf250/300.
Yours would have been bottoming out endlessly. Unless you rode everywhere at 5mph.
Kudos for taking it the places you did without changing the suspension.
But I think it's needless to struggle when you could have had such a better set up which would have made your ride faster, safer and smoother.
The Rally Raid suspension transforms the CRF. But just harder springs helps massively.
Appreciate your comments but I loved it. Certainly wasn’t a 5moh er and never noticed any bottoming out. I also wasn’t a motocrosser and was slow on the parts I need to be. Always did the advanced trails on ABR never a problem and only once got bogged down and over in the bog of doom.
We probably have different ideas of off-road...
To some it's a smooth gravel road. To some it's Romaniacs. I'm not a Romaniac. But I don't call unsealed country roads 'ofroading' either
Once you open the throttle on a proper off-road route, you will very quickly find the limitations of 19bhp and junk suspension on your Hero.
You can almost get any bike through any trail with enough blood, sweet and tears.
But it's meant to be fun right ?
I started with a DRZ - learned (quite!) a lot, followed by a 400, then a 450 KTM.
Still have the latter but having moved down here (Suffolk) >3yrs ago I haven’t (and at 78, won’t) be using it. Nin was going to have it but unfortunately he’s no longer in a position to do so but it has to go ( regretfully
)
Still have the latter but having moved down here (Suffolk) >3yrs ago I haven’t (and at 78, won’t) be using it. Nin was going to have it but unfortunately he’s no longer in a position to do so but it has to go ( regretfully
)
Have you ridden an XPulse ?
I’ve got very little experience off-road. Only really done stuff like Himalayas, so simple stuff like river crossings, mud slides, and riding up sheer cliff tracks in the dark with a 3000 feet drop to one side.
And that was on an Indian bike with junk suspension .
Fuck knows how the bike coped.
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Thanks for all the replies, there's some great information and advice in there but I'm closing the thread before there's too much mission creep.
I'm just looking for something a bit more manageable off road than my 1978 R80.
I think I'm still on my original wanted list and maybe the Hero too. If anyone has or knows of anything suitable maybe they could ping me a DM?
Cheers, Davey
I'm just looking for something a bit more manageable off road than my 1978 R80.
I think I'm still on my original wanted list and maybe the Hero too. If anyone has or knows of anything suitable maybe they could ping me a DM?
Cheers, Davey
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