22.5 KTM 250SXF Factory Edition vs 22 Honda CRF250R Back to Back!
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- čas přidán 28. 08. 2024
- 2022.5 KTM 250 Factory Edition vs 2022 Honda CRF250R comparison time! Rode both bikes back to back on a rough, dry,and choppy Grear MX track. My thoughts on each bike....
2022 Honda CRF250R
Strengths: Great engine with good low end and strong mid to top power that is quick revving and free feeling with little engine braking. Map 3 is my favorite. The full Yoshimura exhaust turns up the throttle response with a little stronger mid range and roll on power feeling. Lightweight and agile feeing chassis with excellent cornering. This bike sets the bar for "fun to ride" in the 250F class. Almost 125 2-stroke like agility. Typical Honda "just feels right" ergonomics. Strong front brake with excellent modulation.
Weaknesses:
The firm chassis combines with too firm suspension setting (mostly the fork) to make the bike feel unplanted and busy at speed especially in dry and hard pack conditions with lots of track feedback felt through the handlebars and footpegs.
2022.5 KTM 250SXF Factory Edition
Strengths: The all new 250SXF engine finally has excellent initial throttle response and a fun/lively mid range that still pulls strong into the higher RPM range. Map 1 pulls smooth and broad while Map 2 gives more hit but feels flatter up top. The new chassis gives up a little cornering quickness and agility for a more planted and less busy feel in the choppy and faster sections - a good trade off. There is also less chassis pitch under braking and acceleration. AER forks feel plush at the top of the stoke and the new hydro bottoming system resists bottoming even with low air pressures. The new rear shock gives good comfort on acceleration chop with good damping control overall. The new radiator shrouds/side panels/ergos feel near Honda perfect and the new foot pegs are mounted very close to the frame which works with the new plastic and really keeps the rider in contact with the sides of the 250FE. Brembo brakes are strong and clutch pull is light.
Weaknesses:
Some riders prefer the feel of spring forks. AER forks take time and effort to find the right clicker and air pressure settings and change during the day as ambient temperature changes. No phone app or myKTM connectivity unit to dial in engine settings. Only 400 made so hard to find and sometimes priced well above MSRP.
The Bottom Line:
The '22 CRF250R is a very fun to ride combination of Power/Weight/Handling in a 250F dirt bike with a great engine and excellent cornering that needs more compliant suspension (and perhaps chassis) especially when riding hard pack and choppy conditions.
The KTM 250 Factory Edition has strong power with a fun midrange surge, great cornering vs stability balance, and compliant suspension that is very tunable but does take time and effort to dial in your settings.
For today's ride KTM wins with a more planted/less busy overall feel in the dry choppy conditions. More back to back rides soon!
My 1-month review of my '22 CRF250R..... • 2022 Honda CRF250R: 1-...
My first ride review on my 22.5 KTM 250 Factory Edition... • 2022.5 KTM 250SXF Fact...
I love that you didn’t waste time on an intro, I got hooked on the video
Glad you enjoy the channel! Back to back rides are a fun way to compare bike!
New subscriber! Really enjoy these back to back comparisons. Thanks. -Western Ohio
Welcome David! I like back to back rides as the different characteristics of each bike really stand out. I need to get down to East Fork soon as Scott has completely changed the track and layout last week. Have not ridden Pusheta Creek MX yet this year - that used to be a fun place to ride kind of western Ohio.
Can definitely see the difference in the suspension department. The honda has that uneasy feeling on the front and going back to back with the ktm im actually blown away how stable the ktm looks with the air fork .
The Honda has a firm and very reactive chassis - responds to the rider and track inputs - giving the bike a busy feel at speed. The 250FE has a much more planted (and weighty) feel. The latest iteration of the AER forks on the new 250FE work very well though some (many?) riders will still prefer the feel of springs. My buddy just ordered the WP 6500 spring conversion kit for the 250FE in this video. Hopefully I can do a back to back with my stock AER fork 250FE soon!
Not impressed w/Honda at all. Yamaha & KTM seem outstanding along w/GasGas (from other comparisons). Ride!
@@Davido50 The cornering, low engine braking, and lightweight feel are the outstanding characteristics of the '22 CRF250R - if it had more chassis compliance and a more real world rider (plush!) suspension setting it would work better for a lot more riders.
so you prefer the ktm more i can see from the comments so do you think the ktm is worth the extra 2500-2700 bucks? I'm looking to get a 250 and these 2 are my top picks and I do trail and some track so which do you think is best for me?
For me the KTM has better suspension off the showroom floor which is also very tunable for off road riding (revise the fork air pressure and open the clickers front/back). The Honda needs a fork re-valve at the minimum and the firm chassis that makes it so flickable also gives a lot of feedback from the trail. I think the KTM has similar fun to ride factor with a more compliant chassis and suspension. The Factory Edition does come with some useful performance parts (billet hubs and strong rims, woods worthy skid plate, floating front rotor with strong rotor protector) and a way more comfortable seat than the stock CRF250R seat. KTM does have traction control which helps dial the engine back a little for slippery woods riding. Worth the extra money - for me it is but the Honda MSRP is very attractive. Nice to have choices!
Get a Yamaha YZ250F you won't regret it. GasGas is a more affordable KTM but it's excellent!
I owned the '22 YZ250F (in this video) for a short time. I really like the engine and suspension on the '22 YZ250F. The 22.5 KTM 250FE has some nice upgraded parts (wheels/triple clamps/front brake rotor/skid plate/seat) that work well and with the factory graphics look pretty good too. The YZ250F sets the bar for partial throttle torque feel and off the showroom suspension. The new KTM has a little better cornering with an engine that pulls a little longer up top. Really a toss up between those bikes. Maybe go with the bike that comes with better local dealer support.
yes... i have a ktm exc-f 250 that out performs the crf in all ways.... i ride with other ktms and other crfs and other bikes....i personally think its the high rpms and the light weight of the ktm that makes it off the charts....and yeah...obviously the suspension....completely 2 different worlds. i can go out for 12 hours straight on my ktm and others are exhausted on their heavier bike after they drop them 3 times.... the ktm is an exelent enduro bike and def worth the extra money.
Do you still have the 250 factory edition or did you sell it? I’m looking for a deal on a lightly used one 😬
I sold the 250FE a while ago. KTM has some good rebates to dealers now so you may find a good deal on a new 24 250SXF. My buddy Dave will be picking up a new 24 Triumph TF250X soon so watch for some first ride videos here soon.
Is the KTM seat height slightly lower? I’m 5.9”. 150. Perhaps a husky is better still
Husky FC models do have the 10mm shorter suspension components that result in actually about a 20mm lower seat height overall...it is noticeable if you seat on the KTM SXF and Husky FC models back to back. I like the lower seat heights on the Husky models. The all new 23 KTM/Husky chassis does start out with a slightly taller seat height compared to the previous models due to new electrical component packaging layout under the seat.
@@mxengineer1 great info, thank you so much, appreciate it
Any trail rides on the Ktm yet?…I lm curious to see how the 23 Ktm 250 xcf is when it comes out.
My usual tight trails are too muddy now but I did make up a short off road loop at the track yesterday. I'll post that video later today. The new engine works great off road and the suspension is very tunable too (I use the myKTM app Chassis section to come up with the off road settings).
@@mxengineer1 Awesome to hear and thanks for the videos!
@@franzv3172 Got my 250FE on some trails! czcams.com/video/i7DqLk_A0EA/video.html
Try snugging up the steering head a bit for the "busy" front end you feel on the crf
Yes have done that before and it works on the CRF. The issue were having was suspension/chassis related. We will get another setting in the forks and shock on the CRF250R to give it a more planted and plush feel in the chop.
i hate “snugged up” steering bearing.
@@HPRaceDevelopment and I hate loose ones where the bars flop when the bike is on a stand.
@@HPRaceDevelopment I am not a fan of the snugged up headset feeling
Do you have the quite insert in the yoshi exhaust?
Yes the insert is installed plus there is a screen visible down inside muffler
@@mxengineer1 check the toob for dyno video soon. Sadly I lost the video footage - but go install and some running..
Not hate on you dude but why buy a bunch of new bikes just to do a review which isn’t that great just to sell them for 3k less then msrp 🤷🏻
Some of the bikes I ride belong to my riding buddies as in this video. I really enjoy riding bikes with my buddies and comparing notes. As an engineer I like trying out different products with different designs and understanding the characteristics of these designs.
in your opinion wich corner better?
The '22 CRF250R has amazing cornering that makes even a slow Vet guy like me feel like a hero. The new KTM chassis has traded some cornering quickness for stability at speed and as I have noted before a good trade off.
wich one has more bottom end
(3) of us rode the bikes back to back and we all felt the KTM feels the strongest overall (especially from upper mid to top end). The Honda has very quick turn over and is geared lower but the KTM still feels very strong down low.
@@mxengineer1 I have a kx and and the new ktm and feel the kx has way more bottom end thrn the yz cr and the ktm
If you had to choose 1 of the 3 what would it be?
@@charlesclapper8982 I have not ridden a 21 or 22 KX250 but sounds like that engine runs strong down low. I wonder if the KX has more bottom end or just turns over quicker - gains RPM more quickly? The KTM is geared much taller than the CRF or YZF. Try a 13/50 gearing combo on your KTM and see if that gets it nearer to the KX250 for you.
@@shannonbaddawi8354 The KTM won us over on this particular day (dry/choppy/hard pack track) with the best overall combination of plush/planted suspension, great cornering, and strong engine. We will do more of these back to backs in the future at different tracks and some woods loops too
crf front end looked much worse than ktm - lots of feedback even on video
If you can see it in the video just imagine how it feels while riding🤣
@@mxengineer1 A great video and tuning aid would be to put go pro it on the upper fork tube looking down at axle/wheel.
And compare bikes. Its possible and looked liek to me it moves to much (too soft) and the farther into the stroke you go the faster the rebound - which pushes the fork out into the bump making the next bump worse...
It's also possible the shock isn't matching the fork and is driving it into the ground.
But to me the ktm looked like it was on a cloud in comparison. I own the data logging system you can put on the forks - if you buy the app for a month I can entertain sending the system to you to take data.,..
@@HPRaceDevelopment Thanks for the feedback. Very tempting to get some actual data to compare different clicker settings along with different bike...
@@mxengineer1 You will struggle to see small clicker changes on it - the differences there are usually under 1-3 percent. But between two bikes or systems with large differences it's easier to see.