Hello. My name is Dan. I’m in Ramona, Ca. San Diego County. I found and joined the site for tech advice and opinions for CRF250L mods. I ride an XR650R for going fast on and off road, and an Africa Twin for having fun on the street. I bought the 250L to putt around the dez with my girlfriends and some of my fat, old buddies. I’m looking to personalize my 250L and to gain a little perf. to pull some slightly taller gears. I also want it to sound like a motorcycle instead of sounding like my EU2000 generator. But I’d rather not kill the bikes fuel economy. I’m thinking a Yoshimura RS-4 muffler, 13t Countershaft Sprocket, Pro-Taper Handlebars and Risers and some Foot Pegs. Any advice and opinions from you CRF250L veterans/guru’s would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, DJ.
I'm no guru, but everything I've read about aftermarket exhausts is that they are really loud. Frankly, I like a quiet exhaust and I'm willing to put up with the tradeoff. I just removed the intake snorkel, shortened (cut and welded) the spark arrestor and put in an EJK. It's not night and day more power, but it is marginally better. I'm thinking a 13T countersprocket is about as far as I'll need to go- I'm not looking for speed. I think much better gains can be made by investing in the suspension.
Thanks for the reply and advise. I ended up going with a Big Gun Exhaust and EJK. And you are right, it’s loud. Fuel economy is considerably reduced so I put a 3.1 gl. Acerbis tank on it. I got considerably more hp but I believe my clutch plates are slipping under the additional hp. So I have not changed the gearing until I get a stronger clutch. I had considered modifying the stock header by cutting out the choked down section behind the heat shield and keeping the stock muffler. Any thoughts on that? I still might try it. Your advice on suspension is well received. It could use some work and that will be my next endeavor. I did a rear fender eliminator and LED tail/brake/blinkers and I am super happy with that investment. Pro Tapers and Acerbis Handgaurds were a good choice for me too.
I should add that I considered modifying the stock baffle for more airflow but I wanted to keep it intact for resale, being in California and all. So I priced purchasing a new one to chop up and it was $85.00+. I haven’t done that yet.
Wow, that's surprising. I'd keep an eye on flea-bay. These bike are so common that there is bound to be spares pop up regularly. For what it's worth- I took it out dirt-riding today with the daughter and it performed ok for an overweight bike. At this point, I still think suspension will yield better returns than chasing horsepower. But- I do have other bikes, so I am less concerned with hp on this one. It is "ok" enough.
