Honda XR150L

[KYtrailfan]

by chance, i was getting a set of carbs vapor blasted, and telling my local buy about what a bag of dicks the local dealer was being (ive known this guy for over 20 yrs). he says 'hang a sec' ...shoots a text to his buddy and says he knows a dealer about 2 hours away, he grew up with the guys that now own it, says they have a white one in stock. I cold call the dealer the next day (yesterday) and they beat everyones price by hundreds. that's a great benefit, but they have one, and were absolutley easy to deal with . 7 min ph call and 2 emails and a text. (deal was done remotely, to the point I already have insurance on it) going to pick up Sat barring any unforseen issues. Will give report of experience and dealer name when I get back.


side note, the carbs. i had ultrasonically cleaned them but wanted a bit 'more' (for my 72 suzuki t500).

I am not really hunting for one, but if I stumble across one, it will probably follow me home. Congrats on your score!

 

[m in sc]

thats kinda what this was. i was resolved to not get one this year, or maybe ever.

 

[m in sc]

got it today. really like it. def way better off road than the trail, went 2 up thru some dirt roads. was cruising at 55 2 up not wide open. would recommend. will post more tomorrow. 3670 or so otd tagged ready to roll. gen3 powersports in florence, sc.. this included a $150 tail bag I'm going to use on a different bike

 

[m in sc]

have about 90 miles on it, 12 of which were 2 up. its fun. its no rocket but its good.

 

[dmonkey]

American Honda did a press launch event for the XR150L in Solvang, California last week. My friend Cait was among the attendees and did a write-up for motorcycle.com with her first impressions. There are a few other first ride reviews "hot off the press" from different journalists who attended the event. Sounds like Honda set them up at a fantastic location for putting the bike through its paces.

2023 Honda XR150L Review – First Ride

The 2023 Honda XR150L is an entry-level dual-sport, designed with comfort and reliability in mind.

www.motorcycle.com

2023 Honda XR150L First Ride Review

The 2023 Honda XR150L follows in the design footsteps of the XR650L, but its relatively low seat height and form factor are great for new off road riders.

www.rideapart.com

2023 Honda XR150L first ride review - RevZilla

Built for other world markets, the affordable and accessible Honda XR150L comes to the U.S. Dustin tests it to see if it can handle American roads and traffic.

www.revzilla.com

2023 Honda XR150L First Ride: Sub-$3,000 Motorcycle Brings Smiles And Caveats - SlashGear

With tried & tested engineering and a ridiculously affordable price, Honda's XR150L is undeniably appealing. Just make sure you know what you're signing up for.

www.slashgear.com

Honda XR150L First Ride - Expedition Portal

2023 Honda XR150L press launch proves the motorcycle capable of on- and off-road fun for entry level and experienced riders

expeditionportal.com

 

[m in sc]

For the most part, the reviews are pretty spot on. I didn't mind the rear shock, and i did get some air on mine. it will probably get a better unit down the road though when it starts getting too mushy, its not even preload adjustable. lol. One thing i -can- say is it suffers from hondas typical final drive mistakes. for example, the 1st thign i did to my cb1100 was to go down 1 on the front, and i've never looked back. I swear they find the right spot then add another tooth, on that bike it will hit 100 at the top of 3rd, and its a 6 speed. lol.

On the XR, top gear is sort of useless unless you are dead flatland or downhill, or weigh 120 lbs. Reading on the adv riderboard from way back on these (there's a whole thread on them back to like 2013 or 2014) a consensus is to drop the ft sprocket to a 16 vs the stock 17. that might be a bit much, but i'm going to try it. if its too much, i'll go up 2 on the back and put the 17 back up front. 5th gear is lugging pretty bad, i bet the top speed goes up a hair as well. Luckily the speedo is driven off the front wheel like its supposed to be, so gearing changes won't throw the speedometer off.

side note on the carb: its 22mm wide, but has like a 27 or 28mm travel, its an oval venturi, so not like a typical 'round' slide.

 

[m in sc]

update: put the 51 tooth on the rear, back up to 17 on the front. seems to like it. 3.08 w the 16/(stock) 49, 3.00 w the rebel gears made 51, and its really good w that. after having done a few hundred more miles, the MPG seems to be around 70 or so, with me winging on it a bit, and about 100 miles of that w the 16/49. cruising speed is now up around 57. just as a follow up, for anyone interested.

 

[SneakyDingo]

Keep on posting the follow ups!

 

[ol mike]

Keep on posting the follow ups!

I'd love to hear/see a side by side comparison XR-150 vs Trail-125 climbing hills, offroad & pavement.

 

[dmonkey]

I'd love to hear/see a side by side comparison XR-150 vs Trail-125 climbing hills, offroad & pavement.

YouTube's got ya covered

 

[m in sc]

I didnt really see him 'climbing' hills on either. i took my xr off road the day after i bought it, went into a big business park that's under construction and its def more capable off road IMHO, for anything beyond a fire road. I was down in a few deep retention ponds holes and climing out of them easily and jumping out of them on the xr, would have def smashed the skid plate /bottomed the suspension out doing what i was doing on the trail, and the suspension is way, way more off road oriented on the xr. i can see his point on a fire road being easy on the ct125 as its physically smaller. But i was doing stuff ont he xr that would have landed the ct on its side. IF oyu need to haul an unreal amount of gear and going in deep and slow, i can see the appeal of the ct for sure, and its def better on fuel.

 

[m in sc]

,, which, while i was thinking of that a few days ago, prompted me to order a zeta skid plate for the ct125 from webike. (was on sale too).

 

[ol mike]

Good video, thanks.

 

[dmonkey]

Hard to tell with the wide angle but the "steep" inclines looked like XR150L @11:25 and CT125 maybe @22:12. Certainly not hill climbing, just the kind of fire road you could drive a sedan up.
Completely stock I think anyone would find the CT125 to be lacking when it comes to hills or inclines, unless they're upgrading from a Ruckus or moped. It bogs down easily. Bad news if you're looking to keep up with traffic or enter in the Jack Pine Gypsies Hill Climb, but quite the adventure if you want to be pushed to explore more backroads and trails off the beaten path.

 

[m in sc]

well the obvious answer is to own one of each.

 

[ol mike]

This is good footage, I guess video can't show steepness of the hills.
The Trail 125 appears to do a good job.

 

[KYtrailfan]

I'd like to see the family sedan negotiate this hill that I had to bring in a dozer to cut switchbacks because the skidder couldn’t climb it.

 

[dmonkey]

I just meant the bit of fire road he was riding in the video. No doubt you can take it places a sedan can't go, especially single track

 

[m in sc]

I've seen groms with knobbies climb single tracks like that. CAN and GOOD are 2 very different things. 02