Honda CRF250 Rally Now Just One Step Away From Production
Honda's 250cc ADV Bike concept gets updates and moves to prototype stage.

At last year’s Osaka Motorcycle Show, Honda unveiled an exciting new concept bike called the CRF250 Rally. The concept started out as a CRF250L dual sport, then it was given a larger fuel tank, windscreen, revised bodywork and other treatments to make it look like a mini replica of Honda’s Dakar Rally bike – the CRF450 Rally. The end result is a bike that many adventure riders have been longing for — a small, fuel-efficient, off-road capable adventure touring machine from a Japanese manufacturer.
The reaction to the concept bike has been positive to say the least and Honda has continued developing the CRF250 Rally. At this year’s Osaka Motorcycle Show, the CRF250 Rally is once again on display and Honda upgraded it from “Concept” to “Prototype,” which essentially means they’ve refined it to make it a more marketable production bike. As a prototype, it’s just one step away from becoming a production model.
No official specs have been provided by Honda at this time, but we can see a number of refinements have been made. The 2015 concept was designed to be more of a CRF450 Rally replica with a more exotic parts list that included dual Mugen racing exhaust, billet aluminum wheel hubs and triple clamps, along with several anodized aluminum pieces. The new CRF250 Rally Prototype appears with a more street-legal looking Termignoni single exhaust pipe and standard aluminum triple clamps and wheels hubs.
Other refinements include a trimmed down seat, new Givi hand guards (no longer full wrap-around) and a newly designed GPS mount. The iconic clear rally windscreen is still there, except it now uses mounting bolts instead of the concept’s quick release tabs. The windscreen also sits a bit lower and new LED headlights appear to be further developed for street use. We can also see subtle differences in the tank design and the prototype sports the latest 2016 CRF450 Rally graphics kit.
Overall, the new CRF250 Rally Prototype is looking very close to being production ready. Most likely further cost cutting measures will be performed, like the removal or replacement of the carbon fiber protectors and the Termignoni exhaust. But as we’ve seen in the past, Honda prototypes have proven to be very close to their production model versions. No official statements have been made but Motorcycle News magazine claims to have insider information stating that the production version of the Honda CRF250 Rally will be released towards the end of this year as a 2017 model.
Notify me of new posts via email
How about a 450? A detuned, refined single 450 chugging with 40 ponies would be just about perfect. It won’t add much weight to it, and makes a world of difference on the highway.
They already have one of those… its called a 450X ; )
A 450X is not plated and has the oil capacity of MXer, meaning it’s not suitable for dual sporting. This would be an insanely interesting bike if it had a 450 motor. A 250 is pointless for experience riders who want to have enough power to have a good time.
I agree 100%! No 250 – even one as cool as this – is going to make me get rid of my tricked- out 13-yr-old DR-Z 400S, but If Honda ( or any of the other Japanese makes) made a 450 like this, I’d be putting a deposit down!
I think that motorcycle is called a CCM GP450? Very interesting with a 250 addition to the class.
I hope Honda hear at last adv fans wanting a lighter product, hopefully below at least 180 kg wet. KTM should listen also (when a 640 adv replacement?)! I want an adv bike, but not a heavy one. Let’s hope we finally get our dream bike.
As the general adventure bike demographic ages(I’m nearing retirement and I like the small bikes), I think we’ll see more small adventurized bikes with modern features. The customers with the deep checkbooks are aging and want smaller lighter bikes. They want to keep riding.
Y not sell the fmx here
[…] market. Now, if it were a 300 or a 350 and had an updated tensioner? That would be nice… Honda CRF250 Rally Now Just One Step Away From Production – ADV Pulse I know there was someone on here who was really looking at this as a serious possibility, when it […]
I really liked this until I saw the headlights. Too BMW-esque for my tastes.
Make a 450 rally too…for us bigger guys. Cmon Honda, step up your game and knock it outta the park for once.
No thanks. This is too small to be classified as an “adventure bike”. So far I have yet to see something displace my DRZ400S. It is quite agile, reliable, and can take a beating. If you can bring to Honda reliability to eclipse that, then it would be more interesting.
Owning a CRF250L and knowing what it’s like to be on the highway with it loaded up with camping gear, I say this concept is a bust unless they do something about the power. A 350 or 450 would be cool. This concept will undoubtedly be heavier than the CRF250L and if it has the same mild engine and budget suspension, good luck touring on it. Dear Honda, we are fat. We’re sorry. We need bigger engines and better suspensions.
The concept headlight was awesome and then they changed it to a Bmw one? What!? The first headlight was beautiful design, seamless windshield with light behind it but someone had to eff that one up.
This would be the perfect bike for an XR 400 engine revival. I could chug up many hills on that thing.
A detuned 400cc+ in a KTM is basically what we’ve all been wanting for a decade now. My KTM 640 was cool until it started failing at 9000 miles.
Agree with some others here, all I need is a bigger fuel tank and a little bit bigger engine, 450ccm or 500ccm would be absolutely perfect….and the double exhaust to make it more symetric looking…
I would order it imidiately since I LOVE my 250CRF-L
Old Article, any NEWS??? Its OCTOBER 2016!!
Honda is still keeping things in suspense. We’ll see if they decide to give us a surprise before the year ends.