Did Honda truly improve the 2022 CRF250R? I've got our baseline testing finished so read on to see what testing results we got, and we will compare it to a few of our previous dyno runs on some Honda, plus some comparisons to other brand bikes.
First, if you'd like a quick video of our dyno testing on the 2022 crf250r, you can check that out below this post.
For 2022 Honda made host of changes to their bike, aimed at improving the chassis, loosing weight, and centralizing weight. Between the tire change and the single exhaust, plus a few minor areas, Honda has lost around 8lbs. We noticed they now have the battery and ecu located low and central within the chassis as well.
In the engine department, however, more has stayed the same than has changed. Now Honda wont tell you this - they want to brand away from the previous generation which was a flop in terms of magazine perception and general consumer perception. But interestingly enough, contrary to what we read in magazines - the 18 Honda was quite a powerhouse on our dyno. It lacked low end - but the changes in 19 and 20 did NOT show much improvement here for me - and on our dyno it lost some peak hp in 20. One of the biggest changes was a largely reduced exhaust cam duration - which was quite interesting to see track feel on that change vs dyno results.
Moving into 2022 - Honda has left the bare bones of their engine the same. It already had the largest bore and shortest stroke in the class, which in turn allows the largest inlet valves in the class (because the bore is larger). It has a very downdraft head with the intake port being nearly a straight shot into the cylinder with good visibility of the valve. All of this remains unchanged. But updated for 22 is the single exhaust port (we believe is good for low end production), and updated intake tract - the air box to the port has undergone large updates with and a longer air horn, larger, better air filter plenum. Honda has also changed the camshafts some - and all of this has produced massive gains on the front side of the power curve.
Interestingly - on my dyno, it's down from some of the 18-20 crf's we have tested at PEAK hp - but it's WAY up in power at 4-8000 rpm. It also has a nice mapping character and feels MUCH more responsive than previous years.
I have had some variance in results on the previous Hondas - but I choose the best stock 21 result to compare this bike to (we had one brand new 21 only make 35 hp off the showroom!!! - after we did some minor mods to it it became quite the ripper but we never found anything wrong inside to suggest why is was so low - and did 3 days of troubleshooting, ecu testing, pipe testing, and swapping things with another 21 to try and find the missing power to no avail. It flat out made 35 hp)
Enough chatting - lets check out the charts.
First, if you'd like a quick video of our dyno testing on the 2022 crf250r, you can check that out below this post.
For 2022 Honda made host of changes to their bike, aimed at improving the chassis, loosing weight, and centralizing weight. Between the tire change and the single exhaust, plus a few minor areas, Honda has lost around 8lbs. We noticed they now have the battery and ecu located low and central within the chassis as well.
In the engine department, however, more has stayed the same than has changed. Now Honda wont tell you this - they want to brand away from the previous generation which was a flop in terms of magazine perception and general consumer perception. But interestingly enough, contrary to what we read in magazines - the 18 Honda was quite a powerhouse on our dyno. It lacked low end - but the changes in 19 and 20 did NOT show much improvement here for me - and on our dyno it lost some peak hp in 20. One of the biggest changes was a largely reduced exhaust cam duration - which was quite interesting to see track feel on that change vs dyno results.
Moving into 2022 - Honda has left the bare bones of their engine the same. It already had the largest bore and shortest stroke in the class, which in turn allows the largest inlet valves in the class (because the bore is larger). It has a very downdraft head with the intake port being nearly a straight shot into the cylinder with good visibility of the valve. All of this remains unchanged. But updated for 22 is the single exhaust port (we believe is good for low end production), and updated intake tract - the air box to the port has undergone large updates with and a longer air horn, larger, better air filter plenum. Honda has also changed the camshafts some - and all of this has produced massive gains on the front side of the power curve.
Interestingly - on my dyno, it's down from some of the 18-20 crf's we have tested at PEAK hp - but it's WAY up in power at 4-8000 rpm. It also has a nice mapping character and feels MUCH more responsive than previous years.
I have had some variance in results on the previous Hondas - but I choose the best stock 21 result to compare this bike to (we had one brand new 21 only make 35 hp off the showroom!!! - after we did some minor mods to it it became quite the ripper but we never found anything wrong inside to suggest why is was so low - and did 3 days of troubleshooting, ecu testing, pipe testing, and swapping things with another 21 to try and find the missing power to no avail. It flat out made 35 hp)
Enough chatting - lets check out the charts.
21crf250rget_vs_22crf250r.pdf |
22crf250r_hp_map1_vs_map_3.pdf |
ktm250f_vs_22crf250r.pdf |
22crf250_vs_22kx250.pdf |