Both of us have been riding Honda CRF 250 L motorcycles and so far we made 85.000 km in 30 months to turn around Europe and Africa continent. We have been doing all maintenance of motorcycles so we would like to share with you which part of CRF 250 L did we change until now.
Most people think 250 cc motorcycle is too small for a world trip especially for Africa continent. We think that it is a good option but you can be right if you want to ride on desert you need more power to go through the loose sands.
You can also check the article about; why we did choose Honda CRF 250 L to travel around the world.
Which part of Honda CRF 250L did we change in 85.000 km in the world trip ?
One is second hand, it was 2.500 km when we bought model 2014, which is from Turkey.
Other Honda CRF 250 was new when we bought it, which is 2016 model and from Holland.
| 2014 model | 2016 model | Which part has Changed | Detail |
| 2.500 km | 1.000 km | Engine oil and filter | We didn’t know when they changed last time for the second hand. (in TURKEY) |
| 6.500 km | – | Battery | Battery dead for second hand motorcycle. (in HOLLAND) |
| 10.000 km | 6.700 km | Engine oil | (in NORWAY) |
| 14.500 | – | Chain and Back sprocket | (in POLAND) |
| 16.500 km | 13.400 km | Engine oil and filter | (in HOLLAND) |
| 21.070 km | 18.170 km | All Tires, Heidenau K60, | We used original tires, IRC, in Europe. (in TURKEY) |
| 21.070 km | 18.170 km | Engine oil | (in TURKEY) |
| – | 18.170 km | Chain | (in TURKEY) |
| 29.300 km | 26.200 km | Air filter | (in SENEGAL) |
| 29.300 km | 26.200 km | Engine oil and filter | (in SENEGAL) |
| 29.300 km | – | Chain and sprockets | (in SENEGAL) |
| 32.000 km | 29.000 km | Break fluid | There was so much dust in it(in MALI) |
| – | 31.100 km | One fork seal | Nigerian roads are terrible (in NIGERIA) |
| 36.300 km | 33.200 km | Engine oil | (in CAMEROON) |
| 38.300 km | 35.400 km | Rear tires, Michelin T63, | (in GABON) |
| 41.500 km | 38.700 km | Engine oil | (in ANGOLA) |
| 41.500 km | 38.700 km | Headlight bulb | (in ANGOLA) |
| – | 38.700 km | Sprockets | (in ANGOLA) |
| 47.600 km | 45.000 km | All Tires, Mitas EO7, | (in SOUTH AFRICA) |
| 47.600 km | 45.000 km | Engine oil and filter | (in SOUTH AFRICA) |
| 47.600 km | 45.000 km | Break fluid | There was so much dust in it (in SOUTH AFRICA) |
| 47.600 km | 45.000 km | Spark plug | (in SOUTH AFRICA) |
| 53.400 km | 50.900 km | Engine oil | (in BOTSWANA) |
| 58.250 km | – | Clutch pad, Engine oil and Engine filter | (in TANZANIA) |
| – | 56.000 km | Engine oil and filter | (in TANZANIA) |
| – | 57.250 km | Battery and Engine oil | (in TANZANIA) |
| 62.500 km | 60.300 km | Engine oil | we could find organic oil therefore we changed engine oil every 4.000 km. (in KENYA) |
| – | 63.000 km | Chain | He used the chain total 44.250 km. 🙂 (in ETHIOPIA) |
| 67.100 km | 65.100 km | Engine oil | It was organic motorcycle engine oil so we wanted to changed in 4.000 km but we couldn’t find good quality engine oil. (in ETHIOPIA) |
| – | 65.100 km | Clutch pad | (in ETHIOPIA) |
| 68.000 km | 66.000 km | We cleaned fuel pumps and fuel filter | Our both motorcycle stopped and didn’t work well again after bought our first petrol in Sudan. We searched everything and than we had to clean pumps and filters. (in SUDAN) |
| 69.000 km | 67.000 km | Sprockets, Engine oil and filter, Break fluid, fork oil and seals, Spark plug, air filter. And all tires, (Mitas EO7) | (in TURKEY) |
| 69.00 km | – | Rear break, Chain | Used the chain 40.000 km (in TURKEY) |
| – | 67.000 km | Valve clearance, Fuel pump | (in TURKEY) |
| – | 73.000 km | Rear break | (in TURKEY) |
| 76.000 | 74.500 km | Engine oil | (in TURKEY) |
| – | 74.500 km | Cam chain tensioner | (in TURKEY) Free changed because of the fabric problem. |
| 83.500 | – | Engine oil and filter, Air filter | (in TURKEY) |
| – | 85.100 km | ????????? | (in HOLLAND) Motorcycle is in Holland and we are in Turkey therefore we haven’t check yet but could be similar. |
*We filled in the km if we changed something on the motorcycle, if there is no number we only changed it on 1 motorcycle.
What we have been learning on the road we always like to share. You can find playlist to watch from our maintenance here :
When our motorcycles arrive Turkey from Sudan with air freight we went Ersoy Moto, where we can work ourselves on the motorcycles. We had checked-up our CRF 250 L motorcycles. Also we cleaned them, it took many hours to clean African dust and dirt because it was stuck every where. 🙂
By the way, we went to Honda service in Cape Town to ask about valve clearance when motorcycles were 47.500 km. They told us everything sounds fine therefore they didn’t open the engine. We opened both motorcycles engine for valve clearance in Turkey. Second hand motorcycle was 69.000 km we measured it but it was not necessary to do so we didn’t.
We always check the mechanic/technical book of Honda CRF 250L to change everything on time but some parts of motorcycle lasted more long than the book is saying or we didn’t have the parts to change.
We haven’t changed his breaks yet because we didn’t need to use our break on the road so much. 🙂 Generally, gas breaks is enough for us in Africa. We had to change mine because rear break had damage.
If you plan a long motorcycle journey like us you should check our other articles about what we carry for fix motorcycles, how much knowledge you need about motorcycle before start to travel , what have been learning on the road to mechanic of motorcycle? …etc for all articles just click 🙂
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