Musings brought on by whichever brain cells happen to be firing at the time.

 


My Suzuki DRZ-400S is too big for Adam to ride and I wanted to have a dedicated dirt bike so I got a Honda CRF230F. The 230F and 150F are the successors to Honda's long-running and highly regarded XR200 dirt bike. Honda believes the market is big enough to divide it into two bikes to appeal to riders who want something a little larger or smaller than the original. The CRF230F is just at the limit of what Adam can easily ride today and it's big enough for me. This looks like the perfect dirt bike for both of us.

Adam is a beginner and I consider myself a novice on the dirt. We took the Honda to the trails of Capitol Forest to stir up some dust and give it a vigorous break-in ride. Look at the photo. It will never be this clean again.

Adam is enthusiastic and a quick learner. He's going to be a good dirt rider. I can't quite claim the same for myself. I was bumping and skidding along over rocks, loose sand, mud and roots and growing more impressed with the Honda. And a little overconfident with my own skills. "I am the trail master! Yee haw!" I came to a fork in the trail with a sign pointing off to the right, "Dirt Bikes --- Difficult Loop". It seemed to call my name. "David! This way! Let's see if you can do this!" How could I refuse? It was indeed difficult, much more difficult, requiring a degree of technical riding that I'm not yet capable of. Still, I was managing alright even though I had to keep putting a foot down. The light weight of the Honda helped and it surprised me how much ground clearance it has for limbs and rocks.

The trail became even more challenging when it went diagonally down a hillside on loose sand. Going down required a controlled slide and a mistake would drop me off the side of the hill. I hoped the trail didn't double-back over this section as I seriously doubted I could make it back up. At the bottom was a little loop around a few trees and then a muddy stream followed by a log. The mud seemed deep and the log was the biggest one on the trail yet. I stopped to consider my options. Turn around and attempt to make it up the sandy hillside? Ride through the mud and over the log? At this point I realized I had gotten in over my head. I voted for the log based on the questionable reasoning of "just to see if I can do it."

Into the mud! Lean back, tug on the handlebars, blip the throttle! Front wheel over! And......

Stuck on the log. One wheel over, one wheel behind. I put my feet on the log, pushed the handlebars forward, revved the throttle and was rewarded with a fountain of sticky mud raining down on me. The rear wheel dug itself deeper into the ooze. This wasn't going anywhere. I got off the bike and left it sitting on the log to grab some dead tree branches and jam them under the rear wheel. Then back on the bike, feet on the log, leaning hard on the handlebars and revving the throttle for all it it's worth. The rear wheel spun, more mud rained down but I could feel it starting to catch. I pushed again and finally, in a leap worthy of Olympic gold, rider and bike propelled over the log and instantly fell flat into the mud on the other side. I killed the motor and sat there for a minute to savor my victory (really, to catch my breath and pull the Honda out of the mud.) At least I had made it over!

Then I noticed something terrible. There was nowhere to go. The log was there to mark the end of the trail. No way out except to go back over the log, up the sandy hillside and return the way I came.

I made it back muddy, exhausted and all smiles. Can't wait to do it again!

The Honda is a sweet dirt bike. It is easy to ride on the trails and the magic button (electric start) is a most welcome improvement.

Here is an informative CRF230F review by Rick Ramsey. I plan to make some of the same modifications he describes to extract more of what the Honda is capable of.