For the beginner, or casual trail rider, the suspension on the Honda is ideal, with an overall soft feeling. For instance, it is well tested in the field, and meets Honda’s stringent demands for durability and reliability (though it does have an aggressive maintenance schedule).

CRF250X or CRF250R - Which dirt bike is the best - DirtXtreme CRF250X or CRF250R - Which dirt bike is the best - DirtXtreme

In sand you clearly need to keep the power on and keep your weight back, but the engine’s got strong torque and the chassis relatively light. When those slow sections are uphill, you’ll notice that the CRF250X has outstanding traction, with the soft and supple Showa shock keeping the rear wheel tracking over obstacles, rather than being bounced around.

And with that old school cable, will need a bit of adjustment on a long run, so our advice is to stay on the pipe and off the clutch! Not having fuel injection isn’t all bad, though; when the throttle is rolled on from a stop the power is smooth, unlike most fuel-injected bikes which can feel touchy and jumpy. Further down into the engine and it’s more of the same – old school reliability takes precedence over new and fallible.

Honda CRF250X Technical Specifications - Ultimate Specs 2019 Honda CRF250X Technical Specifications - Ultimate Specs

In my opinion the Honda is an Ideal bike for a new rider, or a great woman’s bike; in fact, my girlfriend bought one, had the seat shaved, got the suspension lowered, and loves it to death. Mode 2 smooths out power and torque, for improved rear wheel traction on slippery ground while Mode 3 punches aggressively, for dealing with deep sand.But this is exactly what the guy with the CRF250XRL did, travelling over 100 miles on motorways, dual carriageways, trails and byways complete with tent, sleeping bag and everything for a weekend camping. The Honda has good torque in the lower RPM range and pulls decently into the midrange, but the power really falls off from the midrange to the rev limiter. There’s a lot to be admired about Maddi Patterson, including her survival from a life-changing accident. Trial tyres have incredible grip on rocky surfaces and as the terrain was littered with rocks, then the tyres performed well.