Well that wasn’t so bad!
Relphy presses the Honda CRF 300 into a bit of moist motorway service
If I’m going on a trip of any distance on a bike, especially on motorways then I would opt for a bigger bike with a bit of wind and weather protection. Also, being heavier, bigger bikes offer a bit more stability. But one of these very trips turned up at short notice, so I had no option but to press the Honda CRF300 Rally into service.
If I didn’t have to go on that day, I would have cancelled and stayed at home, because after some of the glorious weather we have been treated to recently, the day I was heading out was doomed to have a horrendous forecast! Heavy rain all day was set to be followed by more heavy rain with thunder and lightning. Fantastic. Ahh well, nothing for it. Tog up and go.
The route was down the A1, onto the A14 then down the M11 and I can honestly say there were some points on the journey where the rain and spray were so bad, I couldn’t have told you which one of those roads I was actually on.
Even though the CRF300 would not have been my first choice of bike for this run, I was pleasantly surprised by how well it performed. Not only will this little big bike keep up with motorway traffic, doing 75mph at 8000rpm, but the best bit was it was still returning 83.3mpg! The noise of the rain clattering down on my visor was a constant reminder of how bad the weather was, with the occasional one-second interval as I passed under a bridge.
In rain like this it became very apparent how well the CRF300 has been designed. The screen, small but perfectly formed, did a great job of reducing wind pressure and keeping some of the rain from trying to penetrate my waterproof gear, at the same time the slightly bulbus tank cowlings do a surprisingly good job of re-directing wind and rain around my legs. You still get wet, but it’s not as bad as it could have been without.
Since I first got the CRF back in June I have made a few alterations, the main ones being uprating the suspension with the help of K-tech, and switching to Dunlop K606 tyres. Originally the CRF would feel unstable when crossing white lines between lanes, but the combination of new tyres and firmer suspension has almost eradicated this, making faster riding on bigger roads a much more enjoyable experience. With their aggressive knobbly pattern, the Dunlops look like masters of the mud, but I didn’t expect them to be much good on wet roads. I have mainly ridden in the dry so far, but in the wet I was surprised how much grip they had and how much confidence they gave me after the few bends.