CRF300 Rally Raid: Upgrades to turn lightweight Honda into mini adventurer

Rally Raid Products have created a package of upgrades for the CRF300L and CRF300L Rally that turn it from a cheap and cheerful trailbike into a well-equipped lightweight adventure bike.

“Lots of riders are like me,” says the Northants firm’s owner John Mitchison. “They’re getting on a bit and just don’t want to have to deal with a 250kg machine, which I why I was drawn to the CRF in the first place. But it’s built to a price, so that’s where we step in.”

Rally Raid have two sets of suspension, bar risers, luggage racks, power take off mounts and a new sidestand, which they think fixes all of Honda’s compromises.

The biggest single upgrades are the Level 1 and Level 2 suspension components, which offer the same improvements to the damping (as well as adjustability) but with different amounts of travel (210mm and 250mm respectively). Interestingly though, it’s not quite as simple as it might seem.

“The stock travel is 250mm,” says John. “But it’s so softly sprung that by the time you sit on it, you lose up to half just through sag. With the 210mm Level 1 kit we set the sag correctly, so riders end up with the same amount of travel available to them. The 250mm Level 2 is effectively a 40mm upgrade on that with the associated increase seat height. We’ll have a 19in wheel kit available soon too.”

As well as offering more travel the forks have a 35mm diameter damper body and piston, roughly three times bigger than the stock unit, offering much more precise damping control.

They also have external adjusters for both damping and spring preload. The shock, meanwhile, also now offers adjustable preload and damping, while the separate function design maintains consistent damping even when it’s working hard.

Both the Level 1 and Level 2 fork kit costs £660, while the shock is £498. For riders going for the Level 2 kit, Rally Raid also offer a longer side stand for £78.

“It really opens up what you can do with the bike,” adds John. “I’m off to Spain next month to do the Trans Euro Trail and because it’s a small bike, I’m confident enough to do it solo.”