Multicam Arid honda crF250L build

Obviously, there are a lot of dirt bike options out there, I chose to build off of the CRF250L for a couple reasons: Honda reliability, price point, seat height, power, and aftermarket support.

The CRF250L utilizes the CBR250R engine, which has an excellent track record in being super reliable and extremely low in maintenance. It requires oil changes every 8,000 miles (or one year), and valve clearance checks every 16,000 miles. These bikes are simply bombproof. There are cases of this engine lasting over 100,000 miles on the original engine components! That is a lot for a bike.

The CRF250L comes at a decent price point. You can find them between $3k-$5k depending on the condition. It’s worth noting, however, that Honda stopped making the CRF250L in 2020. They replaced it with the CRF300L in 2021.

Obviously, it’s a 250, so there isn’t a ton of power, but it has plenty of power to accommodate the tasks that I built it out to do. There are some upgrades that you can make to the bike to “wake it up” a bit. (More on that later)

By no means is the CRF250L a “high-performing” bike, but it comes at a decent price and will go anywhere you need it to go, so long as your skill level can accommodate it.

why Multicam Arid?

Obviously, the thing that sticks out the most about this bike is that it is Multicam Arid. Since I didn’t really talk about that in the video, I figured I could be a little bit more specific here.

While the factory Honda red doesn’t look bad, I wanted something that would be more effective at blending in the woods, and I also just wanted to give the bike a bit more personality. So, I vinyl-wrapped the plastics in Multicam Arid. I know Arid isn’t the most effective camo for Tennessee, but it works better than red, and well... I just like Arid. This was my first attempt at vinyl wrapping something, so it’s certainly not perfect, but for the most part, I’m happy with how it turned out. 

The Vinyl is from a company called Image Craft. They are officially licensed by Multicam/Crye, so the pattern is legit. They also claim that they use very high-quality vinyl. And I will say, after riding through branches, twigs, brush, and dropping the bike many times. This vinyl has never torn. I am extremely impressed with how durable this stuff is.

performance

Let’s talk about power. Well, the CRF250L doesn’t have a ton of it, but it’s really not bad. I have no problem riding this bike on the highway (55-60mph), and it has plenty of power for riding in the woods. The problem isn’t so much the “power”, the problem is more so where the power is located. The 250L really likes the higher RPMS, it doesn’t have a ton of “lugging” or low-end grunt. Naturally, I wanted to remedy some of this.

I replaced the stock 14-tooth front sprocket with a 13 Tooth, effectively changing the gear ratio. This alone gave the bike a lot more “pull” in the low end. As a result, all the gears are a little bit shorter now, but the bike overall is much torquier. 6th gear on this bike actually went from being a lifeless overdrive gear to a gear that pulls and can actually pick up speed. This means my top speed is a bit higher now too.

When I purchased this bike (used), the previous owner had put a Yoshimura RS4 Exhaust on it. A lot of people assume “higher flowing exhaust = mo power”, but unfortunately, that’s just not the case. If you increase airflow, you also need to increase fuel in order to see any kind of increase in power. So what I did was purchase a Re-Mapped ECU from 550 Performance. This ECU is just a stock ECU that has been flashed and updated to provide you with the full power gains of the higher-flowing exhaust and 91 Octane gas. This is by far one of the simplest power mods that I have done, being that the ECU is right under the rear fender.

It did increase power a bit, and it feels like I can go a lot slower without stalling the bike now too, which is great for trail riding. Overall, the bike seems to be really happy with the re-mapped ECU.

The performance mods that can be done to this bike are kind of endless, and although I told myself I wasn’t going to mess with the suspension or anything “power” related, well… I did and will probably continue in doing so as I continue building out this bike to better suit my needs.

During the sustainment bike video, the bike was pretty much stock in terms of performance, but I have since added a few things that are worth talking about.

The stock suspension on this bike is pretty soft, even for me, only weighing in at 130 lbs. Don’t get me wrong, the rear shock can handle my weight just fine, but the stock rebound and valving is just garbage. So, I decided to give the Ohlins Rear Shock a try, and boy did it make a difference. The Ohlins shock is rated for people up to 190lbs, so it handles the weight of me and all my gear perfectly fine, the shock has a remote reservoir, and adjustable compression and rebound damping.

This is awesome because you can change how the bike handles and feels for different terrain. The rear shock no longer feels like a worn-out pogo stick. It feels better hopping over obstacles, the front end doesn’t want to immediately nosedive when going over whoops, the bike just feels way more stable on and off road. The front suspension is still stock, but I hope to upgrade that in the future too.

tires / tubes

You might be wondering, why mix-match tire brands/models? Well, after doing some research, I found that a lot of dual sport riders swear by this tire combo. I hear that neither tire is good on its own as a set, but when paired like this, they are fantastic.

After having this tire combo for about 1800 miles, I can say they are awesome for what I use the bike for, which is 70% on road and 30% offroad. These tires are super stable on the pavement, and offroad they grip like a dedicated dirt tire. They do wear a bit faster on the pavement, being that they are both 90/10 tires, but changing tires more frequently is something I’m okay with considering the excellent performance that they provide. 

I paired these tires with Bridgestone Ultra-Heavy Duty Tubes, Motion Pro Rim Locks, and spoke-attached Wheel Balance Weights.

With this setup, I can run single-digit tire pressures offroad and not worry as much about tearing or puncturing a tube.

Just like any offroad/on-road vehicle, tires are important. There are a ton of tire options out there for different ridings styles and types. I have played with a few different tires like the Kenda Trakmaster II’s and the Stock IRC’s, but the tire combo I found to work best for me is that the Pirelli MT21 Front (90/90-21) and Dunlop D606 Rear (120/90-18)

electrical

The second lighting upgrade I made was a pair of Baja Designs S1’s. I went with the S1’s because I have other Baja Designs products, and I have always been happy with the performance of their lights. 

On all my vehicles, I try to stick with Amber colored auxiliary lights because they seem to punch through fog, rain, and dust a whole lot better than white.

As far as mounting goes, I had a hard time figuring out where to mount the S1’s, so I wound up removing my turn signals and utilizing the factory holes that they were in. I mounted them in a way where they can easily be adjusted horizontally depending on how wide I want to be able to see. I also wired them to my high beam so that I can activate them utilizing the factory light switch on the handlebars.

Overall, I am pretty happy with my lighting so far. In the future, I will probably rig up a blackout switch, and some Baja Design S2 IR Lights.

I wanted to make sure that I had a convenient way to navigate and see where I’m at on a map, so I mounted a Garmin ZUMO XT GPS to the bike. The Zumo XT is a fully featured GPS with lots of handy navigation tools and widgets, as well as some quality-of-life things like music control, iOverlander, and turn-by-turn directions. The mounting system on this unit is really nice as well, it charges via the mount, and it has a quick detach button, so I can easily take the device off the bike and throw it in a pocket if need be. 

The other GPS-related Item that I added was a Garmin InReach Mini 2. This device was a no-brainer for me because it’s small, the battery lasts a long time, it features an emergency SOS button, and it literally allows me to send text messages without cell phone reception. I have a mount for it on the bike, but it usually stays on my backpack just in case I were to get separated from the bike like this.

The nice thing about the Garmin ecosystem is that a lot of their devices are designed to work together. I can do things like can save locations or tracks on my Garmin watch and it will auto-save on both my InReach Mini 2 and Zumo XT. So, if I need to walk a path in the woods, I can breadcrumb the path utilizing my watch or InReach, circle back around, and seamlessly follow that same path on the bike using the Zumo XT and the integrated maps that it features. 

I added Seat and Grip Heaters, which really take the edge off when riding in 25-40 degree weather. And I also added a USB/USB-C Charger that has a convenient voltage display so I can monitor my electrical usage. All of my electrical accessories are tapped into my ignition, that way I don’t have to worry about accidentally leaving something on and draining the battery. 

The last but probably most important electrical upgrade I made was the battery. The stock battery is a standard lead-acid battery, and it weighs about 8 lbs. I wanted to save some weight by going with a lithium-ion battery, but I also wanted to get something that was going to provide enough juice when I need it most. 

That’s why I went with an Antigravity Battery. This battery has more cold cranking amps than the stock one, it’s super lightweight, and it also features a built-in jump starter. This is really handy because, If I’m out riding and I somehow manage to drain the battery, I don’t have to roll the bike up a hill and bump start the bike, I can simply jump-start the bike by either pressing the button on the battery or by plugging in the Antigravity Jumpstart Remote into my SAE trickle-charge port and flipping the switch.

The stator on the CRF250L is awesome. It produces 337 watts at 5K rpms. So, I decided to not be shy about the electrical accessories.

The stock headlight bulb sucked. It was borderline dangerous for riding at night. So naturally, I made some lighting upgrades.

I replaced the stock halogen bulb with a Cyclops LED Bulb, and the overall output is just a whole lot better now.

handle bars

The last thing that I added was a Tusk Dash Panel. It mounts conveniently right above the handle bar clamps, and allowed me to mount my seat/grip heater toggle switches, as well as my 12V charger/voltmeter. The only problem with my current setup, is I’m maxed out on switch locations. So if I want to add anything else down the road, I’ll have to get creative.

For durability and comfort, I went with Protaper CR-HI Bend 7/8th Handlebars. They are a little more aggressive of a bend compared to the stock handlebars, which for me, is much more comfortable for both sitting and standing. They were fairly easy to install, but I did have to drill a hole on each side to accommodate the stock handlebar switches.

Since I was already replacing my handlebars, I also added a set of Protaper Pillowtop Grips. I’m not a huge fan of these as they are kind of slick when wet, but otherwise, they are super grippy, and they do cut down vibration a bit.

You’d be surprised with how fast you run out of room on your handlebars for things like switches, mounts, etc. But, with the help of a few products on the market, I was able to fit everything I need (for now).

My GPS, InReach, Phone, and Mirrors are all attached using various RAM Mounts. These mounts basically utilize a ball and an arm, resulting in a lot of versatility, and a rock-solid attachment method. Ram Mounts makes a ton of accessories for nearly every vehicle out there. My inReach is attached to a Ram Ball that replaces a handlebar clamp screw, and my Garmin Zumo XT is attached to a RAM Ball that acts as a washer for my mirrors which also happen to be attached to a RAM Ball. Shoot, if you look closely, I even have a spare RAM ball attached to my front brake lever clamp. Ram Mounts simply make attaching things a million times easier. 

protection

Another addition I made was a Skid Plate. This is a pretty common upgrade because it protects one of the most important things on the bike - the engine. An aftermarket skid plate will be helpful when you are going over obstacles like logs or riding over strong debris on the trail.

There are a lot of skid plates out there, this one, in particular, is made by Moose Racing. It is made from a high-strength plastic as opposed to steel or aluminum. I went with this one because it’s lightweight, and strong, and it doesn’t reverb or rattle like the metal options on the market.

Dirt Bikes, or in this case Dual Sports, are meant to be taken off road and abused. They are built to handle the brute force of being consistently dropped over and over while providing the confidence that you can pick it back up and ride it like it never happened. With that being said, it’s not going to be immune to breakages. That is why I took certain measures to add some protection to the bike.

I’m a firm believer in taking care of your investments. I want this bike to handle any abuse that I may or may not throw at it.

Handguards are a MUST for any kind of offroad vehicle that utilizes handlebars. They protect your hands from things like branches, as well as the controls located on your handlebars. 

If you are off-roading your bike, you WILL drop it. It’s just part of it. I have dropped my bike plenty of times, and every time, these Barkbuster Handguards have taken the impact. Sure, they will get scraped up, but they are protecting the important things like the clutch lever, brake lever, and throttle tube assembly. 

I also added SRC Moto protection for the rear brake fluid reservoir, rear brake master cylinder, and frame. These guards aren’t a necessity, but they keep things lasting longer and looking nice.

The last piece of protection I added was a Radiator Guard, also from SRC Moto. 

Being that most radiators are made out of aluminum and are located right beneath the tank shrouds. It only takes one time bashing into a tree or dropping the bike real hard to damage/destroy the radiator. Having a radiator guard will not only protect it from debris and impacts, but it will offer some added rigidity to the radiator itself.  

quality of life upgrades

Because I’m short, I went ahead and replaced the stock seat with a 2.5” lower seat from SRC Moto. It did make a noticeable difference for me, but because the seat is still kind of wide, it only feels a tad lower than stock.

I also added a Kickstand Foot Enlarger from SRC Moto. This little quality-of-life add-on just helps keep the bike from sinking into soft ground. 

luggage

I wanted to be able to carry some gear so I picked up a Mosko Moto Reckless 40L. It’s extremely high quality, well-designed, super versatile, and not too much capacity, which is exactly what I wanted.

The reckless 40 System consists of a chassis and three dry bags. The two larger dry bags slide into the openings on the chassis, and the smaller 8L bag is secured in the middle by the integrated beavertail. This is nice because I can access things easily and I can also stack items under the beaver tail on the fly.

The entire luggage system is rackless – meaning, it is a universal fit and doesn’t require pannier or fender racks. I did, however, decide to use a Fender rack anyway for the added rigidity and extra mounting locations. This Fender rack is super low profile and lightweight - made by SRC Motto.

If you look closely, there is laser-cut molle webbing all over the Reckless 40, which means I can add other pouches if I need to increase what I carry. I haven’t needed to add any extra pouches, but I did utilize the MOLLE on the back of the beavertail for carrying an extra 1L bottle of emergency fuel. The bottle is made by MSR, and it is secured using some rubber MOLLE straps from Mosko Moto. 

The beavertail is easily my favorite thing about this luggage due to how easy it is to just stack items and secure them down. This is how my camp chair and scrim are secured to the bike, but it is also a quick and easy way to store a jacket if I get too hot and need to shed some layers.

The beavertail also has an integrated GP section that can be used for quick access items. I keep my tire pressure gauge, Antigravity Jump Start Remote, Fuses, and registration (since it is a street legal bike).

sustainment

Everything that I keep on the bike is right here. It is important to note that my choice in sustainment items isn’t perfect. I’m always adding and removing stuff as I see fit.

I’m not going to go into the detail of each item, but I will make sure everything seen in each photo is listed.

As I said earlier, the chassis/housing of the Reckless 40 has some quick-access storage. 

The items seen above are: 

- MSR 30 fl/oz Fuel Bottle
- One Tigris Folding Chair
- Generic Tire Pressure Gauge
- Multicam/OCP Netting
- Antigravity Jumpstart Remote
- Spare Fuses/Fuse Puller
- Allen Keys

Inside my left-side dry bag, I keep; my cookware, fire-starting equipment, and water purification. 

The items seen above are:
- Jetboil with spare fuel.
- Coffee and Poor-Over filters
- 1x emergency mountain house meal (can easily fit 5 or 6)
- Sawyer Products Mini Water Filtration System
- Water Purification Tablets
- MSR Folding Spork
- Generic Backpacking Tarp
- Instant Waterproof Fire Starter
- Generic Ferro Rod
- Generic Paracord
- Bic Lighter
- Generic Waterproof Matches

Inside my right-side dry bag, I keep shelter/sleeping items. 

The items seen here are:
- Desert Fox Tent
- ENO Doublenest Hammock
- Grand Trunk Hammock Straps
- Klymit Sleeping Pad 

It is worth noting that I don’t keep the tent and ENO on the bike at the same time anymore. To keep things minimal, I don’t need two forms of shelter. In cold weather, I’d rather utilize the space for a warm sleeping bag. 

Inside the top drybag (located under the beavertail) I keep items that are only needed for the bike. 

The items seen here are:
- Spare 21” Front Tire Tube. (This will fit the front and back tire in an emergency)
- Tire Spoons
- Small Metric open ended wrench kit
- battery terminal clamps – SAE Port
- Spare spark plug
- Electrical Tape
- Nitrile Gloves
- Zip Ties
- Adjustable Wrench
- Sockets for the front and rear axles
- Socket Wrench
- Microfiber Cloth

As you can see, you can fit a lot of stuff on a bike, and it can be fairly lightweight. 

final thoughts

The author

Christian Guzman can be contacted on Instagram here.