I bought a 2017 Honda CRF250L for green lanes and off roading… then broke it on my first ride out!

Having fallen in love with riding off road and exploring my local green lanes on my Honda NX500 adventure bike, it was time to pickup a little dirt bike to take on some of the lanes my NX500 is just to big to tackle.

Introducing Tracker, my 2017 Honda CRF250L!
I picked this little red beauty up, called on Gary and Mark to accompany me on some new lanes I had been avoiding on the NX and we took to the dirt!

Starting at my favourite spot, Woolaston Woodside as a warm up the CRF traversed the lane effortlessly! Although I noticed the difference in ride position instantly, I loved every second of it and felt a new wave of confidence come over me. Let’s go!

Onward to Madgets Farm, a route I had seen videos of from TRF members and knew it wasn’t a track for the NX… but this little CRF, this is the bike for the job! We crossed the field, and dropped down the rocky descent towards Brockweir, and although slow (I suck at downhills) the CRF handled it brilliantly!

We continued over to Tintern, and took on Barbadoes Lane - a lane I was told to avoid on the NX500, so it was time to find out why. It was an amazing, although very steep, uphill single track with a little stream crossing and some lovely old stone walls covered in moss. Sadly we came across a few human laid obstacles to hinder progress, assume walkers/nearby residents aren’t fond of dirt bikes using the track.

Atop of the initial lane, we popped out onto a track and were faced with a seemingly vertical rocky, climb which had all 3 of us scratching our heads over how a bike was ever supposed to climb it! We agreed to skip out, and took to track down to the road before continuing on to our next lane. A very flooded track, that has become a pond crossing near Cleddon Falls. This was excellent, wading through the stinky pond water felt like a real adventure, and although a very short lane one I’m excited to revisit.

A brief stop at Cleddon Falls, we descended back to the A466 and rode on to our next track, which comes straight off the A466 up a steep bank and under a fallen tree. The track although brief and slick, was great fun to navigate. Although Gary got tangled in vines and brambles on his ascent.

This is where we had planned on finishing our days ride, however our route home took us past the notorious Mork Lane - a lane I have taken the NX500 down a couple of times, bottoming out badly each time on the large slippery rock slabs, and tentatively descending the rocky, loose and difficult track. It was a track that would be a true challenge to take on in reverse… however, this new found CRF induced confidence saw me wanting to give it a go and the boys were up for the challenge so we pursued the glory…

I took off, through the stream and up the track hitting the loose rock and taking on the hill climb. It felt great, the CRF hauled my arse up the difficult terrain with ease. We reached the half way point, had a brief celebration, then continued to the final challenge of both the day and the lane… the rock step slabs.
This saw my first tumble of the day, then saw my clutch wave goodbye - however luckily, the clutch held out until the final step and the completion of climbing Mork Lane!

The slow limp back home at 15mph was a touch embarrassing but the glory and adrenaline of an incredible day of green lanes kept my spirit high!

Time to order a new clutch kit, and get this little red rocket back on the lanes.

Thanks for watching!