When we took our trip from Berlin to Tokyo a couple of years back, we used a KTM 1090 and a KTM 1290. We were very impressed with their reliability and the great service offered by KTM in places like Teheran, Almaty, Ulan-Bataar and Tokyo – check out our review.
So why did we not use KTMs again? We like riding off-road and expected a lot of opportunities for that on our way from Berlin to Cape Town. That’s why we wanted more lightweight bikes. The KTM 690 Enduro (or similar Husqvarna 701 Enduro and GASGAS ES 700) would have been a great solution. Or the Yamaha Ténéré 700, which was the bike we saw most often with overlanders on our trip. And Thies even has a Ténéré 700 at home.
However, we decided to go for the Honda CRF300 Rally. Its obvious downside is the tiny 300ccm engine delivering 27 horsepower only. But what we liked was its longer fuel range (roughly 400 km instead of 300 km), even less weight than the KTM 690 and a lower price tag. We liked the looks, too.
For us, getting the Honda CRF300 Rally proved to be a mistake. Riding was less fun than it could have been and engine failures forced us to end our journey early. Instead we dealt with repairs, legal issues and high costs this mess entailed. Read below our real-world test of this bike and decide for yourself if the CRF300 Rally is a good choice.
Honda CRF300 Rally - A Cheap Bike?
The retail price (Germany 2023/24) is approximately EUR 7.500. Compared to some other bikes, this is rather cheap. But is it good value? You will have to spend some money to make it ready for traveling. Most reviews of the bike recommend the replacement of the rear shock, which is very soft. We totally agree and installed Wilbers shocks. We replaced the handguards for increased safety and protection of the bike when dropping it. Also highly recommendable for a trip like ours is to get a robust bashplate to protect the engine. For us, adding a USB-socket and replacing the side stand have also proven to be good decisions. So, more realistically, we are looking at EUR 9.000 - for a 300 cc bike. If you want to turn the CRF300 into a really great enduro traveling bike you will have to spend much, much more, check out Silke’s account.
Once on the road we understood that we should not have downplayed the fact that 300 cc and 27 horsepower is very little. On many occasions, riding is simply underwhelming. We are not just talking about long stretches in Mauritania or Southern Africa, but pretty much always on-road. The additional weight of baggage does not help and in case of headwind passing cars or even trucks can be difficult.
Another problem that became apparent on the road: Maintenance on the bike is difficult. While the air filter is still somewhat accessible (seven screws only), fuel filter and spark plug require major work to check or replace them. Even getting the seat off the bike requires tools.
The longer the trip, the more we knew this would not become a love affair. Nevertheless, if they would have brought us to Cape Town, we would have liked them for that. Unfortunately, they did not.
Africa is not a Rally
We had bought the bikes brand-new from a Honda dealer in Germany, in August 2023. When we got to Namibia in April 2024, the inspection at the Honda dealership revealed that compression of both bikes’ engines was too low. After opening one of the engines it showed that piston rings had broken and damaged the cylinder sleeve. Little metal-pieces were found in the engine oil of both bikes suggesting additional damage to the engine.
The bikes had run for 17.000 and 21.000 km respectively. Of course, oil was changed according to the maintenance schedule (even earlier). Now, engine failure that early is rare, but it happens. The fact that the bikes are just two serial numbers apart could mean some kind of production error, e.g. a bad batch of piston rings.
However, there is a deeper issue with the CRF300: In comparison to bikes with bigger engines it will be operating relatively close to its technical limits for a substantial part of the time. 100 km/h is different for a CRF300 than for e.g. a KTM 690, a Yamaha Ténéré 700 or a Honda CRF1100 Africa Twin. Therefore the engine and all other parts will be less resilient and more likely to break down. This might not be relevant for many ways of using this bike, but worth consideration if you plan something like a ride across Africa.
Partly Surprising
We considered ourselves lucky that we were at a highly competent and supportive official Honda dealership and workshop in Windhoek/Namibia when the engine issues were discovered. Naturally, we expected that the bikes could be repaired. We then learned that the necessary parts were not in stock in Southern Africa and that it can take months for Honda to get parts to Namibia. At some point we lost hope that the bikes could be repaired within a month or so at Honda Windhoek and sadly decided to ship them back to Germany. The end of our trip.
Not Guaranteed to Go Very Far
Since the bikes were brand-new we expected them to be covered by Honda's warranty. Well, it is not that simple. The warranty of a bike bought in Germany is a European warranty (most likely similar in other regions). So, if you are a European traveling Africa, Asia, or the Americas, your bike will not be covered there. Under normal circumstances, this warranty scheme is of little use for overlanders, so don’t count on it when you pick a bike for a trip outside your region.
However, since we had to ship our bikes back to Germany the warranty scheme will apply there. Against the backdrop of our exchange with Honda in Germany we expect to find a good solution in the end.
Big Trip? Medium-sized Bike!
In hindsight, the CRF300 Rally was not a good choice for our trip from Berlin to Cape Town. It is good for what it is, but the bike for any future long trip with off road components would be a more powerful enduro travel bike for more fun and more resilience. Somewhere between a Honda CRF300 Rally and a KTM 1290. Today, obvious candidates are the KTM 690 family or the Yamaha Ténéré 700 for their mix of power, weight, fuel range, 21”/18” tire dimensions, resilience and overall reliability.