CRF300L Index Page (latest posts first)

300L Final thoughts at 10,000 miles
300L Lowering link
300L 9000km review
300L Ready for Morocco
300L Tubeless tyres 3
300L The Purbeck Trails
300L Tubeless tyres 2
300L The Mileage Diaries
300L Dorset’s Great Western Trail 2
300L Dorset’s Great Western Trail 1
300L Going tubeless 1
300L Midsummer ride: seat, screen & mpg
300L Old tubes and dirt bike rims
300L Acerbis tank, crashbars, USB
300L First impressions
Honda 300 Rally vs CB500X vs 300L (2022)
Honda 300 Rally quick ride (2022)

In spring 2023 I finally cracked and got myself a CRF300L, just like everyone else. Mainly due to the need for a lithe trail bike to log a mass of new routes in Morocco for my guidebook. A spell of bad weather across the south of Morocco in February 2023 cut masses of tracks and roads which also led to catastrophic tomato shortages in the UK. Setting off in a rental 4×4 the following week, we turned back from mashed tracks and roads several times a day. Some of these blockages could have negotiated on a light bike, even if the job of logging tracks is harder on two wheels.

People ask: why not a snazzy looking Rally (left) with its useful screen and a 12.8-litre tank? I tried one briefly last year but it seems people who are serious about trail riding choose the cheaper, lighter, more popular and much less plastic-clad 300L which they can ‘Rallyfy’ as much as needed for less than the 700-quid premium.

My last bike was an Africa Twin which I knew wasn’t my thing, but I thought I ought to pay lip service the ‘giant adventure bike’ phenomenon. I devised a trip within its abilities but was reminded of the obvious: unless you’re a talented young buck, and despite what the adverts depict, why pretend a quarter-ton tank is any kind of useable on all but the smoothest gravel tracks. You just spend the day thinking: ‘Looks interesting up there but alone out here I better not risk it…’.

After my March 2023 Morocco fly-in tours, I did a few days solo on a 310GS. I must have done 15,000 kms over the years on these bikes, but it’s a busman’s holiday on the wide-barred rentals which don’t exactly set an unexplored trail on fire.
I like to think that while a 300L will be slower tapped out on a desert highway, it’ll make the trails a lot more fun and less tiring, which also adds up to less risk when roaming around alone.

After blundering about on the internet looking for L in all the wrong places, a mate pointed out a well fettled example just 50 miles down the road. With <1000 miles on the clock, it also had nearly all my preferred accessories and mods fitted (barks, bash, easy-grab tube rack, Renthals), as well as Rally Raid suspension and a nifty screen. It even smelled new.
A pile of spares included the original chain, sprockets, bars and tyres. The seller (second owner already!) had done just 300 miles before he accepted it was still just too tall for him, despite a thinned-down seat. He’s after a Beta Alp 200 next.

I’ll need that seat padding back (starting with a Cool Cover with a slab of foam underneath, like I did on the Him), as well as a return to stock 14/40 gearing (currently tree-climbing 13/45) before I take it down to Morocco and leave it there for the winter. I just re-read my quick impression on the 300 Rally last year, noting the low 1st / ‘overdrive’ 6th was a clever spread of gears. Another thing that’ll need addressing: the 7.8-litre / 230km fuel tank. An Acerbis 14-litre is on order. Below is how the bike looked as I headed off to Morocco in autumn 2023.