Honda CRF230F

Excellent for tough terrain – Have owned mine for a bit over 2 years and starts every time with one kick. Has handled all tough terrain reliably and will take just about any abuse you run it through. Good acceleration and well built for something that’s made in China. Show details

2019 crf230f – Great bike to get around on the trails and hills. Prefect for beginners and intermediate Riders. I have been a Die Hard 2 stroke fan. But I have to admit the CRF 230 is way less maintenance more affordable and does with the bike is meant to do. This is by no means a race bike. My only complaint would be the drum rear brake other than that it's a great bike.  Show details

Just great fun and worth owning one!!! – I'm 50 and just last summer bought my first dirt bike . I'm and experienced street rider but never had dirt .... I'm inlove with my CRF 230 F !! I ride extremely aggresive and it performs excellent, thank you Honda !!!!!! I think everybody should go get one , anyone can ride and have a blast !!!  Show details

2006 secondhand great entry level dirt bike – I bought this bike with it already been run down. Had to get the top end rebuilt and the forks resealed, but otherwise it was great. It had already been rejetted, which i probably wouldn't have done as it meant that it was using more fuel, ie about 3.5 hours worth, so great for short runs, but limited on exploring the bush. Being that I'm a short… Read more

guy this bike was great. I would not recommend a full sized bike for a beginner dirt bike rider if your feet can not touch the ground on both sides. I bought this bike in 2015 and the model I bought was a 2006 and the air filter looked like it hadn't been cleaned since 2006. Considering this and the fact that it had been rejected, I'm surprised how well it was running after a a simple top end rebuild. If I ever need to get a cheap dirt bike again, I would choose a run down 10 year old bike blowing smoke and torn seat over a brand new chinese bike.

The perfect woods bike – I am a 75 year old rider and have been racing and riding dirt bikes for 46 years. In Minnesota we ride between tight trees. I have owned countless dirt bikes. I've always been searching for the perfect woods bike. I have found that bike with the crf230. It is light so I can pick it up easily when I fall. It flicks through the trails like a toy. I… Read more

have had 250s and 350s but the 230 is faster in the trees because it brakes so well and jets off in a new direction with its power. A big bike can get you in trouble with its weight and excessive power. If you too are looking for the perfect woods bike, forget the big bikes-in the twisties you'll never use all that power unless you are a pro. Climbing a steep rock strewn hills, the 230 will motor past 250s and 400s because they are distracted by excessive wheel spin. Be smart and get a 230

Phil Little/Phil Little Racing.com

You Get What You Pay For – This review is about advanced suspension for the 230F. I wanted factory race bike offroad suspension. I mean like the best of the best. The back end was easy, a Fox Podium X Factory Series shock. Up front I used the Emig Racing 230f conversion kit. They have an axel that will work with your stock wheel, but you'll need a caliper, most likely. I… Read more ·  3

got a pair of 47mm showa forks from a late model crf450r and the caliper for that bike. I did use some shims there. Now that the front is on you will have clearance issues with the gas tank. I was told to use a heat gun but instead, I moved the tank back about 14mm, under the seat. Just scooched it back, cut some plastic here and there, lengthen the seats tank mount slot and make some brackets to re-locate the fuel tank. I made a new tank strap for the back end. Slide the forks up about 1" in the clamp, don't be shy. I did all of this work in my room with my small too box and a bike stand. The end result is so good it will blow your mind. Im putting custom gold valves from Race Tech to make the forks as plush as the shock. This did have its cost, but it was so worth it. I have some engine parts like 11to1 compression piston, cam, hi-po springs and stuff like that will finish my bike. Then there are all of the light trick bits I got for it. The bike wasn't that expensive, so I don't mind spending this much to have exactly what I want. This is now my favorite bike of all, ever. My friend said he would take my bike over a 450r anyday. I could go on forever about things like never needing fuel, or the ability to hold high speed forever. A small, light air cooled wonder bike. I'm glad to answer any questions, you can make one of these.

June 23rd, 2016 Update: The Stock Honda CRF230F

I would like to talk about owning and riding a stock 230F. When I wrote my first two reviews I kind of came out with guns blazin'. I was tricking out my 230f and mainly talked about high dollar, extensive modifications. Okay, the stock bike has good torque and is fun to ride. If you adjust the spring sag to around 3" (the internet will show you how, if needed) I took some pvc end caps that fit perfectly into the fork, they are about 3/4" tall and give the springs some mojo. I heard a gentleman talking about hard starts. Sure Hondas are cold blooded. I did learn something...don't warm the bike up on the choke for long. I would let it idle with the choke to warm up but this put tons of carbon on my plug, and each time I did it the plug got to where the bike was harder and harder to start. That's it! You can enjoy the heck out of a very competent trail bike. If you're short, the forks can be slid up to one inch in the triple clamps. I don't care for lowering links since they rob so much travel. There's something about a stock Honda 230F that is so nice, so get out there and have some real fun mate!

October 27th 2016 Update: Race Tech Gold Valves

I've always thought race tech is the best. Since I didn't want to ship my forks, I bought gold valves and had them installed. First off, it took forever for my order to arrive. The valve stacks were zip tied and all sorted. No difference at all and the Honda techs couldn't make sense of the complicated valving chart. I called race tech over and over for some simple directions so that I can finish my bike. He keeps saying that they are in the mail.

October 29th 2016 Update: More than the sum of its parts

The 230F is a great bike for just about anyone. I have my 3rd, a 09 that I bought new in '12. Spend the money and get the pro circuit full exhaust system, well worth it. The big gunn rev box is a must have also. Take the snorkel out of the airbox. Be sure to check jetting. A lot of guys buy bikes based on their ego. That's why I beat 450s offroad on a 230f. I have the ability to ride a 450- I've owned and raced cr500's and 250's, but I love my 230. Those guys on the 450s should be on a 230, but don't look at mine. Emig racing makes a triple clamp that allows show 47 inverted forks. Those are all over ebay for very little. The clamp is around 650 and an adapter to use your own front wheel is another 250 but since the fork is the only weakpoint on this bike I say its worth it. The small bike revolution is starting, and the same sales pitch that could sell me a wr250r is the one that makes me want to keep my 230f and spend that savings wisely to make my bike lighter and faster. Even stock, you can't go wrong with this little Honda. It's a gem. G'day mate. P.S.I got a fox podium factory edition shock and I'm in heaven.

November 6th 2016 Update: my performance update

I know that I wanted inverted forks and I used that setup until I found that the "trick" front forks are twice the weight of the stock ones. I really didn't mind my stock forks except for some flex at high speed stuff, that is minor. Keep your stock front end. You can always do things with the stock forks to better suit you. The Fox shock is awesome, get one! Your money can be better spent than changing the front forks.

This is a good bike fast parful but hard starting – I got me crf 230 3 months ago and I love it I really like the 6 speed transmission but that are a couple down sides first off. If you live in the North like me and have nothing but cold like below 0 for like 5 months out of the year it doesn't start. Well when cold but once it is worm it is OK only other problem is teans don't shift well. Someday… Read more

it might be from the cold though it works well have driving it through a river up to the seat and still ran so good. Bike also doesn't have power that 2 strokes have.

Incredible – No need to say it but this bike is awesome: great, great and great. Perfect for a kid a who wants to upgrade. Cannot think of a better bike. HONDA has done an excellent job with this bike and it has lots of power, it is reliable and easy to handle and control.

Crf230f – I'm 14 years old I bought a 2010 crf230f it has lots of power I hardly maintain it but never lets me down I do proper trail. I go through mud, water and a lot more I hope this review helps you to one of a hell bike.

Great all around bike! – I have a 05, i have owned few bikes but this 230f is perfect for all riders beginners or advance, perfect for trail riding, has decent power & the top speed is also pretty good. I would denfinitely recommend this bike..

Extremely reliable! – I bought an '08 crf230f about a month ago. I didn't want any liquid cooled racing machines because all I do is ride trails all over, not race. I've owned and loved crf's and xr's ever since I got my first bike as a youngin. I'm extremely impressed with the handling and over all performance of the bike. Low maintanance, perfect handeling, pretty much bullet proof bike. My only quirk is it has no kick start for back up if the battery dies

2014 Honda CRF203F – Bought my crf230f brand new in October 2014. Before I bought it I done a lot of research on this bike, and the two words I seen pop up many times about the crf230f was "bullet proof". I've only had mine for a couple of months and during that time I have done many hours of riding on some very challenging tracks, very steep rocks hills, big mud… Read more

holes, water, sand and dirt!! Through all this, it has not missed a beat! At one point I got stuck in mud that completely covered my front and back sprockets and chain, had to have friends help me pull the bike out and sure enough it started first press of the button! Poor thing, I have put it through it's paces so far with great results :) Down sides are, it's a fairly heavy bike at approx. 125kg, and it's no power machine. They are a trail bike, and are perhaps a tuned down machine which in my opinion makes them more reliable. The power is still good enough to have plenty of fun though :) Very low maintenance bike. So overall, these bikes are no big power machines but they will go anywhere the bigger bikes do that I can guarantee you! They are a great bike for learners. An easy to ride bike from fairly young kids through to adults! I feel they are a very fun bike to ride with the reliability to back it up! I hope my review can help others with their decision, as it did with me! Awesome bike, you won't regret it :)

Awesome bike – I've owned mine since 2010 and it has been an awesome bike. I usually ride on tight single tracks and it performs quite well. Very good trail bike handles rocks/logs well. Extremely easy to ride, starts fairly easily when cold, takes a little to warm up. Never had any problems with the bike apart from light globe's and fork seals, been very… Read more

reliable. Engine very low maintainence, great for beginners. Very capable straight out of the showroom. Very reliable, Fairly light, handles well, very good when the going gets tough, good on fuel, easy to learn on, nice torquey motor Not over powerful, shocks could use some work, not overly fast, sixth gear seems a bit short (always going for another gear)

Honda CRF230F – I bought a 2003 CRF230F for Two grand, The only thing wrong with it was the valve stem seals. Meaning that oil leaked into the motor and was burnt upon starting it.(blows smoke for about thirty seconds after firing up) but the bike itself is an absolute ripper! it's a real torquey, strong motor and it has plenty of grunt. me and my mate race… Read more ·  1

around all day, and he constantly asks to ride the 230 over his KTM 85sx.

I just tell him no!!! The bike is too much fun to ride!! Power, reliability, 6 gears. Valve stem seals, heavy, only electric start.

Great reliable Trail bike – I bought a 2004 model crf230f about 6 months ago and have done plenty of riding on it and am very impressed with the reliability of this bike, Its is a fantastic bike to get if your not doing anything to extreme on it, Only bad thing about this bike is the weight and the fact that it is only electric start. Strong reliable unstoppable engine, fuel effeincy is amazing, quiet stock exhaust Weight, only e-start

Great bike – This is an awesome bike for someone who isn't doing huge jumps and just wants to ride the trails. The bike can be tame but when you want it to she sure dose move. Definitely recommend for an everyday driver. One down side is the bike is harder to start when it is cold but most Hondas I've owned have like choke. Easy to start when hot, easy on gas,… Read more

corners great, suspension is plush, many aftermarket parts for it, e-start Starting when it is cold, slower to get to top speed,

Excellent – this is a great bike to start out on it, its VERY VERY tough u can thrash it all day every day if u want, and up some tight hills ull prob beat any of thoses race bikes, its not a MX bike but if u want to do Mx on it as i do itll do it ok just be pepared 4 come hard landings mantaince free (excpt things like oil and air filter)never had a problem… Read more

with it and i ride it hard it keeps going just takes wat ever i thro at it i ride every weekend and befor uni most week days my brother has a 06 and ive got 05 we race em against each other whit them mostly pinned and they just keep going go to Mx parks and try all the big jumps and ive even tried racing a pro (i got my arss kicked) nothing like my mates WR 250 which has had so many problems with valves ect. in generall i thrassh the creap out of it and havent had a problem with it yet and i have only ever cahnged the oil every 30 hours (some times its longer than 30hours) i cleen the air filter fairlly regerally as i dont have the baffell in th air box. o and if u cair about fuell i use about 1 to 1.5 L per hour with 95 octain riding up and down steep hils its not a race bike it dose lake power some times when im raceing my mate on his WR250F the spension is CREAP for MX it bottoms out so easlly espcelly the frot so if ur not going to make a jump or u over jumpted it land on the rear suppersion, but it dose all right cing how it wasent made for MX and im talking about fair size jumps eg 60 foot long (and above) and about about above 2m high it will bottom out if u dont try hard 2 stop it.

Very impressed, heaps of torque and brilliant suspension – And I say this standing 6"3" and tipping the scales at 124 kilos. The 230 is a terrific bike with plenty of power to haul my ample carriage around a track and the suspension is fine. Easy to maintain, frugal and fun. Easy to ride, excellent torque, great stoppers, not too loud.  Show reply

Good – In the time I have owned this bike it has been an awesome ride. Maintenance ie changing the oil or air filter has been incredibly easy and in general it still provides a thrilling ride even after 1.5 years use. The drum brake on the rear and the suspension are the areas in which honda has cut back on but it still is an excellent recreational trail… Read more ·  1

bike. Bulletproof engine with a simple but effective design. Good steady power that suits agricultural use, learners or people who prefer a more controllable motorbike Suspension is not designed for mega jumps but it still does an excellent job for everyday trail riding or small jumps

Excellent – over all there is no reason not to buy a bike like this unless ur going to be jumping to the moon i would buy high bend fatty bars it gives the bike a nicer feel i put tag t2s on mine and rip the snorkel off the air box it helps at high rmps it never let me down even never gut las or unreliable not much not to like its a strong bullet proof… Read more

motor and its a 6 speed and it can take on almost any hill im a hill climber in Canada b.c. and it rocks the hills

it is a sporty look and has great handling and with the eclectic stat it makes start up as easy at sitting on it and putting it in gear it also makes u want to ride hard and makes u feel comfortably riding hard great for beginners and advanced rides no kick stat so if batter goes u have to bomb start so its not to bad it starts pretty good with a bomb start and poeple say not to leave the key in it wont make ur battery die i left mine in and on sents i bot it and it never went dead after 2 years so its not a big deal but still not back up kick

Excellent – over all i think its really good becuase for one its a great bike for getting arounf in and also for number two i say f you really want a good bike then this is the way to go my favourite bike, excellent features for a motorbike of this complexity cant really say, honda dont specialise in motorbikes but when they do its good

Excellent – overall is a good bike and gets you were you want to and also fun go ride around on off or on road ( you must wear safety equipment at all times so you dont damage yourself ) good allround bike suitable for 16+ year old and goes pretty fast ;P noting at the moment

Good – i have a crf230f 07 model and as soon after i had a first ride and ran it in i pulled off the baffle and airbox ristrictor and replaced the rev limited to a performance rev box to up the power range and seriously it goes as fast as a crf250x 07 no bull sh*t and if u put a after market exaust on it goes even faster than a 250 but if u do this you… Read more

need to richen up the carby otherwise u will kill the bike but wat i did is put a after market needles in and got the mechanics to makes shore its runnin perfect and its a killer off a bike performance wise but the suspension is a bit mooshy and spongy but u will get used to it and another thing is the rear brake which isnt that bad if ur used to drum brack but if your used to disc it will lock up on ya alot untill you get used to it but otherwise its a good bike. the electric start is good when its warm but bad when u have a flat battery u have to push start it then wait for the generator to charge to battery. but otherwise the bike is very well and im very happy with mine. its very friendly off the shelf but if you take the baffle, airbox cover and replace he rev limiter and you have to richen the jetting or buy a aftermarket like me which makes it faster its a hole new bike and is faster than a crf250x. but if u dont do these mods its slow and sluggish but very good for a beginner or wife(women)(still a good bike) but after the mods it goes fast enough for experience riders no bull. the handling is good as well even though the suspension is bad. the suspension is bad but not to bad and the back rear drum brake is a bit sloppy too compared to a rear disc brake. the electric start is grate after its warm but if its cold it takes a while for it to warm up and if the battery goes flat you will have to push start it because it doesnt have a kick start.

Good – Overall its a good bike in total but make sure you have enough dough $$ to use 'cause this thing is expensive. Have fun ridin it if you buy it. :) good quality.works great. best one i ever used. loud. bad sound. expensive$$.

Excellent – This bike is great, I learnt on it. Within two months of riding i was hitting up jumps and going around tighter corners faster, the four stroke engine gives it plenty of grunt and enough torque if you whant to spew around some shrapnel from ure back wheel, it gets the power to the ground well and its great handling makes it feel like it whants you… Read more

to ride it hard, you learn quick on this bike. One things for sure, with this bike, i no longer have any boring weekends!!! 5 out of 5! Great Bike for bigginers, the suspension makes for a plush ride, the electric start is great, starts everytime, great bike to learn on, it literally prompts you to ride hard with its outstanding engineering. if your just starting out in motorbikes you cannot go wrong with this baby. Like most bikes you absolutely have to check it after youve bought it, i discovered that every nut and bolt was loose on the handle bars on my CRF230, but thats nothing a shifter didnt fix! Theres no kick-start (probably removed on a wieght loss effort), so if you run outta battery youll be pushin it back to the trailer, but the bikes great on energy so that shouldnt worry you (unless ure a dummy and leave the key on in the shed)

Good – very strong bike good quality good for learner riders to good riders:) very good for hill rising not good for the track butt still ok for what you get a bit on the pricey side also. good bike very strong and realibale noo kick start, needs better sound out of the factory

Excellent – Its my first bike so i dont have much to compare it to, im a girl i've only ridden it twice, but so far so good. I'm having fun and learning so really couldn't have picked a better bike. I got it for a pretty good price from a Honda dealer. So without talking technical jargon (i will leave that for you guys) Its a great bike! Light, easy to… Read more

handle, quite speedy, good bike for learners, no kick start, seems to be realiable, easy to push up onto a trailer, fun to ride (but i suppose so are all bikes) I have had problems with my fork seals leaking, ok i brought it second hand and it is a 2007 model and it isnt leaking real bad or cause major dramas. I have only had it 3 weeks and have only riden it twice, so at the moment i havent got too amy cons to list.

Terrible – I bought this bike brand new 2 months ago. Having riden numerous bikes over the years I'm very disappointed with this bike. It is a cheap bike, they certainly don't make them like they use to, I suppose thats because they're not made in Japan anymore and quality assurance is not a priority these days. Really the overall quality is no better than… Read more

the bikes coming out of China. Nothing, I wish I hadn't bought it. Is hard to start when cold, constantly stalls. Engine seems to run really hot. Suspension is sloppy.

Excellent – A great bike to ride, enough power but not 2 much and a great hill climber. Awesome bike. I've had it 4 about a year now and it has nvr let me down. ni kickstart is the only thing.

Excellent – these bikes are really really good every one that loves riding trail but also loves to hit ramps and jumps and loves the 4 stroke torque should get one of these bikes this bike is awesome i put it on a motorbike dino at my friends and i have put no preformance bits on it just normal factory style and it hit 140 km/h and when i was on it i weigh 60… Read more

kilos and with a gps telling me the speed i hit 115km/h these bikes are awesome i i can hit 65 foot ramp to ramp there the best bike needs preformance exaust system to get the horse power up and up side down forks for really big jumps for the good riders out there

OK – Great fun bike for the farm, kids. good bike to learn on. reliable,easy to ride for kids. dependable all the restrictors.

Good – After spending for the upgrades, (Power-Up kit, K&N Air-filter, Rev-box, D-section xhaust, Fastway pegs, Bars & guards) bike's fun to ride! Also put a Vapor Computer to monitor the stats... Electric Starter, decent trail bike. Needs a lot to uncork. No kick starter. Minimal aftermarket parts available.