Source: MotorcyclistOnline.com
Before you get to ride this 2025 Honda CRF250RWE, you’ll want to check in with Honda’s CRF-F bikes first. (Honda/)American Honda released its 2025 lineup of CRF dirt bikes, complete with all the HRC-inspired R models. But before anyone launches themselves at heaven and earth aboard competition-ready MX hardware like the Honda CRF450R or CRF250RWE, they’ll learn the art of dirt on the CRF250F, CRF125F, CRF110F, and CRF50F.For 2025, all four novice trail bikes are unchanged from 2024, save for updated HRC-derived graphics. So what’s new? That would be you, the first-time dirt rider looking for guidance on Big Red’s trail offerings. Historically, Honda’s superpower has been making new riders with accessible, smartly priced new dirt bikes. A lifetime of off-road fun (and brand loyalty) starts on the ground floor with fuel injection, user-friendly sizes, and conservatively tuned rigs for beginner riders.Usually, we start at the top of the product sheet. But let’s shake things up and start at the beginning, where kid-friendly, muddy fun begins. Let’s dive in.Motocross dreams can start here: the 2025 Honda CRF50F, in red. (Honda/)Perhaps some ’90s splashiness might inspire: the 2025 Honda CRF50F, in white. (Honda/)2025 Honda CRF50FIn life, you only get one first dirt bike. Better make it count. If you’re raising the next Jett Lawrence (2023 AMA Pro Motocross, 2024 AMA Supercross champ), their brand loyalty and your parental aspirations start here. The Honda CRF50F gets a 49cc air-cooled four-stroke SOHC single-cylinder engine with classic kickstart, a carburetor, three gears, and no pesky clutch. Front and back 10-inch wheels yield a low 21.6-inch seat height, with 3.8 inches of travel in front and 2.8 inches for the rear. A 111-pound curb weight isn’t the lightest, but easy enough for any parent to help with inevitable spills. A 0.7-gallon tank (with 0.2-gallon reserve) should make for a full afternoon of dirt instruction that’s off-road legal, year-round in all 50 states.For comparison, Yamaha offers the shaft-drive, fully automatic two-stroke PW50 ($1,849 for 2024 MY) with an 18.7-inch seat height and mag wheels. And it weighs just 90 pounds. But the mighty CRF50F nails the look and feel of “miniature MX” with spoked wheels and high pipe, so you be the judge of what’s best for your budding motocross star. Regardless, both feature kickstarting, which is obviously an important life skill. Fun fact: The comparable Suzuki DR-Z50 ($2,579 for 2024 MY) offers electric start, in addition to kickstarting.2025 Honda CRF50FColors: Red, whiteMSRP: $1,799Available: JuneNewbie no more: The 2025 Honda CRF110F gets four gears, fuel injection, and 109cc of pee-wee power (Honda/)More ’80s and ’90s color inspo: the 2025 Honda CRF110F in white. (Honda/)2025 Honda CRF110FAssuming your child has mastered their entry-level bike and still wants to tear things up, the Honda CRF110F could be their next dirt bike. Having taught your child the art of kickstarting, reward them with the futuristic gift of electric starting. And they’ll get a few more ponies to play with. The CRF110F gets a 109.2cc air-cooled four-stroke SOHC single-cylinder engine, with an automatic clutch rowing through four gears. Its 14-inch front and 12-inch rear wheels give a 25.9-inch seat height, with 4.3 inches of suspension up front, 3.8 inches for the rear. A 1.0-gallon fuel tank feeds electronic fuel injection, which means one less thing to go wrong. Unless you were planning on teaching your 7-year-old how to clean carburetors.The 169-pound curb weight is reasonable, and overall, it’s a solid bulletproof novice dirt bike. Apparently, it’s the powersport industry’s top-selling dirt bike. It’s also off-road legal, year-round in all 50 states. A head-to-head contender would be the Yamaha TT-R110E ($2,449 for 2024 MY), which is still carbureted and offers a traditional clutch. It does have slightly more ground clearance (7.1 inches versus 6.7 inches) and a slightly taller 26.4-inch seat height. Time for some hard parental choices.2025 Honda CRF110FColor: Red, whiteMSRP: $2,699Available: AugustThe standard Honda CRF125F gets you a 17-inch wheel in front and 14-inch wheel in back. (Honda/)That name though: The Big Wheel Honda CRF125F gets you a 19-inch wheel in front and 16-inch wheel in back. (Honda/)2025 Honda CRF125FThey say kids grow like weeds. With this in mind, so do the options on their next dirt bike. The Honda CRF125F comes in standard (17-inch front, 14-inch rear wheels) and Big Wheel (19-inch front, 16-inch rear wheels) configurations. As they start sprouting up, so does the seat height, from the standard’s 29.1 inches to the Big Wheel’s 30.9 inches. As with all dimensions, ground clearance gets a bump, from 8.3 inches to 10.3 inches, respectively. Best of all, curb weight is nearly identical, 194 pounds and 199 pounds. It adds up to a machine that younger riders can grow with, geometrically and geographically.Both machines get a 124.9cc air-cooled four-stroke SOHC single-cylinder engine with a traditional clutch and four speeds. Fuel-injected since 2019, both models get electric start but slightly different suspension. The standard CRF125F gets 5.9 inches of travel in front, 5.5 inches in rear, while the CRF125F Big Wheel gets 6.7 inches of travel in front, 6.6 inches in rear. Also, both get a 220mm hydraulic disc brake in the front, an upgrade from drums all around on smaller models. As with all CRF-F models, it’s also 50-state off-road legal. An alternative 19/16-inch front/rear wheel contender would be the Suzuki DR-Z125L ($3,599 for 2024 MY), with classic carburetion but five speeds instead of four. Just saying.2025 Honda CRF125FColors: RedMSRPCRF125F: $3,499CRF125F Big Wheel: $3,899Available: JulyJust like in “The Jeffersons,” you’re moving on up. The all-grown-up Honda CRF250F, ready to take on American dirt. (Honda/)The Honda CRF250F, in its natural environs on trails, dirt, and rocks. (Honda/)2025 Honda CRF250FCongrats, you did it. You’ve successfully instilled a lifelong love/crippling addiction to dirt bikes in your child. Or maybe you caught the bug from watching them tear around the track or woods? Whatever the case, the CRF250F is the full-size, mid-displacement dirt bike (or trail bike) reward for having grown up and learned the dirt basics. Friendly, tractable power across a wide powerband gets paired with a leading-axle 41mm Showa front fork and a rear Pro-Link single shock with 8.5 inches and 9.1 inches of travel, respectively.Newer or casual riders get a 250cc air-cooled four-stroke SOHC single-cylinder engine with electric start, five speeds, and fuel injection through a 34mm bore. There’s a 240mm brake disc up front, with a 220mm disc in back. And of course, you’ve graduated to 21/18-inch front and rear wheels, adding up to a manageable 34.8-inch seat height and 265-pound curb weight. The world of dirt is your oyster. You’re free to legally explore recognized off-road trails and private land in all 50 states, or as far as the 1.6-gallon fuel tank will take you. And you could start thinking about moving up to the 2025 CRF-R family of competition-based models. Or not. Either way, you or your dirt bike progeny have arrived. That’s solid parenting.2025 Honda CRF250FColor: RedMSRP: $4,999Available: August
