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Honda
XR150L Review
At the end of January 2023 I rented two Honda
XR150L's for myself and my wife for 10 days in Belize.
The rental place offers a few different motorcycles
and we decided to go with Honda XR150L's because they
offer the lowest seat height (for my wife) and because
I prefer Honda over Lifan/Meilun.. The bikes had 10k+
and 12k+ km on the clock when we got them. We rode
these bikes for 1088 km (680 miles) on paved highways
and small, unpaved side roads.
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Looks
+ Sound:
The Honda XR150L sure looks small, but not like
a moped small. It looks like a small off-road
capable motorcycle, which is exactly what it is.
The bike is nicely quiet, as you would expect
from a Honda, but develops a good sound once you
twist the throttle.
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Seat
+
Tank:
The seat is fairly comfortable but after several
hours in the seat my butt hurt like on any bike.
The seating position was relaxed and
comfortable. I'm 5'11" (180cm) and I found it to
be good fit for me, even though I would have
liked bar raisers for the standing position.
The tank has 12 liter capacity (3 gal), but it
is fuel efficient and gives you a good range of
around 300 km (200 miles). |
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Riding:
The Honda XR150L has just below 150 cc,
therefore I didn't expect it to be a racing
bike. It had no problem going 80-90 km/h (50-55
mph). The top speed is around 100 km'h (60 mph).
Even at higher speeds the bike didn't vibrate
too much and always felt stable.
The gears are precise and it's easy to shift and
even to find neutral. The brakes aren't the
greatest, especially the drum rear, but they are
adequate for a bike this size. |
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What
I
hated:
The cold start-up is a bit of a procedure. The
choke is on the carb, you push it up, start the
bike, then put the chock half down and slightly
rev the engine for a couple of minutes. Then you
can take the choke off and start riding. When
the bike is warm, even after standing an hour or
two, you can just press the starter button.
I like the idea of having a kick-starter in
addition to the electric starter, just in case,
but while standing the kick-starter was always
in my way. Often enough I accidentally pulled it
down a little with my leg and heard that bad
ratcheting noise. |
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Offroad:
We had plenty of opportunities of riding the
bikes on unpaved roads, some were better than
others. We rode on rough roads, mud and broken
up pavement. The bikes did well. With the low
seat height my wife had much more confidence in
rough sections than she has on her taller KLR at
home. Easily being able to flat-foot the bike
certainly has it's advantages. They aren't real
dirt bikes, but they performed well even with
the little power they have. The suspension is
okay, no real complaints. Again, these bikes are
not meant for the Dakar, but they get you
through about everything you throw at them,
within reason. |
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Conclusion:
I like the Honda XR150L very much and so does my
wife, she now wants one. I totally see why these
motorcycles are so popular in Asia. They would
be a great beginner motorcycle or even a
commuter bike. |
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Motorcycle
aluminum
panniers and top cases
Made by an experienced
motorcycle traveller.
Panniers available in 47l, 40l and 33l
Top boxs available in 20l and 36l
Silver/Grey or Black
Quality is essential,
not only on a RTW tour.
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