Honda CRF250R 2010-2013 Service Manual

Motocross Action's own testing confirms exactly how this generation was structured: "the latest-generation CRF250 was released in 2010. It had a completely different frame, as well as a new engine, new body styling, a new exhaust and programmable fuel injection. In each year since the 2010 introduction, Honda has made incremental updates to the CRF250" — following what that same publication notes is Honda's genuine "four-year plan in bike development," with the bulk of R&D dollars each cycle typically going toward the flagship CRF450R rather than a ground-up 250 redesign.

Power comes from a 249cc liquid-cooled Unicam single-cylinder four-stroke, 4 valves (a 30.5mm titanium intake valve and 25mm steel exhaust valve), a 76.8mm x 53.8mm bore and stroke, and a genuinely aggressive 13.2:1 compression ratio, managed by Programmed Fuel Injection through a 46mm throttle body. Motocross Action's own review explains Honda's Unicam design philosophy directly: "the single camshaft on the CRF250 is a simple design. Whereas its competition uses two camshafts, the Honda Unicam is a more compact unit that still aims for high-rpm operation" — a genuinely different engineering approach than the DOHC layouts most rivals ran.

The 2013 model year, the final year of this generation before Honda's next ground-up redesign in 2014, brought VitalMX's own confirmed changes: "recalibrated fuel injection settings have given the CRF250R a bigger hit and more response in the low-end and midrange," alongside "new damping circuitry front and rear plus new fork springs with a stiffer rate" delivering better bump absorption and more precise handling, and new-generation Dunlop Geomax MX51FA tires shaving 0.9 lbs of unsprung weight off the rear wheel. Motocross Action's own detailed 2013 test ranks the season's changes by importance, starting with those stiffer 48mm Showa cartridge fork springs — an upgrade that magazine had itself recommended on the prior year's bike — while also candidly flagging a genuine handling quirk it traces back to the fundamental 2010-era frame geometry, "the spitting image of the 2009-2012 CRF450": "we believe that the relationship between the head angle, fork offset, front center and weight bias is slightly askew... the handling is not atrocious; it just feels wrong." That same review notes the Honda Progressive Steering Damper (HPSD), a genuine first for the class when it debuted on the 2010 CRF250, remained standard equipment throughout this run — "no other motocross bike, aside from the CRF450, comes with a steering damper," though the review's own verdict calls it "merely a mask to cover the warts" rather than a fix for the underlying geometry. Suspension consisted of the 48mm Showa cartridge fork with 16-position rebound and compression damping adjustability delivering 12.2 inches of travel, paired with a Pro-Link rear shock. 2013 US pricing came in at $7,420, closing out a genuine four-year development cycle that saw the CRF250R win both Supercross Lites championships in 2012 despite the platform's known handling character.

This factory service manual covers the procedures, torque specs, and diagrams needed to keep a 2010-2013 CRF250R running the way it was built to.