2025 Honda XR150L Review | MC Commute - video Dailymotion

Motorcyclist

We test the 2025 Honda XR150L, a lightweight dual sport designed for new riders who want to explore both street and trail. In this review, Adam Waheed explains why the XR150L is one of the most beginner-friendly and affordable motorcycles in Honda’s lineup.  Become a Channel Partner: https://octanemedia.co/home/become-an-advertiser/ Looking to buy? Get prequalified https://octane.co/vehicle-selection/?partner=jAYmx9P&a=303&flow=long-prequal&appTheme=3a49337c5724d18079602a4ca5a91626  Read the best motorcycle news and reviews: http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/  Motorcyclist Shirts: https://teespring.com/stores/motorcyclist Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/motorcyclistonline/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/motorcyclistmag/

Transcript

00:00Hey folks, good morning.

00:01Welcome to this episode of MC Commute,

00:03starring Honda's 2025 XR150L.

00:07Who's ready to go for a ride?

00:08All right, everyone, there it is, Honda's 2025 XR150L.

00:12This is a lightweight dual sport bike from American Honda.

00:17Now, the cool thing about this motorcycle

00:19is not only can you ride it on the road,

00:22but you can ride it off-road.

00:23And what the really, really cool thing is,

00:25this vehicle only retails for $3,300 in America.

00:30How crazy is that?

00:31You buy a brand new Honda vehicle, 2025 model year,

00:36for only $3,300.

00:38It's powered by Honda's tried and true

00:41150cc single cylinder air-cooled engine

00:44with a five-speed transmission.

00:46Look at this thing.

00:47This thing, it definitely is a little bit smaller in stature,

00:51but still is a real full-size motorcycle.

00:55Who's ready to go for a ride on this bad boy?

00:57Let's go.

00:58Now seated on the controls of this motorcycle,

01:01this motorcycle in typical American Honda configuration

01:04is very comfortable.

01:06This seat is relatively wide

01:09and it's very much like a street bike seat

01:12as opposed to a skinny dirt bike seat.

01:15So this, the seat on this motorcycle

01:17is much more orientated toward street biking

01:20than off-road riding, which is a good thing

01:22because we're street biking right now.

01:25This motorcycle is a little bit cramped

01:27for a six foot tall, 190 pound rider.

01:30But at the same time, it's not overly cramped.

01:32You can still feel pretty good on the seat.

01:34There's room to move back and forth in the saddle.

01:37And it's not bad at all.

01:39This steel handlebar, originally the sweep

01:42was really far back.

01:43So I just loosened these 12 millimeter bolts

01:46and rotated the handlebar a little bit forward.

01:49That gave me a little bit more room in the cockpit.

01:51It just felt a little bit more natural.

01:53So it's nice you can do that.

01:54Not a lot of frills here in the ergonomics department.

01:57It's a motorcycle.

01:58The handlebar is very street orientated

02:01where it's got a lot of rearward sweep,

02:03but still pretty good.

02:05You can obviously ride this motorcycle

02:07in the seated or standing position.

02:08In the standing position,

02:10the ergonomics feel a little bit more cramped.

02:12But again, we talked about this.

02:13This motorcycle is designed for a little bit smaller riders,

02:16but still, if you're six foot tall,

02:18you can definitely fit on it.

02:20Now, the foot pegs are, again,

02:24we like the serration in the foot pegs,

02:26which is really good because it puts a nice grip

02:28against the sole of your shoes or boots,

02:30which is nice, but again, a little bit small.

02:33At the same time, this motorcycle is very narrow,

02:37and the seat height is very low.

02:38So if you're new to riding

02:40or you've never ridden a motorcycle,

02:42this one is a good option for you,

02:44even though it weighs kind of a lot for a bike of its size,

02:47but we'll get to that in a little bit.

02:50This motorcycle is powered by a 149 CC

02:53single cylinder engine air cooled

02:55with a two valve cylinder head.

02:58This engine is good for right around 11 horsepower

03:01and eight pound feet of torque.

03:03So nothing to write home about in terms of power,

03:07but it gets the job done and it has plenty of acceleration

03:11to get up to highway speeds, which is really nice.

03:15It's made it to a five speed manual transmission

03:19with this cable actuated clutch.

03:21Again, the clutch releases, it's really well weighted.

03:24Usually back in the past, we'd see bikes this point,

03:28this price point that would have really wimpy clutches

03:31that were real wispy and not really well weighted.

03:34This clutch is really well weighted, which I like makes it feel

03:36like a quality motorcycle.

03:38And of course, you still don't need to have a lot of strength

03:41in your left hand to actuate this clutch.

03:43It's really nice.

03:44It meshes between each of the five cogs,

03:46really nice solid shifting feel.

03:49The throw isn't too long nor too short.

03:53And again, this is a really easy motorcycle to get a hang of.

03:58Now this motorcycle drinks from a 2.8 gallon capacity fuel tank.

04:02So very generous fuel capacity.

04:05And you're not gonna believe this,

04:06but this motorcycle gets nearly 100 miles per gallon.

04:11Can you believe that?

04:12A motorcycle in 2025, a gasoline powered motorcycle in 2025,

04:16that gets nearly a hundred miles per gallon.

04:18That's right.

04:20This thing is very, very easy on the fuel.

04:23Again, it doesn't have a ton of acceleration power riding at full throttle right now,

04:28but it is enough power to get up to speed and have some fun.

04:32The character of this engine, it's got some buzz to it,

04:37but it's not overwhelming for an air cooled single.

04:40This engine certainly doesn't vibrate too much.

04:43It's really smooth.

04:44I like that the throttle response is a tad muted.

04:50Again, that just makes it easier to ride for all of you folks

04:53that might not have a lot of experience here.

04:56And away we go, folks.

04:59Ooh, engine's got some good high RPM sound when you get it revving.

05:03The cool thing about riding these small bikes is you can ride them fast.

05:07And riding them fast, it's really rewarding just because they don't make a lot of power.

05:12And it just makes you feel like a kid.

05:14So really neat bike.

05:17Now this motorcycle rolls on spoked aluminum wheels in 1917 inch configuration, 1917 inch configuration

05:27with dual sport tires.

05:30So you can ride this motorcycle on road and off road.

05:34The fork offers just over seven inches of suspension travel.

05:38And the rear shock offers just over six inches of rear suspension.

05:43And in typical American Honda form, this motorcycle glides over the road.

05:47Yes, it is softly sprung.

05:50Yes, the valve heat on it is fast, but it's a $3,300.

05:56Did I spill the beans already?

05:58That's right.

05:58$3,300 for this motorcycle in the United States.

06:03Still going over these over this road, this motorcycle, it does a nice job.

06:09It's very comfortable.

06:10It's going over the bumps really nice.

06:13And we're still going 55 miles per hour, which is quite a bit faster than this corner allows.

06:21Now with a full tank of fuel, this motorcycle weighs in at 282 pounds.

06:25So kind of heavy for a motorcycle of its size.

06:30But when you're riding it, you would never think that it's that heavy.

06:34It feels very nimble, very agile.

06:36It's very low to the ground.

06:37We talked about the diminutive ergonomics package and how that makes

06:43this motorcycle just so forgiving to ride.

06:45Well, everyone, so far so good on Honda's 2025 XR150L street legal dual sport.

06:52This motorcycle is a hoot to ride.

06:54It doesn't look like much out on the road, but once you get behind the handlebar,

06:57it's actually really fun.

06:59And that price, I don't even know how American Honda can offer this vehicle in America for $3,300.

07:06That's less than the cost of some manual powered pedal bikes, which is just crazy.

07:11And this motorcycle looks really neat.

07:13Of course, the headlights a little bit, a little bit too blah for us, but it's still got cool lines

07:21here with the bodywork and the shrouds, like that long fender, which does a good job of

07:26keeping the debris from hitting you when you're riding in the dirt.

07:29And there's that seat.

07:30Look how broad and supportive it is.

07:32And we have a luggage rack right here, so you can strap on a cooler.

07:36You can also bring a passenger with the passenger foot pegs.

07:39And all in all, for its price, you're going to really be hard pressed to find a better value

07:46in motorcycling.

07:48Well, everyone, enough talking about this thing.

07:50Let's continue our ride.

07:51Let's go.

07:52All right, folks, where were we?

07:54Yes, the compact ergonomics that still works okay for a six foot tall rider.

07:59Now, we talked about the engine, 150cc single cylinder engine, but this engine,

08:04if you can even believe it, is carbureted, which is kind of strange carburetor.

08:08What is that?

08:10Well, that is a mechanical type fuel delivery system.

08:13So in lieu of electronic fuel injection, we have a carburetor.

08:17And you might laugh, but this bike actually runs really good with that carburetor.

08:22Of course, if the bike hasn't been started in a while or it's been sitting for a while,

08:26you might need to use a choke.

08:27There's a manual choke lever on the bottom of the carburetor.

08:31It's really big, easy to use.

08:33So you need to use that choke lever when the motorcycle is cold or hasn't been

08:38ridden in a while.

08:39Otherwise, it starts right up.

08:42This motorcycle just goes over the bumps so well and

08:46it's no sport, sporting bike by any means, but it goes around, turns nice and it's fun.

08:52It's a fun motorcycle.

08:54Knowing that we're getting nearly 100 miles per gallon really makes it a lot more fun

09:00just because this motorcycle is so economical.

09:03It's pretty crazy because just the affordability index of this vehicle,

09:08$3,300, nearly 100 miles per gallon of fuel.

09:12You can bring a passenger.

09:13It's got that luggage rack so you can bring a cooler or your backpack.

09:17You don't have to wear it.

09:18You can strap it to that luggage rack.

09:20This motorcycle is extremely practical.

09:23And we haven't even talked about the ability for it to go off road.

09:26You can ride fire roads, off road trails, whatever, however crazy you want to get,

09:32you can take this bike on there.

09:34And it's legal because it's plated and has a headlight and taillight and turn signals.

09:41Speaking of the lighting on this vehicle,

09:43in typical non-American Honda form, this motorcycle is not equipped with LED lighting,

09:51which is a little strange.

09:52Even its Grom and Monkey motorcycles, I guess the Monkey is a little bit more expensive,

09:59come with LED lighting.

10:00So it's kind of strange that this motorcycle is just a halogen bulb setup,

10:05but it is what it is.

10:06It's still functional.

10:07It's still nice that you can ride this motorcycle after dark.

10:13The instrumentation on this bike is very analog, especially in today's world.

10:20You don't see a lot of motorcycles with these swept-face analog gauges, but this bike has it.

10:26But it works really good.

10:27Easy to see your speed.

10:28There's no tachometer, but you can hear the sound of the engine.

10:32It's actually surprising how little vibration this engine has.

10:39This engine is very, very smooth for an air-cooled single-cylinder engine.

10:44So realistically, you're not going to really be able to tell how high this engine is revving based

10:49on the vibration because there's not a lot, but you can certainly hear the engine,

10:54and that will give you a gauge on the vibration.

10:57There we go.

10:58High RPM, some vibration creeps through the handlebar and foot pegs, but it's certainly not off-putting.

11:05Then we have this display here with the turn signals, the head beam, and the neutral light.

11:11Neutral is located between first and second gear, so when you come to a stop,

11:16you want to take the gear shift lever, go all the way to the bottom, which is first gear,

11:20half a click up, and that's neutral, and then you can roll the motorcycle forward and back.

11:27This motorcycle comes with dual brakes.

11:30Up front, we have a hydraulic disc front brake, and out back, we have a mechanical rear drum brake.

11:37Of course, considering the price point and the user on this motorcycle, this motorcycle has no ABS.

11:44It's full manual braking, so you can certainly lock up the front or back tire if you squeeze the front

11:52brake lever too aggressively or push on that rear brake pedal too swiftly.

11:58But the brakes do a good job of shedding speed on this 282 pound bike.

12:03Brake bite is modest, which is good again.

12:06You can be a person new to riding, you don't have to worry about jabbing the brakes.

12:11You can jab the brakes a little bit and the bike doesn't get crazy.

12:15So, I'd say this motorcycle is a very good motorcycle to learn how to ride on,

12:21and the ability to be able to just ride off-road legally is just awesome.

12:25Let's give this thing the barriers we're giving this bike full barriers right now.

12:28And nothing to write home about in the acceleration department, but it still pulls really nicely.

12:38We're getting up to, we're approaching highway speeds.

12:46There we go.

12:47It's worth noting that this vehicle is not freeway capable in the state of California.

12:55The engine is below the displacement threshold for freeway operation.

13:01You can't legally operate this motorcycle on the freeway.

13:05But you can on a highway like we are riding.

13:08If you want a freeway capable small motorcycle, may we recommend Honda's ADV 160 scooter.

13:16That motorcycle or scooter has engine displacement just over the threshold for freeway operation in the Golden State.

13:28Still, this motorcycle certainly can get up to nearly freeway speeds.

13:34As we approach 65 miles per hour down the hill.

13:42As we approach 70 miles per hour, 69 miles per hour, my favorite number.

13:48So, certainly enough to get you to where you want to go.

13:51Even at this relatively elevated high RPM, the engine vibration isn't overpowering.

13:57This is a really nice small displacement air-cooled single.

14:01Good job, Honda.

14:02Of course, we don't have any wind protection, but realistically this motorcycle doesn't generate enough velocity

14:08to really need that type of wind protection.

14:12I like these rearview mirrors.

14:12They do a nice job of showing what's going on behind you.

14:17They're round.

14:18They don't vibrate too much because the engine's so smooth.

14:20This fuel tank cap is a little bit old school.

14:26I like that it's got a key to ignition, so you can't just open the fuel tank cap.

14:30You have to remove the key to do it.

14:31I think it's a neat feature.

14:41And away we go.

14:43Finally, everyone, some turns.

14:45Now we're talking top gear, 60 miles per hour, and we're mobbing around turns.

14:53Well, everyone, that was a blast riding Honda's 2025 XR150L street legal dual sport bike.

14:58This motorcycle is just a hoot.

15:01It's crazy comfortable.

15:02The engine doesn't vibrate that much.

15:05Yeah, it only makes 11 horsepower, but it's still capable of going 69 miles per hour.

15:10It's not freeway legal, but it is able to ride on the highway.

15:14And it's actually surprisingly comfortable for a small little dual sport bike.

15:19If you needed something to run around town on or ride up into the hills real quick,

15:23or just kind of scoot around on that you can ride on and off-road,

15:26you'd be hard-pressed to find nicer bikes than this $3,300 XR150L.

15:32Yeah, it doesn't look the coolest, but it also doesn't look terrible.

15:35And it kind of reminds me of the old Honda trail bikes and the old Honda air-cooled

15:40motorcycles that we all grew up with as kids.

15:43And now you can relive that in 2025 with this $3,300.

15:47It's also worth mentioning.

15:49This motorcycle carries a one-year warranty and it's built in Mexico.

15:53Well, everyone, that wraps up our official MC commute on the 2025 Honda XR150L.

15:58If you can't tell, I really like this motorcycle.

16:01It's a good value.

16:02It's fun to ride and you definitely need one in your garage.

16:04We'll see you in the next episode.

2025 Honda XR150L Review | MC Commute

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