Sitting upright, out in the breeze gives me the aerodynamic profile of a slightly rounded barn door. My most comfortable speed was closer to 80 km/h, which meant that I pretty much stuck to secondary roads (which can be way more fun to ride anyway).

Around-town riding
Riding in urban areas does require having your head on a swivel. The mirrors are good, but they show how much the bike can vibrate even if you don’t feel it in the bars when the revs are up.

Carving through traffic or getting into a tight parking space was easy, and parkades were a cakewalk. My biggest problem was with the politically correct police of both sexes who didn’t think it was fair that I could fit into the tiny space close to the door.

Working up through the 6-speed gearbox up to highway speeds wasn’t an issue either. Reaching 100 or even 110 km/h was pretty easy; it was getting much past those speeds that was the issue. (Photo: Charles Renny/Moto123.com)

Pushing and wishing
If I were to do things differently, I would make more of an effort to remove the signal lights when I was going off to play. I was bright enough to take the mirrors off, but the signal lights are a lot more work; they’re perched on semi-flexible stalks, so all seemed well. It remained “well” for a couple of adventures, and then bravery set in and over the bike went.

Next up was a friend (a good rider) who, when wearing jeans, decided to get on the bike and hooked his pant leg on the rear signal; over the bike went again. Humans 2, signal lights 0.

The Honda CRF230L may not be for everyone, but it does well enough to keep all but the most experienced of dirt riders happy. As for me, if I were to have a wish list, it would be for an adjustable rear shock (but I could fix that if I really want to) and for friends to be a little less entertaining!