Which bike is faster? Carson Brown tests a Honda CRF150R vs a CR85 Two-Stroke

You guys always ask, which bike am I faster on? A current CRF150R or a last generation 2007 CR85? We're going to take these bikes to three different locations, put a lap timer on each of them, and find out for you guys. All right, let's go over to bikes. Both of these are exactly OEM. Other than the tires, we got MX-14s on the rears and 34s on the front. This CR85 had a full restoration and rebuild. Everything OEM, carb settings, all of it, two hours on this engine. 2025 CRF150R, two hours on this engine, also all stock. Grip, levers, everything OEM, right off the line for each of these. Let's go over the specs of these things. CR85, obviously it's a two-stroke. This is a non-power valve engine. You got to rev this thing high, but the biggest difference is this is 144 pounds, so it's really light. Over here, CRF150R, four strokes, all the bottom end in the world, in a pull from bottom to top. This is almost 40 pounds heavier curb weight compared to the CR85. Both of these bikes run 20 to 23 horsepower, depending on the dyno that you guys have it on, but both very similar. We are taking these units to three totally different locations. Today, we're at the loose compound, backyard style track, technical, elevation, super fun. Then we're taking these to Kroom, getting under the trees, see if these things can flow through the sand whips, and then last of all, we're going to Sandbox. It's a true moto style track. Let's have some fun with it. Naturally, we're starting out with the two-stroke. I know you guys are absolutely fiending to see this thing get ripped. Let's start out on this. All right, let's throw down some lap times. All right, up next, CRF150R. These things haven't had a lot of changes since they were released in 07, just some carburetor updates in 12 and a few minor things. Lap time up next on the CRF150R. Let's see what it is. I think this has so much advantage in the slippery stuff in the hills. Man, just two totally different bikes, but a different level of fun on each of them that's just maximizing them each. 150R, 0.8 seconds faster at this first location. The biggest question I always get asked, why isn't every kid at Loretta's on a 150R? Superman class, you can bore your 85 up to a 112. The 150 has to say a 150. Cooper Webb, Joey Crown, those guys, they've gotten it done on the 150R before, but as far as the moto parents go, doing a 112 is a lot simpler. It's easy to rebuild and a lot cheaper to do, so it's just a lot better of a program for most parents. Once you figure out which bike you want to ride, you got to figure out where you want to ride. I always use Onyx. I can look up local trails anywhere that I am in the country. It's easy to find. I can use waypoints. I never get lost. We're headed to Kroon right now. We're going to be using Onyx the whole time. Use code Carson20 at checkout for a discount code of 20% off on your subscription. So here's the thing. After putting down those heaters, the clutch was so smoked, like midway through, the lever was just flopping, and that's the main thing that the CR85 is not doing compared to this, but this thing's so good through the sand with the bottom end, it's fun. All right guys, let's see what the old 85 can do. So all right guys, the 150R did a 221.4 CR85 219 flat. Here's where the 150R, I think, kind of fell on itself, was there's a lot of holes out here, and it was bogging in between the holes, and this thing is a lot lighter, so I was able to really finesse it around the sand berms and everything, and so the lightness of the bike really helped me out here. It's kind of the opposite. I thought the 150R with the bottom end, like over the roots and everything, would be a lot faster, but it just goes to show, I mean, that's why we're out here showing this stuff. We have made it out to the lap, let's get it. All right, I hope you guys know that we're basically sacrificing both these bikes just to test how fast they are in the mud. We did a track, we did cream off-road, now which one is faster in the mud? Let's figure it out. Okay, that was deep, a lot deeper than I thought it was going to be, I'm not going to lie, but we want to see which one is faster in the mud. The 150R came in like 4.5 seconds faster on the Fast and Flop on that than the CR85. Now, why is that? I'm an adult, I'm 155 pounds on a two-stroke, small bore, without a power valve, in the mud. It just couldn't tractor through it. The 150 four-stroke, I was able to really just kind of motor through, whereas the lightness of the CR85, I think, honestly hurt it out there because I was way more squirrely, but for a kid, I don't know, but this is the results I got as a 155 pound adult pro, so I hope you guys enjoyed the video, that was some fun!