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Best CRF110 Mods: Free & Cheap Performance Upgrades

Looking for the best CRF110 mods but not sure which ones are worth it? Whether you want the best aftermarket parts to make it a faster pit bike, or you just want the top affordable upgrades to get some more power to have fun and stay safe, you’re I’m the right place!.

In this article I’ll show you what the best mods are for your money, which aftermarket parts are the most important if you don’t want your dirt bike to break, and how to make it more comfortable if you’re an adult rider.

CRF110F Best CRF110 Mods: Free & Cheap Performance Upgrades
Stock CRF110F Ready To Be Modified

Let’s face it, if you’re reading this article, then you more than likely have this bike for the sheer fun that it brings, but that means it’s going to need to take some abuse. There are a few things you need to do or upgrade to make it last longer.

What are the best CRF110 mods and upgrades?

As Tim Taylor always say, “We need more power!”… But is that always better? Well, in this case, it’s not. At least until you upgrade some other parts at the same time.

The stock CRF110 wasn’t made to be ridden faster by 150-200+ pound guys doing jumps, so we need to stiffen it up or else things will start breaking quickly. So, before you double the horsepower, you’ll want to upgrade the suspension at the very minimum to make your pit bike safer and more comfortable.

The top mods for your CRF110 are going to be upgrades to the forks, shock, engine, intake, and exhaust.
With that said, go through this list and decide which are best based on your needs and budget.

Jetting – easy & affordable performance

One of the easiest ways to get a better starting, running, and more reliable dirt bike is by tuning the carburetor jetting. Of course, this is only up until 2019 for the Honda CRF110 that came with a 13mm carburetor. After that, it now has a fuel injected system. 

When you upgrade the exhaust, intake, or engine, this changes the air-fuel mixture ratio, which affects how well your CRF110 starts and runs. You can start by quickly adjusting the fuel screw to know if your pilot is the right size – or you can buy a 6 Sigma jet kit (Amazon) that should have all of the jet sizes you need to get it running great with smooth power.

Or if you want to do it yourself and save a few bucks, here’s a good starting point for jetting the 2013-2018 CRF110F Honda pit bike:

  • Pilot jet: 38 (Stock)
  • Fuel Screw: 1.5 turns out
  • Needle: (Stock)
  • Main jet: 70 (Stock: 68)

Carb Upgrade

If your CRF110F has a stock carb, an affordable mod that makes a noticeable power difference is upgrading to a larger carb (Amazon). 18-20mm is a good size depending on what kind of power you want and how many other mods your bike has. 

A smaller 18mm carb (BBR) will be better for low-end torque, whereas a 20mm or 24mm carb upgrade will be best for top-end or for big bore engine builds. 

Handlebars To Fit You

If you’re an adult, you need to get some taller handlebars or else a 110 will feel really cramped. 

KLX110 bend Pro Taper bars (Amazon) or a Renthal Mini bars are a good upgrade for this bike. They’re taller, stronger, and better looking. 

Tires For Confidence

Stock tires are cheap and usually hard, especially if they’ve been sitting for at least a year. 

Upgrading to some better tires (Amazon) will give you more traction. More traction equals more comfort and confidence because the bike won’t slide out as easily. 

CRF110 Suspension Upgrades

If you’re an adult or are riding your CRF 110 aggressively then the stock suspension isn’t going to cut it. One of the easiest ways to give you more performance, comfort, and safety is by stiffening the forks and shock, but there are multiple ways you can do it.

Depending on your budget and mechanical ability, you can either modify the stock suspension parts, upgrade to aftermarket components, or swap the suspension over from another bike – but that requires the most time and modification to fit and work properly.

Stock front fork springs for your weight

The stock fork springs are for a little kid, so you’re going to bottom out the forks without much effort when riding. Bottoming out the suspension will eventually damage and break parts, including the frame if you’re really rough on it. 

It will also be unstable to ride if you’re constantly blowing through the suspension stroke. 

An affordable set of heavy-duty fork springs (Amazon) is a simple and effective upgrade to make your CRF110 a more comfortable pit bike. 

Damper rod upgrade

Another new way to increase the suspension performance on your Honda CRF110 is by replacing the stock damper rods with an aftermarket set of damping rods from BBR (Amazon). They improve the stock forks in a couple of different ways.

You get more damping control, which is important if you’re upgrading to stiffer fork springs. For example, when you just replace the stock springs with stiffer ones, you’ll still have that “pogo-stick” feeling when going over bumps and obstacles. But with upgraded damper rods, the compression and rebound will be a little more plush and progressive, giving you a more comfortable and confident feel.

25% increase in performance??

These upgraded damper rods also increase the suspension travel by 1-inch. This may not seem like much, but when the stock forks have just under 4-inches of travel, going up to 5-inches is a 25% increase!

BBR recommends using 10W oil for casual riding and 20W fork oil (Amazon) if you’re a heavier or aggressive rider with the upgraded damper rods and fork springs.

Stock rear shock mod

The stock rear shock is just as bad as the front forks. Just like the forks, you can get a heavy duty rear shock spring (Amazon) to swap out the soft stock spring. Now you won’t be compressing the shock when just sitting on it!

Rear shock upgrade

Or you can upgrade the entire shock for a better-performing aftermarket shock (Amazon). The cost is not much more than a spring for a cheaper model for a much stiffer rear end and it has an adjustable preload as well as a damping clicker.

I would not recommend this mod unless you’re 200+ lbs or an aggressive rider that is jumping because it will be much stiffer than the stock shock. You will also want the front forks to match the rear for stiffness and height so that your CRF110 is balanced front and rear or else it will handle poorly.

This shock specifically comes from China, so shipping may take a little longer. Also, it requires slight grinding to the shock tab on the stock frame for the 2019+ models.

Shifter that you can shift

The stock shift lever is designed to be shifted by a little kid sized boot and bends easily if you tip over. Replacing it with a longer shift lever will make it feel less cramped, as well as being more durable in the inevitable spills while you’re having fun riding with your friends or family. 

Or just upgrading to a lightweight Tusk shifter (Amazon) will help prevent a failure on the trail. It’s stronger than stock, and the shifter folds in, reducing the chance of it bending.

Skid Plate That Protects Your ‘Goods’

Pit bikes don’t have much ground clearance, which can wreak havoc if you’re riding over obstacles. Whether it be logs, rocks or coming up short on jumps, the underside of your CRF110’s engine and exhaust is exposed.

One little “oops” moment can bend or break parts and ruin your day, as well as your wallet.

Installing a skid plate (Amazon) will protect your 110 from impacts. It also strengthens the engine and frame because it bolts directly to it.

What’s the best exhaust for CRF110?

Time for some fun mods that really wake up this 110 pit bike! An exhaust upgrade is one of the easiest ways to get more performance (and noise) out of your CRF 110.

Cheap CRF110 Aftermarket Exhaust

Just looking for the cheapest pipe to modify your little Honda? Amazon has a PC T4 replica exhaust (Amazon) that fits your 110cc Honda. It’s an easy bolt-on mod and should make a noticeable difference.

The downfalls?
Quality control might not be as good as a name-brand exhaust company. Testing may or may not have been done for optimum performance.

This means that it’s simply an ‘opened up’ exhaust and is going to be much louder than stock. You’ll gain some power if your carb is properly jetted.

Quality slip-on muffler

If you just want a better-sounding and looking muffler, the FMF Powercore 4 slip-on (Amazon) is an easy way to do that. FMF is known for quality compared to cheap no-name brands, so you’ll be able to quickly install this with very little effort in minutes.

Best CRF110 complete exhaust system

Want a higher quality exhaust that is more than just “extra noise”? Yoshimura’s RS9 exhaust system (Amazon) for the CRF110 is good looking, good sounding without being obnoxious, and it is sure to give you better performance with proper jetting/EFI tuning.

CRF110F Yoshimura RS 9T Best CRF110 Mods: Free & Cheap Performance Upgrades
Yoshimura RS-9T system (on MotoSport)

You also have the option of adding a spark arrestor/insert later to make your dirt bike legal for trail riding.

Will you need to rejet or tune after upgrading exhaust?

In most cases, you’ll need to tune the carb or EFI (depending on which year) after an exhaust change to make your Honda CRF110 start and run well. Since the exhaust flow is altered, this will also change the air-fuel mixture going into the engine and it can make it run leaner or richer.

Carb jetting isn’t as complicated as you might think, and I can show you how to get started in just a few minutes with this free guide. For EFI, you’ll want an aftermarket fuel tuner (Dynojet).

Big Bore Kit

A big bore kit is one of the best ways to get more torque and horsepower out of your CRF110. It’s close to the same price as an exhaust upgrade, if not less.

However, it’s obviously more involved since you have to replace the stock piston and cylinder.

The BBR 132cc big bore kit (Amazon) is affordable and reliable. If you want more power or need to rebuild the top end of your CRF110, this is an easy decision. Runs on pump gas.

Is a big bore kit reliable?

A big bore kit can make your CRF110 just as reliable, if not more reliable than stock. The most important factors are: the quality of the parts/kit, how it’s installed, and how well you maintain your dirt bike.

For example, BBR’s CRF110F big bore kit works for all years now and is made with high-quality materials with proper tolerances. As long as you follow the instructions for installation and properly warm it up, it will be reliable.

In fact, this big bore kit can be even more reliable than a stock size engine because you don’t have to rev the engine as high. Since you can ride at a lower RPM, it puts less stress and wear on the engine, so you won’t have to rebuild it as often.

Air filter for max power potential

Upgrading the intake to get more air through is also important if you want more power. With that said, you must be careful that any intake or air filter mod is done properly and with high quality parts that fit. 

Any leak or improperly installed/oiled air filter will cause dirt to get sucked in. This will result in major engine wear over time. 

Replacing the stock air filter with a better flowing aftermarket filter (Amazon) will allow more air through. The more engine and exhaust mods you do, the more air you’ll need to get sucked through to make the most power. 

Gearing Up For Top Speed

Although gearing changes don’t affect power numbers, they do make noticeable changes in acceleration or the overall top speed, depending on which way you go. 

Going down 1 or 2 teeth on the rear sprocket (Amazon) will give you more top speed. It will also make first gear more usable, as in you don’t have to shift to 2nd immediately.

Upgraded Levers

Stock levers on the CRF110F are nothing special, but it’s not really worth upgrading until they break, unless you’re picky.

Once you bend or break the stock brake and clutch lever, get some of these aftermarket levers that can take more of a beating and look better.

Best Cheap Performance Package:

Looking for the best bang for your buck? The suspension mods are the first thing you should do before modding for more power. If you don’t, you’re going to be uncomfortable and eventually break parts from constantly bottoming out the suspension.

As far as getting more power, I would upgrade the carb, air filter, get a big bore kit, go taller on the gearing (Amazon), and exhaust if it’s within your budget.

Doing one thing will make a slight difference, but getting the whole package to work together (especially if it’s properly jetted/tuned) is where you’ll feel some significant power gains.

Bottom line

Just need a quick list of the best CRF110 mods? Here they are:

  • Pod filter
  • Upgraded levers
  • Carb upgrade
  • Bars (klx110 pro taper)
  • Tires
  • Fork springs
  • Rear shock
  • Shifter
  • Skid plate
  • Gearing (sprockets)
  • Exhaust
  • Big bore kit

Want to know what the 3 best mods are for any dirt bike? Click here to find out.