Is Honda's XR150L The Company's Equivalent To Yamaha's TW200? Here's What To Know

Finding a good motorcycle is a tough task for a lot of people, considering there's a bunch to choose from between the major motorcycle brands. Honda and Yamaha are two solid picks, and if you're looking for something that can hit the dirt trails without breaking the bank, the Yamaha TW200 and Honda XR150L might've come up on your radar. Both bikes are well-suited for off-roading, but the XR150L comes in much cheaper with a base MSRP of $3,099 compared to $4,999 for the Yamaha. That's a big difference for people looking to cut corners and save some cash, but the two bikes aren't exactly the same as each other.

For starters, the TW200 is built with a 196cc engine, while the Honda has a 149cc engine. In the grand scheme of things, that's not a massive difference, since neither one of these bikes is suited for highway traveling or long-distance treks. Both would work for street riding around urban areas where the speed limit doesn't climb above 55 mph often. The top speed of a TW200 is about 80 mph, while the XR150L tops out near 70, so neither of them are speed demons. Where the two bikes are comparable is where they fall in their respective hierarchies. The TW200 is Yamaha's entry-level dual sport bike, and the same can be said for the XR150L.

Performance, at least speed-wise, is about the same for the two bikes. To help compensate for that, Yamaha has more quality-of-life features than the Honda motorcycle. Honda's XR150L doesn't have a fuel gauge or a low fuel light, while the TW200 has a full display letting you know how much you have left in the tank. All the XR150L offers is an odometer, but that's not always a dealbreaker for dirt bikers. Ground clearance is a tad higher with the TW200 at 10.4 inches compared to 9.6 inches, so the rough rides should feel a little more comfortable on the Yamaha. Both are lightweight, but the XR150L comes in four pounds heavier at 282 compared to 278.

Tires are another area where the pair differs. The Honda actually has bigger tires with a 19-inch front and 17-inch rear compared to the TW200's 18-inch front and 14-inch rear. Both bikes have single-shock rear suspension with 5.9 inches of travel, but it's the Honda that takes a slight edge in the front suspension with 7.1-inch travel compared to Yamaha's 6.3-inch travel. This number refers to how much the tire moves up and down over tough terrain, and longer can give better control over the bike. 

Ultimately, the bikes do share a lot of similarities with each other, and you might think it's worth saving a few thousand dollars. Both motorcycles are perfectly serviceable as starter bikes, as noted in Motorcyclist's review of the 2023 TW200 and our own review of the 2023 XR150L.  Both motorcycles target the same type of rider, and that means you have some decisions to make. If you're not looking for any extra bells and whistles, then the Honda is a good choice. If you need something with a bit more speed on the open roads as well as offering good off-road performance, then it's worth spending extra and grabbing the Yamaha bike.

Both bikes are competitive enough with each other that it's tough to go wrong with either, and beginner riders who aren't pushing the bikes to their limits might not notice a whole lot of difference between the pair. Honda geared the XR150L toward beginner riders on a budget, so the company was never setting out to have the bike something more than that. While they aren't one-for-one equivalents, both represent the entry-level option dual-sport bikes for their respective manufacturers, and both of them will offer performance relative to that.