I have a few issues with Chris Scott's review.
Most of what he says is quite accurate, but the bike was not set up well for his ride.

Having lived at altitude for many years, the machine usually needs to be leaned out to cope with the lower air pressure.
Modern EFI usually deals with this fine, bur was likely defeated on his bike by the aftermarket controller, which seems to have been running rich.

At 6000 feet you lose around 18% power compared to sea level.
So the second crucial mod should have been to change the stock gearing to cope with the heavy rider and load, as well as altitude power loss.
Most CRF mods seem to start with changing the stock gearing anyway.

The other issue is that the riding area (SW USA) is one of the most unsuitable areas for small cc touring: long, straight well surfaced roads, whereas somewhere like SE Asia and other 3rd world destinations would bring out all its strengths, as 50 to 60 mph is a very acceptable speed there.

The CRF will pick up aftermarket support, it just needs a few more years to develop. Honda is selling it in most markets around the world (far more than supposedly popular choices like BMW), so backup and parts should also continue to grow even in 3rd world countries.

I tour on my YBR125G and a Zongshen 200 in SE Asia, even 2 up, and they work fine.

Obviously you need to pay attention to stuff like gearing, luggage weight and so on, but that pays off really well in keeping the bike manageable in rough conditions, where heavier machines are a PITA and often force taking a different route, or even skipping some destinations.

Just a different opinion.