Then came the road legal
XR650R which was just a
weapon everywhere...
I still miss it to this day
F
irst up I’ll admit I was sceptical. Just how
was the new Honda CRF450L going to
stack up as a trail bike? Sure, Honda’s
CRF450R is an amazing MX bike and the 450X
is a pretty hardcore cross-country bike…
but… seriously, a modern machine based
on a motocrosser as a trail and road tool?
I wasn’t so sure. Perhaps getting to ride all
sorts of wonderful machines in my KR testing
role was clouding my judgement?Honda’s
new CRF450X is the half brother to the road
legal CRF450L we tested recently. In essence,
it is the same basic, alloy-framed, long
travel Showa suspension’ed, 449cc Unicam,
liquid-cooled trail bike, but stripped of the
equipment that makes it legal for the road,
making it 5kg lighter than the L. However,
it does have a headlight and small tail light.
The suspension is firmer too to support
more dedicated off-road work, but it shares
the 450L’s wide-ratio six-speed gearbox, as
well as the slightly wider engine cases and
chassis to accommodate it. That’s the basic
bike. But… as you can probably tell from
the pictures, we didn’t ride anything like
the standard bike. Nope, we rode the ‘next
level’, fully hot-rodded, Northern Accessories,
Steven Croad special. A one of a kind.
And bloody hell, what a beast! To say that
this modded machine is a step-up would be
a huge understatement. Steven chose the X
over the RX, which is based on the MX model,
because he wanted the L’s six-speed gearbox
and heavier flywheel effect for a smoother,
more versatile cross-country race bike. He
then added a heap of go faster kit from the
Northern Accessories Dirt Guide catalogue
to make an already quick bike into a fully
functional race weapon.
GO FASTER MODS
First up on the list of mods is a full
Yoshimura exhaust and Twin Air high flow air
intake system to let the 450cc Honda breath
properly, giving some extra ponies. Then,
to cope with the extra pace afforded by the
KIWI RIDER 67