It’s fair to say that
Honda has not sat still
in the last 12 months,
but has kept pushing
forward with its 450...
D
espite looking very similar to the 2018
machine, the ‘19 CRF has been widely
updated. There’s very little that hasn’t
been touched but there are no big headline
changes. The basics are that the frame is
essentially the same as last year but has
benefited from being slimmed and lightened
around the swingarm pivot plates, the
swingarm has been given a little more flex and
cut in weight, there’s a front brake caliper is
new along with a new front brake hose.
50 KIWI RIDER
In terms of the springy bits, the fork gets a
new oil weight and new compression/rebound
settings to suit. The rear shock now has a
‘super finish’ treatment to improve the stroke
action, and it works through a new Pro-Link
ratio that softens a little towards full shock
compression.
The exhaust is all new too with a larger bore
on both pipes – up to 35mm on the right
pipe and 42mm on the left pipe – both were
31.8mm last year. The total length of the left