Chassis feel; turn-in; suspension
Occasionally fickle starting
and can stall at low revs
lack of power (on a stock model), it really didn’t feel
like a 450, but Honda has been able to retain that
feeling even with added horses under the bonnet.
The handling has been revised on the front
end – out with the air cartridges – and they’ve
slid some wire-springers down inside. Well, it’s
not quite that simple, it’s even better really as
the fork is based on the A-kit Showa forks that
race teams have been using to replace air forks
on the race bikes. This 49mm fork is an excellent
upgrade in my opinion. It felt a little soft for my
liking, as I prefer to have the front end held up
quite a bit more than most, so a few clicks harder,
closing down the rebound, had it headed in the
right direction. But for most it would be a great
start point. Honda really has a good motorcycle
straight out of the box in the new CRF450R –
all of the upgrades have improved the bike.
KIWI RIDER 57