Honda CRF450

Scrub Slayer

WHAT IS IT?
Honda's full-house MX weapon, claiming 55 horses.

WHAT'S IT LIKE?
Light, narrow, nimble.

THE BIKE
There are plenty of trailriders out there who prefer to buy motocross bikes over enduro machines. They don't want or need all the ADR gear onboard, and perhaps have a property with some trails and a small motocross track they can use, so there's no need to fork out the ridiculous rego cost to buy or keep a bike road legal. With this in mind, I took delivery of the 2008 CRF450R and gave it a solid run through the bush and a whole bunch of different tracks to see just how the bike handled logs and ruts instead of triples and berms.

HERITAGE
The day before the test, I stood on my back deck and watched one of the most impressive downpours I'd seen for a while. Rain is good for the garden and I'd just mowed the lawn so it was good timing as far as the grass, shrubs and bushes were concerned, but not such a good sight when you've got a bike test to do.

I was determined that this test would go ahead, however, because I had locked up in my shed one of the coolest looking machines on the planet. Honda's CRF450R looks like a race winner. Its lines are sleek and fast and anyone with a sense of history can appreciate that when you sit on a Honda motocross bike, you're sitting on the result of perhaps the most impressive evolutionary journeys of any Japanese manufacturer. Legends, not just champions, have made their mark on Hondas. Guys like Ricky Johnson, David Bailey, Jean-Michel Bayle, Jeremy McGrath, Jeff Leisk, Eric Geboers, Dave Thorpe and Craig Anderson. In fact, this list would take another full page to complete. It's great to think that something of their input is in this bike somewhere.

So, while there was no way Mother Nature was going to stop this show - but morning came, and with it the sun. Barely a cloud could bother to blow past, and after I thanked several deities at random, the CRF was loaded up and I was on the road.

GO FOR LAUNCH
The Mad Monkey test crew met at a property owned by pro rider Nathan Castle. Nathan was good enough to lend us his tracks, his time and his talent, and we were determined to use each to the full. He is now an official Mad Monkey.

We started the day on a track that was half grass track and half tight scrub. This gave us an opportunity to gauge the CRF's prowess in the open, and the tricky gear in one loop. The track also had a couple of nice berms and jumps as well so there was an element of motocross thrown in for good measure.

Starting the beast wasn't the easiest, especially for the vertically challenged among us, but once it fired you couldn't stop it with a Mack truck. With a claimed 55bhp at 9000rpm, the CRF has more mumbo than Dean Martin, and it winds on smoother than one of the crooner's martinis. At first thought it seemed like a point and shoot mid-range weapon, and on each loop anticipation was high as you came around to the long grass straight and wound it on. It soon dawned on everyone - almost by surprise - that the bike was behaving really well in the scrub sections too, and the focus soon shifted to the twists and turns instead of the grass burn. The only caveat was that the gearing is tall and the CRF wasn't super comfortable down low. You gotta keep the revs up in tight stuff.

We tested the 2007 450X not so long ago and the overriding complaint was that it felt bulky and heavy; it was a bike you needed to muscle around. Not so with this fella. The 2008 450R is a less fatiguing machine that requires only finesse, not muscle to achieve results. Honda has had a complete rethink on the front-end and it shows. Not only have they fitted a factory specced steering damper but the Showa fork is all new, as are the triple clamps, and the result is stunning. The CRF450R didn't just handle everything, it aced it. It couldn't be caught-out nor overwhelmed by anything we threw at it, and it felt as light as a feather up front, tipping into corners with no great effort, and then of course blasting out, leaving a trail of debris befitting a mine explosion.

The steering damper was a bone of contention with us though. Nobody was really sure how much it was actually doing, but we didn't have a lot of time to spend dialling it in either. It is adjustable, but unfortunately a break in the weather was our test window, time was at a premium, and the front end felt fine anyway.

JUST THE TICKET
As the engine got warmer the bike became easier to start, but we did miss the button on some hills. It didn't help that it was stinking hot either. The gearing is 13/48 which is too tall for the bush (the 2007 450X runs 13/51), but that, and the small size of the tank (7.2 litres), was the extent of our concerns.

The Honda is comfortable, fast and handles brilliantly. It's everything you'd expect from a bike of this heritage and it's right at home on bush tracks.

We reckon that if your looking for a bike with serious bite and don't need to consider registration, the CRF450R could well be what you're after. It has gobs of power - more than anyone would need - and it gets the blood pumping, no doubt about that. It's also packaged in a fantastic chassis and suspension setup that makes handling the horses less of a chore, and allows you to have a lot of fun on the bike.

It's a lot lighter than the 2007 450X, and it'll be interesting to compare both '08 models when the 450X arrives, as will the price. As it stands, the R, with a retail price of $11,290, is cheaper than the '07 X. That rain eventually did come back, and I'm sitting in my office writing this piece, just wishing it'd go away so I can get back out on the CRF. It's addictive, and yes, I did park it in my office.

MISSES

WHAT THE RIDERS SAID:

NATHAN CASTLE - PRO ENDURO RIDER
After testing the new 2008 CRF450R on a variety of terrain from tight enduro tests to fast grass tracks, I found it ready to race right out of the crate and a pleasure to ride.

The bike felt narrow, nimble, and very light. It was really easy to throw around and didn't feel like a 450 at all. I also found the high flat seat made the cockpit area very comfortable.

The front and rear brakes were responsive and had a good feel to them, while the clutch was extremely light. The steering was amazing too, which made it very easy to put the bike into ruts and stay there. With Honda's new steering dampener comes standard with 20 clicker adjustments, this bike can be dialled in to suit any rider or terrain, and with its out of the way design, you won't even know its there until it saves you.

I was very impressed with Honda's development on this bike. It could be either a race bike or used around farm tracks or trail riding. Riding a bike this stable was very confidence inspiring. It had smooth yet strong power, and a whole heap of it just waiting to be used.

EVAN ROSE - EXPERT RIDER
The bike feels small, light and manoeuvrable. The ergos are a big improvement over the '07 450X, with the seat and tank feeling considerably smaller, which makes it easier to get forward. The brakes are great and the suspension front and back were just right.

I'm still not sure if the steering dampener was actually doing a great deal because when braking after a long straight with breaking bumps, I still felt like the head was loose. This would be an adjustment issue that we didn't have time to approach though.

The bike'sgeared for MX and needs to be changed for enduro. Off the bottom, the engine was sluggish and may need some tuning/jetting, but it depends on what you plan to use it for. I like it, but wouldn't buy it for myself. It doesn't quite suit me.