The Africa Twin was like a
V8-powered Lazy-Boy, while
the 450 felt like a Race Kart
on the damper rods, but for a trail bike the
action is beautifully compliant and yet still
well controlled. True, it will not compete with
its racier offroad brothers around the MX
track, but then the MX bike isn’t exactly going
anywhere on the road.
ENGINE
As you might imagine, the standard CRF450’s
MX engine has had several modifications to
ensure long term trail reliability and more
ease of use. While the bore and stroke
remains the same, the main changes are a
reduction in compression down to 12.0:1,
a three-ring piston, a new cam with altered
valve lift and valve timing specs, and, lastly,
a 13% heavier crankshaft. Add to that a
crankcase which holds 200ml more oil, and
larger, fan-cooled, radiators and you know
Honda has been doing its homework.
54 KIWI RIDER
Out on the open road the 450L’s engine was
right in the sweet spot for brisk 100km/h
overtaking. Simply roll open the power in top
gear and the bike whisks you past the slower
vehicle quickly and effortlessly. Top speed
is limited to just over 140km/h and it will
happily cruise at 110km/h.
The lower gears are nicely spaced for off-
road work, but my overall feeling is that it
could happily pull an extra tooth on the front
to raise the gearing for even easier cruising.
This would give a more relaxed feel on road
and not really compromise off road work.
As you might imagine with the engine being
a modified version of the 450R motocross
lump, the service intervals are quite frequent.
Oil and filter intervals are every 1000km,
and the valve check interval is just over
2800km. Honda lists a major stripdown every
32,000km. This is fine for weekend trail rides