me. The power delivery is certainly more punchy right from the first crack of the throttle and well into the mid-range, offering greater torque and flexibility and acceleration. From there up until maximum revs, it feels similar to standard. It is a useful upgrade. I liked the taller seat. The foam is comfy, a flatter shape, and along with the higher bars the ergos for tall riders a lot better. The harder springs I’ m in two minds about. Yes, the suspension action is much firmer and more bottom resistant, but it has lost some plushness and general comfort off-road. If you are going to ride this bike hard offroad the suspension is clearly better suited to that style. However, most adventure riding is a blend of seal, gravel and a little offroad. For these reasons
I favour plushness over bottoming resistance on adventure bikes. I’ m happy to unweight the bike / slow a little to reduce bottoming and have all-day comfort from the suspension. Also, it seemed like the bike had very little free sag making for a very tall platform in tricky going. I’ m not saying the harder suspension is a backward step, remember this is Craig’ s bike and set up for the way he likes to ride it. Overall, Craig’ s upgrades to the 450MT have sharpened its focus considerably. It has gone from an all-day adventure cruising machine for entry level riders to a bike that can happily take the beating of an experienced rider offroad and come away holding its head high. JOCK MCLAUCHLAN
To have your bike’ s fuelling optimised for its particular setup or some help from the country’ s most knowledgable dyno tuner, give Brett Roberts a shout. Contact: BRM Dyno Paeroa Click here for more info
KIWI RIDER 39